Molly is coping with the loss of her mother and also her father getting married again. Her step brother seems to be anything but good. Than her life changes. Good book to pick up for a cozy read.

It's hard enough to be a child without losing a parent and having your only parent remarry. So much of life is out of ones hands. Sad that some children have to go through this, not only due to death, but divorce, too. Told from young Molly's POV, the story feels authentic. She's a child feeling her way to acceptance of what she can not change. It's a good story and may well help some child to cope with their own loss. I'd recommend it to kids 3-5th grade.

This was a sweet, coming-of-age, middle grade novel about a young girl coping with her mother's death and learning to accept the fact that her father has remarried and she now has an annoying step-brother. Her grandparents are the best characters, not only because they act as the voices of reason that these novels are so often missing, but also because they have the most interesting backstories. The other characters fit into pretty stereotypical roles, but it's still a nice story.

This is the easiest 5 stars I have ever given. This book was so short, but it was so packed with the feels. Around every corner new things were tugging at my heart. I know the feeling of your dad remarrying, I'm grateful that it was just because my parents divorced and not because my mom passed away. I know the feeling of being replaced by your dad's new family. This book was by far amazing. There were times when we were supposed to be with my dad and he was away so my grandparents took my brother and me. This story was amazing and the end had me in tears. So, so, so amazing!

Have you ever had something that you wished for with all your heart? What if those wishes were to come true? That is exactly what happens in this delightful tale of a young girl who had her life turned upsidedown. Molly Bell learns that you should be careful what you wish for like most wishing story morals. But, she also learns that even wishes that come true may not be in the way that you think.

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Just a few short years after her mom passes away from cancer, Molly Bell’s dad has remarried and now not only does she have a new mom but an annoying new little brother, Henry. Life couldn’t get much worse for her until her utter embarrassment at the wedding.

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While her dad and new step mom are away on their honeymoon she and Henry are to stay at her grandparents farm. While on the farm Molly seeks out the wishing well her aunt had told her about while consoling her at the wedding. A real wishing well that will make all her wishes come true.

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As the week progresses and each wish comes true, except the first wish, Molly becomes more self indulgent until one wish goes terribly wrong. In the end she learns that wishes are made up of what you believe and she learns that family, even the one you didn’t wish for, is what matters most.

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Molly Bell and the Wishing Well is a great story with a purposeful lesson. I enjoyed reading it and would certainly recommend it to the little booklingets of all ages!

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I received a copy of Molly Bell and the Wishing Well from Netgalley for a fair and honest review.

I liked this book! It was a realistic story of grief and growing. I thought the characters were believable and likable, making the story seem like a real-life event. I enjoyed the story.

From a psychological point of view I felt Geraghty did a remarkable job trying to capture the grief process as a child would go through with it showcasing her focusing on mundane tasks and trying to behave impeccably as if her late mother was watching over her. I’ve generally seen that attitude or the full act out, trying to burn the world down path. The author kept Molly’s life, motivations, wishes and outcomes simple as if giving her space and peace to figure out how she was going to navigate this new world that no longer contained her mother in a gentle manner. Sometimes when you’ve been walking around, even subconsciously, in a mental fog it only takes one event to snap out of the reverie as she showed Molly doing so that she finally came to a place of acceptance.

I adored Geraghty’s characters, how they fit into Molly’s life and shaped her journey particularly since the author made them each seem realistic and necessary to the story. I liked how she shaped the characters into being people the reader can invest in and for kids they’ll find characters they can see themselves in.

You are treated to a descriptive tale of Molly’s emotions which make the story come alive and your heart will ache as she seemingly has to go at this alone because her friends abandon her. I would hope if children read this and they have a friend who loses someone they will remember this story and know how to be a better friend.

I think it’s a good story to help children understand they are not alone in the grief process and maybe to understand it a bit. There are a lot of positive themes regarding overcoming grief, keeping hope and accepting the changes life brings.

I can see how some might have trouble with the way the grief process was portrayed through Molly’s character but I have had the unfortunate experience to walk that journey with a few and not one of them walked the same path. I personally liked the author’s fast pace and easy writing style particularly due to its intended audience who should find this easy to read.

Overall it’s a beautiful and moving story about losing a loved one, handling grief and creating a new world.

This book was magical. Not in the Harry Potter, Gandalf, Unicorns, kind of way, but in a much more real way. It's about the magic of love, and it's power to heal. It's about how a shift in point of view can change your whole life, and it's about letting kids who are struggling with loss know that they can find a way to be happy again.

About 20 years ago I was one of those kids. My dad died when I was 1o, from cancer, like Molly's mom in the story, and though I didn't have that shift in perspective that Molly does in the story for many years, reading this book brought me back to that time.

I loved the way the author wrote about Molly's feelings towards everything going on in her life. Her anger and sadness at her Dad for 'replacing' her mom, her dislike of her new step-mom, her complete indifference to Henry, her anger and disappointment in her friends for seemingly abandoning her when she needed them, and the complete, overwhelming grief for her mom. The part about Molly's friends really hit me because it was so true. When my dad died my friends seemed to disappear, no one at school would talk to me or even look me in the eye; most adults were the same way, murmuring meaningless words before shaking their heads and walking away. People don't know how to handle that kind of overwhelming grief, and that's why I think this is an important book for everyone to read. Having a better understanding of the feelings that go on when a child has lost someone can help them immeasurably, just to know that someone stills sees them the same way, and is still there and willing to sit next to them and look them in eye and say 'I'm here' when everyone else in their life seems to be avoiding them, is an amazing thing for a kid going through that kind of loss.

The only criticism I'd have for the emotions portrayed in the book is that Molly's anger seemed really downplayed to me. In my experience the anger that comes with that kind of grief runs a lot deeper and is much harder to suppress than it seemed too for Molly. The author could have had a much different experience than I have with grief and everyone does process things differently so I can't say that her portrayal was wrong or bad in any way, though.

I also loved Molly's Grandpa Cody, in fact he was probably the most emotional character in the story besides Molly. Grandpa Cody letting go of his anger towards the wishing well was probably something that helped Molly let go of hers and including his PTSD from the war made him a very real character.

I loved this book. It's easily 5 out of 5 stars for me and I highly recommend it for everyone.

Note: I received this as a free e-book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. You can pick it up on Amazon here.

When I read the summary of this children’s book on NetGalley, I was very keen on delving into it. And I wasn’t disappointed. Although the book is very short (about 100 pages), it is filled with emotions and conveys a beautiful, profound message.

Through young Molly’s perspective, the author deals with the following themes — losing a parent at a young age, struggling with grief and anger, finding it hard to accept new family members (especially a new mother and a new young sibling).

The writing style is easily accessible for a young audience. I thought it was fast-paced and well written. It is both very descriptive and dynamic. You can easily follow Molly’s stream of thought, her frustration and her pain. I thought her difficult relationship with fidgety Henry was very interesting and evolving in a credible way.

The wishing well is a relevant symbol about hope. Can Molly finally find some closure and come to terms with her pain? Will she let people find their way to her grieving heart? I was afraid that given how short the book is, it would leave me wanting for more. But, the author managed to include all the necessary ingredients. It never feels rushed and there are no overlong passages. So, sometimes, shorter is better!

Molly Bell and the Wishing Well is a touching, moving tale about loss, family love and support, as well as new beginnings.