Thirteen

The Winnie Years #4

by Lauren Myracle

Winnie Perry is a teenager—at last! And it’s a really big deal. A ginormous deal, which, wouldn’t you know it, brings ginormous problems along with it. Winnie’s bff #1 is growing up too slowly, while her bff #2 is growing up too fast, leaving Winnie stuck in the middle. Winnie’s boyfriend, Lars, is fabulous—except when he’s not. And as for Winnie’s family, well, BIG changes are in the air. Bestselling author Lauren Myracle concludes her enormously popular trilogy about a winning young heroine whose humor, daring, and compassion for others is infectious and unforgettable.

Genres: Childrens, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2008

About the author

Lauren Myracle is the author of numerous young adult novels. She was born in 1969 in North Carolina. Lauren Myracle holds an MA in English from Colorado State University and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College. she has written many novels, including the famous IM books, ttyl, ttfn, and l8r, g8r.

Her first novel, Kissing Kate, was selected as one of ALA's "Best Books for Young Adults" for the year 2004. It was named by Booklist as one of the "Top Ten Youth Romances" of the year, as well as one of the "Top Ten Books by New Writers." Her middle-grade novel, Eleven, came out 2004, followed by its YA sequels (Twelve, Thirteen, Thirteen Plus One) .

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh boy! I finished the Cringe Book!
Guess what I'm reading now?
*drumroll please*
The next book in the series. THANKS, MADDIE.
The Adventures Of Winnie will continue. Oh, joy. This is the last book in the series though, so that's good.

I sadly can't find all the updates I made throughout the book. If I end up finding them, I will compile them here. Yay.

Here's what happened at the end of the book!
1. Winnie broke up with Lars because he wasn't treating her right. Oh no.
2. Winnie and her sister, Sandra, decided to skip school because they're too embarrassed to show their faces on Valentine's Day without a boyfriend. Their mother finds out and they are grounded. They also have dishwasher duty (the horror) for the rest of their lives.
3. Winnie got back together with Lars and they're happy now. Yay.
4. Winnie has a new baby sister! She is happy because now she can be a great older sister.
5. That's where we leave off. To be continued in THIRTEEN PLUS ONE! Oh wow I simply cannot wait.

Overall, the writing wasn't bad or anything, I just didn't like the narrator. Or the plot. I award 2 stars because the writer isn't *bad*, I just didn't like the story.

UPDATE! I found the updates feed. Here it is in all its glory.

If you're not in my English class, this book is on the shelf in the classroom and I'm reading it because of how cringey it is.
Here's what has happened so far.

1. It's Winnie's 13th birthday! Her 2 friends and her celebrate by going to the mall to get MAKEOVERS!!!1!
2. Winnie worries whether her boyfriend is ever going to kiss her.
3. They kiss.
Stay tuned for more adventures with Winnie.

March 22, 2017
Back by popular demand, (haha just kidding it's because I have no life), it's Adventures With Winnie!! (part 1)
Here's what has happened so far.
1. Winnie's little brother does not want to cut his hair because they are his friends. He ends up cutting his hair. He now carries his hair around in a bag.
2. Winnie wants to cut her hair for Locks Of Love. She ends up not doing it, because she doesn't want to look weird.

March 22, 2017
Here we go. Part 2. Oh boy.
3. Did I mention that Winnie has 2 friends? Not like 2 best friends, but only 2 people that she interacts with ever. Also her ex-friend Amanda. Doesn't that sound like a threatening name? No. No it does not.
4. Winnies boyfriend Lars is in high school. THE HORROR. Now winnie will not be able to flirt with him constantly. What a shame.

Stay tuned for more adventures with Winnie!!!

March 24, 2017
Welcome back to The Adventures Of Winnie Perry. Here's what's going on.

1. OMG! Winnie's mother is pregnant! This is a Very Big Deal because now Winnie will have 3 siblings. Oh joy.
2. Winnie's 2 friends, Dinah and Cinnamon are having problems. Cinnamon has called Dinah fat! Dinah is very sad because this is a mean thing to say. Dinah confides in Winnie, saying that Cinnamon is very mean.
Stay tuned for part 2

March 24, 2017
Part 2. Gee, I wish you could write longer on these things.
3. Dinah has called Cinnamon to tell her how rude she is being to Dinah. Meanwhile, Winnie has come to a decision. She will dress as Ugly Girl for Halloween to commemorate all the ugly people out there in the world. How kind.
4. Cinnamon and Dinah yell at Winnie because she looks ugly. They drag her into the bathroom to go change into presentable clothes.

March 24, 2017
I'm almost finished! Wow, I'll miss having Winnie in my life. But never fear, there's another book in the series! I'll probably read it. It's just so fascinating. Here's what's happened. (part 1)
1. Winnie goes to a bat mitzvah! It was a pretty cool bat mitzvah. They played games and had fun.
2. Winnie is worried because her boyfriend keeps ditching her. She doesn't want to be known as the person who got dumped.

March 24, 2017
3. Oh no! Cinnamon's boyfriend Bryce broke up with her! The horror! Now Cinnamon is forever alone. Poor Cinnamon.

4. Winnie decides to talk to Amanda (her ex-friend) and she sees how much she changed! She dyed her hair black and wears black lipstick and is pretty goth looking. (unlike some people we know who think that goth is wearing a black shirt coughJasminecough)

That's about it.

[Chloe Resendez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've got so say, this book was amazing!!!! That title says a lot a about the story. Lauren Myracle made this story give me a lot of emotions. Sometimes I would feel so happy for Winnie, and then other times I would feel kind of sad. I would recommend this book to young adult women who like to read books with a lot of drama in them. I think the strength in this book was the drama in it and the the emotion the author wanted you to feel. I would totally read the next book !!!!

[Roxanne Hsu Feldman · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rating hovers around 3 and 4 ... closer to 4 but not quite there... anyway, no wonder my 4th and 5th grade girls are eating this series up. Myracle has a real understanding of what a girl might worry about and how she might go about dealing with the problems, sometimes with success but more likely is left with even more questions and uncertainty. I admire this about the book - nothing really has a firm answer. However, my "issues" with the book comes when Myracle resolves some of the most complex issues with simplistic solutions: Lars coming around to Winnie just because Winnie confronts him once? Joseph, the boy with Leukemia, is conveniently responding to the treatment toward the end of this year when Winnie is at her lowest? Not that I wish for the boy to die or suffer more, and not that Lars wouldn't have come around... but these simplistic turns of events make the book not rise above the whole host of pre-teen chic lit. Too bad. And the editorial mistake of not catching that in the November/Bat Mitzvah chapter there are a bunch of switches of the name of the Bat Mitzvah girl: It's Becca, but at several places, Louise was identified as the one when sent out invitations and such. A tsk-tsk moment that made me decide to make a wiki on Editorial Mishaps.

[Saira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why does Winnie only interact with Dinah and Cinnamon? Likeeee she doesn't even talk to anyone else.
And Winnie dresses as Ugly Girl for Halloween to commemorate all the ugly people out there in the world. How kind.
It's so cringe that it's funny 'te hee' 😃🥲

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title(s): Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen
Rating: A+

Review: I decided to review all of these books together because, well, I read them all together. I read the first one on a whim, a decision to develop myself "professionally" (because I dream that, when I'm finished with my MLS program, that I'll be a kick-butt YA and children's services librarian in a public library who will help reluctant readers find the book that will help them turn the corner and develop a lifelong love of reading). I read plenty of YA and had recently started to dip my toes into MG (at the urging of my nephew), but needed a broader scope. I didn't intend to like these books because I'm not in their target audience.

But you know the crazy thing?

Even though I was reading them with, "I wonder what fifth- or sixth-grade girl I can recommend these to," in my mind, I loved them. Not for someone else, but for myself. They were really funny. I laughed out loud. And the lessons learned were poignant and spot-on for what girls that age struggle with (some of which are things that girls of all ages--even those of us who are well beyond the middle grades--struggle with). The voice of Winnie is so honest; she tries to be good, but she isn't always successful. She's just real.

And that tends to be the way that Myracle writes all of her characters in all of her books. She's just really good at creating interesting characters. You might not absolutely love every single character in all of her books (I didn't love all the characters in this series), but you can always find someone you connect with. And that's what reading is all about--watching somebody else make life's mistakes in one way or another and learning from them.

I have recommended this book to a very nice young sixth grader who I interact with in a volunteering role that I have and, after I explained the conflict of the first book, she was hooked. She can't wait for me to check with her mom to make sure it's okay for her to read these. And that's what's so great about Myracle: she writes books that you want to read.

So, in summary, Myracle's positive qualities are:
1. She writes characters that you can connect with.
2. She writes books that you want to read.
3. She's funny (which I might not have explicitly said, but is still true).

Let me leave you with this snippet from a scene where Winnie (age 13) has gone to ask her older sister, Sandra (17), and her sister's boyfriend, Bo (also 17), for advice on kissing (page 55):

"I was hoping we could discuss kissing," [I said:].
"Oh, good God," Sandra said. "Winnie."
I blushed, but the thing about Sandra and Bo (unless Sandra was in one of her moods) was that I could blush around them and still keep going.
"I just don't understand what you do with your tongues," I said.
"How many tongues do you have?" Bo asked.
"Ha ha," I said. "One that belongs to me, one that belongs to someone else."

And, since we're on the topic of funny (and a little bit sweet) things that happen in the book, let me share this, which isn't truly a spoiler (page 63):

Lars looked at me. His face was right there, inches from mine, and I knew this was it: the moment of the first kiss.
He leaned in. I giggled and drew back. My breathing grew shallow, and my heart drummed against my ribs, more out of nervousness than anticipation. Extreme, horrible, freak-out nervousness, the kind I occasionally experienced before having to give an oral presentation or introduce myself to a crowd of strangers.
Lars tried again. I turned my head from his. I didn't mean to--I so didn't mean to--but it was too much, being in the actual moment and thinking, Oh, god, lips. His. Mine. Touching!
An anxious laugh made a very strange sound coming out of me. I could feel my smile go rubbery.
He learned in. I pulled back. He leaned in further. I did a bob and a duck maneuver. It was bad. Bad, bad, bad. And the worst part of it all was the doubt creeping into his eyes. He thought I didn't want him to kiss me, but I did!
"Winnie?" he said.
"Yes?" I squeaked. My cheeks burned.

You'll have to read the books to see how "the kiss" turns out.

So, to make this long post a little bit longer, I only intended to read the first book, but whizzed right through it and promptly went back out and picked up the next two and buzzed right through them. I was actually quite disappointed to find out this was only a trilogy. I want more Winnie Perry.

Recommendation: I recommend that you read absolutely everything by Lauren Myracle. Young Adult, Middle Grade, doesn't matter, just read it. (And add E. Lockhart while you're at it for good measure.)

[Elsa R · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so good because it has lots of problems in it. This book is. Good for 5th and up. In this book Winnie has a new best friend Dinah and Cinnamon. This book is similar to Dork Diaries and April Sinclair.

[Amber Hanson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Isabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I read Thirteen, I immediately connected to Winnie. This book actually reminded me of my own life, thats’s how powerful Thirteen is! Also, if 100 teenage girls read this book, I would estimate that about 90% of them could relate to this book. Lauren Myracle obviously remembers her teenage years very clearly because every detail in the book is very accurate. The book perfectly captures the bond between sisters and brothers. It also helps with friendships because the description of friends is exactly what happens with friendships and Lauren Myracle’s work helps to cope with that. Lastly, her details on the relationship between Lars and Winnie is very accurate. Her plot line can help to avoid all of these problems and if you do get into one, her advice will help. Thirteen is a very well written book with lots of advice and many situations you can relate to, which is why Thirteen is one of the best books I have read!

Thirteen is an excellent book for teenagers to read. Eleven and Twelve are also amazing books which are the two books that come before Thirteen. Thirteen is a book about a girl name Winifred (AKA Winnie) Perry describing the troubles of junior high, friends and having a boyfriend. It’s Winnie’s second year of junior high and she is feeling great. She is in eighth grade, which means she is at the top of the school, but unfortunately, her boyfriend, Lars, is at the high school. When Winnie meets with him outside, he is with two other girls and when Winnie sits down, he barely acknowledges her! Winnie is terrified because she loves Lars and believes that he doesn’t like her. Then something important happens that changes Winnie’s opinions about Lars.

Winnie also has troubles with her friends. Her friends Cinnamon and Dinah are two completely different people. Cinnamon is a girl who is growing up really fast and to impress guys, she might call her friends out and make them look bad. On the other hand, Dinah is growing up really slowly and is out of the loop, but would never do anything to embarrass her friends. This puts Winnie in the middle and she has no idea what to do. Winnie’s family is also a problem. Winnie’s mom is acting all strange and getting mad at Winnie’s family a lot. Winnie and her sister get closer during the whole book and same with Winnie and her brother. Then something happens to Winnie that changes her life. To figure out what happens to Winnie, read Thirteen!

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm… this book really confuses me. I adored some parts, but it was the parts that were not written that made it eh.

Winnie Perry is finally a teenager! She just turned 13, and she feels pretty good about herself. She has too best friends, Cinnamon and Dinah. Cinnamon is growing up too fast, and Cinnamon seems to stay behind. And then there’s Lars, Winnie’s boyfriend. Everything seems fine on the outside, but Winnie secretly isn’t “okay” like her parents say.

School isn’t mentioned once in this book, even though Winnie is in eighth grade and therefore should have growing amounts of work. Also, Lars’ schoolwork isn’t mentioned, and he is in ninth grade. Winnie did not talk about teachers, which seemed unusual. My friends and I talk about teachers and classes all the time, even if it is just who is in the different classes. I also thought that time passed very strangly. I was unaware of the transition between months, weeks, and days. Suddenly, a month had gone by with little mention to the reader. Thirteen reads more like an on-and-off diary than a first-person novel to me.

I enjoyed the romance with Lars, because unlike most middle grade realistic fiction/chick lit, the romance is in no way over the top. I remember seventh and eighth grade well- people “go out” for a few weeks, and then break up. It wasn’t too intense, either. I really related to Winnie, as opposed to other 13-year-olds that are boy obsessive. I would really enjoy reading Eleven and Twelve.

Overall, I would liked to have seen Thirteen on my seventh grade bookshelf. I read so many books that year, and Thirteen reminds me of so many books I enjoyed this year. I bet that my school library even has the first two… let me check. Surprisingly, we don’t have either of the first two books.

My impression of the book could be contained in one word, “sweet.” I sort of knew how it would end from the beginning. Winnie is such a subdued character for a change. Lately I’ve been reading about really spunky characters, and I enjoy a protagonist more similar to me.

Comes out February 28th, 2008. Previous books in the series are Eleven and Twelve.

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I thought Eleven and Twelve were quite appropriate for their titled ages, I was not as enamored with this book in the beginning.

Near the beginning of the book, the 7th and 8th graders in the story go to an unchaperoned party and drink beer and wine coolers, and kiss boys in the hot tub. Really? Is this the type of behavior for 13 year old children that we need to be encouraging and promoting in a YA book? Especially since a recent study has shown that schoolchildren who date earliest do worst at school and are more likely to smoke, drink and take drugs?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic...

There were other parts of the book that I appreciated for their age appropriateness. There were issues of life and death. Issues of children with cancer, which introduced the idea of charity and giving and "Locks of Love".

Of course there were also the issues of friendships, and cattiness. Cliques and crowds. The popular kids and the less popular ones.

In the end, I am satisfied with the main character Winnie. I think she is growing up nicely, and she is a girl I would not mind my daughter being friends with.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s always weird to drop right smack dab into the middle of a series. You never know whether you’re missing out on some subtle details from the previous books, or even whether or not the book in your hand would be better if you knew its characters already. It’s more of a problem with series books, I suppose. Realistic fiction doesn’t contain crazy names and weird interior logics. Tween books starring girl characters supposedly are all the same too. The idea is that if you’ve read the Anastasia Krupnik books by Lois Lowry then you’ve read the Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Alice series then you’ve read the Lauren Myracle books, and so on and so on. Which, let’s face it, isn’t true at all. Tween girl heroines each have their own set of quirks and characteristics and Lauren Myracle is no exception. Now I’ve heard a couple people who are fans of Myracle pooh-poohing her latest book Thirteen. They say it isn’t as strong as the other books or the plot wraps up too neatly. Stuff along those lines. Well I myself haven’t read any other books by Ms. Myracle except for thistitle and what I read I really liked. I’m sure that every series like this one has its supporters, but when it comes to an incredible voice and a likable heroine, color me a new Myracle fan. I can’t wait to start recommending this book left and right to my patrons.

She survived the age of eleven. She breezed (sorta) through the age of twelve. Now Winnie Perry is a great big beautiful thirteen and boy is she feeling it. She has a boyfriend (sorta sorta) by the name of Lars who seems okay and all but is much better at kissing than communicating. She has her two best friends Cinnamon and Dinah by her side, helping her through her roles. And then there are her siblings, moody for their own reasons, and a mom who has a couple secrets of her own. The trek into teenagerhood is fraught with many perils, but through it all Winnie comes this much closer to knowing who she is and what she can accomplish.

Ms. Myracle is one of the few authors I know of to acknowledge and thank her cover artist (in this case the fabulously named “Beegee Tolpa”). For this reason alone I believe that she must have more in common with her charming heroine than one might initially think. It doesn't hurt matters any that Myracle gets the sheer level of tween/teen selfishness down pat. The constant fears that you aren’t looking the way that you should be looking, for example. She has an ear for relaying when people trying to hard, like Winnie laughing uproariously at her friends’ jokes when Lars is near, so as to look wild and free and attractive. I loved too how Myracle accurately got down the fogginess teens feel about what constitutes “old” (example: “I thought it was important to make this promise to myself now, before I turned thirty and got saggy and fat.”). She gets the age.

I suppose I could see how Winnie’s bon mots might tap dance on a person’s nerves, but somehow they never got to me. I liked her insights most times. Like when a popular girl acts like she’s a loser, which was weird but, “better than being snotty”. I loved her cheery sarcasm regarding boring children’s primers. “Oh, the joy of short A’s. Might there be a bat in the cat’s future? A bat wearing a hat? Who knew! That’s what made it so exciting!” Any author that can make a thirteen-year-old character sound like someone who would call herself a stud (“that’s the kind of stud I am”) wins my heart. She also has this unexpectedly dirty mouth that just pops out of nowhere. I can think of at least one section where the words “turd”, “penis”, and “vagina” all pop out at you, and somehow it’s funny rather than overly scatological.

Some things didn’t sit with me perfectly, though. Maybe I just had a really self-involved life, but when I was thirteen nobody had parties where they invited the whole class. I went to public school, though, and Winnie is going to a private one where issues of class and race (set against an Atlanta setting, no less) never even come up. Still, I can’t imagine the kind of privilege a person would have to be raised in to hear about 14-year-olds throwing house parties with hot tubs and liquor cabinets. It happens probably, but at least in my own case it made Winnie’s story seem so much older than its scant thirteen years. Then again, if Myracle continues at the rate she’s been going, Winnie’s gonna be nineteen soon and possibly outgrowing her young fans. On the other other hand, I have this weird desire for that to happen. Remember in the old days when books like Betsy-Tacy and Anne of Green Gables would just keep going and going until their characters grew up, got married, and had kids? How cool would it be if Lauren Myracle continued that trend? I mean, what if? I know that publishers would shy away from that kind of retro writing, but I think that there’s a real allure in following a character through life. Winnie certainly has plenty of material to work from, and instead of the standard marriage ending you could finish the series off with something appropriately grown-up, mature, and feminist. Awesome.

Spoiler alert, if you care for that sort of thing. I’m sure that there will be teen girls cheering Winnie on for getting back together with Lars at the end of the book when he apologizes for being a doofus, but I know that the adults reading the story will wish heartily that Winnie moved on. Wouldn’t she be so much better off with that nice boy she met on the camping trip? Lars is the kind of guy willing to laugh at his sweetheart if it’ll impress the sexy girl with the nose ring hanging about. If I were Winnie I’d dump the fool and move on. But then, maybe that’s where Myracle is going and we’ll get some kind of magnificent dumping scene in the next book. Hey, a gal can hope can’t she?

If you’re too old to get a book’s references (My Super Sweet Sixteen anyone?) are you too old to review it? Not if the characters smack of reality, the story’s fun, and the drama lies at a low ebb (which, for me, is a definite plus). I don’t know how many more Winnie books Ms. Myracle has in her system, but here’s hoping she keeps cranking them out. Ms. Myracle has a brand new fan.

Ages 9-15.

[Avery · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very entertaining book for 9-14 year olds. If you like your books to be filled with drama, then this one is right for you. This is a realistic fiction book about a girl named Winnie Perry. She has finally turned thirteen, a moment she has been waiting for her whole life! It goes through a year in Winnie's life. I feel like parts of this book are very relatable for some girls. She has two best friends, Cinnamon and Dinah. Sometimes Cinnamon acts a little bit old for her age, and Dinah can be immature. She also has some problems with her boyfriend, Lars. I liked Winnie because she wasn't a cookie cutter. She was her own style and didn't care what others thought of her. She faces problems when it comes to friends, family, and her relationship. I think some of the idea behind this story was what it is like to be a teenage girl. This book is worth reading because it really keeps you entertained. You don't get bored of it easily. The author can really paint a picture of the setting in your head. It is easy for you to see what is going on. It is set in the twenty first century. This book was definitely meant for entertainment. I think that the author really wanted you to want to keep reading, and she definitely made me want to read more. Overall, I feel like this was a very enjoyable book.

[NyaraB · Rating 5 out of 5]

The theme of this book is that everyone grows at different rates. Winnie's best friend Dinah is growing too slow, still wearing kids stuff and hasn't had her first kiss yet. Her other best friend Cinnamon is growing too fast, dating many boys and kissing many too. Winnie's problem is that she is in the middle.

[Phoebe]

The book 'Thirteen' by Lauren Myracle is about a girl named Winnie who is turning thirteen and is facing the challenges and developments of a thirteen year old. The book starts off at the beginning of school like the other books do (10,11,12), she's starting her first year of high school with her friends Dinah and Cinnimon. A challenge she faces with her friends are that one is not growing up fast enough and one is growing up too fast. Winnie has an older sister Sandra, who is a senior and is facing the challenges of buying a car, a younger brother Ty, who is in the first grade with the challenges of bullying. Winnie starts to develop a crush on a popular sohpmore Lars. Later in the book they do end up dating and go to a party, they go into the backyard to be alone and start kissing in which she describes to be "Like a slug moving in your mouth." Her friend Cinnimon is also dating Winnie's boyfriends friend, and sits on his lap at the party. Winnie takes note of this and thinks it's gross, too soon, and too mature. Later Winnie's boyfriend separates himself from her by stopping most communication. Winnie is told that Lars wants to end the relationship and she takes this hard. That night she debates weather to even go to school the next day but then decides that would be a weak thinking to do. She picks out an outfit that is entirely black and wears it to school, but on the drive over her and her sister decide to skip and go out to eat. When they return home their mother is furious and grounds both of them. Later that night Lars goes to Winnie's house asking for forgiveness and to be taken back, which she agrees to and starts the relationship over again. The book ends with her birthday party like in the other books and the reveal that her mother is expecting.

This book was not a personal choice to read. It was a gift from a distant relative who obviously doesn't know me too well, proving this by getting me this book. My opinion on this book is that it does not match the standards it set for itself. The purpose of this book is to help girls not be intimidated by the coming age of thirteen. Now by reading this book I found out how mature I was for a twelve year old because I acted nothing like the main character. Re reading this book at the age of fourteen (freshman) I can see even now how immature Winnie is. Winnie being the main character is thirteen but but is set at the age mentality of an eleven year old. Now the age is a big thing that confuses me because she's a thirteen year old in high school. Now Winnie constantly complains about how her friend Cinnamon is growing up too fast. There's a scene in the book where they're in the locker rooms changing and Winnie notices that Cinnimon is just changing in the open and that she is also wearing a thong. Winnie thinks this is gross and her friend shouldn't be doing these "over sexual" things at this age. The book states that her friend Cinnamon is turning 15 in a month previous to this discovery Winnie made. Personally if her friend is comfortable enough with her body to change out infront of other girls then that's fine. The main character is overdramatic, immature, and is too nice. Now I have no problem with nice people but when they're too nice I can't stand them. That made this book hard to read. The main character is put in a predicament where she either plays along with the class by changing her name to confuse the substitute teacher or be nice and say her actual name. She goes along with the class and the teacher ends up crying for some reason. If you're emotionally unstable then why go sub for high schoolers? The book throws around things that are supposed to make being thirteen less scary but really it just scared me even more. If I am comfortable enough to change infront of my female peers I'm just going to be thought badly of it. If I grow up Slowly I'll be thought badly of that too. The book has the message BEING THIRTEEN IS GREAT!
But you just move that aside to find underneath that the real message of the book is WHATEVER YOU DO YOU WILL BE CRITIZED FOR IT.

I give this book three and a half stars out of five.
The reason I gave it this rating is because the characters in this book are too immature for their ages, and the portrayal of thirteen year olds was poor.

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Winnie has finally reached her thirteenth birthday. She doesn't think life could get any better. She has two wonderful best friends forever (BFFs), Dinah and Cinnamon, and a super hot boyfriend, Lars, who held her hand just last week! Everyday is a new adventure for this fun teenager. Her six-year old brother Ty always has intriguing questions, and it seems that some times he will only listen to Winnie. Then there's her sister Sandra who's in her senior year of high-school and is moody most of the time, but at other times can offer some great sisterly advice. Winnie soon begins to realize that being thirteen has its ups and downs. She's on the rocks with Lars, and doesn't quite know how to handle it, as it is her first real relationship. And then there's Joseph, the little boy in her brother's class who has leukemia. Even though she doesn't know him Winnie feels sorry for him. This makes her look at life in a whole new way. Over the course of her thirteenth year, Winnie faces lots of new things, each one exciting in its own way. Even though life sometimes gets a little hectic, Winnie knows she loves being thirteen!

This book was really cute. There are two other books that come before it, Eleven and Twelve, but I don't think it's necessary to read them before reading Thirteen. I loved how Lauren Myracle made Winnie such a real character. It seems that characters in other books like Thirteen have really unrealistic goals or outlooks on life. Winnie seemed to be really down to earth and very likable. I could relate to a lot of the issues that she faced, and it was easy to laugh along with her. This is a great book for any girl, young or old, and makes you see growing up in a fun way. I look forward to seeing if Winnie's story continues.

[Vijayasree · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked how it showed the way Winnie felt toward the others and how it shows real characteristics. Like how she feels toward Joseph, with love and kindness and passion, Amanda, like she loves her and wishes she would change from her new crazy self, Ty, he needs to know that she's there for him in some situations she might not be for him in, and Cinnamon and Dinah, they are her best friends but sometimes they need to understand each other better. I said this because Winnie cares for Joseph because he has leukemia and wants him to get better, she wants Amanda to be her old sweet and kind self instead of going out to eighth-grade parties and getting drunk, Ty to understand that everything doesn't revolve around a girl and you can't make everything right even if you want to, and Cinnamon not to make fun of Dinah in front of eight-graders to make herself look better she should treat her better. There is one more character that she wants to be his best is Lars, he's really really nice to her but he goes away in the summer and comes back a little different then she remembers: he starts to lie to her, he starts to make fun of her, like Cinnamon did to Dinah, and he starts to drift away from her a little bit. But the important thing is that she tries really hard to make everything in a way that seems to be really good for the group in total she tries to fix everything to her ability and she believes in herself so she will succeed. I like that she is true to herself, she comes out of her shell especially with Lars and Cinnamon she stands up for herself and not as much in the beginning as in the end. I gave it 5 stars because Lauren Myracle tells the story in a way that can be true to a quite a few girls in the world.

[Lilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book “Thirteen” is about a girl named Winnie who is turning 13. It tells about her life, and how she is trying to juggle a relationship, family life, and trying to make it through middle school. It shows how she makes it through “life.”
Winnie: A thirteen year old with an outgoing personality and a boyfriend named Lars. She has two awesome friends named Cinnamon and Dinah.
Lars: Winnie’s boyfriend, a ninth grader at the boy school. He has a friend named Bryce who dates Cinnamon for a while, and he is known as the “cool kid” in the book.
Mom: A fun upbeat kind of person, can be strict, and gets angry in the summer from the heat. She is pregnant and is a substitute reader at her son’s school.
Cinnamon: Winnie’s best friend since the beginning of 5th grade, a fun upbeat person, likes to have fun. She is caring and kind to all people.
Dinah: Winnie's second best friend, and she is a goody-two-shoes, and worries about everything, but likes to have fun with her friends.
The setting mostly takes place at school or at Winnie’s house.
The conflict is that Winnie is trying to figure out life and what’s important.
Winnie finds out that life isn’t perfect and that there are good and bad moments, and that everything happens for a reason.
I thought this book was amazing, and it goes great with the rest of the series. It’s super descriptive and it makes you feel like you are Winnie in real life. It definitely pulls you in.
I would recommend this book to all girls 10 years to 13 years old. Anyone would enjoy it, and you should definitely check out more of Lauren Myracle’s books!

[Karolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be really good because the main character Winnie is a thirteen year old girl that has alot of problems going on, like her two best friends Dinah and Cinamon, she feels like one is trying to grow up to fast while the other one is a little immature. Another problem she and her boyfriend Lars aren't as close as they thought and end up breaking up. And to make things worse, her mother's pregnant!

[Michaela]

I really enjoyed this book! It is exactly what i'm going through! Winnie is so funny. I wish she was real so i can meet her! I wish this was a movie. I would defiantly recommend this book for other girls.

[Andi · Rating 5 out of 5]

These just got better and better! I loved this book!

[Sprout · Rating 3 out of 5]

This author sets really high standards for her writting and I was dissapionted! This book mentioned God QUITE a lot of times! The story was relativly inappropriate!

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Winnie finally gets her first boyfriend! What a milestone! Hehe...

[Madeline Worcester]

I feel like at this rate, I will probably just be rereading the whole series, but I'm not super mad about it. Things lately have been very chaotic - much like Winnie's own life - and Myracle's nostalgic works are a balm of their own.

Thirteen is the third installment of The Winnie Years (at least in order of publication), and it has a hefty focus on the relationship aspect of adolescence. Even if Winnie won't admit it to herself at first, it is confirmed that Lars is a terrible boyfriend. Based on characterization, he can be equated to Spencer from Good Luck Charlie or Scott from Lemonade Mouth. What a garbage man, but I guess dating garbage men is a hallmark of growing up in many cases. There are some other moments that are quite serious compared to the books before; namely, disclosing how a young boy has cancer and learning to cope with the unknown. But most of the tone remains the same in its humor and its gradual maturity increase. At the end of the day, it's just another emotive tale about the love and loss of youth.

When it came to the first two books, I felt that they both had their pros and cons. Even though I feel like this installment is more mature thematically, I don't necessarily like it as much, which is surprising to me. Thirteen was the volume that taught me the ropes. I learned how to kiss *from this book* more or less. But there were an awful lot of negative comments about people's weights that were not rectified, and in general, Winnie is at a stage where she starts to accept being mean instead of actively counteracting that urge. This makes sense in a way because of the shame acquired in this stage of life, but novels have a certain responsibility to condemn these attitudes, and I do not think Myracle goes far enough.

Additionally, I have a bone to pick with this book because of the continuity issues. Myracle published these books over the span of far longer than merely one book per year, so there are pop culture references that don't align with the timeline of the first two necessarily. I also get annoyed every time I read the Magic in Manhattan reference because it's so blatant.

Nevertheless, I cannot say I didn't breeze through Thirteen. I had actually forgotten that Amanda goes goth in this installment. That was kind of funny. I also liked Sandra a lot in this book, especially as she is about to go to college. I think her breakdown was pretty relatable, even to me right now.

In general, this book is good but a slight demotion from the first two. I think it might be easier for an older audience to read on account of the aging protagonist, but when you really dig into the details, the first two have greater arcs...whereas this is a lot of "we fight, we break up, we kiss, we make up."

[Mirele Kessous · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a fan of tween fluff books, but this was not as fluffy as I'd feared. It was strikingly authentic. Winnie's voice sounds very much like a 13-year-old girl learning how to deal with life's everyday challenges. Myracle captures Winnie's inner thoughts and monologues with great perception and humor.

13 year olds are on spectrum of maturity. Some of the things that Winnie did seemed really mature for some 13 yr olds I know (wine cooler parties, kissing boys), but there's nothing here that would traumatize a late bloomer.

My only criticism, as an old fuddy-duddy, is that [SPOILER ALERT] everything turns out perfectly rosy in the end. Lars has this sudden epiphany in which he realizes the error of his ways and apologizes and they are back together!!!! Joseph's cancer is cured!!!! Winnie gets the baby sister she always dreamed of!!!! Barf. But if you're a tween girl reading this, I suppose any other ending would be too dark to handle.

So-- It's reminiscent of Judy Blume, but maybe not as real. Girls ages 10-13.

[Dancer.Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tenhle třetí díl (když nepočítám knížku Deset, kterou jsem vlastně ani jsem nečetla a ani už nebudu) téhle série o Viki Perryové se mi moc líbil a bavil mě. Už jak jsem začala číst knihy Jedenáct, Dvanáct a teď i Třináct, tak jsem si Viki oblíbila. Je milá, ochotná i zábavná. Když jsem četla tuhle knížku, tak jsem se u ní hodněkrát zasmála. Zábavné byly hlavně některé části s mým oblíbeným Tomíkem (bratrem od Viki). Mám ráda i Vikiinu starší sestru Sandru, protože na mě při čtení působila dobrým dojmem. Ale nebyly tu jenom zábavné části, ale někdy i smutné nebo dojemné. Smutné bylo třeba to, jak se rozešla s Larsem. HSKVN (Holka s kroužkem v nose), která pořád za Larsem chodila mě neustále štvala. Larson mě taky v nějakých částech štval, ale jinak byl moc hodný. Naštěstí se potom díky Viki dali spolu zase dohromady. Taky mi bylo strašně moc líto chudáčka Josepha. Ten konec byl moc dojemný a moc hezký. Určitě mám v plánu a chci si přečíst další a taky poslední (pokud autorka nenapíše další, což myslím že ne, protože poslední díl je, myslím, vydaný v roce 2011) díl téhle super série.

[Annie Gbaford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Winnie is now thirteen she's finally a teenager and everything is changing for her best friends are growing up at different rates. One is growing up a little too fat=st and the other just too slow. Winnie can't help but feel stuck in the middle especially now that she's dating a guy in high school. Winnie and her boyfriend almost end up breaking up because of all this conflict, and she almost loses both of her best friends they all want her to behave and act a certain way but she doesn't know what to do to please them all.

I highly recommend this book for middle schoolers they would be able to relate to this story of wanting to grow up fast and not being able to grow up fast enough. Most teenagers would be able to relate to this book.

[Morgan Drummond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Growing up I read all of the Winnie Years. The year I turned the age my mom got me the book. In this particular book Winnie has finally a teenager. She had been waiting forever for this. She has to go through changes with friends, family and even first boyfriends as she grows up. This book shows her growing up when she is a teenager. Many girls would like this series and relate to it. Some girls are growing up faster then Winnie and she does not know what to do. You see her life struggles and her as a young woman growing up. I recommend these books I really enjoy them they are full of humor but also real life changes and situations.

[india ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 (good)

This book was great fun, though sadly, it wasn’t quite as good as “Twelve”. Winnie’s relationship with Lars was quite toxic, and she was technically only with him because of his looks. From the time until we first met Cinnamon in “Twelve”, until now, my opinion of her hasn’t changed at all. She might be a fun friend, but she certainly is NOT a true friend, and she lives for drama. It’s interesting to see the characters mature and change throughout the book/s. Amanda changed a lot, while Dinah barely changed. A thing I really appreciated was that the characters actually act their age, and that it is quite relatable for kids aged 12/13. Overall, an enjoyable experience.

[Ayrriana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary The setting of this book takes place in Atlanta, Georgia, and middle/high school that the main character. The main character is Winifred Perry but everyone calls her Winnie. The minor characters in this story are Cinnamon, Dinah, and Lars. Winnie is thirteen dealing with normal teenage girl problems. On top of that, she has a new baby sister on the way.

Rating: 4

Explanation: This book is a good resource for teenagers to learn how to deal with common teenage problems. This book will have children feeling like they're actually inside the book experiencing the events like the characters. Teenagers can relate to the main characters Winnie, as she was going through the faze of becoming a teenager.

[Julia Chen]

Winnie Perry is a teenager at last! And it s a really big deal. A ginormous deal, which, wouldn t you know it, brings ginormous problems along with it. Winnie s bff #1 is growing up too slowly, while her bff #2 is growing up too fast, leaving Winnie stuck in the middle. Winnie s boyfriend, Lars, is fabulous except when he s not. And as for Winnie s family, well, BIG changes are in the air. Bestselling author Lauren Myracle concludes her enormously popular trilogy about a winning young heroine whose humor, daring, and compassion for others is infectious and unforgettable.