Eleven (The Winnie Years, #2) by Lauren Myracle

Eleven (The Winnie Years, #2) Reviews

• 
  Kallie Polk

  Book 1:This book is about an 11 year old girl named Winnie who is not like other girls. She doesnt care about the way she looks or how she acts unlike most girls do. When summer comes and sixth grade is inching closer Winnie finds that her relationship with her best friend,Amanda, is gradually fading. Amanda is now getting caught up in boys and fashion. When Winnie and Amanda go to the beach together in the summer,Amanda is wearing a colorful bikini while Winnie finds herself wearing a tattered red one-piece. This is just the start of their friendship fading. The school year starts and everything is going fine until Amanda finds a new best friend,Gail. Gail doesnt like Winnie so Amanda and her arent as close as before.Throughout the school year, Winnie meets her match,has to deal with a mean sister,a crush with a pink eye, and a new best friend.
  
  I liked this book because of its plot.It tells things that could really happen to an eleven year old girl. I would reccomend it to girls who are ages 11 and up.Thanks for reading my review and read "Eleven" by Lauren Myracle.
• 
  eliska zarybnicka

  Kniha se mi VŮBEC nelíbila-není to můj žánr.
• 
  Janessa

  After cleaning out my bookshelf, I stumbled upon The Winnie Years series. I'm 21 years old but when I was in middle school, these books were my favourite. I figured Eleven would be a fun, quick read, and that it'd maybe offer some nostalgia. After finishing this book in 2 days, all I can say is wow!! I remember exactly why I loved these books so much when I was younger. They are so incredibly relatable and some of the themes really hit close to home. This is one of few MG books that I find to be very realistic.
  
  I can relate to Winnie a lot. I did when I was 11, and still do at age 21. Her struggles, and storyline quite eerily match mine. This book, and this series will always have a place in my heart.
  
  (Can we please petition for Lauren Myracle to continue this series and make YA books that follow Winnie in her older teens/ early twenties? lol )
• 
  Keert

  DNF: library loan expired
• 
  Harper Nettleton

  I don’t love this. It was okay
• 
  Heather

  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.)
• 
  Payton Woolvett

  This a good book for you if you don't like tragedy or scary stuff but I liked it alot!
  
• 
  Fiz

  having the best time re-reading the books i loved as a kid
• 
  The Rusty Key

  Reviewed by Rusty Key Writer: Becca Worthington
  
  Recommended for: Girls age 10 and up.
  
  One Word Summary: Charming
  
  This is an entirely wholesome and heartfelt book that perfectly captures the joy, awkwardness, delight and heartbreak (and for adult readers, the nostalgia) of fifth grade. Lauren Myracle has a powerful way of fully immersing herself in Winnie’s world. As the primary theme, the pain and loss of growing apart from your best friend is fully and honestly explored, and the book is a remarkably sensitive portrayal of pre-pubescent growth and change. Winnie is an entertaining protagonist, and it is a pleasure to be inside of her head for 200 incredibly well-written pages.
  
  Winnie’s eleventh birthday starts off perfectly. She has a sleepover with her closest friends. They make pizzas and giggle into the night, and her life-long best friend Amanda gives her a kitten named Sweetie-Pie. It looks like eleven will be the best year of her life.
  
  But as the year goes on, Amanda starts finding Winnie’s games—dressing up, using silly accents, playing make-believe—childish, and Winnie is confused and embarrassed. On top of that, her teenage sister Sandra is acting moody and annoyed, and their little brother Ty won’t leave Winnie alone.
  
  When sixth grade starts and Amanda is suddenly shaving her legs, wearing makeup and hanging out with the sophisticated Gail, Winnie can’t help but feel left behind. What do you do when your best friend is growing up faster than you are? Throw in a complicated crush on a boy that draws awesome spaceships, an icky non-crush on a boy that pick his nose, and the sweet but clueless Dinah following Winnie around like a puppy, and eleven may be a challenging year after all.
  
  
  Perhaps the loveliest thing about Eleven (which is carried throughout the series in Twelve, Thirteen and Thirteen Plus One) is its celebration of positive values. The book has strong messages of kindness, loyalty, honesty, imagination, patience, and above all, family. In this day and age, a loving and honest portrayal of a non-broken home is rarely depicted, let alone with such warmth and tenderness. Sure, they squabble and annoy each other, in a very real and sometimes painful way, but there is deep love between them. The parents, while undeniably dorky in a way that only parents can be, are kind and genuine. And Winnie’s affection for her younger brother is as palpable as her exposed yearning to be close to her older sister.
  
  Overall, in an age where vampires and promiscuity have become a staple of young adult fiction, this book bravely represents positive and wholesome values—a fact as refreshing as the Cola-flavored Slurpees I guzzled while roller-skating around my cul-de-sac when I was, oh, I don’t know, eleven.
  
  
  For more reviews from The Rusty Key, visit us at
  www.therustykey.com
  
  
• 
  Wendy Robinson czenszak

  We listened to the audiobook in the car. I don't know if it's because we listened to the audiobook, but I thought this was horrible. Most of the characters were extremely unlikeable. The narrator sounded like a 6 year old instead of an 11 year old. The men's voices made them all sound like idiots. We had to stop listening because it put us all in bad moods. My 9 year old actually got nervous while reading this that this is what she'll have to look forward to. It would've been much better if there was a message delivered that your appearance isn't everything, and that you should seek an adult's assistance when dealing with tricky issues especially bullies. Very disappointed. We will not be reading any others in the series.
• 
  Michelle

  I knew it that this will be a perfect tween book for me since when I read this book, I was 9, a tween. I absolutely loved it! I love how it expresses that in the next few coming years when you're a tween/teen, there will be some rough times, with your friends or boys, but you need to live your life and leave those bad times behind and live the present, not the past. Myracle takes the perfect role of an eleven year old girl, who is just the perfect touch to make the book great.
• 
  Julianna

  I JUST LUVED THIS BOOK OH SO VERY MUCH... THE WHOLE SERIES WAS AH-MAZING! I RECCOMEND THAT YOU DEFINETELY READ ALL THE BOOKS ABOUT WINNIE AND HER BESTIES! (THERE IS A PREQUEL TO THIS BOOK, TEN, BUT I NEVER READ IT AND DON'T THINK ITS NESSASARY TO, SINCE I THINK SHE WROTE TEN AFTER SHE WROTE THE SERIES)
• 
  Krithi

  This book is really good. it tells you what its like to be an 11 year old. Winnie is is having a hard time with sociallife, but then she meets Diana, but she the newest and weirdest girl in her class, but then she realizes that they have a lot in common.
• 
  Becca

  this whole series is good. the author does a really good job making the story realistic to an eleven year olds life
• 
  Allison

  I really liked this book so i read the sequel, Tweleve and I hope to read he one after that, Thirteen soon!
• 
  Danielle

  I've read better
• 
  Regina

  Another fabulous and entertaining book in this series. It takes you right back to 5th grade! Girls in upper elementary school are sure to love the Winnie series.
• 
  Dana

  So far, so good
• 
  Laura P

  This book is great! I unfortunately read this without realizing it was a series and missed the book before it, "10." But it was still easy to understand the protagonist's (Winnie Perry, funny enough) personality and her friendships and how she acts. I definitely recommend this book, because the characters are funny and relatable! The plot is exciting in it's own way, and makes an almost ordinary girl like Winnie extend her life into a story I can't stop reading! (Also, FYI, this books just so happens to be exactly 201 pages, making it a perfect candidate for earning 2 books for the 40 book challenge, without reading literally one more page than you absolutely have to. This isn't why I chose the book of course- but just saying.)