From the inside flap:
Get a cell phone.
Stay home alone.
Go to the mall with best friend and No Parents.
Wear makeup.
Get contact lenses.
Attend a boy-girl party.
And so much more.
Rory Swenson has been waiting her whole life to turn twelve. And she’s got a list to prove it. Whenever Rory asks her parents for something, they always say, “When you’re twelve, when you’re twelve, when you’re twelve.” Well, in exactly 18 hours, 36 minutes, and 52 seconds, it will finally happen. Rory’s life will officially begin!
Fun, funny, and full of surprises, this is a story about wanting to finally grow up, even when the universe seems to be telling you to wait.
Finally is proud to be on the Spring 2010 Kid's Indie Next List — "Inspired Recommendations for Kids from Indie Booksellers".
Reviews
"Jersey author Wendy Mass tells a sweetly funny tale of Rory Swenson, a gifl with overprotective parents who's been keeping a list of all the things she wants to do when she
"Finally" turns 12. It includes having her ears pierced and getting a pet and a cell phone--but each of her birthday wishes is turning out to be less fun (and much funnier to readers!) than she'd planned."
--The Star Ledger
My husband smiles as he hears the ruckus coming from my daughter’s room. She and I are lying on her bed, howling with laughter, tears running down our faces. And so it was every night as I read Finally by Wendy Mass to my 8 year-old daughter. Needless to say, we have become instant fans of this new-to-us author.
The story is about Rory Swenson who upon turning twelve has a wish list of things she is now allowed to do and has wanted to do for so long, such as getting a cell phone, drinking coffee, staying home alone, getting her ears pierced, and shaving her legs. Even as I write this, I cannot help giggling as I remember each incident that happens as she asserts and tests her newly acquired independence.
Rory is a sweet, down-to-earth girl, and my daughter and I liked her immediately. I also liked the “strict” parents who were understanding, loving, and had a sense a humour. We easily related to Rory and her family. And the book’s message is a good one: Maturity doesn’t necessarily come when one hits a certain age, twelve, in this case. Rory is told by a mysterious older woman at the beginning of the story that, “You won’t get what you want, until you see what you need.” The meaning of this becomes clear at the end of the story. I won’t say more, only that it’s a great book that uses humour to deal with the issues that all young tweens and parents struggle with—autonomy, growing up, and embracing those developmental milestones.
This is an excellent mother/daughter book to read together or for a book club. We both didn’t want this book to end, relishing the bedtime reading we knew would bring pleasure and laughter. My daughter is hoping for a sequel. I think I will just go out and get her another Wendy Mass book, and give it to her as a gift.
—Laura Fabiani, Library of Clean Reads.blogspot.com
…So overprotected that she has never ridden in the front seat of a car, Rory can’t
wait for her birthday. But those long-anticipated experiences bring some disconcerting surprises…
Rory’s lively first-person narrative clearly expresses her emotions as she seesaws between
longing and fear, confidence and insecurity.
—ALA Booklist
Washington Post 10th annual Summer Book Club pick for July 28th, 2010
The weather is warm, school is over and the pools are open. It's summertime, and what could be better than passing a long lazy day with a summer blockbuster?
No, we don't mean "Toy Story 3," we mean blockbuster authors.
We at KidsPost are firm believers that sometimes, even when it's nice outside, there's nothing better than curling up with a great book. When vivid scenery, amazing adventures and lifelike characters all work together to take you on a great escape, the experience can be every bit as compelling as any movie or TV show and can create lifelong memories.
So for our Summer Book Club, we wanted to focus on books from well-known authors who somehow manage to turn out one great book after another. At KidsPost, we call them rock-star authors, and, in fact, their books often are blockbusters (which, technically, simply means books that a whole lot of people buy). When we talk about a blockbuster, we're talking about a book that makes reading fun. A book that teaches you something. Often, a blockbuster offers the wonderful shared experience of reading the same book that your friends are reading.
Luckily, a bunch of new titles have come out recently from the kinds of authors you'd line up to meet at a bookstore. The books we are including aren't necessarily blockbusters yet -- because many of them are so new -- but they come from writers who know a thing or two about writing a knockout novel, such as Rick Riordan, whose new book, "The Red Pyramid," kicks off our club.
We are also thrilled because some big-hitter adult authors are turning out new titles for kids, including "Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer," from John Grisham. Mr. Grisham has written numerous best-selling legal thrillers for adults, and we can't wait to read his first book for kids!
If you've never read a book that is so good you just don't want it to end, now's your chance. Take a look at the titles we'll be reading and reviewing, and take your pick.
Or better yet, read them all, and make it a blockbuster summer.
Here are the books that we've listed in the KidsPost Summer Book Club. Most are available at your local public library, although some are so new that you might have to wait before you can borrow them. Read some of them, all of them, all of them plus other books. Each Wednesday, we'll review that week's book and offer suggestions of similar books you might like.
To join:
The difference with this book club is that you are not required to keep track of books or pages read. Instead, they encourage you to not lose your place while reading books for all of those other programs, by sending you a free bookmark.
To receive a complimentary bookmark, a parent or guardian must send the child's name, age, address, and phone number to KidsPost, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071 or email information to kidspost@washpost.com. Contact information is only for purposes of sending a bookmark to the particpating child.
Participants' names will also be published in the Washington Post in a special edition of KidsPost at the end of the summer. Parents and guardians who do not wish to have children's names included must specify this when sending the inquiry for the bookmark.
