13 Gifts by Wendy Mass

13 Gifts by Wendy Mass

I recently finished reading 13 Gifts by Wendy Mass. 13 Gifts is the third book in the wonderful Birthday series by Wendy Mass--which includes 11 Birthdays and Finally--and is a great story. It starts off with soon-to-be 13 year-old Tara Brennan helping Shelby Malone and her "DF"s (devoted followers) steal the principal's beloved goat the Friday night before the last two weeks of school. You're probably thinking, "That's ridiculous! Why would anybody want to steal a goat?" so I'll tell you why. Shelby promises Tara that if she steals the goat Tara will be able to sit with them for the last two weeks of school. So Tara agrees, and, after all, what could go wrong? The only person in the school is the night janitor who spends most of his time in the cafeteria, listening to music, and just mops the same spot on the floor over and over. But when Tara gets to the principal's office and grabs the goat and before she can run out, the words- "Unhand that goat!" drift in from the doorway. Before she can even think about it, Tara finds herself spraying pepper spray all over her principal. She gets suspended for the last two weeks of school, and her mother decides that instead of going with her mother and father to Madagascar she'll be staying with her Aunt Bethany, Uncle Roger, and her cousin Emily in their sleepy town of Willow Falls and that she's going in two days. If you've read the other two books in this series, you'd know that Willow Falls is where Angelina D'Angelo lives. Angelina is all about teaching life lessons and she has a thing with birthdays. Now, Tara's thirteenth birthday in on July 13, which just happens to be a Friday, and she just happens to be in Willow Falls on her birthday. And when Tara loses her mom's iPod and the $200 her parents gave her for the summer, Angelina sends her on quest to find some items by July thirteenth. Will Tara be able to find all of them in time?

Review by Sarah B. Grade 4