About Wishes Are Free by Diana Mercedes Howell:

It’s 1959 in Golden Valley, California —tailfins and hula hoops —Frankie Avalon and American Bandstand, and for ten-year-old Rose O’Reilly, everything changed in an instant. Her lifelong next-door neighbor and best friend, Linney, announces she is moving to Chicago.

Rose’s grandpa has just lost his wife, who was also his best friend. Rose and Grandpa hold chat cafes in the kitchen. It helps them forget how much losing their best friend hurts.

Rose makes three wishes on Venus, the Evening Star. She asks for a new best friend and for Grandpa to come to live with them. Lastly, she wishes for a dog. She may as well. Wishes are free, but do they come true?

A dog shows up, and Rose is convinced Venus has granted one of her wishes. But Mom and Dad don’t let her keep the dog. They must report it lost. For a second time, she feels abandoned. Grandpa takes her to meet the dog’s owner, Anthony, a boy with cerebral palsy, and they become friends. Rose realizes friends can come in different shapes, in the shape of a lost dog and in the shape of a boy with cerebral palsy.

Grandpa announces he is going to live with her family. One wish down, two to go.
During an encounter with the neighborhood bully, Rose’s library book is ruined. The next time they meet, Rose stands up to him and learns this bully is full of hot air. He never bothers her again.

She feels sorry for Raymond, a boy in her class who comes to school with unexplained bruises. She helps him cheat on a geography quiz, and they get caught. The next day, her dad is in the principal’s office, and Rose is sure she is going to be expelled. But it isn’t what she thinks. Raymond’s dad has been arrested for domestic violence, and Raymond will be living with them while his mother recovers.

On a trip to the beach during Easter Vacation, her older brother, Jeremy, is ruining the fun. He demands Grandpa stop the car to let him out. He’s going to hitchhike home. He and Grandpa have a gentle conversation on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Nick, Jeremy’s best friend, explains that her brother is super-tired, and that is why he is acting out. Later, Jeremy brings Rose a bouquet of Bleeding Heart wildflowers as an apology. Rose realizes her older brother is human, too, and forgives him.

Toward the end of the school year, a new family moves into the neighborhood. Rose spies a bike just like hers Could it be? A girl is moving in, but how old is she? It turns out she is Rose’s age, but the first time she and Siena Costello meet, Rose worries that Siena is out of her league. She isn’t sure she can keep up with someone who plays the violin and has an opinion on every subject. She runs to her favorite thinking spot at the creek and gives herself a pep talk, boosting her belief in herself. The Costello family invites her to dinner, where she discovers she and Siena are simpatico! Venus has come through!

In June, Rose throws a surprise party for Grandpa and invites all of her new friends: Siena, Anthony, his mom, and the Costellos. While everyone else is gathered around the piano singing, she and Grandpa slip outside. They spot Venus, and Rose makes a silent wish. There’s still one thing missing—a dog of her own. On the way back to the house, she stops and makes a final, silent wish. Venus? Can you find a new best friend for Grandpa?

May as well ask. Wishes Are Free.

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