Wishes on the Moon

by Michael O. Tunnell

Book Overview

Aminah is an orphan living on the streets of Al Kal'as. Desperate, she appeals to Princess Badr for work. The princess responds by throwing her husband, Aladdin's, seemingly worthless lamp at her. But to Aminah's surprise, the lamp is magic. A jinni appears and grants Aminah three wishes with the rising of each full moon. His magic brings Aminah food, clothing, and shelter, but Aminah cannot achieve true happiness until she has helped the suffering...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0142412708
• ISBN13: 9780142412701
• Release Date: April 2009
• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Length: 484 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

An irresistible world of enchantment, discovery, adventure, and suspense...

Aminah is an orphan and a beggar on the streets of the Arabian city where Aladdin lives with his wife, Princess Badr al-Budur. Although she lives in unimaginable poverty and filth, Aminah doesn't give up. Her desperate attempt to solicit sympathy and help from the heartless Princess Badr ends in disappointment...until Aminah unexpectedly finds herself the mistress of Aladdin's magic lamp. Of course, the jinni of the lamp grants Aminah's wishes, which at first are typical desires that anyone might have: food, shelter, clothing...the necessities of life to a certain lavish extent. But soon, Aminah's wishes begin to take a turn that surprises even the seasoned jinni, who has seen many masters and heard countless wishes yet rarely experiences anything but the greedy, selfish side of human nature. Aminah develops new friendships and puts the magic lamp to use, all the while knowing she must try to escape Princess Badr's wrath. As the Sultan's daughter, Badr al-Budur lives in resplendent wealth and luxury and enjoys virtually limitless power. But it isn't enough. Badr is determined to regain her husband's magic lamp -- for herself. "Wishing Moon" pulls readers into its story as naturally and surely as rubbing a magic lamp draws a jinni out to grant wishes. Within its pages, we find an irresistible world of enchantment, discovery, adventure, and suspense where anything is possible. Who can deny the lure of a magic lamp? "Wishing Moon" hooks readers with that universal appeal, and then quietly, almost imperceptibly entices us to ponder the unspoken question: What would you wish for if you had a magic lamp?

Great Book!

I borrowed this book from the library and couldn't put it down! It was great! Definitely worth reading.

Interesting...

I have never read anything quite like this book. And I mean that as a good thing. It is a new take on the Arabian Nights stories, and a very good one at that. Aminah, a young beggar girl, goes to the princess to ask her for help. Their fathers knew eachother, so she has reason to hope. However, the princess scorns her and throws and old lamp at her, which later turns out to be Aladdin's lamp. (Aladdin is the princess's husband) Aminah gets three wishes every month. However, her Jinni likes to trick people, so she has to watch out what she wishes for. Soon she is living like royalty, with her own cook and a boy named Idris that she picked up off the street living with her. However, she finds her wealth hollow. She now has an endless supply of money, so she uses her wishes to help other people in need. Meanwhile, the vengeful princess realizes what she cast away and is searching madly for Aminah. Eventually, Aminah finds a young man in need of help. He turns out to be a man that had been kind to her once when she was poor. So Aminah is happy and her relationships with her cook (Barra), Idris, Jinni and Hassan (the kind baker) slowly develop. However, because of the way she acquired the lamp, she must hide her past from those she loves. But this takes a terrible toll. Idris runs off when he overhears something by accident. Will she ever find him again. And she loves them all, but who will she choose, Hassan, Idris or Jinni? And then the man she loves is captured by the princess and she must find a way to get them all out of the city. I really enjoyed this book. The characters were very believable and well developed. Aminah was a likeable character and I literally cringed when she made a bad choice. However, it has a happy ending and a good moral. So I say, fantasy lovers, read it! Based on the two other reviews, this book isn't getting enough attention!

This was great!

I read this book in like 2 days, it was so good! I recomend it for anyone who likes fantasy or fairy tales!

Great Fun and Well Done

A throw back to good old-fashioned storytelling, WISHING MOON is a refreshing read--a step away from the rampant political correctness (the new didacticism) and/or the hard-edged problem scenarios so often rewarded in today's children's book world. It deserves the starred review given by Kirkus (see below), which sums up how I feel about this book. Kirkus Reviews starred review In this captivating original sequel to Aladdin, the genie gets a real workout when its lamp falls into the hands of an orphaned street child. Fourteen-year-old Aminah's bleak future takes a wild turn for the better when an old lamp sails out of the palace window and hits her on the head. But rather than use her wishes to live in splendor or to punish enemies, Aminah flummoxes the genie by searching out decent-hearted people engaged in helping the poor and endowing them with magical abilities. Predictably, the petulant, mercurial genie-who tends to show anger by spitting snakes, or blowing up its own head-steals the show, but Aminah puts in a sturdy performance too, as an idealistic but not entirely naive do-gooder with a temper of her own, and plenty of gumption. Modern sounding dialogue-"I wish you'd settle down!"-and the genie's breezily cryptic references to pizza, New York, and other items from Aminah's future give the tale a contemporary tone without spoiling the Arabian Nights flavor. Tunnell adds suspense with a subplot involving the efforts of Aladdin's evil wife to recover the lamp, and closes with a perfectly executed twist. (Fiction. 11-15)