Books About Friends for Young Adolescents

          In this School Library Journal article, Gail Cornwall reports on her hunt for books that help tweens unpack the “stormy, frustrating, and sometimes sad aspects of friendship.” Cornwall cites studies showing that only half of friendships survive a middle-school year, one in a hundred seventh-grade friendships are still intact by the senior year of high school, and 80 percent of students experience loneliness at school. Friendships come and go, with kids often asking themselves, Do they like me? What have I done? Am I okay? Am I fitting in? As for cliques, they can be loose, ephemeral, and porous, with an uneven distribution of power. 

          Books can help tweens explore these complexities, see beyond the “ideal best friend” myth, and learn the friendship-enhancing power of admitting fault and making amends. Cornwall’s book recommendations: 

Fiction:

- Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone by Tae Keller

- Invisible by Christina Diaz Gonzalez and Gabriela Epstein

- Eggs by Jerry Spinelli - Troublemaker by John Chou

- When Life Gives You Mangoes by Kereen Getten

- Booked by Kwame Alexander 

- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas 

Nonfiction: 

- Like Ability: The Truth About Popularity by Lori Getz and Mitch Prinstein (age 12 and up)

- Growing Friendships: A Kids’ Guide to Making and Keeping Friends by Eileen Kennedy-Moore and Christine McLaughlin (age 6-9) 

 “Between Friends” by Gail Cornwall in School Library Journal, March 2023 (Vol. 69, #3, pp. 48-51); here’s a related article by Cornwall: “How Understanding Middle-School Friendships Can Help Students with Ups and Downs” in KQED, November 30, 2020.

Please Note: This summary is reprinted with permission from issue #979 of The Marshall Memo, an excellent resource for educators.