Addie Bell's Shortcut to Growing Up Hardcover – February 14, 2017

This review originally appeared on herestohappyendings.com.Addie Bell's Shortcut to Growing Up was an interesting book, and to be honest, probably one of the first middle grade-young adult crossover books that I've ever read. I wasn't sure it was supposed to be geared more toward middle graders, since the Addie Bell in the beginning of the book is twelve, or if it was more aimed at the young adult crowd, since the majority of the book focused on sixteen year old Addie, but I could definitely see this book appealing to both age groups.Addie Bell is about to turn twelve - and she isn't too happy about it. She longs for the days when she is a teenager, like her older sister Rory, so that she can wear makeup, have a cellphone, drive a car, and stop dressing in the babyish clothes that line her closet. It doesn't help that her best friend is still somewhat "childish" - wanting to have tea parties and do their school assignments on fairy tales. Addie Bell is so over this - she doesn't know how much longer she can handle it.When her neighbor, Mrs. Toodles, an elderly woman with whom Addie spends plenty of her time, listening to stories, having cookies, and drinking lemonade, gives her a birthday gift - a story and a jewelry box that Mrs. Toodles tells Addie has the power to magically grant wishes, Addie thinks that Mrs. Toodles can't possibly be for real. A jewelry box that grants wishes? There's no way. Right?When Addie and her best friend Grace have a falling out at a slumber party, Addie wonders how much more of this she can possibly take - she seems to be a sixteen year old stuck in a twelve year old's body. So before bed that night, she writes down her wish "I wish I was sixteen" on a piece of paper, and locks it in the jewelry box.When she wakes up, her whole world is changed. Addie is no longer twelve years old, in the same babyish bedroom with the little kid clothes and no curves. Addie Bell wakes up to find out that she's actually sixteen years old, in a room full of awesome furniture, cute clothes, makeup, and a dog - something she has been wanting for years and that she hasn't been allowed to have."This is the glamorous, uninhibited, greatly improved life of sixteen-year-old Adeline.It's like someone has unlocked the door and let me out of my prison cell. Someone has finally set me free.And I have a feeling it's going to be amazing."So Addie, who now likes to be called Adeline, apparently, is tossed into this world where she is sixteen. Not only is Addie just sixteen - but four years have passed since she made that wish on her twelfth birthday - meaning time kept going, and Addie missed it all - she missed growing up, she missed seeing her sister go off to college, and she even missed getting her puppy. Sure, there are photos of Addie during all these times, but the twelve year old Addie wasn't actually there for any of it.In fact, more has changed than she expected - for one, she and Grace are no longer friends. Second, she is one of the most popular girls in school, friends with the "mean girl" Clementine. They have a successful makeup/hair/nails vlog that they run together, too, and this Addie has plenty of guys after her - seven of them asked her to a school dance, and she turned down every one of them. But is her friendship with Clementine all it's cracked up to be?So while Addie struggles to make sense of the world she is living in now (for example, she isn't even sure how to pronounce trigonometry, let alone actually know how to do it), she tries to figure out exactly how to fix things that got all messed up in the past four years - like how she and Grace ended up not friends, and why she hates her.Addie Bell's Shortcut to Growing Up is a really cute book, definitely light and fluffy. I'd like to say that there isn't anything deep or any meaningful messages in this book, but that would be a lie - there's a strong underlying message about friendship being worth more than anything, and it's easy to pick out - I believe this will resonate will with younger readers, making sure they know that they shouldn't be in such a hurry to grow up, but instead to enjoy every moment of their lives while they go along.I guess sometimes even adults need to be reminded of this too - as we often spend our lives wishing for the next exciting thing to happen, instead of appreciating all the little moments as they come along.There's a lot of family interaction in this book, which is a positive thing to note as well. Many books for young adults and middle graders seem to be based on horrible family drama or having the family absent from the story most of the time, so it was a really nice change of pace to see a strong family bond.Also? This book is really funny. I seriously laughed a lot while reading this. I wasn't really expecting any laugh out loud scenes or anything, but they were definitely there, even when I wasn't expecting it.This is the first book that I've read by Jessica Brody, even though I have a few others, and I definitely enjoyed it. As I stated earlier, I really do believe that this book will appeal to readers of all ages, and the important messages in the book will be sure to stick with you!Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review - Thank you!

This book was a great read for my daughter. She thinks it wasawesome! It took her a few days to read it but she loved it. I thinkthey should make a second book if there is not already one! I reallyliked this book because it was very interesting and very specificabout everything. I wish the book would've been longer because it wasreally good. I would recommend this book to any girl.The book was about a girl named Adeline Bell who is 12 yrs. old and she would always go to her neighbor across the street and one the lady gave her a magic jewelry box that if you wrote your wish on a piece of and put it inside and locked the box it would come true. Addie didn't think that would happen but she thought she might give it a try. When she woke up she saw everything different because she had wished to be sixteen so her room was all designer and she had cool and fancy clothing. She eventually found out that she had a phone, a drivers license, she was really good at doing make up and she finally got a dog. When she got to school she saw that many things had changed like she wasn't best friends with Grace anymore instead she was friends with this girl named Clementine. Even though she missed 4 yrs. of her life she was able to figure out some things she missed with that big gap in her life. I hope you liked my review. Thank you so much for your time :D

Addie Bell's Shortcut to Growing Up tells a familiar story. Being a pre-teen is hard and every kid wants to skip ahead and be older. Freaky Friday, anyone? Even though the story doesn't give us much new, it's very well written and the author does a great job of bringing this tried and true tale to a contemporary audience and adding her own twist. Addie wants to be grown up like her 16 year old sister, and thanks to a magic wish, she skips four years and finds herself magically transformed from a nerdy seventh grader to an ultra cool high school junior. It doesn't take long before she figures out that being older isn't always all that it's cracked up to be.Kids will love this story and find it easy to relate to its characters. What starts out as a cute magic switcheroo tale ends up being a story of some substance as Addie learns some valuable lessons about friendship. It's funny when she first encounters her newly developed body and her first attempts at flirting are pretty hilarious. The author perfectly portrays 12 year old Addie and it was interesting to see 12 year old thinking when confronted with a 16 year old lifestyle.Addie learns that it doesn't always pay to take shortcuts. The dangers of trying to grow up too soon have been well documented, but it never hurts to hear about it again, especially when they are presented in such a clever and entertaining manner. A perfect read for young readers age 11 and up.

Twelve year old Addie Bell thinks life would be better if only she were sixteen. With the help of a magical jewelry box her wish is granted. Only how can one get everything they have always wanted and still not be happy?A child suddenly turning into an adult plot has been used quite often in books and movies. That's why I liked that in this book the age gap was only 4 years. Twelve is that awkward age where your parents expect more out of you than they did when you were in grade school and yet you still don't have any freedom. No wonder Addie thought life would be perfect if she was only sixteen.I loved the humor in this book especially when Addie discovers that she has a driver's license and a car. It's just a really cute story with some good lessons in friendship and being true to yourself.I received an ARC of this book and that is my honest review.

I love Jessica Brody’s books so when this one came out I had to grab myself a copy and I wasn’t disappointed.Eleven year old Addie wants to grow up so she can have a mobile phone and wear make-up so when on her twelfth birthday she is given a magical jewellery box by the elderly women down the road who she likes to visit she wishes before she goes to bed that she's sixteen.When Addie wakes up she finds out that she is now sixteen and her entire life has changed, he best friend Grace is no longer her best friend and she can’t figure out why and she finally has a dog, a mobile phone and a draw full of make-up that she has no idea how to use.At first Addie loves her new life but then she realises that she misses her old life and her best friend but in order to go back to being twelve Addie must find the key to the magic jewellery box and take back her wish.Can Addie find the key or will she be stuck sixteen forever?

My 11 almost 12 granddaughter loved it!

non avrei mai pensato che un libro in apparenza per i ragazzi mi avrebbe regalato tante emozioni!! Storia accattivante, scrittura "pensata" ma che dà l'impressione di tanta spontaneità. L'autrice si cala molto bene nella mente di una 12enne. Lo raccomando a grandi e piccoli, insegna come apprezzare quello che si è, che si ha, il presente e il valore degli affetti umani e dell'essere sé stessi. Quando hai successo e soldi ma non hai più l'affetto a cui avevi rinunciato per avere fama e soldi, ti rendi conto -o per lo meno questa eroina si rende conto- del valore dell'affetto e vuoi tornare indietro a recuperarlo rinunciando a fama e soldi che in sé, senza l'Essenza sono solo un guscio vuoto.Ma è sempre possibile tornare indietro?!