Best Buds Under Frogs

Gr 3–5—Popular board book author and illustrator Patricelli offers up an amusing first novel on friendship, peer pressure, and being the new kid. Mono-browed Lily has a terrible first day of fourth grade; although both she and her sister feel ill, they get sent to their new school whereupon Lily throws up on potential new friends' shoes and all over the recess yard. Then a very unusual girl named Darby takes Lily under her wing and they form a two-member group called the Rizzlerunk Club. They have common interests in science, frogs, and trying to stay away from Lily's mom's health food. Things take a bad turn when Darby's previous best friend suddenly returns from a move to England, busting up the duo. Jill has a talent for getting Darby and Lily to do awful things that get them into big trouble with their teachers, the principal, and their friends. Jill always comes out of these incidents smelling like a rose. Lily must decide if she'll keep on being a follower and succumbing to peer pressure in order to stay in the Club or take her parents' advice and make good decisions to be her own person. Patricelli writes with warmth and humor, shining a light on the sometimes painful parts of establishing your own sense of self while wanting to be part of the "in" bunch. Lily's difficulties in deciding what to do are realistic and the solution has no whiff of adult didacticism. A generous helping of hilarious black-and-white illustrations enhances the text with humor and encourages pathos when Darby has difficulty finding her true self.