Reading Response #1
In the book Finally 12 by Wendy Mass, Rory has just turned 12. She has made a list of things-to-do when she turns twelve. When she turned twelve, she tries to do all of these things on the list. Every time she does something on the list, she has bad luck but also good luck. The main theme of the book is the older you get the more responsibilities and opportunities you have. 

One of the reasons I think that the theme "the older you get, the more responsibilities and opportunities you have" is because when it is Rory's birthday, she made a list of things to do when she is twelve. One of the things that she writes down is "to drink coffee." (Page 40)When she tries to make coffee, she has no idea how to make it. She then just turns random knobs and dials on her mother's "Fancy-schmancy espresso/cappuccino coffee maker" when she finishes making it, she forgets to put milk and sugar in the coffee. Then she remembers that she is supposed to put milk and sugar, and she puts too much milk and too much sugar. She also puts in two giant mugs, and drinks them one after the other. She gets coffee-drunk and she gets really hyper because of the coffee. The consequence is that her father sees and sends her to her room where she falls asleep because she became tired of bouncing around, and her father said she cannot drink coffee anymore because of that. 

Another reason I think the theme is "the older you get, the more responsibilities and opportunities" is also because Rory gets to stay home alone now that shes twelve. When it was her first time staying alone at home, Rory got scared and then she decided to call her mother twice. She took a bath later, and was still in the bath when she heard "a pounding noise outside" she ran out, only in her towel, when "a foot comes crashing in the door." I think this means that she is not RESPONSIBLE enough and I still think she is not old enough to take this responsibility. There are many possibilities that could happen when you are home alone. Someone could break in. A fire could start. You could electrocute yourself when you are listening to music with headphones on while in the BATH (what Rory did!) This is a reason why I think that Rory is not responsible enough to take care of herself and to stay home alone.

One last example that I thought was a example of the theme is "the older you get, the more responsibilities and opportunities you'll have." is when Rory goes babysitting, she babysits a child only 2 years younger than her. The girl she babysits is very intelligent. Rory asks her if she wants to do something, and she says watch a movie. Rory watches the movie along with her and notices it is still early for her bedtime. So the girl asks her to watch another movie. She falls asleep (not a responsible person for the job! and its only 8:20 pm!) Rory wakes up when the movie is over, but she sees that it is not the girl's bedtime. Then, the girl goes for a bathroom break. She puts on another movie, and Rory falls asleep AGAIN. When she wakes up, it is only 8:30! A whole movie has ended already, its not possible for ten minutes to pass for a whole movie. Then, she figures out the girl has been turning back the clock the whole time! This proves she is not a responsible babysitter and she cannot handle this job/situation yet!

In conclusion, I think "when you are older you will have more responsibilities and opportunities" is the theme because there are many examples in this book where Rory gets a opportunity and a responsibility but cannot take care of it. She then has to deal with the consequences, which proves she is too young and irresponsible to deal with these situations yet.