Real Friends

Starred review from February 27, 2017
Hale’s childhood struggles with friends and family come to achingly poignant life in this candid graphic memoir. Over five chapters, readers follow a bookish and shy Hale from her earliest days in school through fifth grade, as she zealously guards her first friendship (“One good friend. My mom says that’s all anyone really needs”), negotiates forever-changing friendship politics, and tries to stay on the good side of her turbulent oldest sister. Hale makes her own flaws evident, and that fairness extends to the bullies in her life, who lash out brutally at times, but whose insecurities and sadness are just as clear. The carefully honed narration and dialogue give Pham plenty of room to work. Her digitally colored ink cartooning pulls substantial emotion out of everyday moments (such as Hale retreating to a playground shrub to cry, only to find another girl already there, doing the same) and the imagination-fueled games Hale was forever devising, presaging her writing career. It’s a wonderfully observed portrait of finding one’s place in your world. Ages 8–12. Author’s agent: Barry Goldblatt, Barry Goldblatt Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Linda Pratt, Wernick & Pratt.

March 1, 2017
A truth-telling graphic memoir whose theme song could be Johnny Lee's old country song "Lookin' for Love in all the Wrong Places."Shannon, depicted in Pham's clear, appealing panels as a redheaded white girl, starts kindergarten in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1979, and her story ends just before sixth grade. Desperately longing to be in "the group" at school, Shannon suffers persistent bullying, particularly from a mean girl, Jenny, which leads to chronic stomachaches, missing school, and doctor visits. Contemporary readers will recognize behaviors indicative of obsessive-compulsive disorder, but the doctor calls it anxiety and tells Shannon to stop worrying. Instead of being a place of solace, home adds to Shannon's stress. The middle child of five, she suffers abuse from her oldest sibling, Wendy, whom Pham often portrays as a fierce, gigantic bear and whom readers see their mother worrying about from the beginning. The protagonist's faith (presented as generically Christian) surfaces overtly a few times but mostly seems to provide a moral compass for Shannon as she negotiates these complicated relationships. This episodic story sometimes sticks too close to the truth for comfort, but readers will appreciate Shannon's fantastic imagination that lightens her tough journey toward courage and self-acceptance. A painful and painfully recognizable tale of one girl's struggle to make and keep "one good friend." (author's note) (Graphic memoir. 8-12)

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Starred review from February 1, 2017

Gr 3-6-Hale revisits her elementary school years in this insightful exploration of the ups and downs of friendship. Young Shannon meets her BFF Adrienne in kindergarten, and the two bond until Adrienne moves away. When Adrienne returns, Shannon is thrilled-until Adrienne joins a clique. In over her head, Shannon copes with feelings of inadequacy as she compares herself to pretty and seemingly perfect ringleader Jen, as well as resentment and intense anxiety as callous Jenny throws barbs her way. There's trouble at home, too: middle child Shannon often feels lost and is bullied by older sister Wendy. The author reflects on her life from the vantage point of adulthood, displaying a mature awareness of her own flaws and an understanding of the behavior of unsympathetic kids such as Wendy and Jenny, and her accessible writing and hopeful tone will speak to readers. Pham's gentle cartoon images make effective use of perspective and composition to underscore Shannon's sense of alienation. Her various flights of fancy reinforce her budding storytelling abilities and provide relatable metaphors (for instance, Shannon imagining her friends as members of a royal court and herself as the jester). In Hale's afterword, she acknowledges that though she attempted to faithfully represent her experiences, she re-created some dialogue and made changes for the sake of the plot.

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 15, 2017
Grades 3-6 *Starred Review* At its best, friendship is breezy and affirming, but getting there isn't always so easy. Best-seller Hale knows this firsthand, and in this winsome graphic memoir, dynamically illustrated with Pham's lively artwork, she gives readers insight into her own, sometimes rocky relationships. From early on, young Shannon feels like the odd one out, so when she meets Adrienne in kindergarten, she latches on hard. As they grow older, Adrienne climbs to the top of the popularity heap, and while Shannon is usually included among the popular crowd, she feels more like a hanger-on. As the story progresses and Shannon's anxiety becomes more evident, each chapter focuses on a pivotal relationship and movingly demonstrates the shifting loyalties, petty jealousies, and tiny moments of short-lived triumph common to childhood friendships. Not even Shannon is without fault. Her own tunnel vision occasionally leads her to treat others regrettably, too. Pham's brightly colored panels are the perfect complement to Hale's nuanced story, particularly when she zooms in on reactions, subtle gestures, and facial expressions that add captivating emotional depth. Through the years of bristly bullying, though, Shannon finally finds real friends and gains a better appreciation for her own strengths, such as her imaginative creativity, which Pham illustrates in vivid, comically over-the-top flights of fancy. A wistful, affecting, and utterly charming exploration of the realities of childhood friendship.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

May 1, 2017
Author Hale recounts her elementary-school years in this graphic memoir that focuses on childhood friendship. Young Shannon feels a bit lost within her family, the middle child between two older and two younger close-in-age siblings, and at school it's a similar situation with her never quite fitting in anywhere. The book is divided into sections titled with the name of a friend or frenemy: Adrienne (her first friend), Jen (popular leader of the group ), Jenny (mean-girl member of the group ), Zara and Veronica (older girls who show Shannon that being yourself is the key to popularity), and Wendy (her oldest sister, whom she imagines as an angry bear). Readers will empathize with Shannon's painful experiences of being left out, teased, and bullied (mainly by troubled Wendy) and will feel relieved once Shannon eventually learns how to find real friends and avoid toxic ones. In her author's note at the back, Hale describes the book as her own, possibly flawed, memories of what happened; she also notes that today there are better resources for children with the (undiagnosed) anxiety and mild OCD she exhibited as a kid. Illustrator Pham's often humorous yet always sensitive depictions of the young characters' wide-ranging emotions make this memoir even more affecting, as do her perfectly adept renderings of the imaginative play and stories future writer Hale enjoyed creating. Hand this book to fans of Raina Telgemeier's and Cece Bell's graphic memoirs. jennifer m. brabander

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)