About Lana

Plunked down by circumstances in a quiet Nebraska town, Lana's placement in a foster home at first seems like a big mistake.  The house is full of special-needs kids, especially those with Down Syndrome, and Lana doesn't have that.  Slowly, though, she forges a relationship with each of them.  

Meanwhile, Lana's friendship with Chet, the boy next door, leads her to an antique store where the sign promises, "What you desire, Miss Hekkity provides."  

Lana Morris likes to draw.  But when she finds an old drawing kit in Miss Hekkity's store, she starts drawing things that happen.  Rainstorms.  Car accidents.  Mole-expungement. It seems, in fact, that she now has the power to wish things away, and to wish them into being.  But what should she really wish?

"The McNeals have created an enchanting heroine whom teens will root for as she struggles in a world made both familiar and extraordinary--a blend of the Midwest and Oz."  --The Chicago Sun-Times

"Fully-realized characters, both teen and adult, make this book a captivating read.  --VOYA

"great, pure, stand-alone, literary fiction . . ."  --The Rusty Key 

"a heartbreaking yet ultimately hopeful story steeped in adult betrayal and humiliation, teen confusion and fear, and imponderable acts of human cruelty and weakness . . . Teens will understand Lana’s desire to help her friends, but they will also appreciate her inner struggle when she decides the fate of her enemies."  —iPulp Children's Literature Review

 "With each new book, I've enjoyed the McNeals more and more . . . a light read without being trivial -- and after I finished it, I found that it stayed with me."   --Bookshelves of Doom