Hello! I'm Afoma.
  • Book Reviews
    • Picture book
    • Chapter Books
    • Middle-Grade
    • Graphic Novels
    • Young Adult
    • Adult Fiction
    • Adult Non-Fiction
  • Book Lists
    • Picture Book Lists
    • Middle Grade Book Lists
    • Book Lists by Theme
    • Book Lists by Grade
    • Audiobook Recommendations
  • Join My Newsletter!
  • Go to the Blog
  • Summer Reading

Reading Middle Grade

Books for Kids and Grown Ups

  • Book Reviews
    • Picture book
    • Chapter Books
    • Middle-Grade
    • Graphic Novels
    • Young Adult
    • Adult Fiction
    • Adult Non-Fiction
  • Book Lists
    • Picture Book Lists
    • Middle Grade Book Lists
    • Book Lists by Theme
    • Book Lists by Grade
    • Audiobook Recommendations
  • Join My Newsletter!
  • Go to the Blog
  • Summer Reading

Book Reviews, Middle-Grade · August 19, 2022

Review | Dear Friends

Book Review - Dear Friends

Summary: Dear Friends

What if you realized that you can’t seem to maintain friendships? When this happens to Eleni in Dear Friends, she decides to embark on a challenge to revisit and revive her top five failed friendships. As life would have it, just as the process starts, her oldest childhood friend and BFF, Sylvie, starts pulling away from her. Can Eleni get to the bottom of things and recover her friendships before the start of middle school?

The Good

This had an intriguing premise, and that kept me trying even though the book had a slow start. Eleni’s voice is also well developed, and it’s easy to root for her as she figures out how to be a good friend. I’ve heard great things about Lisa Greenwald and her ability to capture tween girls and their motivations, and she did a great job with this one.

Eleni goes to Hebrew school, and one of her lost friendships is with her Hebrew school friend. I like stories that include religion as part of kids’ lives because some kids are religious, and it’s good representation. I loved Adelaide and Eleni’s friendship. Even though Adelaide is tasked with befriending Eleni to help her feel less friendless, she’s pretty instrumental in helping her complete her friendship recovery mission.

There’s lots of friendship drama as Eleni keeps trying to regain her friendship with Sylvie and win back her other friends too. Finally, Eleni’s mom seems to have clinical anxiety and we see how that — undiagnosed and untreated — impacts Eleni.

Overall: Dear Friends

Dear Friends is a highly relatable, summery middle grade book about what it means to be a good friend and maintain strong friendships. Featuring a likable, enthusiastic protagonist who’s experienced several friendship disappointments (most of her own making), this story manages to be fun and poignant and with an epistolary touch as Eleni records her progress in a diary.


Buy This Book

Dear Friends

buy on amazon

More Book Reviews

  • Best Friends, Bikinis and Other Summer Catastrophes by Kristi Wientge
  • Camp Famous by Jennifer Blecher
  • Be Real, Macy Weaver by Lakita Wilson

Don't Forget to Share!

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pocket
  • Email
  • WhatsApp
  • LinkedIn

Related

Posted In: Book Reviews, Middle-Grade

Join My Newsletter

Like what you just read? Sign up for my Friday kidlit newsletter!

Privacy Policy

You’ll Also Love

Review | Across the Pond
Graphic Novel Review: Just Pretend
Review | Stick with Me by Jennifer Blecher

What do you think? Leave a comment Cancel reply

Next Post >

Picture Books About the Fear of the Dark

About Me
Hi, I'm Afoma! Thank you for stopping by. Learn more about me here.

Get 2 Months Free on Scribd


Follow on Bloglovin’

Follow

We’re Social Too!

  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Stock photos courtesy of our partners at DepositPhotos 📸
✨a suspenseful middle grade book✨ ✨chapter books worth reading!✨ Welcoming a second baby? Here’s a delightful picture book with tips for big kids. Although there’s more text in this one than I’d like for a typical picture book, I love that the information is factual and can be very helpful for parents tackling these specific questions with their big kids ❤️ ❓What happened to Rachel Riley❓ As much as I love new releases, I like to make room in my reading plans for books released a couple (or more) years before. Here’s my current backlist stack for 2023. ✨life’s easier when you can be yourself ✨
  • Blog
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact

Copyright © 2023 Reading Middle Grade · Theme by 17th Avenue

 

Loading Comments...