The Boy Whose Wishes Came True by Helen Rutter

 I was very lucky to receive an ARC of Helen Rutter's fantastic new novel, The Boy Whose Wishes Came True, about a boy called Archie Crumb whose wishes start coming true after a chance encounter with one of his sporting heroes.

Archie has not been having an easy time of it. Picked on at school and lonely at home, his visits to his best friend Mouse's house and his trips to his dad's place are the only things that keep him going. When his dad and step-mum start rearranging his visits more and more often, he realises deep down that he no longer fits into their idea of the perfect family. 

You see, Archie has a secret and he is too scared to tell anyone quite how bad things have got at home. His mum has told him not to tell other grown ups how depressed she has become, staying in bed all the time, while Archie looks after himself. Rutter's portrayal of Archie taking care of his mum and making his own dinner with whatever he can afford from the shops is heartbreakingly realistic, as are her descriptions of his mum's low moods and their effect on Archie. His longing for his mum to be waiting for him in the kitchen after school, cooking his favourite meal and asking him about his day, was painfully honest. My heart went out to him.

As the title suggests, Archie Crumb is granted several wishes, and against all the odds they start coming true. Rutter very cleverly plays with this concept of wishes coming true. What would we wish for, if we could wish for anything in the world? Do wishes really have any meaning without the hope that lies underneath them? Without hope, what is there in the world for us to believe in anyway? Archie loses sight of this hope at some points, but overall he comes to realise something: for things to get better, we have to tell people how we feel and what we need from them, and have hope that they will help us to feel better again.

I really enjoyed this book. My heart broke at points for Archie and, at times, I felt as cross towards his mum and dad as he did. He is very young to realise the honest truth that your parents are just people not heroes or gods. His mum was obviously going through some quite major trauma, but as she lost her hope, I doubt she realised the full effect that her behaviour was having on Archie. I really liked how his neighbour helped him to learn about what a young carer is and what support is available; I felt that this was done in a very age appropriate way and might hopefully lead other young people going through similar circumstances to approach the relevant people for more help and support. Overall, I felt that the main message of this book was one of hope: no matter when or where you lose your sense of hope, it is always there waiting for you to find it again. And of course the cracking football matches! Five stars!