Monday, September 12, 2011

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Finally 12

Since I read so many middle grade books (see my 100 book challenge) and I blog about writing middle grade books, I thought that from time to time I’d join in on Marvelous Middle Grade Monday (aka MMGM), from a writer's perspective. The more I read MG, the more great books I’m finding. Some of them are courtesy of other bloggers doing MMGM.

Today’s pick:   Finally 12 by Wendy Mass, published by Scholastic Press, March 2010

Summary: Rory has been waiting to turn 12 forever. Whenever she wanted something, like getting her ears pierced or getting a cell phone, her parents told her to wait until she was 12. So she’s kept a list of everything, big and small, that she wants to do. When her birthday finally comes, she starts work on getting the things she’s wanted – with funny and surprising results.

My take:  If you want to write MG for girls, I definitely recommend reading this book. It taps into what 10- to 12-year-old girls are thinking about. Even though it’s got typical “girly” stuff like makeup, worrying about boys, and boy-girl parties (there’s even a couple of movie stars), Rory feels like a real kid with real parents (who are part of the story). I loved the humour and the voice in the book. Rory's story brought back many memories of what life was like for me at that age. I read through the book in one afternoon, and immediately passed it on to my daughter, who recently turned twelve.

Other info: This book is part of a series, which includes:  13 Gifts  and  11 Birthdays. You don’t need to read the other books to understand this one, but if they are anything like Finally 12 I think they’d be worth a read. I'm going to look for them!

Other books by Wendy Mass:
Every Soul a Star
The Candy Makers
A Mango-Shaped Space

Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life (being made into a movie)

For more, visit Wendy Mass’s website and blog.


13 comments:

  1. I haven't read any of her books but I'd like to someday. :)

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  2. This book just caught my eye last week! I added it to my TBR list and now having read your review it looks like I'll definitely be putting it further up on the ladder!

    Right now I'm reading Little Pink Slips by Sally Koslow and loving it!

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  3. Thanks for the recommendations--I plan to put these titles on my reading list :-)

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  4. I've read The Candy Makers by her, and enjoyed it. This series sounds cute :)

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  5. PS- You'll have to let me know whether you like Gianna Z :)

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  6. Sounds great - thanks for the recommendation!

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  7. Darn it! My daughter's too young for this. And my boys definitely won't like it. Hard to believe that, huh? :)

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  8. Jen, thanks for the recommendation! I'll look for that one.

    Jess, I'd love to read The Candymakers. Still waiting for my library to order it...maybe I'll just buy it myself! Just finishing Gianna Z and really, really enjoyed it.

    Stina, yeah, boys tend to shy away from books with girls on the covers, don't they?

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  9. Ugh. Spelling errors in writing comments on my own blog. I meant, The Candy Makers.

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  10. My kids are only 6 and 3 so middle grade books are still some way off (well, we're reading some aloud as bedtime books, but these tend to be classics that we ourselves enjoyed as children), but it's good to discover someone who really knows the business when it comes to book aimed at this age group.

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  11. Oh this book sounds so good...and just like my daughter who mind you is only 7 but man she is working on that list:)

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  12. I will have to check this book out! I have Princess for Hire on my bedside which is a MG. Looking forward to it. Have you read that one?

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  13. I'll loook in to it. I read 11 birthdays and it a really good book.

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