Books with title Thirteen: Thirteen Stories That Capturethe Agony

"If thirteen is supposed to be an unlucky number...you would think a civilized society could come up with a way for us to skip it." -- from "What's the Worst That Could Happen?" by Bruce Coville No one will want to skip any of the twelve short stories and one poem that make up this collection by some of the most celebrated contemporary writers of teen fiction. The big bar mitzvah that goes suddenly, wildly, hilariously out of control. A first kiss -- and a realization about one's sexual orientation. A crush on a girl that ends up putting the boy who likes her in the hospital. A pair of sneakers a kid has to have. By turns funny and sad, wrenching and poignant, the moments large and small described in these stories capture perfectly the agony and ecstasy of being thirteen.

If you want to know the truth... Sometimes I'm not sure who I am anymore." Thirteen. It's an age of wonder...or dread. The best year of your life...or maybe the worst ever. You've just become an official teenager, even though you're not quite sure you feel like one, but you're no longer a kid, either. Here, from fourteen different points of view, are stories about that wonderful, terrible time. The big bar mitzvah that goes suddenly, wildly, hilariously out of control. A first kiss -- and a realization about one's sexual orientation. A crush on a girl that ends up putting the boy who likes her in the hospital. A pair of sneakers that a kid has to have, no matter what. Written by some of today's finest writers for young adults, these stories -- by turns funny and sad, wrenching and moving -- truly capture the agony and ecstasy of being thirteen.