Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    13: A Novel
    13: A Novel
    13: A Novel
    Ebook164 pages2 hours

    13: A Novel

    By Jason Robert Brown and Dan Elish

    3.5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    The novel based on the groundbreaking musical by Jason Robert Brown and Dan Elish, 13, a story about friendship, fitting in, and what it means to turn thirteen. Now a movie-musical streaming on Netflix!

    “No one said becoming a man was easy."

    Evan didn’t expect relevant life advice from Rabbi Weiner, who looks so old that he must have gone to yeshiva with Moses. But wondering what it means to become a man is the least of Evan’s problems.

    After being uprooted right before his thirteen birthday from New York City to Appleton, Indiana, he’s more focused on using this fresh start to find the right friends to invite to his bar mitzvah. Because this is his chance to get in with the popular kids—the cool football players and pretty cheerleaders.

    But it’s the weird kids who welcome him, like his nerdy neighbor Patrice and Archie, whose crutches and muscular dystrophy make him an easy target for bullying. Evan doesn’t want to be laughed at for being different. He can pretend to be like the cool kids; he’s sure he can.

    But if you spend all your time pretending to be someone else, who do you become?

    In this story of acceptance and friendship, Evan prepares for his bar mitzvah, grapples with his father’s affair, and learns from his rabbi, all the while presented with various images of what it means to be a man. While he struggles to fit in with the popular boys at school, he eventually learns that being cool is not as important as being a good friend—and a good person.

    With relatable humor and accessible language, and at a consumable length, this book is perfect for all tweens and especially boys looking for a relatable read.

    Netflix has announced an adaptation of the Broadway musical that inspired 13: A Novel. Jason Robert Brown will be returning to compose new music for the show, and the cast includes Rhea Perlman, Josh Peck, Debra Messing, and Peter Hermann.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJun 16, 2009
    ISBN9780061957253
    13: A Novel
    Author

    Jason Robert Brown

    Jason Robert Brown is the Tony Award-winning lyricist and composer of Parade, The Last Five Years, and Songs for a New World as well as the musical 13, which he collaborated on with Dan Elish. At his bar mitzvah he sang a song he had written about breaking up with his girlfriend, even though he had not at that time ever had a girlfriend. Jason lives in California with his wife and daughter.

    Related to 13

    Related ebooks

    Children's Humor For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Join The Club

      Jun 13, 2021

      Join The Club
      1 min read

    • Article

      Totally EMBARRASSING

      Feb 13, 2022

      Totally EMBARRASSING
      2 min read

    • Article

      LOVELY Amelie!

      Jun 3, 2021

      LOVELY Amelie!
      2 min read

    • Article

      Frozen II

      May 31, 2020

      Frozen II
      4 min read

    • Article

      CELEBRITY Gossip

      Apr 8, 2021

      Hailey Bieber has launched her own YouTube channel! The 24-year-old model and Justin Bieber’s wife, will be letting fans get to know her better through a series of videos which will give viewers a sneak peek into her life. The episodes will also feat

      2 min read

    • Article

      Shanda

      Jan 1, 2024

      Shanda
      13 min read

    • Article

      Connecting the Dots

      May 24, 2019

      Connecting the Dots
      4 min read

    • Article

      Counter Waves

      Oct 23, 2020

      Counter Waves
      8 min read

    • Article

      Happy Endings

      Sep 1, 2023

      Happy Endings
      5 min read

    • Article

      Rag Doll

      May 3, 2018

      Rag Doll
      11 min read

    • Article

      Screams In the Night

      Jul 21, 2022

      Screams In the Night
      6 min read

    • Article

      Night Visions

      Sep 10, 2022

      Night Visions
      6 min read

    • Article

      Everywhere You Don’t Belong

      Jan 23, 2020

      Everywhere You Don’t Belong
      6 min read

    • Article

      Haunted House Whodunnit

      Sep 20, 2023

      Haunted House Whodunnit
      2 min read

    • Article

      Our Secret

      Oct 19, 2023

      Our Secret
      5 min read

    • Article

      Bloodlines and Bitter Syrup

      Sep 1, 2020

      Bloodlines and Bitter Syrup
      18 min read

    • Article

      Lies I Tell My Father

      Feb 10, 2024

      “How’s your job at the newspaper?” my father asks me. He is sitting on a couch, a plush throw blanket spread across his legs. “The newspaper’s fine,” I lie. I lie because it is simple. I lie because it is quick. I lie because it is easier than trying

      10 min read

    • Article

      Home For The Holidays

      Aug 10, 2021

      It’s been a year since I’ve been home. I missed Christmas because of work, so Thanksgiving marks a full lap around the calendar. My mom’s been complaining lately about how difficult things have gotten for her. Everything seemed so out of reach, so im

      7 min read

    • Article

      ‘Toni, It’s Mum. There’s Been An Accident’

      Oct 13, 2021

      Edited extract from Lost & Found: My story of heartbreak and hope by Toni Street with Sophie Neville Like many teenage boys, Stephen loved sport and he loved hanging out with his mates. But he was happiest out on the farm with Dad. They were a tight

      11 min read

    • Article

      Evidence

      Mar 6, 2023

      Evidence
      25 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for 13

    3.5/5

    23 ratings7 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Just a few months shy of his 13th birthday, native New Yorker Evan Goldman is doing pretty well, he thinks. For instance, he's finally made contact with his crush's upper lip. But his celebratory bubble is burst when his parents announce an imminent divorce, and then his mother insists on moving him to middle-of-nowhere Indiana.To make matters worse, Evan's mom is now insisting he have a Bar Mitzvah, even though there aren't even any other Jews in Appleton, and the only site available for the ceremony is the basement of the Methodist Church! But at least they found a nearby rabbi on the internet.Still, things begin to settle, as they will. Evan makes a summer friend, Patrice, and then finds himself in the Dan Quayle Jr. High "cool" crowd headed by local football star, Bret. (Although this does limit his interaction with the outcast Patrice, who eventually stops talking to him.)Now he's thinking that maybe the Bar Mitzvah won't be so bad, what, with a huge crowd of local, popular kids around him -- even if they aren't sure what a Bar Mitzvah is. But then, a misunderstanding makes him a pariah, and he is left wondering if he will ever fit in anywhere. And whether his mom and the rabbi will be the only people at the Methodist Church in a few days.Interestingly, this novel is based on a musical. Sadly, it is a little trite. It's not quite so bad as, "Wait, I've seen this before. Wasn't it called Keeping up with the Steins?" (A charming little film, by the way.) But it isn't going anywhere that can't be seen a mile away either. The tension falls a little flat when you don't seriously believe that he'll never get a speech written, his Bar Mitzvah will be empty and Patrice will never talk to him again.However, this might not be so bad for a twelve year-old audience, most of whom would be sorely disappointed in an ending where, say, nobody does show up to Evan's Bar Mitzvah. The themes are simple, "becoming a man" obviously chief among them, and should appeal strongly to those around Evan's age. Also, these are tween-aged worries. I remember having some of the same myself.With the whole plot centering around the upcoming Bar Mitzvah, I was afraid that this might be solely a Jewish-niche book, but the themes are surprisingly universal. Replace the religious event with a big birthday bash, for instance, and you have a story that could be about just anyone. Moving, divorce, popularity, friendship, fitting in, growing up, family... this is the stuff YA literature is made of, and it is all here.One aspect in which 13 really soars is the humor. Evan is a very sharp and witty narrator. The subplot with the terminally-ill Archie is often heartwarming, but more often hilarious. (Not at the expense of Archie, mind.) I'll forgive a book almost anything if it is funny.I enjoyed 13, for the most part, and think it will serve it's target audience, 11-13 year old boys, very well. I think, as a fairly simple and quick read, it might be an easier sell for reluctant readers, especially those who will see themselves in the text. For adults, like myself, who enjoy reading a lot of children's and YA lit, not so much. It isn't a waste of time, but there are better things out there.On the other hand, if the musical ever comes into town, I'm totally seeing it.
    • 5/5
      Really good! Definitely check out the musical! It's amazing! ?
    • 3/5
      I am getting ready to take my three kids to see this musical. They are 14,13, and 11. The 11 year old perfoms in a lot of community theater here in town and has some friends in this production. I hadn't heard of this previously so I researched it a little online and thought it sounded cute. Then we saw it at the bookstore the other day. I decided to buy it and we all could read it to prepare for seeing the show. The book is cute. Its the story of a 13 year old Jewish New York kid who knows his place in this world. Suddenly its uprooted when his parents get divorced and he must leave his friends and prospective new girlfriend to move to a stick town in Indiana. To make matters worse yet, Evan must plan his Bar Mitsvah in a place where he has no friends. Well that just has to change and Evan attempts to do ANYTHING to get popular friends and have them come to his party. What entails is a funny, sad, and then satisfying tale of a boy becoming a man...as much of one as can be when you are 13. Glaringly missing, by the very nature of this being a book, is the musical numbers. To that end, it felt incomplete...like something was just not there. I think I would have felt this way even if I didn't know it was a musical and should have had songs inserted. The book did its job though and made me very interested to see the show.
    • 4/5
      PLOT SUMMARY: This is the story of 12 (soon to be 13) year-old Evan Goldman. Evan is a typical upper-middle-class, NYC Jewish kid. He's popular, likes his school and is is preparing for his Bar Mitzvah. Then Evan gets an awful piece of news. He learns that his father has taken up with a young, blond flight attendant, and his parents are getting divorced. Evan's mom is hurt and angry. In an effort to exact revenge (and get as much distance as possible between herself and the cheating dad), she decides that she and Evan will move to the rural town of Appleton, Indiana to live with her best friend from college. What follows for Evan is a shock immersion in rural life, football worship, unlikely friends, and an education in what really matters. This book features some unlikely heroes and heroines - including a brainy girl with a love of books and old movies, an obnoxious but vunerable guy with a disabiltiy, and a beautiful cheerleader. It also features contemporary Jewish culture and characters, a real rarity in children's literature (which is full of Holocaust and immigrant stories).MY TAKE: I enjoyed this novel. It made me laugh and cry, and it made me think. I cared about the characters, and there are some truly suspenseful and emotional moments. I appreciate how Evan's character evolves and matures. Since I grew up in a small, rural town, though, I'm a bit iffy on the authors' portrayal of Brett, the junior high quarterback, as the town hero. Everyone knows that high school football rules small towns, and junior high kids don't get adoration until they're in high school. This book leads you to believe that the junior high kids rule the town, which is very unrealistic.WHO WOULD LIKE THIS BOOK: This is a book for boys and girls ages 11 and up who like humor and realistic fiction. I say 11 and up, by the way, because of the boys' all-consuming and frequently mentioned interest in making out and "getting tongue."INTERESTING FACT: 13 is also a musical!FAVORITE QUOTE: (Pages 194-195)"Looking out at the crowd, my eyes lingered on the 10 empty spaces at Patrice and her Dad's table. And I never would have dreamed that I'd think this, but what went through my head at that moment was: I never needed those kids in the first place, and I'm glad they're not here."
    • 3/5
      13 is about Evan. His parents just got divorced. His dad left his mom for a younger woman. Now, three months before his 13th birthday, he has moved with his mom from New York to Appleton, Indiana. Evan's mom wants him to have his bar mitzvah there and it is Evan's goal to have everyone from his new school come to it.This was an all right book. I won't be buying it any time soon but maybe eventually will. The book dragged on at places and a lot of the situations seemed unrealistic. However, at times, I found myself laughing out loud or getting a little teary eyed. I would love to see the Broadway musical of this book, it seems like it may be more enjoyable than the actual book.
    • 5/5
      This book was extremley well written. I opened the book 13, not really knowing what to expect, and came away thinking that it was EXACTLY what it should be. The story does't patronize, or characterize the lives of these kids. Instead it sheds a heartfelt, truthful, funning, touching look at who these kids really are. What they feel, how they fit in, how they see the world, and where they are coming from. There's no telling how successful this book will be, but if my surprised pleasure is any indication, then anyone reading this is in for a real treat!
    • 3/5
      Just a few months shy of his 13th birthday, native New Yorker Evan Goldman is doing pretty well, he thinks. For instance, he's finally made contact with his crush's upper lip. But his celebratory bubble is burst when his parents announce an imminent divorce, and then his mother insists on moving him to middle-of-nowhere Indiana.To make matters worse, Evan's mom is now insisting he have a Bar Mitzvah, even though there aren't even any other Jews in Appleton, and the only site available for the ceremony is the basement of the Methodist Church! But at least they found a nearby rabbi on the internet.Still, things begin to settle, as they will. Evan makes a summer friend, Patrice, and then finds himself in the Dan Quayle Jr. High "cool" crowd headed by local football star, Bret. (Although this does limit his interaction with the outcast Patrice, who eventually stops talking to him.)Now he's thinking that maybe the Bar Mitzvah won't be so bad, what, with a huge crowd of local, popular kids around him -- even if they aren't sure what a Bar Mitzvah is. But then, a misunderstanding makes him a pariah, and he is left wondering if he will ever fit in anywhere. And whether his mom and the rabbi will be the only people at the Methodist Church in a few days.Interestingly, this novel is based on a musical. Sadly, it is a little trite. It's not quite so bad as, "Wait, I've seen this before. Wasn't it called Keeping up with the Steins?" (A charming little film, by the way.) But it isn't going anywhere that can't be seen a mile away either. The tension falls a little flat when you don't seriously believe that he'll never get a speech written, his Bar Mitzvah will be empty and Patrice will never talk to him again.However, this might not be so bad for a twelve year-old audience, most of whom would be sorely disappointed in an ending where, say, nobody does show up to Evan's Bar Mitzvah. The themes are simple, "becoming a man" obviously chief among them, and should appeal strongly to those around Evan's age. Also, these are tween-aged worries. I remember having some of the same myself.With the whole plot centering around the upcoming Bar Mitzvah, I was afraid that this might be solely a Jewish-niche book, but the themes are surprisingly universal. Replace the religious event with a big birthday bash, for instance, and you have a story that could be about just anyone. Moving, divorce, popularity, friendship, fitting in, growing up, family... this is the stuff YA literature is made of, and it is all here.One aspect in which 13 really soars is the humor. Evan is a very sharp and witty narrator. The subplot with the terminally-ill Archie is often heartwarming, but more often hilarious. (Not at the expense of Archie, mind.) I'll forgive a book almost anything if it is funny.I enjoyed 13, for the most part, and think it will serve it's target audience, 11-13 year old boys, very well. I think, as a fairly simple and quick read, it might be an easier sell for reluctant readers, especially those who will see themselves in the text. For adults, like myself, who enjoy reading a lot of children's and YA lit, not so much. It isn't a waste of time, but there are better things out there.On the other hand, if the musical ever comes into town, I'm totally seeing it.

    Book preview

    13 - Jason Robert Brown

    1

    I GUESS it started with Angelina, the flight attendant my father met on a flight from New York to L.A. last year. I don’t know the whole story. Maybe he caught her eye while she was handing out pretzels? Pretty much all I know is that on July 15 at 5:45 P.M., I left Central Park and came home to our apartment to find Mom bawling on the sofa and Dad looking sheepish by the terrace—sort of like he had just cut in front of an old lady to snag a cab.

    Evan. Your father has some news.

    Dad drew in a sharp breath. It’s really very sad.

    I knew it: My grandmother had died. No, grandfather. Wait, definitely my aunt, oh my god, my aunt Elaine, it was going to be horrible.

    Your mother and I can’t live together anymore.

    I sat—more like collapsed—on our old blue easy chair, like I had taken a giant cannonball to my gut.

    What? I said. It was all sort of hard to believe. My folks fought every once in a while, but it was a "Why can’t you put dinner on the table for once? kind of a thing, not I hate you and don’t want to be married to you anymore."

    Anyway, the next thing I knew, we were all crying and hugging. Then, before I could catch my breath, my dad was heading to the door with his suitcase.

    I’ll pick you up for dinner tomorrow at six, he said. We’ll talk, okay, buddy?

    And just like that I became one of those kids you see on those after-school specials: a guy who sees his dad once a week for dinner and every other weekend. Except I wasn’t on TV. And by the time my dad had one foot in the hall, I was crying all over again.

    And my mom? Well, she tried to be good, but it took only an hour before the bathroom door was closed, and I could hear her screaming from inside: A STEWARDESS! IS HE KIDDING?

    My dad had made it sound mutual, like something they had agreed on together over their morning latte. But listening to my mom, I realized that it had been a one-sided decision—my dad had decided he couldn’t live with my mom. And it began to sink in that, by extension, my father also wouldn’t be living with me—not ever again. That night before bed, I punched out my pillow. Then I kicked in my closet door. You might say I was angry. You might say I was a lot of things—none of them good.

    The next night at dinner, my dad said all the stuff you would expect. He never meant for it to happen. Life throws you strange curves. He loved me more than anything. I could see he was trying, but by the end of the meal I had tuned him out. Sure, each one of his so-called explanations sounded reasonable, but to my ears he was just spinning lines, desperate to get my forgiveness. Bottom line: My father was ditching me for some woman in polyester who dispensed peanuts across the friendly skies of America. It didn’t matter that she turned out to be nice when I met her a few days later. By that point I had already made my decision. I hated her. And to tell the truth, I was starting to hate him.

    "But you can’t really hate him."

    That’s what Steve said. He was my best buddy. It was hard talking to him about the miseries of my home life, because he and my other best friend, Bill, were in a much more celebratory mood: Three days before all this happened, I had made contact with Nina Handelman’s upper lip at Peter Kramer’s birthday party.

    How was her breath? Bill said. I bet her breath smells like candy.

    Whatever, I muttered.

    "Evan, you can’t really hate your own father," Steve repeated.

    Oh, yeah? I said. Sure I can.

    It’s not biologically possible, Bill said. He’s your dad.

    I know he’s my dad, I said. But he took off. I mean, you should see my mom.

    It was ugly. For the first few days after Dad left, she pretty much lived in her bathrobe, staring vacantly into space, wandering around the apartment, crying. On the fifth day, while she was halfheartedly attempting to make dinner, still in her bathrobe, I heard her mutter, I’ve gotta get us out of here—we’re not safe.

    Huh? I said.

    She forced a huge, fake smile.

    Never mind me, just talking to myself, she said. More spaghetti?

    Later that night, I caught her crying again, this time on the phone to my aunt Pam. I didn’t really listen much to what she was saying; I just heard the emotional roller coaster in the next room. Suddenly Mom’s head popped into my doorway. Hey, kiddo, guess what we’re going to do? It was the happiest she had sounded since Dad left. We’re moving to Indiana!

    She was grinning, ear to ear, like Dr. Teeth, even though her cheeks were still damp with tears.

    That’s great, Mom, I said, and made a mental note to talk to Steve’s mom about all of this. She was a shrink.

    Pam offered me a job!

    Aunt Pam had an antiques store. She sold about a chair a week. My mother had a doctoral degree in anthropology. Nothing was adding up.

    Mom, we can’t go to Indiana. I’ve got school. And friends.

    She looked at me, still cheerful, perky almost. They’ve got schools in Indiana.

    I went on, making my case. It was only five weeks before my first year in junior high. A few months before my thirteenth birthday.

    But my mother would not be swayed; we were moving to Indiana! To be with Pam! Wasn’t that great? I argued with her, but it was like talking to a boulder. An insane, grinning boulder. She wanted as far away from my dad as she could get. And I’m guessing she wanted to punish him a little bit, too. You know—if he didn’t want her, he wasn’t going to get me, either.

    In the end, I had no choice. My dad tried to fight it, even threatened with the lawyers, but he’d stacked the cards against himself: He had just left his wife for another woman, and he traveled almost every week for work. By the time he officially gave in, my mom had sold off half our stuff. Then one steamy, miserable day in early August, Steve and Bill and a few of Mom’s friends came by to help load up the U-Haul and say good-bye.

    We’ll keep in touch, Steve assured me.

    Tell you all about school, Bill said.

    Yeah, just stay away from Nina Handelman, I said halfheartedly. Those lips are mine.

    Bill shrugged awkwardly. On a strictly literal basis, only the upper lip is yours.

    Was he really going to move in on Nina Handelman the minute I left town? No way would he do that.

    Evan!

    My mom had just finished hugging Mrs. Lieber, our downstairs neighbor.

    Time to go, honey.

    I looked at our apartment building—thirty stories, straight up. It had always seemed like nothing more than a tall mass of steel, brick, and glass. Suddenly it was home.

    In the car, Mom said.

    It was hard to believe how fast my life had spun out of control. I thought of making one last-ditch attempt, throwing myself on the mercy of the court, begging to stay. I was beating all the other guys in Halo! Steve’s dad got tickets to the Jets opener! Nina Handelman! But just like that, the feeling passed. I was old enough to know when a battle was lost. So I gave Steve a hug, slapped Bill’s back, and walked to the car. All of a sudden I was blinking back tears. Not just because I was leaving, but because of who wasn’t there to say good-bye. I knew Dad and Mom were at war, but I guess I still expected him to show up at the last minute, maybe even waving a court order that said I had to stay in New York. Instead I slouched into the passenger seat of Mom’s old Volvo, depressed to the bone. I nodded out the window a final time—even Manuel, our doorman, had come out to wave goodbye. But still no Dad. And then Mom was in the seat next to me.

    Ready? she said.

    I just stared straight ahead and nodded. Forget my father. He and Angelina were probably in first class on some jet, bathing in a tub of champagne.

    Or maybe not. As Mom inched the car down the street, I twisted around for one last look. And he was there! Getting out of a cab. Waving after the car. Running.

    Mom! I said. Stop!

    She sped up.

    Mom!

    She stopped.

    But then I saw someone else get out of the cab, the early-morning sun catching her perfect younger-woman hair. Angelina.

    Forget it, I said.

    Mom wrinkled her brow. What?

    Drive!

    Mom didn’t have to be told twice. With a triumphant glance into the rearview mirror, she peeled down First Avenue like she was Jeff Gordon. I watched my dad run for a block, then stop, hands on his hips. He looked confused and sad.

    That made two of us.

    Our trip west wasn’t any joyride. For starters, somewhere outside of Newark, the air conditioning broke down. It was ninety-five degrees. Then right as we entered Pennsylvania, the engine began making a horrible clanging noise, and continued doing it every five seconds for the rest of the trip. Then things got really bad. We were in Ohio when my mom brought it up, almost as an afterthought, half talking to herself.

    Once we’re settled, we’ll have to get to work finding you a rabbi for your bar mitzvah.

    Clang, went the engine.

    My bar mitzvah? I said. Are you kidding? I’m not having my bar mitzvah in Indiana.

    It felt good to say it. I should have stopped there. But I kept going, not even sure where the words were coming from. "You want to drag me away from my father, fine, you do that, obviously it doesn’t matter to you what I want. Well, I don’t care what you want, and I’m not having a stupid bar mitzvah."

    Clang.

    Clang.

    Clang.

    My mother glowered at me, her face on fire with fury.

    You. Are. Having. Your. Bar mitzvah.

    Clang.

    Clang.

    Do you understand me?

    I gulped. We were going ninety miles an hour.

    You are having your bar mitzvah, Evan Goldman, and you are having it in Appleton, Indiana, with me and your aunt Pam, and that is the end of that discussion. Forever. Period. Are we very clear?

    Clang.

    Clang.

    Yes, Mom.

    We were silent for the rest of the trip.

    Back in New York, I had taken two lessons with Rabbi Cohen and decided that Hebrew just wasn’t my thing. I couldn’t sing and I didn’t know Exodus from Psalms. So I had begged my dad to skip the bar mitzvah and just throw me a big party. But now with Dad out of the picture, apparently the bar mitzvah was on again, and there was no one left to appeal to.

    I looked out the window, exit after exit on the highway. Great. I could only imagine my first month at school. Everyone was already going to think I was some sort of weirdo fatherless New York Jewish freak.

    What would they think when they heard me chant in Hebrew?

    2

    A HOUSE. We were going to live in a

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1