Module 4: Realistic Fiction: 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass

Summary: Amanda and Leo share a birthday and have celebrated that day together every day for years. Their tenth finds them losing touch and as the eleventh birthday approaches, strange goings-on occur. Is it deja-vu or reality?

Citation: Mass, W. (2009). 11 birthdays. New York: Scholastic Press.

My Thoughts: 11 Birthdays very much reminded me of the Bill Murray classic Groundhog Day. Wouldn't you love a chance to "do it all over again?" Perhaps somedays, yes, others, no. While I found Groundhog Day to be overly tedious 11 Birthdays does it better. An enjoyable read about the challenges of friendship as time goes by.

Reviews:

Carolyn Phelan (Booklist, Dec. 15, 2008 (Vol. 105, No. 8))

Starred Review* Amanda and Leo, born on the same day, have celebrated their birthdays together for 10 years. Still feeling hurt from an unkind remark Leo made at last year’s party, Amanda spends her eleventh birthday without her now-estranged friend to share the fun. In the days that follow, both Amanda and Leo discover that they are caught in a time loop, waking up each morning to find themselves repeating their eleventh birthdays. They soon renew their friendship and begin to experiment by making different choices throughout the day, partly for the thrill of acting without long-term consequences and partly from their fear of never escaping this mysterious time trap. From the double-entendre title to the solid character portrayals to the clarity and wit of the writing, this novel offers a fresh twist on the familiar themes of middle-grade family and school dynamics. The mysterious power that rewinds time eventually seems less important than the power that Amanda finds within herself. Emboldened by the idea of daily do-overs, she discovers that small changes in her attitude and actions result in sometimes-subtle, sometimes-monumental shifts in results for herself, her family, and her friends. A rewarding choice for readers and a natural for booktalks and discussion groups. Grades 4-6

Midwest Book Review (Children's Bookwatch, June 2009)

On their first birthday they learned to walk, on their fifth they planted seeds, on their 11th they became ex-best friends. 11 BIRTHDAYS charts the growth and evolution of an uncertain friendship, when Amanda can't wait for the day after her birthday so she can stop thinking about the big fight that led to separate celebrations for the first time in their lives. A fine story of changing friendship evolves. The Fiction Shelf ...., Scholastic Press, $16.99.

Suggested Uses: 11 Birthdays is a great addition to a collection and focus on choices. A bulletin board showcasing students' writing on the theme of how choices we make now affect us in the future highlights the display.