11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass

“The Hook”

"On their first birthday they learned to walk,
On their fifth birthday they planted seeds in homemade pots,
But on their tenth birthday they learned there are some words you can’t take back."[back of book]

Amanda and Leo have been together for all the birthdays they’ve had so far… 'I don’t even know why I hang out with her, I mean she’s a girl!'
Leo said to his friends on the day of his tenth birthday. Amanda had heard those words and nothing in the world was ever worse… 'I don’t understand, Leo is, or should I say was my best friend.' cried Amanda to her next best friend Stephanie. 'I’ll never spend another birthday with him again!'
'Come on Amanda you know the lady who was there when you were born, she said you must spend every birthday with him or something weird will happen.' said Stephanie. Amanda shook her head “no” sternly. And as much as Stephanie tried to talk her out of it, Amanda would not change her mind." [Pages 8-10]


Recommendation

Have you ever been in that position, where you hear something mean about yourself and it makes you feel beyond dreadful? If not, put yourself in Amanda’s shoes. She has just heard her best friend since birth telling his friends that she meant nothing to him, that she was just some girl. Just some girl, Amanda knew she was more than that and she didn’t need Leo to tell her otherwise. At least that’s what she thought, until one day Amanda wakes up on her eleventh birthday and hates the whole day through. Her first birthday without Leo was a lot worse than she thought. And great, now she has to come home to a boring birthday party in an itchy dress with only three friends who decided to come. After the awful party, Amanda is more than happy to go upstairs to her room and end turning eleven. Not for long…the next day when Amanda wakes up she glances at her alarm clock. The morning buzzer was going off. Time for school, Amanda thought as she got up to get dressed. Wait! Rewind, School!! It was supposed to be Saturday! Amanda looked at her calendar, her eyes went wide, and she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. It was Friday again!! How can this be?! She thought as she got dressed in the same clothes waiting for her from yesterday. She didn’t have much time, it was already 7:00! She hurried up and ran out the door. That day everything happened exactly the same.
68% on math test.
Check.
Forgetting lunch money.
Check.
Falling flat on face in cheerleading tryouts.
Check.
Just before she thought things couldn’t get any worse she received a note from Leo during science class. It took Amanda a few minutes to realize the note was explaining how the same thing was happening to him! Will Amanda and Leo ever find their way out of this awful situation? Will they ever be friends again? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

Recommendation by Sarah Jacob

Other Books I Recommend By This Author
Every Soul A Star