Real Friends by Shannon Hale, illustrated by LeUyen Pham

In this graphic memoir, author Shannon Hale revisits her elementary school years and her experiences with friendship, cliques, siblings, and bullies. 

Sandwiched in the middle between two older and two younger siblings, Shannon just wants to stay home with her mother. But, once Kindergarten begins, Shannon meets Adrienne and her life changes with a best friend. The two girls have lots of fun playing and having all kinds of imaginary adventures together, but Shannon’s possessiveness begins to bother Adrienne by second grade. And then Adrienne moves away and Shannon reluctantly makes another friend. 

In third grade, Adrienne suddenly moves back, and she and Shannon continued to be friends, but now, other girls wanted to be friends with Adrienne. A group, referred to as The Group, forms around a girl named Jen, and Adrienne is immediately accepted into their clique, while Shannon is treated like an outside or only reluctantly and occasionally allowed to be part of The Group. Luckily, Jen already had a best friend, Jenny, so she isn’t interested in Adrienne. But Jenny quickly realizes that Shannon as just the kind of girl she can bully. Jealous that Jen and Shannon spend some time together during summer vacation, Jenny ramps up the bullying.

To add to Shannon’s distress, her older sister Wendy, who’s having her own friend problems, takes her anger and frustration out on her younger sister, verbally and physically. Shannon’s unpredictable up and down year becomes so stressful, she begins showing OCD symptoms and having frequent stomach aches.

Shannon’s life doesn’t change much in fourth grade, but when fifth grade starts, everything changes. And what Shannon learns about friendships and real friends is both eye-opening and thought provoking. 

Shannon Hale is to be admired for addressing her elementary school years with such painful openness and honesty. Despite everything she experiences, she does not present herself as a victim, rather we see that she was a bit of a crybaby whenever her feelings were hurt, and, as her sister Wendy says, obnoxious at times. And a little on the selfish side as far as her friendship with Adrienne is concerned. 

But readers also see that sometimes, elementary school age kids can be really mean - as in Jenny’s behavior, yet Hale makes it clear that Jenny also is dealing with her own tough issues. On the other hand, there is the boy who spits in Shannon’s face for no reason. 

Shannon was a daydreamer, and so was I and my Kiddo. I appreciated the way she brought out how she missed things that no one else missed - for example, how did she not know everyone had put in for the same fifth grade class except her. That is exactly the kind of thing I remember happening to me and to my Kiddo. It’s the kind of thing that makes a kid feel even more like an outsider. But, Shannon’s daydreams, as they are presented in the graphics, also really show what a wonderfully vivid imagination she had and the very beginnings of her writing career. 

The thing I especially liked about this book is that Hale makes it clear that she wasn’t only kid in her school who was on this roller coaster ride of family and social relationships. And her reason for writing such an open, honest look at those painful years: so that readers, young and old, who have had similar feelings and experiences, will know they weren’t the only one.

A word about the graphics: LeUyen Pham has really captured the essence of the early 1980s, when this story takes place. The colors, hairstyles, clothes are all so realistic (and I know, I remember). The colors are bold, and her images reflect the variety of emotions in recognizable facial expressions and body language throughout the book.   

Despite its 1980s setting, Real Friends is a book that resonates in today's world and for that reason, I would recommend to young readers, as well as their parents and teachers. 

This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL

Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir by Maggie Thrash

When I was growing up, I spent most of my tween and teen summers at an all girls camp in Harriman State park in upstate New York.  I loved the whole camp experience, the traditions, the s'mores, the canoeing, the bug juice but especially singing around the campfire and sleeping out under the stars with friends, many of whom I am still friends with.  Naturally, I was pretty excited to read Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash when I first heard about it.

Honor Girl is Trash's memoir about the summer of 2000 at Camp Bellflower, a Christian camp in the Kentucky Appalachians.  Maggie had been going to Bellflower for years and was familiar with all the camp's almost centuries long traditions, including the custom of choosing an Honor Girl at the end of summer.  The Honor Girl is the senior camper who embodies all the good and upright qualities the camp tries to instill in the campers.

For Maggie, now 15, camp begins just like every other year.  She shares a tent with friends who are familiar with the leash she wears at night to prevent her from sleepwalking and getting lost or hurt.   And she decides to concentrate on shooting for the summer, even though she isn't a very good shot. There's also boy talk and crushes on the Slog boys, the guys responsible for dishes, lawn mowing and garbage.  And then, there is a lice scare.

As Erin, a 19 year old counselor, checks Maggie's hair for lice, Maggie is suddenly aware of her touch. Very aware! Realizing she is attracted to Erin, Maggie tries to deflect her feelings to the rifle range and by totaling focusing, discovers she is an amazing shooter.  But even that doesn't stop her attraction to Erin, and soon it is clear Erin just may feel the same way.

As her feelings grow stronger, Maggie finds support among her real friends, who help her keep her feelings for Erin a secret.  But even as Maggie explores her sexuality, she gets pulled aside by a head counselor and told that  "…[camp] is a place where girls can be totally innocent and free, maybe for the last time in their lives.  Don't ruin it for everyone." (pg 173)

My days at summer camp are pleasant memories now, even though I know that all kinds of quiet drama unfolded every summer of our teen years.  And from that perspective, Maggie Trash has really captured what that was like in her new graphic memoir.  The girls were all about exploring and experiencing their sexuality, though not necessarily with other girls.

To that end, Thrash has written a great book about first love and I personally found it to be a very honest memoir about a young girl discovering her lesbian sexuality.  Maggie's voice sounds very realistic, clearly and concisely expressing all the insecurities, doubts, hopes and dreams that goes into a crush.  Readers will certainly sympathize with and relate to Maggie's story regardless of their sexual preferences.  One feeling that came across so very well was how Maggie felt she had to keep her feelings so close to the vest to avoid being ostracized by the other campers.  That is a hard thing to have to do when you feeling just the opposite.

There is one thing that bothered me - it could have used a bit of editing.  Thrash seems to have written this as it really happened but sometimes it's OK to leave out some details or events.  I say this knowing full well that young gay or questioning teens will hang onto every word as they explore their own sexuality.

In a world that needs more diverse books, Honor Girl is a welcomed LGTBQA addition.

This book is recommended for readers age 12+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL

We're celebrating Graphic books every Thursday thanks to Franki Sibberson and Mary Lee Hahn of A Year of Reading, Alyson Beecher of KidLit Frenzy and Tammy Mulligan and Clare Landrigan of Assessment in Perspective