Best Friends (and Real Friends, too) gives the kind of honest reflection on middle school that I think kids really need. I can relate to almost every panel on every page and I know young readers will feel the same. That’s part of the reason I love these books so much. I honestly hadn’t even considered other people having a similar experience until I read Best Friends. I spent hours at the computer writing original science fiction that no one else would ever read. I wanted to write stories and talk through stories with my friends even if they thought it was childish. I was the same way when I was a kid – especially at that age. While I found both Real Friends and Best Friends extremely relatable it was young Shannon’s fantasy story that made me realize just how universal the sixth grade (and essentially the middle school) experience can be. In fact, part of Best Friends is actually framed through a story that Shannon is writing throughout the sixth grade.

She also finds herself spending time writing stories and wishing her friends still wanted to make believe and role play the way they did when they were kids. Shannon finds herself dealing with issues including anxiety, self doubt, and even a desperate fear of roller coasters – which of course her friends all want to ride. Rules that Shannon had tried to internalize are changing – especially when it relates to how much attention boys and girls are supposed to be paying each other now that they’re in sixth grade. Relationships once again begin changing and evolving while the social rules seem to get more and more complex. You wouldn’t think that much would change between fifth and sixth grade and yet it does. The problem is that she doesn’t exactly know how you’re supposed to stay one of the cool kids. So, in theory, she and her group of friends are basically the coolest kids in the school. At her elementary school, sixth grade is the last grade kids must complete before entering junior high. Much like in Real Friends, Shannon finds herself struggling to decipher the unofficial rules of being in the sixth grade. Though the names and the faces (and the decade) may be different, kids can easily see themselves going through the same things as young Shannon Hale. Once again young readers find themselves taken on an incredibly relatable journey through the ups and downs of growing up.

Picking up where the last book left off, Best Friends covers a particularly tumultuous year in anyone’s life: sixth grade. Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham are back with this stunning sequel to their autobiographical take on Hale’s childhood, Real Friends.

Friends shannon hale