11 Birthdays
11 Birthdays is a children's time looptime travel novel written by Wendy Mass and published in 2009 by Scholastic Press. It is the first novel in the Willow Falls series.
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| Author | Wendy Mass |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Digital Vision (RF)/Getty Images, Digital rendering by Joe Zeff and Michael Frost, Cover design by Lillie Mear |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Willow Falls |
| Subject | Birthdays, Friendship, Time Loops, Magic |
| Genre | Fantasy, Realistic Fiction |
| Published | 2009 |
| Publisher | Scholastic Press |
| Media type | |
| ISBN | 978-0-545-05239-9 |
| Followed by | Finally |
The novel follows the life of a young girl named Amanda Ellerby who has spent each of her first ten birthdays with the same boy, her best friend Leonard "Leo" Fitzpatrick. With her 11th birthday fast approaching, a falling out between the two friends has caused a shift in this birthday tradition leading to consequences both of them never could have imagined. Chosen as a 2009 Library Guild Selection, this novel has been the recipient of various nominations and awards across the country.[1]
Plot
Amanda and Leo have been best friends since they were born. It's hard not to be when you were born on the same day. However, that all changed on their tenth birthday, when Amanda overheard Leo tell his friends horrible things about her. She stops speaking to him for a year.
Their 11th birthday does not go well for Amanda. She spends most of the day feeling sorry for herself and goes to bed disappointed.
When Amanda wakes up the next morning it seems as if the whole day is playing out exactly like the day before. At first she believes everybody is playing a cruel joke but finally it dawns on her that it is the day of her birthday all over again. She does everything exactly the same as before, afraid to change any details. It's only when she's getting ready for her party she realizes that she is stuck in a time loop.
The following morning is exactly the same as the previous two days but this time Amanda decides to fake sick and stay home. Her neighbor takes her to the doctor where she lets slip something about an old family feud between the Ellerbys and the Fitzpatricks but she doesn’t know much about it, so Amanda doesn’t pursue it. Her party ends up being cancelled and she spends the night with her family. In the morning, Amanda realizes that she's still stuck on the same day. Frustrated and confused she goes to school but this time, while she's sitting in class, she sees Leo wink at her, which makes her realize the two of them are stuck in this time loop together.
Amanda is relieved the next morning when nobody remembers that they are angry with her and she is no longer grounded. She even remembers to remind her mom about taking the right presentation. At school, Amanda and Leo finally get the chance to talk. He apologizes to her for the things he said and tells her he only said them because he wanted to look cool in front of his friends. They both agree that they miss each other and become friends again and decide tomorrow they are going to skip school and go out since there will be no consequences the next day.
The next morning Amanda fakes sick and stays home. When her dad falls asleep, she sneaks out to meet up with Leo. Leo has the whole day planned and it starts with them going for breakfast where Leo orders lots of food he would never normally get to eat. He then leads her to an open mic poetry reading where he gets up in front of the crowd and reads some of his own poetry. Leo then proceeds to take Amanda to an audition for a band looking for a drummer. After much coaxing Amanda agrees to try out. The band members are impressed, but they tell her to come back when she is older. Exhilarated, the two finally head to the mall where security grabs them and turns them over to their families who are worried sick about them.
The day goes as it normally does but after school Amanda and Leo go visit the Senior Community Center and ask around about the family feud that Amanda's neighbor had previously mentioned. They find out that their grandfathers used to own competing apple groves and they would always do things to try and harm the others’ farm. Then, however, they suddenly made up for unknown reasons. Amanda and Leo still need more answers so they decide to go to the Willow Falls Historical Society the next day.
They go to the Willow Falls Historical Society where they find Angelina. She tells them that the town had sought the help of someone special who told the two men that they had to patch up their differences by the Harvest Day or else there would be consequences. Angelina claims she doesn’t know anymore and the only thing that would have more information would be a journal that was stolen a while ago. Amanda and Leo ultimately come back the next day to sneak into the historical society and look around for the journal because they think she actually stashed the journal somewhere in the place. They end up finding Leo's great-grandfather's journal instead which revealed that because they didn’t heed the woman's warning and patch things up within the year they went through a time loop as well until they resolved their differences and fixed all the damage they caused. Amanda and Leo are confused because they made up a week ago but they are still stuck. They decide to help everyone that they possibly can tomorrow in hopes that it will fix things. The next day, Amanda and Leo help everybody that they possibly can, such as reminding her mother about the presentation mix up, even though her mother still gets fired, suggesting that some things are meant to be. Amanda manages to make the gymnastics team. During their birthday parties they decide to merge them and both Leo and Amanda have high hopes they have broken the time loop.
In the morning, Amanda realizes that she is celebrating her birthday again for the 11th time. She is frustrated but when she gets on the bus she sees the Angelina is the bus driver and ultimately she gives her and Leo some answers. She reveals that she was the one who put the spell their great-grandfathers and was worried that it would transfer over to them. She insists that this shouldn’t have happened though because on their 5th birthday she gave them plants protecting them from the curse. As long as they had the plants close they shouldn’t have fallen into the time loop. Leo claims that's his is still sitting in his room but Amanda admits that she threw hers out the window a year ago on the night of their tenth birthday. Angelina makes them hurry back to class where everything goes as normal, except this time Amanda tries out for the marching band instead of the gymnastics team, something she secretly had wanted to do the whole time. When Amanda gets home from school she is relieved to find the plant still in the bushes under her window and she returns it back to its place in her bedroom. Both Amanda and Leo decide that they are just going to have one big party together this time where they spend the night laughing together just like old times. To both Amanda and Leo's relief, the next morning is finally the day after their birthday. Amanda and Leo make a pact that they will always stay in touch with each other so that it won’t happen again.
Reception and awards
11 Birthdays, was positively received by both the general public and critics. The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books published a review by Jeannette Hulick, which states that 11 Birthdays “is imaginatively developed and kid-pleasing. The now-tenuous/now-tenacious quality of the book’s middle-grade friendships will ring true to its audience, and Amanda’s voice is likable and humorous.”[2] Publishers Weekly also states, “Like a Groundhog Day for middle grade readers, Mass' winning story features a girl seemingly trapped in her 11th birthday. Amanda seems doomed to relive her failed try-out for the gymnastics team, her mother being fired from her job and, worst of all, the party that even her best friend leaves early—to go to the party hosted by her former friend, Leo. The two have celebrated every previous birthday together (they were born on the same day), but a misunderstanding on their 10th has gone unresolved. Girls will relate to Amanda’s insecurities, and the confidence and insights she gains will resonate with them. Mass’s expertise with pacing keeps the story moving at a lively clip, and her understanding of this age group is as finely honed as ever.”[3] 11 Birthdays has been nominated for and received numerous awards, including the William Allen White Award for grades 3-5 in 2012,[4] and has been chosen a 2009 Library Guild Selection.[1]
Willow Falls
The five novels of the Willow Falls series all have different protagonists, who become friends. They also all revolve around birthdays and are set in the same small town of Willow Falls, with the presence of the mysterious Angelina D’Angelo.
- 11 Birthdays (2009)
- 12 Finally (2010)
- 13 Gifts (2011)
- The Last Present (2013)
- Graceful (2015)
References
- "Awards | Wendy Mass". wendymass.com. Archived from the original on February 20, 2014.
- Hulick, Jeannette (2009). "11 Birthdays (review)". Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. 62 (6): 247–248. doi:10.1353/bcc.0.0666. ISSN 1558-6766.
- "Reviews - Wendy Mass". Wendy Mass. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
- "Past Winners - William Allen White Children's Book Awards | Emporia State University". www.emporia.edu. Retrieved October 14, 2018.