If you want to get any of the books or products in my videos, you can check out your local library, bookstore, Target, etc. Sometimes the bond runs deeper than you think! Get this book on Amazon – – or check it out at your local library. If you’re looking for more inspiration, Multnomah County Library and Hennepin County Library also have information about doing an 11 Birthdays book club.In 11 Birthdays, two kids learn how to be grateful for friendship.

When you saw the cover did you think you would like it?.

Why do you think Stephanie and Amanda are friends? Do you think they’ll stay friends after this story ends?.

What did Amanda and Leo learn from repeating their eleventh birthday over and over?.

Why do you think Amanda tries out for the gymnastics team? Why did she finally try out for marching band?.

What would you do if you had a day with no consequences like when Leo and Amanda went to the mall?.

How does Amanda feel after secretly reading her sister’s diary? How does it change their relationship?.

Do you think Amanda made the right choice by not talking to Leo for an entire year?.

Have you ever had a fight with a friend that lasted a long time?.

If you overheard your best friend talking about you behind your back, what would you do?.

If you had to repeat a day, what would you do differently?.

What one thing from today would you like to repeat every day for the next year?.

If you woke up and realized that you were reliving yesterday, would you be scared?.What special things do you do or eat on your birthday? What is your favorite kind of birthday cake?.What would be your ideal birthday party?.(I may have gotten some of these questions from other online sources, but if I did I have lost my sources! Eep! If I figure out that I did, I’ll give credit where credit is due.) We ended by making bookmarks the girls could take home. We had pre-written nouns from the book on slips of paper and the girls took turns drawing each picture while the other girls tried to guess what it was. After the discussion we played a game modeled loosely after Pictionary. The book has a lot of themes that girls this age are thinking about, and the participants had a lot to say about friendships and fighting and boy/girl relationships. (We bought bare cupcakes–pre-ordered from our local grocery store, pre-made frosting and a bunch of candy/sprinkles for toppings.) We then discussed the book, using the questions below as a starting point. This tied in to the birthday party theme in the book.

We started by decorating cupcakes that the girls then ate. This book is about a girl named Tara who moves away from her home to her cousins house is Willow falls. Even though the book is from 2009, the entire series continues to be well-read at our library. 13 gifts, by Wendy mass, is a wonderful fiction novel in the 11 birthday series. The book club was for 4th and 5th graders. I was going through some old files and found the plan for a book club another librarian and I did together last summer, for the book 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass.

11 birthdays book series