Wendy Mass

 
Overview
On their first birthday, they learned to walk. On their fifth, they planted seeds in handmade pots. On their tenth, they learned there are some words you can never take back.

Amanda’s eleventh birthday should have been a happy occasion. Instead she’s dressed in an itchy costume her mother picked out for her Hollywood-themed party (Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, even though the flying monkeys have always creeped her out). Meanwhile, across town, her ex-best friend Leo is celebrating their joint birthday with a huge bash including a hypnotist, a football star, a giant iguana, and a rock band. SO not fair!

Amanda can’t wait for the day AFTER her birthday so she can stop thinking about the fight that led to her and Leo having separate parties for the first time in their lives. There’s just one problem. The next day is her birthday all over again.

To hear some behind the scenes info on how 11 Birthday’s was written, along with a short reading, visit teachingbooks.net.

 
Overview

Rory Swenson has been waiting her whole life to turn twelve. And she’s got a list to prove it. Whenever Rory asks her parents for something, they always say, “When you’re twelve, when you’re twelve, when you’re twelve.” Well, in exactly 18 hours, 36 minutes, and 52 seconds, it will finally happen. Rory’s life will officially begin!

Fun, funny, and full of surprises, this is a story about wanting to finally grow up, even when the universe seems to be telling you to wait.

 
Overview

It doesn’t take long for Tara Brennan to realize that breaking into school to steal a goat while wielding a can of pepper spray is not a good idea. As punishment for her misdeed, Tara’s parents send her to the sleepy little town of Willow Falls to stay with relatives she hardly knows, including her eleven-year-old cousin Emily, who, the last time they were together, ate an entire stick of glue. Tara quickly learns that Emily isn’t even remotely the strangest person in town. There’s a boy who sings in the bottom of an empty pool, two best friends who use blackboards to Communicate (Amanda and Leo from 11 BIRTHDAYS), and a green-eyed girl who may—or may not—be dating the world’s hottest teen movie star (Rory from FINALLY)

Due to another huge lapse in judgment, Tara finds herself beholden to perhaps the strangest person of all: Angelina D’Angelo. If Tara can’t collect thirteen mysterious objects for the old woman in time for her rapidly approaching thirteenth birthday, the consequences will be REALLY BAD. Like losing-her- immortal-soul kind of bad. And that’s just for starters! Tara’s adventures take her and her new friends to places they’d never thought they’d find, some in the real world, and a lot deep inside themselves.

With a big dose of birthday magic, 13 Gifts will make readers laugh, think, and possibly even hum a show tune or two. Because, in Willow Falls, anything’s possible, and nothing is as it seems.

 
Overview

Amanda and Leo have a history with birthdays. Now their friend’s little sister, Grace, has fallen into a strange frozen state on her birthday, and Amanda and Leo must travel in time in order to fix whatever’s wrong. As they journey back to each of Grace’s birthdays, they start seeing all sorts of patterns . . . which raise all sorts of questions.

Amanda and Leo are going to have to unravel the threads of the past and present — and travel much further than they ever imagined — if they’re going to save Grace. Luckily, a little birthday magic always helps in the charming and funny Willow Falls series by Wendy Mass, where everything is possible and there are no coincidences.

 
Overview

An exciting new story in the bestselling Willow Falls series from Wendy Mass!

Angelina D’Angelo has left town to see the world. It’s now Grace’s turn to use her magic to protect the people of Willow Falls, and she is up to the challenge. This is her destiny, after all. But destiny is a funny thing-it doesn’t always behave the way you’d expect it to.

Mysterious postcards from Angelina begin showing up in the mail, Grace’s parents are freaking out with worry, and something BIG is coming to town that will affect everybody who lives there. But all Grace is powerful enough to do is turn leftover meatloaf into pizza.

Fortunately, she’s not alone. She has Team Grace on her side! Amanda, Leo, Rory, Tara, David, and Connor know a thing or two about magic and how it works. But none of them are prepared for what’s coming, and none of them know how to stop it. Life in Willow Falls is about to change forever.