The Genie Scheme by Kimberly K. Jones

Posted by: harmonybookreviews on: June 6, 2009

• In: Book Reviews
• 7 Comments

Title: The Genie Scheme

Author: Kimberly K. Jones

Rating: 8/10

Good If… You’re looking for a fun MG book with a message.

Summary: (Taken from BN.com)

When Janna impulsively buys a winter hat for a bag lady, she expects nothing in return. But Janna’s kindness pays off in a big way when the bag lady turns out to be a genie! Now Janna is the genie’s master and she couldn’t be happier, especially when she learns that the “three wishes” rule is strictly for fairy tales!

Before long, Janna’s room is overflowing with clothes and gadgets — but things aren’t quite as simple as they seem. Making wishes comes with its own set of rules, and Janna discovers that “unlimited” has some…well, limits. Genies can’t make something out of nothing, so everything that Janna wishes for is taken from somebody else. Oops. And then there’s the problem of genie wattage — there’s only so much of it, and Janna is using it up faster than she’d like. What’s a greedy girl to do?

With insight, warmth, and a refreshing dose of humor, Kimberly K. Jones puts a new twist on the old adage “Be careful what you wish for.”

My Thoughts:

I have split feelings on this one. On one hand, I thought it was really good – I think I read it in one afternoon. But, on the other hand, it was really “preachy” at times. (Not in the religious sense but that do-this-don’t-do-that sense.)

Somehow, Janna managed to be realistic and so whiny I wanted to smack her at the same time. She constantly whined about not having enough and when she did get what she asked, it was never good enough. Then there were times when she dropped the whininess and turned into someone I could see as a friend.

The one thing I really liked about this was that everything Janna asked for just didn’t come from nothing – whenever Janna wished for something, it was being taken from someone else. That put a unique twist on the story and I think a lot of the importance of not wishing for everything would have been lost on Janna. Genie Watts were also a cool idea.

The ending, to me, was very cheesy. It was pretty much expected to happen, after all of the “lessons” Janna goes through.

I recommend this to younger tweens and maybe teachers looking for something to read to their grade school classes but definitely not to older teens.