I wish for an adventure so big that I get to feel things I’ve never felt before, bigger things, more grown-up things.

It was the summer of 1985, the summer Alex Wendell turned thirteen. Too old for Scooby Doo and Fred Flintstone, Alex was old enough to ask questions about the Unabomber, but not quite old enough to understand the hostage situation of the Iran-Contra Affair. On the last day of sixth grade, she clutched a fistful of purple helium balloons at her elementary school balloon launch for Save the Children. She made six wishes for things she wanted to let go of. Six for things she wanted. And one wish, the most important one, for something she didn’t completely understand.

While Alex chased the simple childhood adventures of backyard woods and an unfinished treehouse, a haunting Shadow hovered like a storm cloud refusing to rain. Unzipping her empath sensitivities, the Shadow beckoned Alex to meet more firsts of her life than she was prepared to greet. Finally, on her thirteenth birthday, tragedy struck, forcing her to take the Shadow’s hand and let him lead her through the darkness into the shine of her wish come true.

Teri Leigh, who has a Master’s Degree in teaching and over ten years experience teaching reading to at-risk youth and reluctant readers, wrote this easy to read page-turner intentionally to entice middle and high school students to learn and experience the value of literature and history.