Age 13- If it can go wrong, it will

"If thirteen is supposed to be an unlucky number, what does it mean that we are forced to go through an entire year with that as our age? I mean, you would think a civilized society could just come up with a way for us to skip it.

Of course, good luck and I have rarely shared the same park bench. Sometime I think Murphy’s Law- you know, ‘If something can go wrong, it will’- was invented just for me. I suppose the fact that my name is Murphy Murphy might have something to do with that feeling.”

Murphy Murphy? With a name like that, life is bound to be a little tough. Add to it the age 13, and things are definitely looking down. Throw in a middle school crush? It’s a recipe for disaster. For Murphy Murphy, life just keeps knocking him down. Once it is brought to his attention that he has a crush on Tiffany, he just can’t stop thinking about her. (Don’t you hate how your friends can make you realize you have a crush, therefore causing you to blush every time you now see that person?) When Murphy’s asked to be in a play with Tiffany he jumps at the chance to impress her. There’s just one tiny glitch… Murphy has stage fright. Bad.

“Mikey looks even more surprised. ‘Murphy, you can’t go onstage with her. You can’t even move when you get onstage. Don’t you remember what happened in the fifth grade?’

As if I could forget. Not only was it one of the three most humiliating moments of my life, but according to my little brother, it has become legendary at Westcott Elementary. Here’s the short version: Mrs. Carmichael had cast me as George Washington in our class play, and I was, I want to tell you, pretty good during rehearsals. But when they opened the curtain and I saw the audience… well, let’s just say that when my mother saw the look on my face, she actually let out a scream. She told me later she thought I was having a heart attack. As for me, my mouth went drier than day-old toast, some mysterious object wedged itself in my throat, and the only reason I didn’t bolt from the stage was that I couldn’t move my arms or legs. Heck, I couldn’t even move my fingers.

I couldn’t even squeak!

Finally, they had to cancel the performance. Even after the curtains closed, it took two teachers and a janitor to carry me back to the classroom.”

James Howe’s 13: Thirteen stories that capture the agony and ecstasy of being thirteen gets down and dirty on the reality of being thirteen. New crushes, facing bullies, trying to fit in; it’s all in this one book.

So can Murphy make it through the skit and get the girl? Or will his stage fright combined with his inevitable bad luck get the best of him? Join Murphy, and others as they tell the adventures and misadventures of being 13.