Twelve-year-old Genuine Sweet, of tiny Sass, Georgia, can grant any wish . . . except her own. It's a peculiar predicament, considering how much she could use a few wishes. New friends help Genuine give her family a boost--and then she takes her gift global! Life finally seems to be on the mend. But when she's faced with unexpected trouble that no amount of wishing can fix, Genuine must puzzle out the difference between wishing for a better life and building one.
Told in the engaging, irresistible voice of Genuine Sweet herself, Faith Harkey's debut novel spins a remarkable tale of a small-town girl with big-time magic and an even bigger heart.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
She's Genuine Sweet! Her name says it all.
By MommaMia
Genuine Sweet is a spunky 12 year old who is as charming as her name suggests. She finds out that she comes from a long line of wish fetchers. Hooray, she thinks to herself! This is her ticket out of poverty. She lives with her grandmother and her drunken father in the Mayberry-esque town of Sass. She fears starving and freezing in winter and thinks her dreams are about to come true but finds that she can wish fetch for anyone except herself.She learns about life, about having things handed to you and learning how to take care of yourself. She finds out that wishing for a better life isn't as good as building yourself one. The lessons in this book are perfect for kids, but I enjoyed this as much as my own kids did. We read it over the past two days together and everyone enjoyed it, especially my 11 year old girl. This one comes in at around 280 pages, It's just the right length. I was actually sad to see it end. I'd say it would suit ages 8-12, and seems geared toward young girls.The voice of Genuine Sweet is true and clear. The author brings her to life beautifully. You really become attached to this precocious girl right away. Great character development, flowing easy dialogue and a fun storyline with great lessons, this is sure to please every parent and child who reads it.Genuine Sweet is a genuine sweetie you won't soon forget!
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Got this as a mistake, but I'm glad I did!
By Jennifer
To be honest, I didn't pay close attention when requesting this book--I mistook the Grade Level 4-7 as the age level. (I have a 6yo and wanted this for him as his first chapter book or as something we could read together). Unfortunately, it was a bit too old for him. Since it was above his reading level (no fault of the book--only my lack of attention), I tried reading it to him, but it was just outside his comprehension level and his mind wandered after just a few paragraphs. (I don't mind explaining what things are or defining words for him, but there was SO much of it I had to explain that it was hard to read.)That said, the first chapter sucked me in. We learn Genuine's back story and that she's a wish-fetcher and the chapter ends with her and her Grandma thinking how fetching others' wishes can eventually help them. Of course I had to read the whole thing myself to see what happened!Overall it was a pretty quick and enjoyable read. You could almost hear young Genuine in your head and the dialogue and turns-of-phrase put you right in the small town south. I'll definitely be keeping this book around until my son is old enough to read it, as there are lots of good life lessons to be learned.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.A magical tale with a southern twang!
By Janice Sims
This is a funny, sometimes touching, debut novel for young adults. It's set in a small town called Sass, Georgia, and told with a southern twang by 12-year-old Genuine (Gen-u-wine) Sweet. Genuine is honest to a fault. She comes right out and tells you that she doesn't live up to her name of Genuine Pretty Sweet. She says she's buck-toothed and nothing special to look at. Her mother's long-deceased and her father is the town drunk. But there are some positives: Her Gram, for instance. She adores her grandmother. Her grandmother's a MacIntyre woman. The MacIntyre women all inherit the gift of wish fetching, calling down magical starshine which has the capability of granting wishes to mere humans. Gram explains that Genuine also has that gift and commences to teaching her how to use it. Thus begins Genuine's adventure in wish fetching. It all begins innocently enough but soon turns into a big mess that Genuine is going to need help from friends to get out of. I liked the fact that even though Genuine doesn't have much family left, she makes true friends like Jura and Travis, two of my favorite characters in the book. And there are life lessons to be learned along the way.
