The Wonderful Wishes of B.

A grieving 10-year-old living in small-town Ohio plans to say “Goodbye, heart. Hello, Tin Man,” in this quirky story about loss by Nolte (Back to the Bright Before). Since her grandmother’s death, Beatrice Corwell’s ambition has been to stop feeling—not just grief, but any emotion at all. Project Tin Man hasn’t gotten very far: she’s still grieving her grandmother, she’s irritated by newcomer Caleb, she’s hopeful that her absent father will come to town for his annual visit, she loves her eight rescue cats, and she yearns for her doll to come to life. When she realizes that her grandmother has somehow found a way to leave her messages—one word a time—and learns that Caleb’s granny is a witch, she enlists Caleb’s help in bringing her many desires to fruition. Lightly magical touches (Beatrice can seemingly communicate with her cats, who have a dance routine) and the inclusion of kind, indulgent neighbors (they let Beatrice’s mother cut their hair, even though she’s awful at it) make for a whimsical and touching story about connection, grief, and learning to understand and live with one’s feelings. Main characters read as white. Ages 8–12. Agent: Kerry Sparks, Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary. (June)