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    29
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    29
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    29
    Ebook286 pages4 hours

    29

    By Adena Halpern

    3.5/5

    ()

    Unavailable in your country

    Unavailable in your country

    About this ebook

    Ellie Jerome is a young-at-heart 75-year-old who relates more to her 25-year-old granddaughter, Lucy, than her 55-year-old daughter, Barbara. She's done everything she can to stay young, and the last thing she wants to celebrate is another birthday. When she sees all those candles on her cake, Ellie wishes more than anything that she could be 29 again for a day, and live the kind of fun and carefree life that Lucy lives.

    But the last thing she ever expected when she blew out her candles was for her wish to come true...
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Australia
    Release dateJun 1, 2010
    ISBN9780731814930
    Unavailable
    29
    Author

    Adena Halpern

    Adena Halpern is the author of the novels 29 and THE TEN BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE and TARGET UNDERWEAR AND A VERA WANG GOWN- NOTES FROM A SINGLE GIRL'S CLOSET, a memoir which was based on her popular "Haute Life" essays for the back page of Marie Claire magazine. In addition to Marie Claire, Adena has written for Daily Variety and The New York Times. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dramatic writing from New York University and a Master of Fine Arts degree in screenwriting from The American Film Institute. A proud Philadelphia native, she resides in Los Angeles with her husband, television and screenwriter Jonathan Goldstein.

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    Reviews for 29

    3.5/5

    52 ratings8 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A fun read. Had me laughing at the start, skimming a bit in some slap-sticky parts yet pausing at gems of older women's wisdom and witty relatable quips. Much of it made me think of my mother, with a smile.
    • 3/5
      As far as straight-up chick-lit goes, this was entertaining. Having an entire book center around one person for one day was just a bit of a stretch, but overall, it was a very easy and enjoyable book.

      Ellie is in a unique position to shed 46 years for one day, which is almost ruined by her daughter and best friend. I loved that it was not just her "little secret", but won't say more to spoil it. She lived it to the fullest, and seemed to have the option of whether or not to return to her advanced age, or stay where she was. That was my only question: COULD she really have stayed if she had truly wanted to? Wouldn't she have been terrified every single day of her (new) life that she would awaken one morning wrinkled, saggy and stiff?

      If I could go back to any year and live it for just a day, I may go back to high school and give the girls who tormented me a piece of my grown-up mind. Or I may return to my early 20s and enjoy a day in the life of a free spirit. Or I may go back to a fateful day in 1993 when I should have said, "I don't think so," instead of "I do". However, I am who I am because of what I did, when I did it. Would I really want to change that? I kind of like who I am, and am perfectly content to tweak a little here and there.

      If I knew that one wish I made on my birthday would come true, I would probably wish for health and happiness for my children, close my eyes and blow.
    • 3/5
      29 by Adena Hapren

      ★★★

      Ellie is a 75 year old woman who feels she is missing something in her life and is feeling particularly…old. So for her Birthday she wishes to be 29 for just one day. And surprise, surprise, she wakes up 29 years old. This isn’t the first time that a story is about the theme of going back in age nor is the best of the bunch.

      The storyline was cute enough. It was the characters that really made it difficult for me to get into this book. I found the characters to be fairly flat. I could not stand Ellie’s daughter, even after she had “learned” her lesson (because what’s a story without a lesson learned?) I found her to be completely spoiled and annoying on so many levels. The one character I did enjoy was Ellie’s best friend, Frida. However, this one person was not enough to give the book a higher rating. It was a nice, relaxing fluff read but nothing spectacular.
    • 4/5
      This is such a sweet, fun and adorable story about a seventy-five year old grandmother who wishes to be 29 again... Ellie is young at heart and no one can tell her that she isn't. Although she does realize that it is struggle to keep that bounce in her step. So when her wish to be 29 again comes true! She is over the moon about it and she can't wait to live it up. But times have changed and her feelings are all askew, she is at a loss as to what to do. While trying to figure out to do and seeking out her granddaughter for help, Ellie begins to question and evaluate her past and present relationships - was her deceased husband her true love? Why is she not close with her own daughter? Why was her daughter so angry and strict all the time? Why was her best friend so content in settling and growing older? It was so heartwarming and endearing to see Ellie's reaction. Having to depend on her own granddaughter to not only help her how to dress appropriately, but also, how to behave and what the new rules are to meeting and talking to boys. They both run around the whole city trying to cover up who Ellie really is while also trying to be sure that Ellie gets to experience being 29 again. A fast, relatable and adventurous read to be shared with all the girls in your life!
    • 3/5
      The novel 29 is a lighthearted book about an elderly woman getting her birthday wish and getting to be twenty-nine again for a day.My favorite parts of this novel were those that dealt with the main character, Ellie, and her granddaughter Lucy. They had a lovely close relationship, and it was entertaining to see them interact both as a grandmother and granddaughter and then later as friends of the same age.My least favorite parts were those dealing with the secondary characters: Ellie’s daughter and Ellie’s best friend. Those two ladies were not only extremely annoying, but also lacked depth. One of them undergoes an extreme character change over a short period of time and it seems very unrealistic to me. (Can someone really stop being annoying at will basically overnight?) Granted this is a light-weight read, but these secondary characters really didn’t do anything for me. I would have preferred a story solely about Ellie and her granddaughter.
    • 4/5
      Sometimes I come across an unexpected gem of a book. In this case, it's a book I never would have given the time of day had the publisher not sent it to me for review. I hadn't requested it, so I could have easily passed it over for the next book. But in the moment I picked it up, it seemed like the right thing to do. And it was.Adena Halpern's novel, 29, is funny and charming. It's the story of a 75 year old woman, Ellie Jerome, who wishes on her birthday to be young again for a day. She longs to live the life her granddaughter is living, to start over and make different choices than she had the first time around. When she wakes up the next day, she discovers her wish has come true. Suddenly, she is young again and she can't wait to live life to its fullest.Wrapped up in a story about taking chances and having fun, this is also a novel about family, friendship, love and regrets. It is about growing old--the way we see ourselves and others. It is also about appreciating what one has, while at the same time, not being afraid to make changes. I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent with Ellie.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book. It's the story of Ellie Jerome, a 75-year-old with regrets about her life: the man she married, her lack of a career, her sagging body. So she wishes, on her 75th birthday candles, to go back to age 29, just for a day. And she does.Along with the interesting concept, the characters (with the exception of Barbara, Ellie's overbearing daughter) were endearing and the writing was clever. I recommend this book to anyone who has ever wanted to do it over, even for only a day.
    • 4/5
      Ellie Jerome has regrets. Moments before blowing out the candles on her birthday cake, she realizes she has regrets. And not small, trivial regrets. No, they’re big. Did she marry the right man? Was she a good mother? What if she made different choices? What would her life be like now as she’s celebrating her 75th birthday?If only she could go back in time. To her younger self…when she was full of life and the whole world was at her feet. Yes, if only she could rewrite her past. These are her last thoughts prior to blowing out her candles.The morning after her party, Ellie wakes up and feels different. She can’t put her finger on it, but she knows something is a bit off. Imagine her surprise when she sees herself—her 29 year old self—in the bathroom mirror. And so begins 29 by Adena Halpern.Ellie is delighted her birthday wish came true. She’s 29 again and can make a new life for herself. She’s having the time of her life and a bit leery when her granddaughter Lucy finds out the truth. Lucy is initially stunned to see her grandmother as a young, vivacious woman. She quickly recovers and together the women decide to have a girls’ fun-filled day.Problems arise when Barbara, Ellie’s daughter, and Frida, Ellie’s best friend, become suspicious of Ellie’s whereabouts. The two women team up to find the missing Ellie, both with concerns about what may have happened to her.I absolutely loved this book! Ellie is a cute, delightful character as a young woman and at 75. Readers can’t help but to love her. I did feel for Ellie as she’s among family and friends and all she can think about is the life she could have had. Many of us would like to turn back time and choose a different path, but instead of looking back, we continue to move forward vowing to make better decisions in order to have the life we still dream of.Despite the lightheartedness and humorous plot, Ms. Halpern does a great job with character growth and reflection regarding Lucy, Ellie, Barbara and Frida. Themes include mother and daughter relationships, being true to oneself, living your life without holding on so tightly and accepting that you’re where you’re supposed to be.29 is a great way to spend a day at the pool or reading outside on the deck. I highly recommend this novel.