53 pages • 1 hour read
Chris ColferThe Wishing Spell
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2012A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 22-24Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 22 Summary: “Snow White’s Secret”
On their way to the Northern Kingdom, Alex and Conner wonder how they’ll get home now that the Wishing Spell can’t be used again. Froggy offers to let them stay with him while they search, and they accept the offer graciously. The guards take Goldilocks straight to the dungeon, and a protesting Jack follows. Alex and Conner find Snow White in the hidden room where the coffin used to be. They give Snow White the stone heart and tell her the queen’s story. Snow White knows all about Mira and admits that it’s “why I helped her escape” (404). In honor of the queen’s memory, the twins and Snow White vow to live their lives with compassion and never to look at villains the same way again.
That night, Red Riding Hood frees Goldilocks from the dungeon and helps her sneak to the woods, where Jack waits. Jack refuses to go back to his life in the Red Riding Hood Kingdom and live without Goldilocks anymore. Goldilocks and Jack ride into the forest. They know they’ll be the most wanted fugitives in the world, but they don’t care because “at last, they were in each other’s arms” (410). Red Riding Hood watches them go and cries.
Chapter 23 Summary: “A Royal Invitation”
Alex and Conner stay at Snow White’s palace for a few days to rest after their journey. As promised, they destroy the Little Mermaid’s dagger, and they make plans to go with Froggy to see the fairy godmother. Before they can set out, a messenger arrives with invitations to a ball at Cinderella’s castle to celebrate the birth of her yet unnamed child. The next day, the twins, Froggy, and Red Riding Hood accompany Snow White to the Charming Kingdom.
The Fairy Godmother is on her way, and while they wait, Snow White tells the story of the Evil Queen’s life to the other royals and the Fairy Council. They are all moved, and one of the fairies observes how the queen “never gave up hope” (422). Cinderella names her daughter Hope. The Fairy Godmother arrives and wants to speak with Alex and Conner in private. The twins go to see her and are shocked to discover the Fairy Godmother is their grandmother.
Chapter 24 Summary: “A Fairy’s Tale”
Their grandmother is overjoyed to see Alex and Conner are all right. She apologizes that they learned about the Land of Stories the way they did and confirms that the journal Froggy gave them belonged to their father. When their grandmother was a young fairy in training, she discovered the other world by accident by wishing to go somewhere “where people need me the most” (429). The wish brought her to the real world, where she discovered that stories of magic and happily-ever-after helped children forget the hardships of their lives for a little while. She made it her mission to tell the stories of her world to as many kids as possible and recruited the Brothers Grim, as well as other storytellers, to help.
Alex and Conner panic thinking that decades have passed at home, but their grandmother tells them not to worry. There used to be a big difference between the worlds, but when the twins were born, the passing of time aligned. Alex and Conner are part fairy, and it’s Alex’s power that unlocked the book in the first place, letting them travel between worlds. Alex, Conner, and their grandmother return to the celebration, where the guard who gave them a tour of the castle tells them he recognized them as their dad’s kids and gave them the glass slipper.
The Fairy Godmother gives the gift of bravery to Princess Hope and then removes the curse on Froggy, revealing that he’s the long-lost Prince Charlie. Lastly, the Fairy Godmother creates a door to the twins’ house in the ballroom. Conner yells goodbye and runs through. Alex thanks all the gathered fairy-tale characters for being the best friends she’s ever had before following her brother. Tears prick at her eyes but don’t fall because even though she’s leaving, “she knew in her heart it wasn’t really good-bye” (438).
Chapters 22-24 Analysis
These final chapters tie up remaining loose ends while setting up for the rest of the series. The Evil Queen was trapped in the mirror, which means she may not be dead and may make an appearance in later books. Goldilocks and Jack finally get their happily-ever-after, showing how happy endings are not all the same. For Cinderella and others, happily-ever-after meant marrying a prince and becoming a beloved monarch. For Jack and Goldilocks, it simply means being together, even though they are both wanted and will spend their days on the run. Snow White rights the wrongs she set in motion and grows as a person, suggesting more changes are to come. Princess Hope’s name brings the story full circle to Alex believing Cinderella’s story is about hope, and the princess’s name foreshadows the emotion the fairy-tale world’s inhabitants will need the most. Froggy is revealed to be the missing prince, suggesting he will have a more royal role in future books.
Alex and Conner learn once and for all that they are of both worlds. Not only are they part fairy, but they are a bridge that connects the worlds, which suggests that they might be able to travel back and forth at will. Alex, knowing the end isn’t goodbye, suggests she’ll return to the Land of Stories, and her fairy blood represents the power she holds to influence the worlds and make dreams come true.
The Fairy Godmother’s wish to go somewhere where she’s needed accidentally connected the two worlds and suggests that there is magic present in the real world, if not enough to have an impact without aid from the fairy-tale world. Her journey also suggests the exact words of a wish have power. If she’d wished to go where the fairy-tale world needed her most, she may never have found the real world. She wouldn’t have taken Alex and Conner’s father there, and Alex and Conner never would have been born to align the worlds. The Fairy Godmother’s travels between the worlds also suggests that Alex and Conner will return to the fairy-tale world and travel like their grandmother does.
