Wish You Were Here

by Barbara Shoup

A high school senior tries to cope with the shifting patterns of his life while struggling to come to terms with his parents' divorce, his best friend's sudden departure, and his father's nearly fatal accident

Genres: Young Adult

288 pages, Hardcover

First published October 12, 1994

About the author

Barbara Shoup is the author of eight novels for adults and young adults, most recently An American Tune and Looking for Jack Kerouac, as well as a memoir, A Commotion in Your Heart: Notes about Writing and Life. She is the co-author of Novel Ideas: Contemporary Authors Share the Creative Process and Story Matters., as well as in The Writer and the New York Times travel section. Her young adult novels, Wish You Were Here and Stranded in Harmony were selected as American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults. The recipient of the PEN Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Fellowship and grants from the Indiana Arts Commission, she is the Writer-in-Residence at the Indiana Writers Center and a faculty member at Art Workshop International.

Reviews

[April Lashbrook · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed getting to know Jackson Watt and his divorced parents. It was published in 1994, so I was already out of college and working but I could appreciate the setting, music, and characters, especially Jackson's dad, Oz. Jackson faces some tough times his senior year, but grows through dealing with them.

[Karla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not badly written, but it was just bland. Personally, the story did not have an exciting conflict. The story was hard to get into, especially if there was distractions around. Usually, I do not have a hard time getting into a book even if there are distractions all around, but for some reason, this book changed that. I wanted to finish reading when I was reading the first one hundred pages. Eventually, the story did get better. Just because it got better does not mean that it was good. The character of Brady was kind of irrelevant, he did not show up until the end and briefly in the beginning. He just agitated me, and it would have been easier if the author truly did kill him off. Knowing the stories of several male characters from my surroundings such as my friends and classmates, I sometimes think that their stories are more interesting than Shoup's interpretation of Jackson's life. His romance life, his parental relationships, and his friendships were pretty standard. Overall, I would not recommend this book.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall this was fine. The main character was interesting and I cared what happened to him. Mostly the story rang true, but I was a bit skeptical of how open with him his divorced parents and their SOs were about their own emotional problems.

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen for TeensReadToo.com

Jackson pretty much had a normal teenage life. With two parents who were overly worried about him due to their divorce, to his best friend, Brady, who pretty much had the best ideas for the both of them, Jackson's life was the way he liked it. He was just too excited about his senior year and the plans he and Brady were making, like getting an apartment close to school.

Then everything changed when Jackson hadn't heard from Brady for quite some time. Turns out Brady ran away right after the fight he had with his father when he was hanging out with Jackson. With no phone calls, messages, or any details, no one knows where he went. He was the talk of the town; that is, until his disappearance was all-too-soon forgotten.

Everyone around Jackson seems to be moving on. His mom is dating a very successful businessman who really loves her, and the prospect of getting married is very positive. His dad has met a personal trainer who he seems to really like, but of course she could just be another one of his girlfriends. And his friends are starting not to care about what happened to Brady.

Jackson's dad, mom, and even his grandmother are trying to get him to move on. It's up to him to make the move, to forget about Brady and find his own identity.

An edgy and realistic novel, WISH YOU WERE HERE is one of the few teen novels out there that even guys can enjoy. Jackson is a character that anyone can relate to, and the teen angst in the novel is current for this generation. A perfectly chosen novel for a personal revival.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This YA book was written by someone from Indianapolis, and the book is set there. The locality of the book would be fun for teens I think here because they talk about going to IU and some of the parents involved are IU fans and such. This book started out as a book about a regular guy who is struggling after his parents divorce and his best friend leaves. These parts are good…really good. Unfortunately the book winds up dealing with too many issues including suicide, drugs, drinking and driving, following the Dead, going to Graceland (the worst part of the book), casual sex, etc. It was almost as if the author was afraid that the book was going to be boring so she stuck all this unnecessary issues in at the end. Skip it.

[Bex · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I started reading it I didn't really want to continue. I didn't like the 90s that much and reliving them through the eyes of Jackson wasn't something I really wanted to do. I couldn't really identify with the divorce stuff- maybe my age (being younger than the characters in the book by about 8 years) understood and dealt with divorce better because it was so common place. Maybe?

Plus everyone is so messed up. Were people 6-8 years older than me all potheads and did they all drink all the time? Was I that naive? I mean it is possible but I just kind of felt like this took the early 90s and added a heavy dose of freaked out media and parent-thinking to make things really bad.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book, I learned how people can stand up for themselves. Jasckson thought he needed his best friend Brady. When he ran away, he thought he can't survive, and life would be a mess, until he realized that he already survived. Jackson changed throughout the book from being a coward, to know what he wants and stand up for himself. Even though throughout the book, Jackson kept having this thought of this of how and what Brady would think and what he would do if he was in Jackson's situation. I think he wants Brady's voice to be in his head even though he doesn't need that thought to be himself.

[Hunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wish You Were Here is about a highschool student(Jax)and his life when his best friend(Brady)leaves with out any warning. At first Jax isn't sure what to do because he's never been without Brady or on his own. As this happens his mother also gets re-married, Jax gets two new step sisters, and he also has to worry about what he's going to with his life.

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having an author from my home state made this book enjoyable. Even though I don't LOVE Indiana, it was nice to pick up on things that I knew about. Cities, colleges, etc. that were based on things from Indiana. I also liked the plot and how it was set in the 90s. Good book. :)

[Secretdustbunnies]

Meh. Had trouble getting through it cause I was in a reading slump, but aside from occasionally boring family drama, it was decent. The dad-son relationship is what interested me most. That and him growing some balls and getting into some trouble. :)

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Borrowed from library,

FS: "After the divorce, my dad's shrink told him it was important for the two of us to do things together, o he bought this book called Amazing America and arraigned our vacations so that could visit some of the strange places it described."

LS:

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wish You Were Here by Barbara Shoup (1994)

[Jaci · Rating 2 out of 5]

I actually liked this book a lot more than I thought I would. It wasn't amazing or anything, but I enjoyed it. I like the whole story with Jackson and I liked the way it was written!

[Amy]

Couldn't get into this one. Whole lot of messed up characters.