Giddy Barber Explodes in 11, Dina Havranek
Giddy Barber Explodes in 11, Dina Havranek
List: $27.50 | Sale: $19.25
Club: $13.75

Giddy Barber Explodes in 11

Author: Dina Havranek

Narrator: Tina Wolstencroft

Unabridged: 12 hr 17 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/15/2024


Synopsis

The hilarious and heartening story of a teen girl who makes several astonishingly terrible decisions in an effort to find the support she needs.

A spectacular YA novel from a long-time teacher and debut author, perfect for fans of coming-of-age stories like Radio Silence and The Rest of Us Just Live Here.

Giddy Barber knows with certainty she’s going to become a mechanical engineer. What she doesn't know is the last time she smiled.

With her parents overworked and unavailable, it falls to Giddy to make sure her siblings stay on track. But she’s exhausted. When you’re the person everyone else turns to, what do you do when you hit a wall?

Giddy finds an answer online—if you can’t handle how things are going, shake them up. Is it sound advice? Unclear. But is Giddy willing to try anything? Absolutely. Putting eleven days on the clock, she’ll change her routine. But soon it becomes clear that some problems are bigger than what an online column can fix—her family is fracturing, her anxiety is mounting, and all she knows is this: Something. Has. To. Give.

In Dina Havranek’s Giddy Barber Explodes in 11, a long-time teacher dives into the issues of depression, overwork, and lack of support many of her students are dealing with. In a results-obsessed society, how much are we demanding of teens? And what happens when their burdens become too much?

About The Author

Dina Havranek hails from Houston, Texas where she teaches Science to the excellent students at Timberwood Middle School. A former TV news reporter and local actress, she loves being on stage and has been a speaker at the DFW writers conference where she is a regular attendee. She lives with her husband, her daughter, an out-of-control Lego collection and a pair of extremely ungrateful cats.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Ally on October 10, 2024

Got an arc from the publisher! It took me a hot minute to get into this (the behavior of the kids at school felt so outlandish?? But hey the author’s a teacher she was probably in a school more recently than I was lmao) but as the story progressed…OW. My heart hurts for this girl and so many of her f......more

Goodreads review by Amanda on May 28, 2024

I was super excited to get Giddy Barber Explodes in 11 from Peachtree Teen to do a blurb for it because a) I like getting things in the mail b) I’m super flattered any time I get asked to do a blurb ever (this is my second one ever) and c) I had the feeling this one was going to sucker punch me. And......more

Goodreads review by Laela on November 16, 2024

In this book, written by a teacher who clearly gets it, we meet Giddy, a teenager caught in the kind of pressure-cooker of responsibility that feels all too real for anyone who’s ever had to balance homework, family expectations, and the anxiety of simply being. Giddy’s life is a tangle of obligatio......more

Goodreads review by Cass on March 30, 2025

I started and finished this within a single day—and the ending had me sobbing my eyes out. The big sobs that hurt your ribs. I really, really hope Giddy Barber is finding her audience with the teens who need to read her. The book captures the struggle of overlooked mental illness so deftly—frustrati......more

Goodreads review by Emily on November 26, 2024

Scrumptious book. But it made me so sad.......more