Ten

April 15, 2011

In this prequel to The Winnie Years series, fans meet their heroine as she celebrates her 10th birthday, secure in her family's love and her identity.

Winnie writes in a note to herself: "Being weird is much more fun than not being weird... I can handle anything, and the reason why is because I am me and I am ten and I am awesome." Winnie must remind herself of this when she encounters the changing emotional terrain of fifth grade. Myracle keeps Winnie refreshingly honest and perky as she faces down self-doubts, whether by announcing that she is not in that stage yet when the other girls in class decide they must all have crushes on boys or standing up to the bully Mindy. In this nuanced portrayal, Winnie also develops her EQ (emotional-intelligence quotient): she learns to listen to her friend Amanda, concede a point rather than be right, even feel empathy for Mindy. Winnie is not challenged with big questions the way Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's Alice is, nor does she have the complicated depth and eccentricity of Susan Patron's Lucky. She is simply the quintessential girl-next-door to whom young readers can comfortably relate.

A solid addition to a winning series, this provides the foundation for the characters and action in Eleven (2004). (Fiction. 8-12)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

September 1, 2011

Gr 4-6-Going back to before the beginning of the series, readers meet Winnie on her 10th birthday and she is bursting with confidence and love. The story takes her through the rite of passage of entering double digits and the first stirrings of emergence from childhood. Now in fifth grade, Winnie has to deal with her safe and comfortable world changing around her. As her friends are starting to have crushes on boys, she has to decide whether to follow along or wait and be true to her own feelings. While the book does not have the depth of emotion or tackle some more serious issues as some others do, it has great kid appeal. Definitely a worthwhile addition to Eleven (2004), Twelve (2007), Thirteen (2008), and Thirteen Plus One (2010, all Dutton).-Catherine Brenner, Bethlehem Public Library, Delmar, NY

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2011
Grades 3-5 With a reversal of the usual series chronological sequence, each title in the Winnie Years series tracks back one year, and this title begins with Winnie's tenth birthday, when she has a haunted-house party. Each subsequent chapter is a lively, monthlong episode that follows Winnie until she turns 11. Winnie's narrative is funny and heartfelt, whether she is embarrassed when she messes things up, hurt by teasing bullies, or supported by friends and family. Newcomers and series fans alike will easily relate to Winnie, who is not yet boy crazy and happy not to be a helpless princess.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)