My Forever Friends

My Forever Friends Julie Bowe

I'm a big fan of the middle grade Friends for Keeps series. It's realistic and although I love my feisty MG heroines (Ramona, Clementine, Allie Finkle) I love Ida's quietness. She's an observer but still has a lot of friends and energy. If that makes sense. I also like that the series deals with small problems instead of big drama, but they're the small problems that we all have in 4th grade as we try to navigate friendships.

This one has slightly bigger drama, but it's still drama that most of us went through at one point or another. Jenna and Brooke used to be best friends, but now they're in a huge fight. No one knows what happened (but them) but everyone's dealing with the fallout. Things come to a head when Brooke decides to not go along with one of Jenna's plans for all the girls and demands that everyone else follow her. What happens is a split and now everyone is fighting, at least they are when they're talking to each other--including Stacey (who went with Brooke) and Ida (who stayed with Jenna.)

It's a strong addition to the series that looks at changing friendships and allegiances and how that doesn't have to spell absolute doom.

One touch I really enjoyed was how no one was looking forward to the trip to the Laura Ingalls Wilder cabin. That's the type of thing that book characters are really excited to see, but even Ida thinks it's going to be boring, especially because it's just a replica, not the real cabin. It's almost children's literature sacrilege, but dude, it's true! It's a teeny tiny cabin in the woods. There's not a lot to see! Little touches like these make me think that Bowe probably took that same field trip in elementary school.

Book Provided by... the author, for review consideration

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My Best Frenemy Blog Tour and GIVEAWAY!

My Best Frenemy Julie Bowe

Welcome to the blog tour for the newest book what is now being called the "Friends for Keeps" series. (Previous titles are My Last Best Friend and My New Best Friend) Yesterday, the tour was at Bildungsroman and tomorrow it's heading off to TeensReadToo book club.

So, I am a huge Julie Bowe fan, and not just because she's also from Wisconsin and also went to college in Iowa. (Although that's an awesome combination. Trust me.)

Her Friends for Keeps series (I reviewed the previous titles here) is awesome because it's a great look at the complications of female friendship before you get into the complications that come with puberty and boys. Also, Ida May is just awesome.

Jenna and Brooke have been best friends since forever, but lately they're not talking. Stacey's been spending a lot of time with Brooke and Ida's worried that she's losing her best friend. Meanwhile, Brooke's challenging Jenna for who will be top girl in Mr. Crow's class.

Everything starts to go really sour when Truth and Dare gets introduced and gets way out of hand and Ida feels like she doesn't have any friends...

My favorite character in this installment is Randi. She's the class tomboy and she's so not down with they eyeshadow trend, but good dares are something she knows how to do. I also really like Ida and Jenna's developing relationship that's building slowly over the books. I love how the friendship dynamics change on a daily basis, even if it is causing some traumatic flashbacks to me feeling alone on the occasional recess and being a total witch about it when I was in 3rd grade (really, it's a miracle I wasn't alone for more recesses with the way I could act. Aiya.) Ida and her friends capture so perfectly the pain and joy of being a kid and I love returning to them with each book.

I really hope you check out this series, because it's terrific and deserves the love. Excellent clean realistic fiction for middle grade girls.

AND! A GIVEAWAY! Julie and her publisher are giving away a copy of My Best Frenemy, a button, and bookmark to one of my readers! All you have to do is leave a comment below. If you Tweet about it or post the giveaway on Facebook or blog about it or something similar and then TELL ME ABOUT IT (you have to tell me!) you'll get an extra entry for each extra thing you do. Comments have to be posted by midnight (US Eastern time) on Friday night. The winner will be drawn and announced on Sunday.

Enter away, spread the word, and check out Friends for Keeps. The fourth book, My Forever Friends is due out in Summer, 2011! YAY!

Book Provided by... the author, for the blog tour.

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Friends For Keeps

In May, I'll be participating in the blog tour for the upcoming My Best Frenemy by Julie Bowe. So, I thought it was time to get people caught up on the series, so readers can read the first two before book three comes out. This first review initially ran in the now defunct Edge of the Forest.*

My Last Best Friend Julie Bowe

Ida and Elizabeth were the perfect pair of friends—they knew everything about each other and had all the same interests. Elizabeth was such a perfect friend that Ida didn’t need any others. When Elizabeth moves away without Ida saying goodbye, and she doesn’t keep in touch, Ida decides to never have another best friend.

Of course, her parents see it differently and keep setting up play dates with Jenna, who is nothing but a bully as soon as adults leave the room. Then enters the new girl, Stacey. Stacey has a wide smile that you have to try not to smile back too. Ida knows that all of Stacey’s claims can’t be true, but why is she lying and what is she trying to hide? And wait! If Ida doesn’t want to ever have another best friend, then why does she care?

Ida’s struggles with parents, Jenna, and loneliness are at turns heartbreaking and humorous. Jenna is the perfect fourth grade bully—-the darling of adults, but a mean girl who makes other kids eat their science projects. Bowe perfectly captures Stacey’s dilemmas in dealing with Jenna. As the new girl, Stacey is torn between standing up to Jenna and risking becoming her next victim, or keeping her mouth shut and watching Jenna terrorize the fourth grade.

Ida’s adventures are true to life and the ending is one that is happy and believable.

*Well, this is the review I submitted. The Edge of the Forest had an editor, so it might have been slightly different on the site.

Book Provided By... the publisher, for Edge of the Forest review

My New Best Friend Julie Bowe

Things are much more settled in Ida's world than they were in the first book. Stacey's her best friend, but she's friends with the other girls in her class, except Jenna, but even she's mellowed a bit. When Ida and Stacey are playing in Ida's attic, they find a creepy mermaid nightlight and decide it has magical powers to grant wishes. Ida quickly realizes that Stacey is using the nightlight as an excuse to lie and get in trouble. Ida's not sure what to do. Can she tell Stacey just to stop and still be her friend? Meanwhile, the class is preparing a performance for their parents based on the work they've been doing in Greek Mythology. Jenna has all the girls doing a dance reenacting the story of Gaia (with Jenna has Gaia, of course).

I like that Stacey still has an issue with lying and that Ida still isn't sure how to handle it. Something like that is something that's going to take awhile to deal with and when life gets difficult, it only makes sense for Stacey to fall back into those patterns. I think it's also a really common problem/coping mechanism in kids. I also really liked the plotline involving Jenna. While she's not nearly the terror she was in the first book, she's still bossy and over-bearing, especially when it comes to the Gaia dance. We also delve a little more into Jenna's story and what's going on there. Her little sister made me laugh and broke my heart all at once.

It's a great book about friendship for the middle grade set and I'm really excited about the third one!

Oh, also, the class picture on the end papers? Awesome!

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.