Thirteen Never Changes

Lorinda Dauphinee

by Budge Wilson

Thirteen-year-old Lorinda is so sad when her grandmother dies. She never even got to know her. And then she gets a very special gift… she inherits her grandmother's diaries, which her grandmother began when she herself was thirteen. Now, Lorinda finally has a chance to spend time with the grandmother she never knew. As she reads about the trials of WWII, she realizes that while times may be different, thirteen never really changes.

Genres: Young Adult, Childrens, Fiction

152 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Budge was educated in Halifax schools and at Dalhousie University (degree in Philosophy and Psychology, Diploma in Education, Physical Education teaching certificate). She did two years of graduate work in English at the University of Toronto, and worked at the Institute of Child Study (U. of T.) for four years--filing, illustrating, editing, writing. She illustrated three books for the University of Toronto Press, worked for several years as a freelance commercial artist and child photographer, and was a fitness instructor from 1968 to 1989. She has been writing juvenile and adult fiction since 1978, with her first book published in 1984. Her work has been published in ten countries and in seven languages.

After living in Ontario for over twenty-five years, Budge and Alan returned to Nova Scotia in 1989, and live in a small fishing village on the South Shore of the province.

Reviews

[Joey Larcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book 📚 as a teenager and I just loved it. I love how the girl reconnected with her grandmother through her diaries and saw how it was like for her when she was her age. I love the story and history in the story as well. I want to reread it again. I have been trying to find it to read again.

[Brynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book did a great job discribing how being thirteen is really like. All other books about thirteen year olds dont do it as well as this book. It also starts of with a death and this is just like my 13th year.

[Andreu · Rating 4 out of 5]

No està pas malament tot i que al principi fa una mica de mandra. Veurem si funciona amb adolescents.

[Sadhana C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of my favourite books as a kid and I can still read some parts of it every now and then. It traces the stories of two young Canadians, two generations apart, but bound by blood and the common thread of adolescence. When Laura's grandmother passes away, she receives her all her journals from age 12 to 35. Laura begins with her journal recording the events of when her grandmother was 13. The author takes us back and forth between what happens in her grandmother's life and her own, and what happens in her grandmother's life is pretty interesting because it was the first world war then. We get an insight into how war manages to affect everyone, even in a small town in nova scotia in Canada. This is a good book about growing up, and life in general.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great historical fiction about a thirteen year old girl getting to know her recently deceased grandmother through her old diaries from WWII in Halifax. Very Canadian and full of heart, while still delivering accurate historical information, as the author herself lived through WWII in Halifax and used her first hand experiences to inform the story.

Well-written for any age, but definitely recommend it to young readers and especially preteen girls.