- Title: The Trouble with Thirteen
- Author: Betty Miles
- Year Published: 1979 (An Avon Flare Book)
- Year Purchased: 1986
- Source: Book fair at an authors conference
- About: This one is obviously left over from my extreme youth. The plot is simple-the growing pains of two twelve-year-old girls. Even though I was of an age with the heroines, I was intellectually years beyond this book; I read it in half an hour, and immediately returned to better things. I’m fairly certain that the “honesty” of this slim volume was pretty quaint when it was first published in the late 1970s. Even though there is a quote from the Christian Science Monitor on the cover comparing Miles to Judy Blume, that is some real nonsense. However, I bought (and kept) it for a very specific reason. See below to find out why.
- Motivation: When I was a kid, I was pretty focused on my (adult) future. I knew that I would be a writer. I did what I felt I had to do in order to make that happen. Since fate goes its own way, sometimes good things just fell into my lap. In the seventh grade, I was sent as my class representative to our state’s Young Authors Conference. This was a big deal. It was a wonderful experience, as it brought me into contact (for the first time) with real-life writers. The fact that they all wrote juvenile fiction was a disappointment, as I wasn’t even marginally interested in that genre. The 1980s was a wasteland in good pre-teen literature, which I felt keenly that day. But I was surrounded by writers, writers, WRITERS!!!!!! Actual and aspiring. It was very affirmative, and little else mattered. I had the chance to meet the author of this book, bought a copy and had her sign it for me. I’ve held on to it for so long as a reminder of what it represented for me, and as an indication of how far I have come since then.
- Times Read: Once
- Random Excerpt/Page 30: “Kate’s had a crush on Alan Shay since we were in sixth grade. We always kid her about it. Alan’s nice. He’s awfully serious, though. He probably wouldn’t even notice if Kate got her ears pierced. At least, I don’t think he would.” (how scandalous)
- Happiness Scale: Book: 6 1/2/Meeting the author: 10
A Small Press Life: Books. Art. Writing. Life. Tea.
Not just a blog, a philosophy
A Small Press Life: Books. Art. Writing. Life. Tea. 
Maybe I’ll pick this one up for my daughter. It would be different and she likes that!
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It is a very quick read. I mean, really quick. It is a great book for someone wanting to switch gears and try out something different. I wasn’t in to teen fiction too much and Miles is definitely not in a category with Judy Blume. What she did get right was the dialogue and the friendship between the two main characters. Plus, she was extremely nice to me!
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