Ultimately, I was so pleased when Shannon found good friends, kind of like I celebrated while reading Robin Ha’s YA graphic memoir. Fortunately, although the story is frustrating and sad most times, there’s also some comic relief here and there. I liked reading Shannon’s experience with each girl, and that division felt like a clever way to approach the story. At home as well, her parents are stretched with five kids, and as the middle child, she feels friendless, even with her siblings. She’s earnest and willing to make herself the butt of jokes just to be accepted. Shannon is so desperate to fit in, as most people are around that age. I didn’t love this book like I do Telgemeier’s work or Varian Johnson’s Twins, but it is definitely a necessary story to be told. This is a very absorbing graphic novel I just kept flipping the pages, despite how anxiety-inducing and heartbreaking a lot of Shannon’s experiences were.

Thankfully, Shannon eventually finds friends who like her, but also has to learn whom to let in and whom to. Each of the girls basically lives to impress Jen, the ultimate cool girl, and the group operates by making other girls feel left out. But when Adrienne starts hanging out with the popular girl, Jen, Shannon suddenly doesn’t know where she fits in anymore.Īs we go through the stressful roller coaster years with Shannon, each chapter highlights her relationship with one of the girls in the new friend group.

But with Adrienne, it was like she could finally exhale. She had earlier been the shy middle child who never felt like she quite fit in anywhere. Shannon and Adrienne have been best friends since Shannon came out of her shell in early elementary school. I got this book after I signed up for a Kindle Unlimited trial membership (which I’m enjoying so far). Real Friends is Shannon Hale’s graphic memoir of her middle school experience with real friends - and girls who weren’t quite friends.

Shannon hale friends