Thirteen (Winnie Years) [Hardcover]

Lauren Myracle (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: Winnie Years

Winnie Perry is a teenager—at last! And it’s a really big deal. A ginormous deal, which, wouldn’t you know it, brings ginormous problems along with it. Winnie’s bff #1 is growing up too slowly, while her bff #2 is growing up too fast, leaving Winnie stuck in the middle. Winnie’s boyfriend, Lars, is fabulous—except when he’s not. And as for Winnie’s family, well, BIG changes are in the air.

Bestselling author Lauren Myracle concludes her enormously popular trilogy about a winning young heroine whose humor, daring, and compassion for others is infectious and unforgettable.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5–8—On Winnie Perry's 13th birthday, she and her two best friends celebrate with makeovers at a swanky cosmetic counter. Over the course of the book, they stick up for and stand up to one another. Boys are also big on the social radar. The most touching scenes involve Winnie's family. Her sister is about to leave for college, and her six-year-old brother is baffled by the world, and watching a friend battle leukemia. Their mom is pregnant and overwhelmed, and her dad is calmly trying to keep everyone smiling, with tender and hilarious results. Each chapter is dedicated to one month of Winnie's 13th year, and the focus is on navigating tricky relationships. Winnie narrates in a convincing 13-year-old voice, and the characterizations of her friends are equally well done. This heartfelt and entertaining book follows Eleven (2004) and Twelve (2007, both Dutton), but it can be enjoyed on its own.—Amelia Jenkins, Juneau Public Library, AK
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From Booklist

Winnie, the endearing heroine of Eleven (2004) and Twelve (2007), has finally turned magic number thirteen. As in the previous titles, each chapter in this latest installment represents one month of Winnie’s life between birthdays. This year, she experiences her first kiss, grows her hair for charity, and learns to stand up for herself when her boyfriend, Lars, pays too much attention to sophisticated “Nose-Ring Girl.” The year ends happily with a heartfelt apology from Lars and the birth of her little sister, Magnolia. Fans of Judy Blume’s and Paula Danziger’s characters will find Winnie’s growing self-awareness and adolescent insecurity comfortingly familiar. Myracle’s secondary characters are exceptionally well drawn, especially Winnie’s siblings and her beleaguered mom, who hasn’t “had a moment to herself in centuries and . . . no longer owns a pair of underwear where the elastic hasn’t popped out of the leg.” This satisfying third chapter in Winnie’s adolescent journey is an essential purchase for any library serving middle-school girls. Grades 6-9. --Jennifer Hubert

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile; 1st edition (February 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525478965
• ISBN-13: 978-0525478966
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #891,101 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lauren Myracle is the author of many popular books for teens and tweens, including New York Times bestsellers ttyl and ttfn (Abrams). She lives with her family in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You are thirteen going on fourteen..., March 27, 2008

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Thirteen (Winnie Years) (Hardcover)

It's always weird to drop right smack dab into the middle of a series. You never know whether you're missing out on some subtle details from the previous books, or even whether or not the book in your hand would be better if you knew its characters already. It's more of a problem with series books, I suppose. Realistic fiction doesn't contain crazy names and weird interior logics. Tween books starring girl characters supposedly are all the same too. The idea is that if you've read the Anastasia Krupnik books by Lois Lowry then you've read the Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Alice series then you've read the Lauren Myracle books, and so on and so on. Which, let's face it, isn't true at all. Tween girl heroines each have their own set of quirks and characteristics and Lauren Myracle is no exception. Now I've heard a couple people who are fans of Myracle pooh-poohing her latest book Thirteen. They say it isn't as strong as the other books or the plot wraps up too neatly. Stuff along those lines. Well I myself haven't read any other books by Ms. Myracle except for this title and what I read I really liked. I'm sure that every series like this one has its supporters, but when it comes to an incredible voice and a likable heroine, color me a new Myracle fan. I can't wait to start recommending this book left and right to my patrons.

She survived the age of eleven. She breezed (sorta) through the age of twelve. Now Winnie Perry is a great big beautiful thirteen and boy is she feeling it. She has a boyfriend (sorta sorta) by the name of Lars who seems okay and all but is much better at kissing than communicating. She has her two best friends Cinnamon and Dinah by her side, helping her through her roles. And then there are her siblings, moody for their own reasons, and a mom who has a couple secrets of her own. The trek into teenagerhood is fraught with many perils, but through it all Winnie comes this much closer to knowing who she is and what she can accomplish.

Ms. Myracle is one of the few authors I know of to acknowledge and thank her cover artist (in this case the fabulously named "Beegee Tolpa"). For this reason alone I believe that she must have more in common with her charming heroine than one might initially think. It doesn't hurt matters any that Myracle gets the sheer level of tween/teen selfishness down pat. The constant fears that you aren't looking the way that you should be looking, for example. She has an ear for relaying when people trying to hard, like Winnie laughing uproariously at her friends' jokes when Lars is near, so as to look wild and free and attractive. I loved too how Myracle accurately got down the fogginess teens feel about what constitutes "old" (example: "I thought it was important to make this promise to myself now, before I turned thirty and got saggy and fat."). She gets the age.

I suppose I could see how Winnie's bon mots might tap dance on a person's nerves, but somehow they never got to me. I liked her insights most times. Like when a popular girl acts like she's a loser, which was weird but, "better than being snotty". I loved her cheery sarcasm regarding boring children's primers. "Oh, the joy of short A's. Might there be a bat in the cat's future? A bat wearing a hat? Who knew! That's what made it so exciting!" Any author that can make a thirteen-year-old character sound like someone who would call herself a stud ("that's the kind of stud I am") wins my heart. She also has this unexpectedly dirty mouth that just pops out of nowhere. I can think of at least one section where the words "turd", "penis", and "vagina" all pop out at you, and somehow it's funny rather than overly scatological.

Some things didn't sit with me perfectly, though. Maybe I just had a really self-involved life, but when I was thirteen nobody had parties where they invited the whole class. I went to public school, though, and Winnie is going to a private one where issues of class and race (set against an Atlanta setting, no less) never even come up. Still, I can't imagine the kind of privilege a person would have to be raised in to hear about 14-year-olds throwing house parties with hot tubs and liquor cabinets. It happens probably, but at least in my own case it made Winnie's story seem so much older than its scant thirteen years. Then again, if Myracle continues at the rate she's been going, Winnie's gonna be nineteen soon and possibly outgrowing her young fans. On the other other hand, I have this weird desire for that to happen. Remember in the old days when books like Betsy-Tacy and Anne of Green Gables would just keep going and going until their characters grew up, got married, and had kids? How cool would it be if Lauren Myracle continued that trend? I mean, what if? I know that publishers would shy away from that kind of retro writing, but I think that there's a real allure in following a character through life. Winnie certainly has plenty of material to work from, and instead of the standard marriage ending you could finish the series off with something appropriately grown-up, mature, and feminist. Awesome.

Spoiler alert, if you care for that sort of thing. I'm sure that there will be teen girls cheering Winnie on for getting back together with Lars at the end of the book when he apologizes for being a doofus, but I know that the adults reading the story will wish heartily that Winnie moved on. Wouldn't she be so much better off with that nice boy she met on the camping trip? Lars is the kind of guy willing to laugh at his sweetheart if it'll impress the sexy girl with the nose ring hanging about. If I were Winnie I'd dump the fool and move on. But then, maybe that's where Myracle is going and we'll get some kind of magnificent dumping scene in the next book. Hey, a gal can hope can't she?

If you're too old to get a book's references ("My Super Sweet Sixteen" anyone?) are you too old to review it? Not if the characters smack of reality, the story's fun, and the drama lies at a low ebb (which, for me, is a definite plus). I don't know how many more Winnie books Ms. Myracle has in her system, but here's hoping she keeps cranking them out. Ms. Myracle has a brand new fan.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book review of Thirteen, by the amazing author, Lauren Myracle, May 12, 2009

By 

Kingham's Kids "Ms, Kingham's 7th Grade" (Bedford, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thirteen (Winnie Years) (Paperback)

The books Eleven and Twelve, by Lauren Myracle were amazing, but the last book in the trilogy, Thirteen, was even better. It will definitely receive some laughs, and gasps, and you will not be able to put it down. You should read Eleven and Twelve first, but when you get to Thirteen, you are going to fall in love with it. If you're the kind of person who likes realistic fiction, and is preferably a girl, you will really get a kick out of it. The whole story is basically about her turning thirteen, and the joys and struggles of being that age. Every chapter is a different part that makes up her age. (Like in every book in the trilogy)
I know that I would definitely rate this book 5 stars, because as I read it, I felt like I could really connect to the whole story, and there we so many details. And the way that she writes it, you really feel like the main character. I already knew that I loved Lauren Myracle because when she writes her books, she uses great visualization; I can always see the story playing in my mind like a movie.
I guarantee that if you start this book, you will not want to stop. You'll be able to connect to many things in this book. Whether it's a situation that Winnie, the main character, goes through, or a feeling she has. Remember to read Eleven and Twelve first, before reading Thirteen. You're in for a real treat. BUY THE TRILOGY TODAY!!!

-ARG

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars daughter's favorite, February 24, 2009

By 

S. Hebert (maine) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Thirteen (Winnie Years) (Hardcover)

My daughter is 11 and a very good reader. But she is very picky on what interests her. She loved this book and the other two (Eleven & Twelve)