13 Gifts by Wendy Mass

Okay, so I'm WAY behind in my reviews and I've been sitting on this one for a couple of weeks. Which means I should have told you way before now that this third installment — which brings together Amanda and Leo (of 11 Birthdays) and Rory (of Finally) with soon-to-be 13-year-old Tara — wraps up the series beautifully. And yes, that means we find out the story behind the lady with the duck-shaped birthmark.

Tara's parents have always moved around a lot, what with her mom being a scientist and all. And when Tara finally makes an effort to get "in" with a group of kids at school, she finds herself in trouble for playing part in a prank. Apparently her principal doesn't see the humor in students stealing the school mascot. (It's not like it was a REAL goat, or anything.)

Next thing Tara knows, she's kicked out of school and bumped from accompanying her parents on their summer trip to Madagascar. Instead, she'll be spending the summer with her aunt in Willow Falls, her parents' hometown. Needless to say, Tara's a bit cranky about this.

After a series of mishaps on her journey to Willow Falls, including getting all her spending money stolen, Tara starts making friends but then realizes she can't afford to buy one of them a Bar Mitzvah gift. After getting busted by a familiar face for trying to pawn one of her uncles collectibles for gift money, Tara is forced to work off her mistake by collecting a list of 13 special things. Tara heads out on her over-the-top scavenger hunt with the help of Amanda, Leo and Rory who suspect they know who is behind Tara's new responsibilities.

As all three storylines weave together, fans of this series will no doubt be itching to re-read the first two books to track back the clues Mass left behind. And in her classic style, Mass mixes laugh-out-loud moments with those that leave you misty-eyed for a satisfying (yet bittersweet) conclusion to a must-read middle grade trilogy. For readers 8 and up.

Finally by Wendy Mass

Fans of 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass can revisit Leo and Amanda's neighborhood (including some of its more interesting neighbors) in this companion book about one of their classmates.

Rory has been waiting a long time to turn 12, because her parents have said it is at this magical age that she will be old enough to do many of the things she has begged to do for years. In fact, there are so many things that her parents have forbidden until 12 years of age that Rory has quite an extensive list of things she wants to do once the big day finally arrives.

Rory believes that when she's able to do things like stay at home by herself, shave her legs, and get a cell phone, life will be grand and she will obtain a much cooler status in the school hierarchy. As you can imagine, Rory is in for more than one surprise.

Mass taps into tween angst as things don't go quite as Rory planned, but never without a smile to it. Finally touches on such middle-school struggles as navigating the new waters of boy-girl parties to saving face and cliques. And when Rory gets the opportunity to meet the Tiger Beat cover boy she's crushing on, no doubt many a 12-year-old reader will imagine a certain teenage pop star in his place.

As far as continuing the magical "Groundhog's Day" effect of 11 Birthdays, Finally doesn't go quite that far into the mystic, but there certainly are mystical elements at play here. Hopefully a third in the series isn't far behind Mass's upcoming Candymakers, due out this fall. 4 1/2 bookmarks.  And be careful what you wish for.

Great Interview with Wendy Mass on Cynsations

Wanted to share a link to a great interview with one of my favorite authors, Wendy Mass. Enjoy!

11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass

If you've been a reader of this blog for any time you already know I'm a huge fan of Wendy Mass. Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life is on my top 10 favs of all time list (and that was a hard list to create... how do you pick just 10???) So, when I saw that her new book 11 Birthdays was out, I couldn't wait to pick it up.

I read this with my 7-year-old son (which meant we only got through a couple of chapters a night) and this was torture because I could have read this straight through in one sitting. It's the story of two kids, Amanda and Leo, who were born on the same day, in the same hospital, and who have celebrated their birthdays together every year... up until their 11th. That's because something happened on their 10th birthday that caused a rift in their friendship, and they haven't spoken since.

It's been a rough year on Amanda, and it's all she can do to get through this 11th birthday -- her whole day is a flop, including her party. She can't wait to have the whole day behind her. Unfortunately, when she wakes up the next morning, it's still her birthday. And the day keeps repeating over and over, day after day.

Grownups will remember the Bill Murray movie "Groundhog Day" which had a similar premise of a repeating day, but with 11 Birthdays, this story isn't just about getting the day right, but the background story of why it started happening in the first place.

Amanda and Leo are both likable characters, wonderfully drawn in Mass' engaging voice. As with all her books, the story tugs on the heartstrings and demonstrates the true importance (and magic) of a truly special friendship.

My sons laughed out loud more than a few times, and we looked forward to the time spent together within the page of this story.

Mass says there's a companion book to this somewhere in the future and I look forward to seeing where the story goes. 4 1/2 bookmarks -- put this one on your shelf.

2009 Cybils Winners announced

The Cybils are literary awards judged by children's and YA bloggers (one of which is not me, unfortunately.) The 2009 recipients are listed here and I agree with some of the winners. Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games for YA Fiction (SF/F), obviously, had my vote. And, not surprisingly, Newbery winner The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman took the middle grade SF/F category.

I personally would have voted for Every Soul a Star for Middle Grade Fiction. I tried to read The London Eye a few months back and just couldn't get into it. I'm sure it's a great book and nothing against Siobhan Dowd at all, just didn't do it for me. Plus, Wendy Mass just happens to be one of my favorite authors, so I may be a bit biased on that category ;)

Other winners were Mo Willems,  Shannon and Dean Hale, and E Lockhart. See all the winners.

Congrats to everyone!

Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass

Witnessing a total solar eclipse is something that not many people can claim to do. But the three main characters in the latest book from Wendy Mass (Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life and A Mango Shaped Space) do just that... and they learn a little about themselves in the bargain. 

Told from the perspective of three kids: model wanna-be Bree, slightly overweight loner Jack and homeschooled astronomer in the making Ally, Every Soul A Star explores the wonders of space, Earth and how everybody has to find their own place on it.

Ally has grown up in the boonies, her parents built Moon Shadow campground out in the wilderness as a place for stargazers to pilgrimage to, and this particular summer, they'll be coming in droves as the camp is in the direct path of a total solar eclipse. She loves living under a blanket of stars, and has looked forward to this summer pretty much her whole life. But there's a catch. After the eclipse her family is going to be moving to the city for the first time ever. 

City girl Bree has just found out her family is moving to Moon Shadow to take over for Ally's family, and she's none too happy about being away from her cell phone and friend network. She's more concerned about her toenail polish than which constellations are which, and has no problem letting Ally know that she's getting the raw deal.

Jack finds himself in Moon Shadow as a way to make up for a failing science grade, and summer school. Not exactly one of Bree's popular crowd, Jack just wants to get through the summer and enjoy the outdoors while doing it.

Mass weaves these three stories together masterfully, all told in first person POV yet retaining unique voices for each. Even the snobby Bree comes off as sympathetic and likable.

I'm a huge fan of Jeremy Fink and Mango Shaped Space, and have looked forward to Mass's latest dip into a fascinating subject. She demonstrates why astronomy is so fascinating and young readers will enjoy the celestial tidbits of info they'll pick up along the way. 4 bookmarks -- would make a great holiday gift!!

(NOTE:

I'm hoping to have an interview with the author in the near future, so if you've read Every Soul a Star and have a question for Wendy Mass, post them in the comments section and I'll try to include them in the interview.)

A Mango Shaped Space by Wendy Mass

Wendy Mass is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. My son, my husband and I all read (separately) "Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life" and love-love-loved it. (We all cried. All of us.) Ever since, I've been wanting to check out some of her other books and I found the title of this one intriguing. The story did not disappoint.

Mia is an unusual girl in that she has a "disorder" called synesthesia. I put disorder in quotes for two reasons. One, at first Mia doesn't realize she is any different than anyone else and two, because the synesthesia is not a detriment to Mia. Quite the opposite. So what is synesthesia? Well, if you have it you might taste bananas every time someone sneezes. Or you might see puffs of mango-colored clouds come out of your cat's mouth every time she breaths. Apparently, synesthesia is different for everyone, but it's a connection between your senses and for Mia it means she sees letters and numbers in color, and with patterns and texture.  When she hears sound, she sees shapes in the air before her eyes. Life has always been like this for her, and she doesn't know any different. Until she realizes that nobody else in her world experiences things the way she does. And from then on, Mia thinks something is wrong with her. She struggles in school, has few friends, and finally confides in her parents. I won't give away any more of the story, because the from there on out, the story pulls you along magnificently as Mia and her family work to find out what's going on.

And of course, Mia's beloved cat Mango (named for the color of her breath) plays a pivotal role in helping Mia discover that who you are is not always defined by what you can or cannot do.

As a reader, I was fascinated with synesthesia and loved discovering this subculture of people who experience the world in such a unique way. As a pet lover, this book broke my heart. Mia is totally believable in how she deals with her only friends, her classmates and her siblings. Once I hit the end of the first chapter, I literally couldn't put the book down -- the pacing is excellent and I was completely engaged in Mia's world. A rare 4.75 bookmarks for this one and I can't wait to read Wendy Mass' other books -- look for upcoming reviews on Leap Day and Heaven Looks A Lot Like The Mall.

Guest Review -- Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass

Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life.

A pre-teen boy goes on a breath-taking adventure to find the meaning of life. With a few twists and an amazing ending, Jeremy Fink is a great book.

-- HG, age 9