Book #101: Best Friends (Real Friends #2) by Shannon Hale

In this sequel to Real Friends, Shannon Hale explores the trials of adolescence and growing up.  Concentrating on her experiences as a sixth grader, she explores the topics of popularity, bullying, anxiety, and finding your true self.

This book is geared towards late elementary/ early middle school children.  The storyline follows a young Shannon during her sixth grade year.  She is finally part of the popular group of kids and feels like her life is finally coming together.  Except for the fact that she feels like she never knows what is cool and what is not, how she should interact with boys, what adults expect of her and that she seems to always feel a little left out from the group.

Things that I loved about this book:

1. How Shannon took her experiences with her friends and incorporated them into her own fantasy story that she was writing.  This is based from a real story that the writer wrote in sixth grade.  The illustrations for this part of the book were gorgeous!

2. Does a good job explaining anxiety and how it can affect you emotionally and physically.  Even if your brain knows that it is irrational.  I think that many children experience anxiety and this book is a wonderful way to give them a way to explain it and talk to someone about it.

3. Shows how parents comments can affect children's view of themselves and the world.  I think that adults feel that children don't listen to them and make off-handed comments that they don't realize have a very real and long-lasting effect on youth.

What I wish this book had:

I know that this book is semi-autobiographical and that Shannon grew up in a time where mental health was not an issue that was addressed as it is today, but I really wished that some of these novels that include anxiety and other stress-related disorders would include coping mechanisms.  Not all children who experience these things have someone they can talk to about their anxiety and it would be great to have these included in the book.

Overall Rating: ★★★

The end of elementary school and beginning of middle school is a confusing time in everyone's life.  Children are expected to grow up and act like mini adults while still maintaining the innocence and youth of childhood.  Best Friends does a good job of relating how that feels and would be a perfect read for this age group.