****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
My 13-year-old daughter turned me on to Wendy Mass when she first started reading her books 4 years ago. We both love her.13 GIFTS is a Willow Falls book, meaning that the characters from 11 Birthdays and Finally are back. It's not a sequel and the story completely stands alone, but you will appreciate the "in jokes" if you've read Finally. And who wouldn't want to read that? It was hilarious and heartwarming.In 13 GIFTS, we meet Tara, who is a bit of a loner. She's moved around a lot, so she's learned to just keep to herself. This saddens her mother, who is always encouraging her to make friends. In an effort to please her mom, she gets tangled up in a scheme with some other kids that causes her to get suspended. She was supposed to go to Madagascar with her mom and dad (her mom would be working, studying lemurs in their habitat), but instead, she has to go to Willow Falls to stay with her aunt and cousin who she barely knows.Tara's not happy about it, but she's not totally mopey either. She ends up making friends (Willow Falls literary characters Rory, Leo, and Amanda, plus David) and getting caught up in a couple of projects that she tries to keep a secret from her family.I don't want to give a lot of plot details, but if you liked 11 Birthdays or Finally, you will most certainly LOVE 13 Gifts. If you have a daughter in the 4th grade and up, share some Wendy Mass together.
