The Journey Of Wishes

“You really did it this time,” a voice said behind him. Adam whirled around. The ghost boy sat in another chair, smiling his thin crooked smile. “Everyone will hate you for sure. You need to get out and get out quick.”

“What do you mean?” Adam asked.

“What do you think, stupid?” the boy asked. “Run away. Get the train in town and get out of here. You have enough money. You can buy a ticket. But you won’t have any money left once you pay for that tractor. It will cost a zillion dollars to fix that stupid mistake. You better get out while the getting is good. Everyone hates you now. And Great Uncle Samuel will really be disappointed, especially after he made such a big deal about choosing you.”

Book: The JourneyOf Wishes

by John Bibee, Intervarsity Press, 1993

Genre: Fantasy/Allegory

Target Audience: Boys and Girls 12-16

Subjects: Family Relationships, Forgiveness, Freedom

Summary: Bitterness and resentment mixed with guilt can go a long ways towards destroying one’s life. Adam Kramer is about to find that out for himself. He is upset at being stuck at his cousin’s house while his parents are overseas because of World War II. He resents his cousins for picking on him. So he starts listening to his ghost slave and winds up wrecking his uncle’s tractor. That’s when he knows the ghost slave is right – he doesn’t belong here. So he leaves, but soon finds himself in an even worse situation, a slave to the owner of a carnival who tricks young orphans and runaways into being in debt to him and afraid to escape. The ghost slave won’t abandon him though. He continues to do all he can to make Adam’s life even worse. Soon Adam is trapped in a cage of his own making, a cage no one can help him get out of – no one that is, except the Kingson.  

Notes: The Journey of Wishes is the eighth and final book in the Spirit Flyer series. The series uses a flying bicycle to represent faith in Christ. The bicycles are made by the “Three Kings”. When a person chooses to believe in them, the bicycle arrives and will fly when they are trusting. The series takes place in an end times setting, with it finally ending at the rapture. Throughout the series, the struggle between good and evil is shown in those choosing to ride Spirit Flyers battling Goliath Industries, an organization that desires to see death and destruction. This book is a prequel to book one, telling the story many years ago of Grandfather Kramer. Like Runaway Parents, it has a hint of a prodigal son theme to it with Adam stealing money and running away, finding himself in a much worse situation than he had at home and having to go home and make amends. It is also a strong focus on freedom – how the Kingson is the only one who can truly set free the cages that bind us.

I highly recommend this book as well as the others in the series. It offers great spiritual value as well as a creative storyline and enough suspense and adventure to keep readers interested.

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 5/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Romans 8:1 – There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.