Twelve [Paperback]

Eleven was big. Winnie got a new best friend, and a new worst friend. But twelve is going to be huge. Last year everyone else changed, but now it’s Winnie’s turn to “develop.” Ack! Twelve is going to be a big year for Winnie, she just knows it. After all, she’s one step closer to being a teenager, but there’s just so much to deal with: pierced ears, sleepaway camp, junior high. . . .Can Winnie handle the pressure? And most important, can she handle bra shopping with Mom—in public?“Light, quick reading with an authentic perspective.”—Kirkus Reviews

Lauren Myracle is theauthor of many popular books for teens and tweens,includingNew York Timesbestsellersttylandttfn(Abrams). She lives with her family in Fort Collins,Colorado.THE THING ABOUT BIRTHDAYS, especially if you just that very day turned twelve, is that you should make a point of trying to look good. Because twelve is almost thirteen, and thirteen is a teenager, and teenagers don’t strut around with holes in their jeans and ketchup on their shirts.

Well. They did if they were my sister, Sandra, who was fifteen-about-to-turn-sixteen. Her birthday comes next month, which meant that for a delightful three-and-a-half-week period beginning today, she was only three years older than me, instead of four.Yes!

Sandra made a show of not caring about her appearance, although it was clear she secretly did. She stayed in the bathroom far longer than any human needed to, and I knew she was in there staring and staring and staring at herself in the mirror: putting on eyeliner and then wiping all but the barest trace of it off; dabbing on the tiniest smidge of Sun Kissed Cheek Stain from the Body Shop; making eyes at herself and dreaming about Bo, her boyfriend, who told her he liked her just the way she was—natural. So ha ha, the trick was on Bo, but I’ve learned from Sandra that boys were often lló,