Check out our interview with Jamie Sumner, the author of "Wish You Well."
What was your inspiration behind your most recent book?
Wish You Well began as a YouTube deep dive into kids showing their wishes come true from a wish-granting foundation. My son who has cerebral palsy has been offered his own chance to wish. It was research for him that became something else altogether. The story is a con game in the best way. Three unlikely friends meet at a children’s hospital picnic for sick kids and they scheme to pool their wishes to have one year of epic adventure.
What does Reading Rainbow mean to you?
Reading Rainbow is celebrating the stories of those who do not get enough representation in school and the world at large. It is crucial for creating critical thinkers who are open-minded and who understand what it means to have empathy.
Why do you feel representation of a variety of people is so important when writing books?
Every person deserves to be seen in the stories they read. This means we need all the stories about all the things! If you walk through life never encountering a book that took the time to consider you, you begin to feel like you don’t matter. Everybody matters. We all remember that one book we read as a kid when we first really felt understood.
Tell us a little more about the book and why you decided to write it.
Wish You Well is for all the kids who have lived with a chronic illness. There is a sense of living outside of time when you spend your days in a hospital and the hours are marked by shift changes and vital checks instead of class periods. Violet, Wyatt, and Noor, the trio in my story, don’t want you to feel sorry for them. They want what all kids want – to have an adventure and to rebel. Ultimately, I wanted to create a story that will make you laugh and cheer and also leave you with a better sense of what it is like to live on a different path than the rest of your peers.
What can fans expect from your book?
You’ll find three very different main characters that are brave and also make ridiculous choices. There are trips around the world, things that get set on fire, and maybe a first kiss snuck in there too. It will make you ask yourself what you wish for most in your one precious life.
What’s up next for you in the bookish world?
My next book is a novel in verse called Space Race that’s set in the 90s. Hooray for nostalgia! It’s a family road trip akin to National Lampoons where everything that can go wrong will go wrong as one family races across the country to compete in a rocket-launching contest. Coming March of 2027!
