Editor's note: Every week, staff at the New Lenox Public Library will suggest one book, DVD or other item to check out from the library.

• Type: Book
• Title: Finally
  
• Author: Wendy Mass

In Finally, Rory can’t wait to cross off the items on the list she’s made of things she’ll finally be able to do upon turning twelve. She just wants an opportunity to do the basic things that other kids her age can do: have a cell phone, buy hot lunch at school, wear make-up, get her ears pierced, babysit and stay home alone.

As she crosses things off her “finally” list, Rory keeps finding herself in situations that, for her, run the range from mildly embarrassing to utterly humiliating, but for readers, they are laugh-out-loud funny.

Throughout her outrageous ordeals, Rory is lucky enough to land a part in a movie starring her favorite teen actor, Jake Harrison. She doesn’t necessarily have an easy time during her five minutes of fame, but when an amazing opportunity arises during filming, she puts her own desires aside to help a new friend, proving herself a likable character. 

Readers can’t help but sympathize with Rory, especially those of us who may have experienced some of the mishaps that she did upon turning twelve ourselves.

I thought this was a good book about a girl who longs to grow up and finally gain some freedom and independence, but who, in the end, realizes that maybe some of the simplicities of what she had to begin with weren’t so bad after all.

For more stories about Willow Falls, the fictional town in which Finally is set, check out 11 Birthdays and 13 Gifts, also by Wendy Mass, in the library's collection.