Twelve

"Lighthearted and well-observed novel" -- Publishers Weekly

Myracle, L. (2008). Twelve. New York: Puffin Books.

Lauren Myrcale's Twelve follows Winnie Perry's journey of being twelve and turning thirteen. Many readers are already familiar with Winnie, as she is the star of Myrale's Ten, Eleven, Thirteen, and Thirteen Plus One. Now that Winnie is twelve, she does not know whether she is a child or adult. She finds herself struggling with growing up because she wants to be a carefree kid, but she also finds that she does not want to be treated like a kid anymore. Readers follow her as she deals with typical pre-teen problems--boys, friends, and family relationships. Will she find the happy medium of childhood and adulthood?

Reading Level: 640L
Suggested Delivery: Independent read

Electronic Resources:

Discussions: This website has plenty of discussion topics for readers to think about. The first page features a "Which Character Are You?" quiz, which young readers will enjoy completing. They can then continue down the page and look over the questions for mothers and daughters to answer together. This book introduces girls to puberty, boys, and relationship issues. For many, this may be the first time they have heard about these topics. The questions are an easy way for mothers and daughters to discuss these somewhat awkward topics. There is a brief interview with Lauren Myracle, in which she discusses major themes of her books, how she comes up with the ideas for her books, and her writing process. The website also has bookmarks for each book in the series that can be cut out. Each bookmark has a summary of the book on the front and discussion questions on the back. This website can be used both during and after reading any of the book in the Winnie series.

Podcast: This podcast on ReadWriteThink features an interview with Lauren Myracle. She discusses each of the books in the Winnie series. She talks about the funny moments in the books and what she was inspired by when writing the books. She also discusses the backlash that she has received for the content found within her books. She states that although her books do address controversial topics, they are topics that all young girls will encounter in their lives. She believes that reading about these issues in literature makes readers feel more comfortable and opens the door for discussion.

Vocabulary: loon, banquet, enriching, subtly, sashayed, rapt, abashed, kindling, restriction, staggered, sassy, aloofness, plethora, nudging, martyred, unveil, benevolently


Reading Strategies:

• Before Reading: Students complete an anticipation guide to get their minds interested and focused on the reading that is to come. The anticipation guide can include Yes/No and True/False answers that have to do with growing up. 
• During Reading: Students can complete a Venn diagram in which they compare themselves to Winnie. As they read about everything that Winnie encounters, they can determine whether they have had a different experience or can directly relate to Winnie. This is a great opportunity for text-to-self connections.
• After Reading: Students can write a poem for two voices using the Venn diagram they completed during reading. The poem will be from the voice of Winnie and themselves. Although the voices have been assigned, they can choose to write the poem about any topic they want. They can choose to write from both perspectives about an event that happened in the book, or an event that happened to them and how they think that Winnie would have reacted.

Inferential Comprehension: (from the "Discussions" electronic resource) Cinnamon is sometimes mean to Dinah, which Winnie usually picks up on. Why do you think Winnie never says anything? If you were Winnie, would you stand up for Dinah? Explain.