La Piedra de Los Deseos

Spooksville #9

by Christopher Pike

Be very, very careful what you wish for in this ninth book in the Spooksville series New York Times bestselling author Christopher Pike.While hiking in the woods near Spooksville, Adam and his friends find a cube-shaped stone. It is clear, like a crystal, and seems to shine with colored light. To their surprise, they discover that if they hold it and make a wish for something, the wish will come true!They call it the Wishing Stone. And they love it. Until they discover that there is a price to be paid for each wish…and that the price can be deadly.

Genres: Horror, Middle Grade, Fantasy, Young Adult, Childrens, Paranormal, Science Fiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Christopher Pike is the pseudonym of Kevin McFadden. He is a bestselling author of young adult and children's fiction who specializes in the thriller genre.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

McFadden was born in New York but grew up in California where he stills lives in today. A college drop-out, he did factory work, painted houses and programmed computers before becoming a recognized author. Initially unsuccessful when he set out to write science fiction and adult mystery, it was not until his work caught the attention of an editor who suggested he write a teen thriller that he became a hit. The result was Slumber Party (1985), a book about a group of teenagers who run into bizarre and violent events during a ski weekend. After that he wrote Weekend and Chain Letter. All three books went on to become bestsellers.

Reviews

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished another Spooksville book!This one is called The Wishing Stone.The story begins with Adam,Watch,Sally and Cindy exploring in the hills.They are trying to stay away from going to far outside of Spooksville,because of all of the dangerous things they have faced so far,eventhough Spooksville itself is dangerous.Sally sees something Shiney in the woods between two rocks and it's this hand with a stone inside.Sally ends up taking the stone.They are walking and sally stubs her toe and wishes for new shoes.There is a bright light and she has new shoes.The kids figure its a wishing stone and it dosen't take long before the kids to start wishing.Sally ends up wishing for money and clothes.Cindy does to.Watch wishes for a force feild and a laser gun for him and adam to shoot at each other.Adam is very hesitant at this idea,but Watch informs him that he can set the gun to stun mode just in case.Everybody has made wishes except for Adam.Afrer alot of pressure,he eventually makes a wish for galactic peice.The kids begin walking on the path and run into this hooded figure that demands to be paid back in grantoms,which is I guess their form of money.The guy sounds like a robot and says if they cant pay their debts,they will be sent to a slave planet to pay their dues.The hooded figure holds up this gadget and sends a beam to Sally and Cindy instantly making them disappear. Watch ends up shooting this guy with his laser gun.Adam takes the transporter thing and thinks if he pressed the same button he should appear where the girls got sent.He does this and they disapear.This is where the kids are split up like most of these books.We first follow the girls.Cindy and Sally got sent to Americon 37,a slave planet.They are in this warehouse being forced to make lamps.They meet this girl named Hironee,a girl with green skin who explains what is going on.The wishing stone is sent to multiple places from these things called Kasters.The Kasters are basically these humanoid crocodile looking things.They make products and basically collect debts with the wishing stone and send collectors to get their debt.If the person cant and they usually cant,because its an outrageous ammount,they get sent to the slave planet.This planet is ran buy one of the crocodile monsters named Teeh.He is dangerous and supposedly eats skin of his victims.We learn from Hironee that she had a friend named Charlie that died,because he escaped and these guard robots got him with laaers.We cut to Adam and Watch,they are on a different planet,because when the collector got shot he hit a different button or something like that.They go in this restaurant and order food and there is no charge.I dont know a ton about Star Wars,but I do enjoy the Family Guy episodes that spoof it.this is alot like the scene I saw of the raturant with the bug guy.This book gets even more like Star Wars though later.They are about to eat when a guy approaches and asks to join them.He has this transmitter that basically speaks whatever language you have to.He gives one to watch and Adam and tells them his name is Fur,even though he is hairless.There is a funny exchange between fur and watch about him being bald.He explains he is a trader and wants to make a trade.They of cours ask him for how many ever grantoms they need,but he explains he is not that wealthy.The two boys explain they have to save Cindy and Sally from  Americon 37 and ask if thats where they are.Fur explains that they are not there.They are at blank.Adam and watch trade him the sheild and the Laser gun for him helping getting the girls back.He is hesitant but agrees.The plan is to go to this slave planet and erase all of the debt that the kids have.Back on American 37,Teeh tries to intimidate Sally to work faster and she has a plan as well and it's awesome.Sally was definitely the highlight and she has one of the best One-liners.Where Teeh says "You will pay for this" and she responds with "We are done paying."I thought The wishing stone was a really fun book.It felt at times that it was a little much,especially all of the space talk,but still a really fun book.I give The Wishing Stone a five out of five stars.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember my best friend and I being addicted to this series. We "shared" a collection and spent most of our allowance on it. I loved it, and couldn't read each book fast enough.

[Carrie (brightbeautifulthings) · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Adam and his friends are hiking in the woods near Spooksville, they discover a sparkling crystal stone. Though Adam has reservations, Sally and the others decide to take it, thinking they’ll be able to study or sell it. It turns out the stone has even greater powers: it grants wishes. Everything they wish for appears immediately. Before long, they realize that everything comes with a price, and some prices are too high to be paid.

Not surprisingly, I like the Spooksville books best when they’re straightforward horror, which this certainly isn’t. All the books have elements of horror in them, and most are blended with science fiction or fantasy or both, to varying effects. The Wishing Stone dives straight into science fiction territory, much like Aliens in the Sky, and I’m not really a fan. Pike does sci-fi well when it comes to other dimensions or time travel, but I’m less fond of his space explorations (think The Tachyon Web–not his best.)

The book follows a familiar pattern of Adam having doubts, Sally getting the group into trouble, and various combinations of the group scheming to get them out of it. I admire Sally’s quick thinking and the way she never gives up even in the face of almost certain defeat, along with Adam and Watch’s abilities to discover loopholes in the universal justice systems. There’s plenty of action, a little grit, and a lot of luck. It’s a cute read, but ultimately not one of my favorites in the series.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

[Michella (BoekenMiesje) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 ⭐️

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was not what I expected. It turned into a sci-fi fantasy thing and I really didn't like it.

I have not read many Christopher Pike books. This one I was not impressed by. I think some of his other books look a lot better. That's it for now.

~Bookworm~

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun adventure! This one has more of a sci fi feel to it vs horror. I think that's one of the things I like best about this series is the variety...some stories are horror, some fantasy, some sci fi...some are more intense and serious...some are more light and campy...and I am enjoying them all.

[Shakira · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed it quite a bit. As an avid fan of Pike, I saw several references to his other works.

[Elusive · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 'The Wishing Stone', Adam and co are hiking in the woods when Sally spots an extraordinary sculpted hand clutching a stone. After taking it, she grumbles about her shoes and wishes for a new pair. Her wish is granted but this instant gratification is indeed too good to be true.

This started off light and fun, what with Sally and Cindy making over-the-top wishes and Watch testing the limits of the mysterious stone. Then the sci-fi element and seriousness kicked in, with the dominant setting being a desert planet called Amacron Thirty-seven.

I really liked the way Sally kept thinking on her feet, as well as her pluckiness and determination despite having all odds against her. As usual, the four friends fought tooth and nail for one another. The trader, Fur, along with the wishes made by Watch and Adam helped them out big time.

Overall, 'The Wishing Stone' was highly eventful.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another great Spooksville book. I really appreciated the way that Sally's determined and slightly stubborn personality shined in The Wishing Stone and I hope that it will continue to do so in coming Spooksvilles. I also like the way that Christopher Pike writes his books in a way that is enjoyable even if you are not part of the target audience. Overall, a quick and fun read; can't wait to read number ten.

[Evelyn (devours and digests words) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Me and aliens? We don't get along.

There is something about sci-fi that turns me off. I went into this book blindly but with the expectation that it's more mystical rather than sci-fi, but the book is exactly the opposite of what I expected. That's fine. It's life. You can't always expect to get what you expect, no?

Overall, this book just didn't do it for me. If it was sci-fi and it was a good story, I would have cozied up to it. But cozied up I did not.

It was pretty fun though.

[Shyla Colt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the perfect spooky read for middle-grade children. It explores different planets, species, and has some life lessons aka be careful what you wish for, and nothing comes for free. The fact pace will keep them tubing pages. The cheese factor is incredibly high, but the scares are low, making it just right for kids who spooky easily.

[Ana Ibarra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another one where the party separates, but this was full of crazy, everywhere you look. It did follow the story from beginning to end, but, I dont know, the others had more, story, background, not sure what, but this one could be a stand-alone and it would have been fine.

[Coco A.]

Favorite book in the series. 100%.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading these with my 9 year old. Loved Christopher Pike when I was younger.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick fun ride. Really like the concept of wishing costs credits you cannot pay and become slave workers to aliens. Another solid entry in the series.

[Solim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than book 8. This one had a full sci fi theme going on.

[Entertainment · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh…

[Jennie Born · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story was a lot of fun to read.

[Jonathan Eduardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesante novela juvenil muy al estilo de "Escalofrìos". Recomendable !

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Wishing Stone, laden with pop culture references and a truly abscessed premise, is passable. Just simply passable. There's no realistic characters(just annoying ones) and that unnecessarily villainous antagonist (a blooming space lizard described as ugly several times) annoys immensely. Therefore, it's an inconspicuous paperback from the 1990's that has no real reason to exist but be a perpetual all-time low for an apparently bestselling series (cough, cough...mammoth of a lie). The first few chapters are enjoyable enough, but it eventually fades into said passable novel. I would avoid, personally, unless the Spooksville series of books are your unadulterated fave book series.

[Cameron Stolfuss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over the past month I read The wishing stone by Christopher Pike. This is a horror book that contained tons of action as Cindy, Watch, and Sally go to all different kinds of dimensions. In this book sally one of the main characters is walking through the woods and finds a wishing stone. As the story progresses the wishes get way out of hand. I rated this book 4/5 cause it had tons of twists and turns with tons of horror around every corner.