The Year We Missed My Birthday: Eleven Birthday Stories

Edited by Lois Metzger

Featuring Original Short Stories By:

Alma Flor Ada
Nora Raleigh Baskin
Ann Cameron
Cynthia D. Grant
Amy Goldman Koss
Lois Lowry
Norma Fox Mazer
Lois Metzger
Sharon Robinson
Rita Williams-Garcia
Lisa Yee

My foreword to the collection:

Some holidays celebrate countries or famous people or mothers or fathers or religions or family gatherings. But there’s one holiday that celebrates you—and that’s your birthday.

In a way, a birthday is like a scorecard, counting up the years since you arrived on the planet. In another way, it’s a step on a journey—especially during the middle years, as childhood gets left behind and you’re facing all the mysteries that lie ahead.

Sometimes the path looks clear, bright, filled with light, and you can see far into the distance. Sometimes it’s much foggier.

A birthday gets you wondering about these things.

You are invited…

Here are eleven birthday presents from eleven writers who have written new stories just for this book. They’ve written about characters whose hopes were high, whose hopes were dashed, whose greatest wishes come true, and who get more than they could possibly have imagined.

Lois Lowry’s story takes place in a world where birthdays aren’t celebrated at all, but the sheer joy of a birthday creates its own celebration. In Cynthia Grant’s story, a girl’s best friends have forgotten her birthday. In Amy Goldman Koss’s story, a girl’s best friends steal her birthday. Ann Cameron has written about a girl who insists on perfection, particularly on her birthday—and finds that a day that’s far from perfect can still be amazing.

In every story, thinking about birthdays helps people discover more about who they are, who they’re been, and who they are becoming.

Here’s wishing you happiness on your birthdays and on all the days in between.