Real Friends (Real Friends #1)

by Shannon Hale (Author) Leuyen Pham (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade
Series: Real Friends
Newbery Honor author Shannon Hale and New York Times bestselling illustrator LeUyen Pham join forces in this graphic memoir about how hard it is to find your real friends and why it's worth the journey."
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Kirkus

Readers will appreciate Shannon's fantastic imagination that lightens her tough journey toward courage and self-acceptance.


None

Hand this book to fans of Raina Telgemeier's and Cece Bell's graphic memoirs.


School Library Journal

Starred Review

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.

ALA/Booklist

Starred Review

A wistful, affecting, and utterly charming exploration of the realities of childhood friendship.


Publishers Weekly

Starred Review

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. (May)

Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"In Real Friends, Shannon Hale reflects on her own friendship-troubled elementary school years with honesty, humor and grace . . . Her readers will find much to love here, including LeUyen Pham's brilliant and multilayered art . . . These detailed memories of elementary school will ring hilariously true to adult readers . . . At the same time, stories of whispered rumors and being left out will be achingly familiar for readers navigating those waters in the here and now." —author Kate Messner, writing in the New York Times Book Review

"The book's truth is as vibrant as its art." —Washington Post

"A heart-stabbing tale of the everyday social agonies of girlhood." —Wall Street Journal

"Real Friends tackles bullying, childhood anxiety, and growing pains in a heartfelt way that'll transport every woman who went to elementary school back into her days as a young girl . . . but the book also shows us the incredible kindness and solidarity that girls can and do display." —The Mary Sue

"The author's memoir nails what it's like to navigate elementary-school friendships." —Parents Magazine

"Pham's visual version of Hale expresses everything, with bright creativity and intense emotional suffering warring across her face, her body posture, and even in her gait. Hale fans will appreciate the look behind the curtain at where some of her amazing book ideas are rooted, and kids who have struggled with the complexity of grade school friendships, i.e., any kid, will find comfort that the dark days can be survived." —The Bulletin

"Real Friends is honest and heartfelt, and sure to be loved by anyone who has ever felt like an outsider. The artwork is stunning, too!" —Victoria Jamieson, New York Times-bestselling and Newbery Honor author of Roller Girl

"Fresh, fun, and achingly real. Bravo!" —Jennifer L. Holm, New York Times-bestselling and Newbery Honor author and co-creator of Sunny Side Up and the Babymouse series

"Real Friends made me laugh, broke my heart, and gave me hope. This book is SO GOOD. SO MANY FEELS." —Gene Luen Yang, New York Times-bestselling and National Book Award Finalist author of American Born Chinese

Shannon Hale
Shannon Hale and Dean Hale are the award-winning husband-and-wife team behind the Princess in Black series, illustrated by LeUyen Pham. Shannon Hale is also the author of the Newbery Honor Book Princess Academy as well as the New York Times best-selling graphic novels Real Friends and Best Friends, illustrated by LeUyen Pham. Shannon Hale and Dean Hale live in Salt Lake City, Utah.

LeUyen Pham is the illustrator of the Princess in Black series as well as many other books for children, including Pat-a-Cake by Mary Brigid Barrett, God's Dream by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Douglas Carlton Abrams, Aunt Mary's Rose by Douglas Wood, and Real Friends and Best Friends by Shannon Hale. LeUyen Pham lives in California.
Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9781626727854
Lexile Measure
290
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
First Second
Publication date
May 02, 2017
Series
Real Friends
BISAC categories
JNF007000 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Biography & Autobiography | General
JNF062000 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Comics & Graphic Novels | General
JNF053060 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Social Topics | Friendship
JNF053220 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Social Topics | Bullying
Library of Congress categories
Childhood and youth
Friendship
Authors, American
Bullying
Friendship in children
21st century
Authors
Autobiographies
Cartoons and comics
Comics (Graphic works)
Bullying in schools
Autobiographical comics
Hale, Shannon

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