13 Gifts (11 Birthdays #3) by Wendy Mass

Synopsis: "It doesn't take long for Tara Brennan to realiza that breaking into school to steal a goat while wielding a can of pepper spray is not a good idea. As punishment for her crimes, Tara's parents send her to the sleepy little town of Willow Falls to stay with relatives she hardly knows, including her eleven-year-old cousin Emily, who, the last time they were together, ate an entire stick of glue. Tara quickly learns that Emily isn't even remotely the strangest person in town. There's a boy who sings in the bottom of an empty pool, two best friends who use blackboards to communicate, and a green-eyed girl who may-or may not- be dating the world's hottest teen movie star. Due to another huge lapse in judgement, Tara finds herself beholden to perhaps the strangest person of all: Angelina D'Angelo. If Tara can't collect thirteen mysterious objects for the old woman in time for her rapidly approaching thirteenth birthday, the consequences will be REALLY BAD. Like losing-her-immortal-soul kind of bad. And that's just for starters! Tara's adventures take her and her new friends to places they'd never thought they'd find, some in the real world, and a lot deep inside themselves. With a big dose of birthday magic, 13 Gifts will make readers laugh, think, and possibly even hum a show tune or two. Because, in Willow Falls, anything's possible, and nothing is as it seems.
Title: 13 Gifts
Series: 11 Birthdays #3
Genre: Comedy, Humor, Fiction
Pages: 339 (But if your counting the Aussie Glossary: 341!)
Ages: 9-14
Date I Finished: February 24th, 2012
My Rating: 4 stars (one of my favorite genres!!)
My Word(s): WELL THOUGHTOUT, UNIQUE, HILARIOUS
This book was well thought out from beginning to end. I just loved the plot, where Tara has to find 13 things from a list and then needs to do something else after that... all in 3 weeks?! Of course, you definitely need to read or reread 11 Birthdays and Finally by Wendy Mass because I read them a long time ago, and I did not get some parts especially the end. When I have a chance, I'm going to go back to those books. Anyway, the characters were very unique. I loved Tara because she is actually the most normal one at Willow Falls when she visits. Also, Leo and Amanda are so cute together, although I did not understand why they could not talk to each other and instead, wear blackboards around their necks to write to each other. But, obviously, that is because I need to reread the earlier books in the series. Also, Rory and Jake Harrison... how cute they are together. Lastly, David who is goofy and sings very well. (He sings because he was preparing for a bar mitzvah) Oh how cute David and Tara were together when they were holding hands as well! Anyway, this book was especially unique and well thoughtout becasue there were little surprises in every chapter. Like, (here's a very little spoiler, and it is right in the first chapter) when Tara tries to steal her principal's goat and then she says at the end of the chapter that it was a fake, stuffed goat! This book was also well thoughtout because they talk about this love potion and then at the end they realize something about these two hawks, that made me laugh so hard!!! Tjat reminds me, this book was all out HILARIOUS!!! I was trying to stop myself from laughing out loud because I was about to burst with laughter! I really recommend this book to all people whon like a good laugh and some nice small twists throughout the story.
★★★★