*Middle-grade novel, contemporary fiction
*Eleven-year-old girl as main character
Rating: I fell in love with Eleven by Lauren Myracle when I listened to the audio book. All 11-year-old girls (or anyone who was ever 11) will be able to relate!
Short, short summary:
Winnie is 11. The book starts with her birthday party and how things don’t go quite as she planned when her friends come over and don’t want to put on the play that she wrote. Her fifth-grade year ends, and the summer comes, which is nothing but boring for Winnie because her teenage sister has a job and her friends are all on vacation. When she finally gets to spend the weekend at her best friend Amanda’s beach house, she discovers that Amanda is more interested in her tan and boys than in pretending and playing like she and Winnie used to do. Then the sixth grade school year starts, and the new girl, Gail, takes over Amanda’s friendship. Everything seems to be changing, but Winnie doesn’t want anything to change.So, what do I do with this book?
1. Winnie goes through a wide range of emotions in this book. Children around this age can really relate to Winnie with her emotions such as embarrassment, disappointment, and excitement. Read a scene from Eleven, and then ask students how Winnie is feeling (or Dinah or Amanda) and ask them to write about a time when they felt the same way. They can write these in their reading response journals.
2. Things change–sometimes for the better and sometimes not. Some people can handle change. Some people can’t. Throughout the book, talk about how things are changing for Winnie. Ask children to discuss how Winnie is handling the changes. How does she solve the problem of being in a different class than Amanda and growing apart from her, for example? Children can discuss a change in their life (or write about it) and how they handled it.
3. For a fun journal assignment, ask students to plan their 11th or 12th birthday parties since this book covers both.
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Adorable!
These are awesome! Wonderful in their simplicity and creativity!
Both are wonderful,love the orange bird.
The little orange bird is so cute & fat!