Staying Nine

by Pam Conrad, Michael Wimmer (Illustrator)

Nine-year-old Heather thinks her life is perfect just the way it is. Why should she ruin it by turning ten? So instead of a birthday party, she and her mom plan an un birthday party -- with a cake but no candles, guests but no presents and absolutely no singing "Happy Birthday." But the party doesn't go exactly as planned. And with the help of her Uncle Lou's girlfriend, Rosa Rita, Heather realizes that maybe staying nine isn't the best thing after all....Nine-year-old Heather thinks her life is perfect the way it is. Why should she ruin it by turning ten? So she and her mother plan an UN-birthday party, with a cake, but no candles, guests but no presents, and absolutely no singing. But when the party rolls around, things don't go exactly as planned. And with the help of her uncle's girlfriend, Heather realizes that maybe staying nine isn't such a great idea after all . . .From well-loved author Pam Conrad, this is a touching tale about a young girl facing the challenge of growing up. "Captures a few pivotal days in a young girl's life. A story delivered with grace and depth." Starred Review/Booklist

Genres: Juvenile, Childrens

Paperback

First published October 1, 1988

About the author

Pam Conrad (1947-1996) was an author for children. Her book Our House: Stories of Levittown was a Newbery Medal finalist.

Ms. Conrad was born in New York City and graduated from the New School for Social Research.

Reviews

[Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just the book I needed to read right now. I've been worrying about growing older for a while. But this book shows that you can keep doing kid things when you grow up. You can do grown-up things, too. You just get better! And you will always stay a kid at heart.

[Adelissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am doing a second childhood thing and reading kids books for a while. I don't know if my 9-year-old self would have understood this book, to be honest, but my 41-year-old self sure does. I do have to say my hardest years to date have been 11 and 12, (puberty and moving from my childhood home) and 29 and 30. (I had cancer and then my mom died between 29 and 30 so those were hard years learning to adult and parent without my best friend.) I would have loved to skip those years but at the same time I have some good memories and good always goes with the bad and the bad helps us grow. I think, though, in my life at least, I spent the first 25 years wanting to grow up and the rest wishing I could be a child again. This book was very bittersweet to me but also shows us we are only as old as we really want to be at heart.

[Niche · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book taught me how to slide down stairs in a sleeping bag and climb doorways.

[Tabi A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pulled this book off my shelf for a quick nostalgic read. This book was given to me by a friend on my 10th birthday, and I remember thinking *how relatable* it was 😂 Growing up seemed so big and scary! Enjoyed rereading this last night, and it's definitely a product of it's time - the outfit descriptions were on point for 80s fashion! Loved the overall message of growing up but you can still be a kid at heart.

[N · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this rather slight, but I can imagine many children who would find it a comfortable and comforting read.

[Sonja · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a lovely story of a young girl who doesn't want to lose the magic of being nine.

[love_cameron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heather's birthday is coming up. She does want to turn ten she wants to stay nine. So picture day is coming up and Dorrelle is suppose to be her twin. they promised to wear the same shirt. But sence heather wants to stay nine ,she wear the same thing that she wore last, which was a striped skirt and a red sweater. when heather got to school dorrelle was mad that heather did not wear what they had planned to wear. so they did not talk for the day. so the heathers birthday cam she said she wanted to have a unbirthday. she invited her grandma and grandpa , her uncle lou , dorrelle , and rose rita. uncle lou never followed directions so he brought a gift. she did want gifts or any thing like that.

[Gena Lott · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story is slow moving and not very exciting. It is written for third and fourth graders, but I don't know that many of today's kids would stay with it to the end. It is too obviously written for kids of a simpler age and time.

[Kira · Rating 3 out of 5]

i'll have to read it again to give it an accurate rating but i remember liking it when i did read it.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that Heather was kind of odd by wanting to stay nine. But people are allowed to have different feelings about things.I liked Rosa Rita because she was funny.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

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