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Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen by Lauren Myracle
Birthdays which are memorable, for reasons both great and bad, happy and sad, stick with us. Eleven by Lauren Myracle details a year in the life of a girl named Winnie. Every chapter highlights a month in that year, following Winnie as she deals with various goings-on at school and at home. Twelve and Thirteen are set up the same way, with one chapter devoted to each month, and each book chronicling a year.
Things kick off on Winnie's eleventh birthday. It's a weird, exciting, fun, scary age. She's not a teenager yet, much less a grownup, but she's no longer a little kid either. She's not sure what to do when her best friend starts acting differently. Aren't they supposed to be best friends forever? Happily, she finds new friends who like her for who she is; happily, her home life with her parents and siblings is comfy-cozy.
Then Winnie is Twelve. Suddenly, everything seems to be changing: her family, her friends, her life, her body. She's got plenty on her mind and plenty of people around her, including her old best friend, her new best friends, and a cute boy. Sixth grade certainly is shaping up to be more than she expected!
In Thirteen, Winnie has her first-ever boyfriend, Lars. She likes him, but she isn't always sure how to act around him. She sometimes finds herself torn between her two best friends, Cinnamon and Dinah, for although the three of them get along famously, they don't always want to do the same things. Winnie remains protective of her younger brother, in awe of her older sister, and close to her parents, especially her mom.
This trilogy will certainly appeal to kids in elementary school and middle school, as they are going through the same things Winnie is going through. Readers will wince with Winnie when she gets embarrassed and smile when she smiles.
It's been fun to watch Winnie become Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen. She reminds me a bit of Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's Alice McKinley (who also has one shy best friend, one outspoken best friend, and frank family discussions) and Lois Lowry's Anastasia Krupnik (due to her relationship with her younger brother). Though Thirteen is supposed to be the final book in the line, but I'd certainly pick up Fourteen - and beyond!
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