It was the worst year ever

Being thirteen. I thought it lasted about six years. Now we've got a book that portrays the year perfectly: 13: Thirteen Stories That Capture the Agony and Ecstasy of Being Thirteen, edited by James Howe (813.08 T3492). Each author's photo appears after his or her story - but the photos were taken when the authors themselves were 13. Priceless. Here are a couple of select quotes:

"If popularity at school had anything to do with how much teachers liked you, I'd have a posse." From Noodle Soup for Nincompoops by Maureen Ryan Griffin
"If you want to know the truth (and if you tell anybody this, I swear I will so never speak to you again), sometimes I'm not so sure who I am anymore." From Jeremy Goldblatt Is So Not Moses by James Howe

The cover photo couldn't be better: