11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass- Tween Nook

Welcome everyone to our new Tween Nook tag!

Today's first official review for the Tween Nook is 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass.

This was a really cute book. 

The premise of the book was that Amanda was waking up everyday and re-living her birthday.  In the beginning, she was repeating the same actions and she was getting the same outcomes. Until the fifth day, there was a change - Amanda noticed that Leo had acted differently then he had in the days before!  Thus, their communication started and they were able to mend their relationship. I’m not entirely sure that this is the word I’m looking for, but I would say that there is a sense of “whimsy” in this book for sure. It's up to you, if you want to call this book a fantasy. But it adds an element that would pull in any dream driven tween. 

After 11 days, there is no change and Amanda and Leo are still re-living their birthdays.  Through some simple investigation, Amanda and Leo are able to speak with the woman who happened to have united them on the day of their birth. (Imagine living the same day over and over again and not having anything change?! Ugh. Talk about uncomfortable and not a whole lot of fun). 

That’s where the whimsy comes in! This woman, Angela has been around for a looooong time.  There is family history between Leo and Amanda’s family. Something that has to be explained to them by Angela. 

Leo and Amanda fought over an understandable reason: Leo made fun of his friendship with Amanda. When you’re almost 11, it might not always be the coolest to be best friends with a girl (but who knows now in 2019! This book might be a little dated?). 

That’s pretty relatable. As is leaving your lunch at home and not having enough lunch money. Feeling let down by your friends and feeling that you’re letting friends down too. I also thought it was important that no matter how hard she tried, Amanda’s mom still lost her job. Some things can’t be controlled and sadly, that’s one of them. 

For my first tween book review, I would give this book 4 coffee beans out of 5! I don’t have anything to go off of but I thought that it was well written and the whimsy of the song was adorable. 

- Jillian