Addie Bell's Shortcut for Growing Up

Addie just wants to grow up and be taken seriously.  It's her twelfth birthday, but she's still under five feet and has a pink princess bedroom.  She and Grace have been best friends forever, but lately, it seems like Addie is ready to grow up, but Grace still wants to do childish things.

When the two girls have a big fight, Addie decides to use a gift from her crazy neighbor.  Mrs. Toodles says it's a magic box that grants wishes.  Addie doesn't really believe it, but what can it hurt to make the wish?  Her older sister Rory seems to have a perfect life:  makeup, clothes, a car, friends, a series of cute boyfriends.  So, Addie makes her wish; she wants to be sixteen.

When she wakes up the next morning, her wish has come true!  But the only problem is she doesn't have the experiences of the past four years.  She's a twelve-year-old in her sixteen-year-old life.

It seems perfect on the surface:  a beautiful new bedroom, a cell phone, a car, a glamorous new best friend, and popularity at school.  But she quickly begins to realize her new life isn't so perfect.  First of all, she and Grace are no longer friends at all.  How can this be possible?!  Graddie forever, right?  Plus, being popular is a lot of hard work, and her new "best" friend doesn't seem so friendly after all.

Jessica Brody's new novel is 13 Going on 30 for the middle school crowd--full of humor, awkwardness, and 12-year-old dreams.