NOTE: Citations in this Study Guide refer to the Kindle version of The Wishing Spell, published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (July 17, 2012).

The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer is the fantasy story of twins Alex and Conner Bailey as they are catapulted into a land where fairy tales are real and they must find the ingredients of a mythical spell to find their way home. This is a fairy tale in its own as Alex and Conner must go to the four corners of the Fairy Tale Kingdom to find the all of the items used for the Wishing Spell. Unbeknownst to them, one of the fairy tale land's evilest villains is also on the hunt for the items, making it a race to see whose wish will be able to come true.

Queen Snow White goes to visit her stepmother, the Evil Queen, in her dungeon, determined to know why her stepmother intended to kill her. The Evil Queen does not want to answer Snow White’s question, but she tells Snow White that sometimes villains are only evil because of unfortunate circumstances. After a short time, the Evil Queen decides to tell Snow White her real story. Before she begins, she informs Snow White that sometimes there are no happy endings to some stories.

Twins Alex and Conner sit in their classroom listening to a lesson in fairy tales. Alex answers all of the teacher's questions, but Conner finds himself in trouble as he has fallen asleep. He is able to answer the teacher's questions but is embarrassed by the attention placed on him. After school, as Alex is focused on the class's next fairy tale assignment and Conner is focused on other things, they walk by their old home and find that it has been sold. Their mother is waiting for them at home while she is on a break from work and she says that she knew about the house sale before the children told her. During the discussion, their mother gets a phone call from her work saying that she has to spend the next day working 12 hours, ruining the children's birthday plans and adding to their depression.

The next day, the twins are surprised once they return home from school to find their Grandma has come to celebrate their birthdays with them. One of the presents they receive is The Land of Stories, a book that their father used to read to them. As Alex puts the book away before bed, she wishes that her life could be more like a fairy tale. Later, the book hums and glows at odd times, with the oddest being during class. Conner realizes the truth about the book and that Alex wants to enter the book but before he can stop her from jumping in, Conner trips, causing both of them to fall.

Upon their arrival in the fairy tale land, they are met by a giant frog who invites the children to his home for tea; Conner nicknames him Froggy. Froggy gives them details about the land and tells them that the Evil Queen has escaped from Snow White's dungeon. Froggy also realizes that the children are from another land and need to return home. Froggy gives them a mysterious journal and tells them about the Wishing Spell and the journal states how to create it. Alex and Conner agree that this may be their only chance of getting home.

The twins come across a gingerbread house belonging to a witch who wants to eat them. Conner is quick in wishing that the witch is a vegetarian to escape. Coming to Rapunzel's tower, the twins learn from the journal that one of the first pieces for the Wishing Spell is a lock of Rapunzel's hair, which they immediately find.

The Evil Queen receives a visit from her former assistant, the Huntsman. She has a task for him but since he is unable to do it, she enlists his daughter and renames her Huntress and tells her to find the Wishing Spell items. The magic mirror tells the queen that two children are also looking for the items. Alex and Conner meet Goldilocks as she is fighting Malumclaw and his Big Bad Wolf pack. When the fight is over, Goldilocks gives the twins a dagger and a warning to get out of the forest.

Alex and Conner reach Cinderella's castle and the children learn about the ball being held that night. They try to use towels as robes and fake identities to enter the ball, but are denied. The head guard Sir Lampton overhears this and offers to escort Alex and Conner inside and to show them around. During the private tour they get a glimpse of Cinderella and notice she is pregnant. Eventually, they wind up in Cinderella's private storage room and they meet Cinderella herself as she shows them various things, including her glass slippers. Soon afterwards, a group of Snow White's soldiers arrive to tell Cinderella and Prince Charming about the Evil Queen's escape, ending the ball. As Alex and Conner leave, they are shocked to find that one of Cinderella's slippers has been placed in their bag.

When Alex and Conner come to Red Riding Hood's kingdom, Conner climbs a tree so that he can get over the wall. Alex follows him and lands on a haystack. As they make their way to the castle, they see the giant beanstalk belonging to Jack. They go to visit Jack, but he is mostly unresponsive. A conversation with Jack's magic harp in his house reveals that Jack is sad because he is in love with someone who is gone and that he has to deliver a basket to Red Riding Hood in the afternoon.

The magic harp persuades Jack to bring Alex and Conner along with him, but Red Riding Hood is unimpressed with them. This allows Alex and Conner the opportunity to check out Red Riding Hood's basket room, but they are unable to find the basket they need. When they come back later that night, a mysterious figure also enters and is able to immediately get a piece of Red Riding Hood's main basket. Conner accidentally calls attention to himself and in an effort to escape quickly, the stranger kicks a lantern at the other baskets, lighting the room on fire. As Alex and Conner make their hasty escape, Alex is also able to get a piece of the basket.

While Alex and Conner are lost, they wind up being kidnapped by a goblin and troll who take them to the Goblin and Troll Territory to be forced to become slaves. On the way to the dungeon, a young female troll is focused on Conner as he goes by. Once they are placed in a cell, they try to ask others how to get out. No one speaks, except an old man who the twins realize is the tradesman who gave the journal writer information about the Wishing Spell. They ask about the witch who gave the journal writer the riddle list of items needed, but the tradesman tells them that the witch died in her thorn pit bush and that it has been enchanted to swallow whoever goes near it.

Later in the night, the female troll who looked at Conner earlier comes to the cell and offers to free Conner and Alex if Conner kisses her. Conner reluctantly agrees, but once out of the cell, Alex shuts the troll in and frees everyone else. As the group of slaves, Alex, Conner, and the tradesman tiptoe through the throne room, Alex notices that one of the items they are looking for is the crown of the Goblin and Troll king. Conner tries to get it but lands on the king who sounds the alarm as Conner grabs the crown. While racing through a tunnel, the tradesman knocks down a statue to trap the goblins and trolls, but tells Conner and Alex to go on without him as he knows he is a wanted man for all of his dishonest trades.

After the twins get out of the Goblin and Troll Territory, the pair finds themselves in the fairy kingdom. They encounter a fairy named Trix who is crying because she is about to be put on trial for changing another fairy's wings. Conner collects some of her tears, and then they offer to go with Trix to her trial. At the fairy council, Conner tells the fairies that Trix was only defending herself from a bully and that the goblins and trolls are kidnapping people and that the fairies need to go help.

The fairies agree and they start to leave, but one of them calls for her pet that runs towards Alex and Conner. They are shocked to find that it is a walking fish, which they thought only existed in their father's made up stories. As they consider this, the Evil Queen makes a deal with Malumclaw and his wolves. If the wolves bring Alex and Conner to her unharmed, she will give Malumclaw Red Riding Hood so that he may have revenge for the death of his father.

When Alex and Conner get to the Sleeping Kingdom, they notice that everything and everyone look as if they are still sleeping. Instead of sneaking in, Alex and Conner go directly into the throne room of the castle to find Sleeping Beauty and her Prince Charming talking to their adviser. Just as Conner is showing Sleeping Beauty a trick on how to stay awake using rubber bands, Cinderella's slipper slips out of Alex's bag. Prince Charming calls for the guards, causing Alex and Conner to run and hide in a bedroom at the top of the castle. Sleeping Beauty comes in and tells them that they do not need to hide. She knows that they are there for the enchanted spindle that put her to sleep as someone else had asked for it before to create the Wishing Spell. She gives the spindle to Alex and Conner on the condition that they return it to her once they are finished; then she shows them a secret way out of the castle.

Using the journal to locate the secret entrance, Alex and Conner are able to get into Snow White's castle after nightfall. They do not find the coffin where the journal says it should be in a hidden storage room. As Conner and Alex search the room, Alex finds a stack of letters from a lady named Evly to a man named Mira before they must hide as Snow White enters the room.

After a brief discussion with her soldiers, Snow White is startled to see Alex and Conner. Snow White tells them that the coffin was returned to the dwarf mines and that anyone who crosses the Queen is in grave danger. When Alex and Conner get to the dwarf mines, they find the coffin and get a jewel before being surrounded by Malumclaw and his group. Alex kicks a lantern towards them so they can escape in a cart, but upon leaving the cave they are taken prisoner by the same goblin and troll who kidnapped them earlier.

The wolves eventually catch up and attack the goblin and troll allowing Alex and Conner to run away. They go to the cliff overlooking the ocean but they are still being pursued by the wolves. In a desperate act, Conner pushes Alex into the ocean and jumps in after her. During this, the Evil Queen comes to Goldilocks through a mirror in a barn and informs her of Red Riding Hood's love for Jack and that Goldilocks' fugitive status was caused by Red Riding Hood. Swearing revenge, Goldilocks leaves to pay a visit to Red Riding Hood.

Alex and Conner wake up safely in a clam shell in Mermaid Bay. The Sea Foam Spirit comes and tells the children that she is actually the Little Mermaid and that she did not get a happy ending as her prince married someone else. Alex realizes that her dagger is the final piece of the Wishing Spell, but the Sea Foam Spirit tells the children that it is not with her. She gave it to a man who promised to destroy it once he successfully created the Wishing Spell.

The Sea Foam Spirit tells Alex and Conner that the dagger is now in a place where people throw away unwanted items and Alex guesses it is the thorn bush pit the tradesman had talked about. The Sea Foam Spirit tells her mermaids to get the twins quickly to the shore as the Evil Queen is also looking for all of the items and that the spell can only be used once more. She also gives them a pair of shells to wear to protect themselves from being trapped in the pit.

It does not take long for Alex and Conner to get to the thorn bush pit. Wearing the shells given to them, they go to the bottom of the pit and quickly find the dagger they are looking for. As they make their way out, one of the vines grabs Conner and knocks the shell off of him. As they are being pulled further into the pit, someone grabs them and forcefully pulls them out. They realize it is Froggy and he says that they have to come with him as the Fairy Godmother wants to see them and in exchange for bringing them, she will lift the curse that keeps him as a frog. As Alex and Conner make up their mind to go with Froggy, they see Goldilocks dragging Red Riding Hood to the pit. Before Red Riding Hood falls, she is grabbed by the wolves who say they are taking Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks, and the twins to the evil queen. Froggy escapes, telling them that he will come for them and bring help.

As soon as the Evil Queen is in possession of the Wishing Spell items, Conner knocks the vial out fairy tears out of her hands causing her to become enraged. The Evil Queen then tells the children her story of how she was once a girl named Evly who was in love with a man named Mira. Before they could be married an evil enchantress kidnapped her and once the enchantress found out about Evly and Mira's secret notes, she had him trapped in the magic mirror. Ever since then the evil queen has been desperate for a way to free him, even becoming known as the evil queen. This causes Alex to cry and the Evil Queen collects Alex's tears to finish the spell. Mira is freed, but he dies seconds afterwards.

The wolves decide to attack Red Riding Hood and Jack saves Goldilocks but the Huntsman attacks Jack. The Huntsman is defeated just as the Huntress walks in and she attacks Jack but Goldilocks steps in and a battle ensues. Red Riding Hood is chased to the top part of the castle, but Malumclaw is killed by one of the cannons being fired by Snow White's army. Froggy saves Alex and Conner and they try to get Evly to come with them, but she refuses and she and Mira are swallowed up by the magic mirror. Goldilocks and the Huntress end up on the roof, but the Huntress is knocked off by a cannonball landing under her. When Goldilocks comes out of the castle she is arrested as she is a fugitive of all kingdoms.

When the group returns to Snow White's castle, Alex and Conner are shocked to learn that Snow White has known about Evly's story and that she helped her to escape. Red Riding Hood rescues Goldilocks from the dungeon so that Goldilocks and Jack can ride off together into the night. Froggy consoles Red Riding Hood afterwards and a friendship begins. Conner and Alex stay with Snow White but decide they need to find a way home. Before they can begin, everyone is summoned to Cinderella's castle as she has had her baby. Froggy is reluctant to go, but Red Riding Hood insists.

At Cinderella's, Snow White tells everyone the Evil Queen's true story and Cinderella decides to name her baby Hope. The fairy godmother wants a private word with Alex and Conner and she is revealed to be their Grandma. Grandma explains her past as well as Alex and Conner's father’s. Before taking the children back to their home, Grandma changes Froggy back to his human form of Charlie Charming. Conner happily returns home, but Alex says she wants to return someday.