Reading Recommedations: What About Your Friends?
Hello readers! A new month means a new batch of recommendations. March’s theme is stories about friendship! Bonus points for those who recognize the song mentioned in the title. I hope you enjoy these book picks!
The Only Black Girls In Town
Beach-loving surfer Alberta has been the only black girl in town for years. Alberta’s best friend, Laramie, is the closest thing she has to a sister, but there are some things even Laramie can’t understand. When the bed and breakfast across the street finds new owners, Alberta is ecstatic to learn the family is black-and they have a 12-year-old daughter just like her.
Alberta is positive she and the new girl, Edie, will be fast friends. But while Alberta loves being a California girl, Edie misses her native Brooklyn and finds it hard to adapt to small-town living.
When the girls discover a box of old journals in Edie’s attic, they team up to figure out exactly who’s behind them and why they got left behind. Soon they discover shocking and painful secrets of the past and learn that nothing is quite what it seems.
I love her Colbert’s ability to weave many complex things into the plot without overwhelming the reader. The mystery revelation (which I wont spoil) brings up some history that is often overlooked and that is important to discuss. The novel also focuses on how change can be difficult especially when it comes to middle school friendships (and something I know all about). Readers get to watch Albert and Edie grow through great character development over the course of the novel and how they tackle relationship obstacles in their lives. They are fun characters to follow through the course of the story and the way their friendship blossoms during the story is so heartwarming to see.
I Felt Myself Slipping
When level-ten gymnast Riley Glass joins the team at Station Six Gymnastics, she finds unexpected friendship in fellow gymnast Kota Iwamoto as the pair strive toward their Olympian dreams together.
After losing her dad in a car accident, Riley moves to Stephon, Illinois, where she struggles to fit in with the other gymnasts. She misses her friends back home and is cautious of making new friendships at Station Six, which is made all the more difficult as she’s hard of hearing and none of her new teammates know ASL. When she meets Kota, Riley is surprised by Kota’s effort in learning ASL in order to communicate with her. Kota is determined to make Riley feel more at home, even though she struggles with her own fears and anxieties. Kota wants to be the best gymnast and make it all the way to the Olympics, but her fears of getting injured could stand in the way of achieving her goals. As they make their way to the prestigious U.S. Classic gymnastics event, their future as friends and as gymnasts will be put to the test.
On top of the graphic novel’s focus on gymnastics, there is also a theme of disability as Riley is hard of hearing and uses a hearing aid along with ASL to communicate with others. It was great to see how ASL was incorporated into many parts of the story! Both Riley and Kota, once past their communication differences learn to not only be friends, but to also be source of support for each other. They are both struggling with issues such as anxiety and loss, which are often difficult to overcome. They have many candid conversations that allow them to open up, recognize what’s wrong, and then try to find a solution to work through it.
Take It from the Top
Eowyn Becker has waited all year to attend her sixth summer at Lamplighter Lake Summer Camp. Here, she’s not in the shadow of her Broadway-star older brother; she’s a stellar performer in her own right. Here, the pain of her mom’s death can’t reach her, and she gets to reunite with her best friend, Jules Marrigan—the only person in the world who understands her.
But when she gets to camp, everything seems wrong. The best-friend reunion Eowyn had been dreaming of doesn’t go as planned. Jules will barely even look at Eowyn, let alone talk to her, and Eowyn has no idea why.
Well, maybe she does…
There are two sides to every story, and if you want to understand this one, you’ll need to hear both. Told in a series of alternating chapters that dip back to past summers, the girls’ story will soon reveal how Eowyn and Jules went from being best friends to fierce foils. Can they mend ways before the curtains close on what was supposed to be the best summer of their lives?
More than a story about the ups and downs of summer camp this story’s main focus is on friendships and a coming-of-age story. The novel discusses coping with grief, socio-economic classes, and how life changes in general can affect a friendship. Most importantly it also showcases how friendships shift over time and how the bonds of the ties can be tested. The alternating chapters allow us to get to know our main characters, Jules and Eowyn, on a deeper level which reflects their innermost thoughts and feelings. Though distance keeps them apart the musical theater is the key for them to stick together and also proves to be an eventual obstacle in their friendship. Readers get to understand what drove them apart and if they will be able to work things out in the end.
Curlfriends
Charlie has a foolproof plan for the first day at her new middle school. Even though she’s used to starting over as the new kid—thanks to her military family’s constant moving—making friends has never been easy for her. But this time, her first impression needs to last, since this is where her family plans to settle for good.
So she’s hiding any interests that may seem “babyish,” updating her look, and doing her best to leave her shyness behind her…but is erasing the real Charlie the best way to make friends?
When not everything goes exactly to plan—like, AT ALL—Charlie is ready to give up on making new friendships. Then she meets the Curlfriends, a group of Black girls who couldn’t be more different from each other, and learns that maybe there is a place for Charlie to be her true self after all.
Curlfiends is a beautiful celebration of black girl magic, friendship, family, and staying true to yourself. Charlie, the main character, struggles with being the new girl in town since her family has always moved around constantly. Charlie (and her family) want to put down roots and feel as if she belongs. Through the first installment of this series, we get to see Charlie open herself to others and become more confident. The story celebrates the differences that made everyone special as well as capturing the joy and sometimes awkward feelings of making new friendships.
Fill The Sky
Biotech entrepreneur Tess Whitford has built her life around the certainty of logic and thrives on solving problems. But when one of her dearest friends exhausts the reaches of medicine while fighting cancer and grabs onto the hope that traditional healers in Ecuador might save her, Tess has to let go of everything she knows—and every instinct she has. Unable to deny Ellie a request that might be her last, Tess flies to Ecuador to help.
Together with Joline, another close college friend whose spiritual work inspired the trip, they travel to the small mountain village of Otavalo. Immersed in nature and introduced to strange ancient ceremonies, the three friends are pushed to recognize that good health is not only physical. Tess grapples with her inability to trust; Ellie struggles with a painful secret; and Joline worries about the contract she made with an aggressive businessman whose ambitions could destroy the delicate fabric of the local community. When an ayahuasca ceremony goes awry and an unlikely betrayal suddenly threatens to unravel their decades-long friendship, these three very different women awaken to a shared realization: they each have a deep need for healing.
The trip to Ecuador in Fill The Sky not only proves to getaway for the three women to escape from their daily lives and catch up with one another, but it’s also a self-journey. The book explores how natural healing rituals helps the women to heal their mind, heart, and body. Their time away from home allows them to deeply reflect on their pasts and how they can learn from their mistakes. It also allows them to work on their friendship and tighten their bond.
That concludes this month’s batch of reading recommendations! What stories about friendship do you recommend or enjoy? Comment your recommendations below.
