43 pages • 1 hour read
Wendy Mass11 Birthdays: A Wish Novel
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2009A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Amanda
Amanda is the story’s narrator and protagonist. The story focuses on her 11th birthday, which she is destined to repeat until she works out how to break the mysterious enchantment. Amanda feels lonely and friendless after her falling out with her best friend Leo on their birthday the year before. She dreads her birthday party that evening, which will be the first ever she has had without Leo and feels insecure about the gymnastics tryouts. She cannot execute a back handspring despite the coaching and encouragement of her best friend, Stephanie. Secretly, Amanda longs to attend the marching band audition, but Stephanie advises her that this is uncool.
Amanda is a dynamic character who undergoes significant growth and change throughout the story. To repair her friendship with Leo, she must recognize and appreciate the loyal friends she has, accept his apology and move forward, and discover the fulfillment of helping others. Once she discovers she and Leo can change the events of their repeating birthday, she can positively intervene in others’ lives. She ensures that her mother and her sister don’t swap their project posters, draws a periodic table for a crying boy who forgot his, and is kind to everyone, even Ruby, who had been rude to Amanda. Amanda also learns the importance of authenticity. She realizes that even though she eventually successfully executes a back handspring and makes it onto the gymnastics team, she only wants to be on the team in order to be affiliated with the cool kids rather than doing what feels true to her. Her commitment to authenticity is illustrated in her decision to audition for the marching band.
Leo
Leo also matures through the strange enchantment. The previous year, Leo, insecure and self-conscious, tells a group of boys who intimidate him that he has his birthdays with Amanda only because his mom makes him and because Amanda doesn’t have many other friends. Leo regrets his thoughtlessness immensely, especially when the two plan separate birthdays the next year. The enchantment allows Leo the opportunity to apologize to Amanda, and the two repair their friendship with a day of fun around the town. Leo’s growing maturity is illustrated in his heart-felt apology to Amanda, and in his kindness toward her. He delivers a poem about their friendship breakdown at the Senior Citizen’s Community Center and arranges for the two of them to attend a band audition so that Amanda can play drums in public.
Leo and Amanda recommit to their friendship. In doing so, Leo makes a commitment to authenticity; he no longer acts to impress the cooler boys in school but instead openly plans his birthday to accommodate Amanda. Leo agrees that he should write a poem about their strange experiences even though he has been bullied for his poetry in the past. A future romance between Leo and Amanda is alluded to at the novel’s conclusion when Leo’s mother teases that she would love for Leo and Amanda to date when they’re older.
Angelina
Angelina, who has lived in Willow Falls as long as anyone can remember, is a mysterious and magical character. She has a recognizable duck-shaped birthmark on her cheek. She is a static character and seems to have played a role in the relationship dynamics of Willow Falls through many generations. Angelina enchants Leo’s and Amanda’s ancestors, Fitzpatrick and Ellerby, apple farmers on adjacent properties who have a feud that affects their families as well as the town. They are enchanted to repeat Harvest Day until they repair their relationship and toast to their continued friendship.
Angelina ensures the enchantment will affect their descendants, Leo and Amanda. She mysteriously arrives at the hospital soon after the children are born to advise their parents to celebrate their birthdays together each year; the next year, she meddles in the booking at the Party Palace next year to ensure that the tradition is set in motion. Angelina’s magic is also apparent in her ability to occupy jobs throughout the town at her will, such as the bus driver or the attendant at the Willow Falls Historical Society. This magical fluidity means she can monitor Leo and Amanda’s progress as they repair their relationship.
Leonard Fitzpatrick and Amanda Ellerby
Angelina enchants Fitzpatrick and Ellerby to repeat Harvest Day until they repair their relationship and toast to their continued friendship, and this enchantment is resurrected in Amanda and Leo, the ancestors of the two friends. Parallels are apparent between Leo and his great-great-grandfather, Leonard Fitzpatrick, such as in both Leonard and Leo’s love of writing. Similarly, both Amanda and her great-great-grandmother share an affinity for music. These similarities are a hint to the reader that Leo and Amanda are affected by the same magic as their ancestors. The story of their ancestors’ feuds helps Leo and Amanda better understand their own and helps them heal their rift.
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By Wendy Mass
