Some secrets are impossible to share.

Lily doesn’t believe in making wishes. Not anymore. Not since Anders died.

Wishes can’t fix the terrible thing that happened. Wishing won’t change how it feels.

But Lily does believe in the impossible. She has a secret so extraordinary, so magical, no one would believe that it’s true.

No one except Anders, of course.

Nothing about this summer is turning out how Lily would have wished. But wishes, like seasons, can change.

Winner of the 2024 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People

Finalist for the 2024 Maine Literary Award

A Horn Book Fanfare Best Books of 2023 selection

A CCBC Choices 2024 best-of-the-year list selection

A 2024 Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year pick, noted for Outstanding Merit

A 2025-2026 Louisiana Readers’ Choice Award Nominee

“Stack Wishing Season next to Bridge to Terabithia. Anica Mrose Rissi paints a picture and sings a song with a tremendous, unforgettable voice. As emotionally healing as it is ultimately joyful.” —Rita Williams-Garcia, Newbery Honor author of One Crazy Summer

“Beautiful and moving, this book will make you cry. But it will also mend your heart. A story that reminds us that love will help see us through, even in the darkest of times.” —Jasmine Warga, Newbery Honor author of Other Words for Home

“Tender, heart-shifting, and deeply absorbing, Anica Mrose Rissi’s latest novel is a magical exploration of what it means to love and let go. A truly beautiful and profoundly intimate story.” —Corey Ann Haydu, author of Eventown

“With beautiful prose and quiet humor, Anica Mrose Rissi tells a story of grief and loneliness and love and joy, the meandering, maddening mess that is healing from a great loss, and the (kind, awkward, surprising) people who help you through it. A quietly powerful tale that feels like an ageless classic.” —Claire Legrand, bestselling author of Some Kind of Happiness

"A startlingly honest portrayal of grief, Wishing Season carries us through the bewildering beauty of a perfect Maine summer and a season of terrible loss. I loved this wise, lovely, delicate story of what we hold onto and how we let go.” —Laurel Snyder, author of Orphan Island

★ “By turns gentle and forthright, this well-paced story leads readers to questions about loss and the durability of relationships. The island setting is authentically and lovingly described, adding measurably to the story’s ambiance…. A droll, well-paced, and deeply moving book about loss and friendship.” —Kirkus, starred review

★ “Rissi builds an empathetic voice that cradles Lily’s grieving process and experience of change.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“A heartening portrayal of a resilient character.” —Booklist

★ “This achingly sad but also hopeful story set on a small Maine island poses questions about the power of our connections—to other people, to animals, and to the world around and beyond.” —Horn Book, starred review

★ “Beautifully written….a must-purchase for any library.” —School Library Journal, starred review

“[A] beautifully written, moving novel, set in summer on an island off Maine…. Anica Mrose Rissi offers a perfect ending to her lovely novel of sibling love and healing in the vein of The Thing About Jellyfish and The Line Tender.” —The Buffalo News

“If all of this sounds grim, it’s not…. The story moves quickly, with short chapters, crisp colorful prose, and fast-paced, believable dialogue. Rissi’s book is by turns profound, witty, wrenching and poignant. There’s a little something in Wishing Season for every reader, not just those who are grieving.” —Portland Press Herald

Available in hardcover, audio, and ebook

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Recommended for ages 8 and up