Wishing Upon A Star

B.T.’s presence brought such a funny feeling inside. Kind of like peace dancing. China paused at the doorway and whispered, “Dear God, would it be okay if B.T. and I got to be good friends? I don’t know if I’ve ever found such contentment with anyone before.”

Book: Wishing Upon A Star by Lissa Halls Johnson, Focus On The Family Publishers, 1995

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Target Audience: Girls 13-18

Subjects: Pride, Popularity, Servanthood, Friendship

Summary: A movie star? Here at camp? China and DeeDee don’t watch tv so they didn’t know that the camper who arrived early was actually a famous star from a tv sitcom. The friendship began naturally. Now though, now things are different. China starts to wonder if maybe it’s a sign from God. Maybe her friendship with B.T. is meant to take her places, big place, far away places, places quite different than camp or her parents’ mission field. Maybe it’s meant to catapult her into the life of the rich and famous that despite all her experiences this summer, she still somewhat envies. Pursuing that kind of fame isn’t free though. And China is going to figure out just how high of a cost it really is.

Notes: Project Black Bear is the third in the seven book China Tate series about a tenth grade girl whose parents are missionaries in Guatemala. She has returned to the states to spend a summer with an aunt, hoping to find a place to fit in. She finds her place at Camp Crazy Bear and winds up staying and working in the kitchen for the summer. The series tells of the adventures she has in friendship and learning responsibility.

In this fourth book, China continues learning the lesson about what outside trappings really mean. From the beginning, she admired and envied Heather for her beauty and popularity. Then she misjudged Rick because he didn’t look attractive. Now she’s caught up yet again in the idea that being rich and popular means you’re better than others. She remembers her grandma telling “There’s no one so different in this world that you are better than they are. And even more important, there’s no one so different in this world that they are better or more special than you.” But she disagrees. She sees the crowds of people following B.T. and the money he has and decides that “special was proven by your volume of friends and the importance of your work.” She finds out just how wrong she is when she loses both DeeDee and B.T.’s friendship and almost Magda’s in her pursuit of fame and fortune. A chapel lesson on servanthood that has campers washing people’s feet makes her realize just how wrong she has been about what really matters and who is truly important.

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 5/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Matthew 20:26-28 – Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”