12 Finally

Rory Swenson can't wait to turn twelve.  Since she was seven, she's been keeping a list of all the things her parents promised she could have when she was twelve.  Now, that time has come, and she's starting with a cell phone.

At least with a phone Rory won't be so out of the loop.  It seems like everyone is texting and IMing, and Rory has to wait for a call on the land line.  If she's honest with herself, she really only talks to her best friend Annabelle.  Rory's main talent in life is being invisible.

No one even notices when she gets separated from her school group on a field trip to the reservoir and falls in a drainage pipe.  That's when she meets the strange old lady with the duck shaped birthmark who helps her out of the drainpipe and offers some cryptic advice about not getting what she wants until Rory knows what she needs.

But Rory is sure she knows what she needs:  a cell phone, a pet rabbit, coffee, permission to stay home alone and walk to school...Well, it's a long list.  She has a chart, in fact.  But as Rory starts to get all the things she's always wanted, nothing turns out as great as she planned, and having all her wishes come true is turning out to be a nightmare!

Finally is not a sequel to 11 Birthdays, but it is a companion novel, so if you enjoyed 11 Birthdays, give this one a try.  Even if you didn't read it, you can enjoy Finally anyway.  Wendy Mass is also the author of one of my favorite books, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, so read that, too!