More books about friendship

thefriends
Originally uploaded by barbfecteau.

I know that The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares was tremendously popular, but just on the off chance you haven't read it already, I highly recommend it. It is the story of 4 lifelong girlfriends and what happens to them when they are separated for an entire summer for the first time. It is the perfect beach read and there are now three books in the series so you could conceivably read them all summer long.

The Year of Secret Assignments by Jacklyn Moriarty is another funny book about friendship that is realistic enough to make you feel like it could happen but just unrealistic enough that it is way more interesting than real life. Three girls from a snooty up-town high school start corresponding with three boys from a rough down-town high school with a bad reputation. This is for a school assignment, and it turns weird. And it takes place in Australia.

Finally - my favorite friendship in all of fiction is that of Betsy and Tacy in the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace. These are somewhat old-fashioned, but very funny and exciting. They take place at the turn of the last century. There are 10 books in the series and the first four are for younger kids. (But you can read them to your little sisters...) The first book of the high school stories "Heaven to Betsy" takes place in the school year 1906-1907. So it might be interesting to see what high school was like exactly a hundred years ago. And the friendship between Betsy and Tacy is exactly the sort of friendship you need to get through high school.