This sequel to 11 before 12 con­tin­ues to fol­low BFFs Ari­an­na (Ari) and Kay­lan as they make a new birth­day buck­et list: twelve goals to meet before they turn 13 years old ​“to make them even more awe­some.” But this time, they’ll have to start work­ing on the list items sep­a­rate­ly — Ari is at Jew­ish sum­mer camp, mak­ing new friends, while Kay­lan is home, grow­ing clos­er with oth­er girls from school. So much in each of their lives is chang­ing. Will the girls even be able to check off the first item on the list: ​“Keep friend­ship strong”?

Old­er read­ers may be slight­ly put off by the idio­syn­crat­ic tween dia­logue, but the book’s intend­ed audi­ence will iden­ti­fy with the authen­tic char­ac­ters and their mid­dle school dra­mas, which range from boys and fam­i­ly woes, to school cliques and self-knowl­edge. It’s also nice to see bat mitz­vah con­tent here that focus­es as much on the par­ty as on the Torah por­tion and its under­ly­ing mean­ing and importance.