Getty Images/Nadia Bormotova

Famed Roman orator Cicero once noted that friendship doubles our joy and divides our grief. Still, adults frequently underestimate the importance of friend groups in tween lives. As an educator, I’ve seen four common factors that are impacting friendships during this formative time. First, how individuals choose friends has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the strong role that technology and social media play in adolescent lives is even more substantial than before. Kids connect online in ways that adults often just don’t understand. Second, it should be the responsibility of the adults in young people’s lives to lessen the drama that goes hand-in-hand with middle school. Kids need guidance on self-advocacy and even simple communication. Adults should not add to that drama with their own emotional baggage. Third, everyone needs to know that they aren’t alone. C.S. Lewis is often misquoted as saying “we read to know we are not alone.” It is actually from the film Shadowlands, based on the life of C.S. Lewis, but it remains true. Many kids enjoy doing everything together, and a lot of tween behavior has a direct correlation to something social. Where adults are often content with solitude, it is usually the exact opposite with tweens. Finally, the goal of young friendships should be to find community and to accept individuals as they are. Kids should be allowed to have their quality friend time; it is a type of intimacy rarely replicated in adulthood. These 14 titles illustrate the significance of these tenets of complex tween friendships.

DAVIS, Tanita S. The Science of Friendship. HarperCollins. 2024. ISBN 9780063284746.
Gr 3-7–Incoming eighth graders Rylee and DeNia become unlikely friends after partnering on a journalistic research project on the science of friendship. Rylee knows only too well the drama amity causes since she had her own altercation with mean girls she thought were her friends. Packed with authentic facts and studies on the role intimate attachments have on stress and happiness across age and gender, Davis’s novel asks the ultimate question: Can friendships survive past middle school?

DRAZIN, Meira. Honey and Me. Scholastic. 2022. ISBN 9781338155433.
Gr 5-8–Milla is an Orthodox Jewish girl on the eve of her bat mitzvah. Honey, her best friend, will attend the same religious day school as Milla for the first time. Everything seems fine and dandy until Honey starts acting differently and pulling naughty pranks. Will a school speech further divide the two girls? Milla also has to learn to communicate with her mother, who overburdens Milla with her own conflicts with Orthodox parenting.

ERB, Calyssa. Maya Plays the Part. Annick. 2024. ISBN 9781773218502.
Gr 3-7–An autistic 11-year-old named Maya is captivated with musical theater and has a summer camp opportunity to be a part of her favorite show, The Drowsy Chaperone. But nothing works out the way Maya planned. Without her best friend Jules to help buffer Maya’s disappointment of not getting the lead, she is left to rely on her own instincts and learn to adjust to changing friendships by being a better listener.

FLORENCE, Melanie & Richard Scrimger. The Other Side of Perfect. Scholastic. 2024. ISBN 9781339002859.
Gr 4-8–After Cody runs away from his abusive father and incarcerated mother, Autumn, a 13-year-old Cree classmate, finds him and takes him in. The chapters are told from the different points of view of two Toronto teens whose spheres would never have intersected otherwise. Autumn realizes the popular kids she hangs out with are shallow and self-centered. Cody finds that true friendship comes at all ages and that art has a unifying role in discovering new friends.

GALLEGOS, Maddie. Match Point! illus. by author. First Second. 2023. ISBN 9781250784155.
Gr 4-7–It is difficult to be yourself when your single-parent dad has such high ideals, a track record of success, and is your coach. Incoming eighth grader Rosie struggles with racquetball and becomes so frustrated and despondent with her father that she will stop at nothing to impress him. Rosie meets newcomer Blair, who eats, sleeps, and breathes racquetball. Rosie hatches a plan to have Blair compete in her stead and finally defeat her nemesis, building an unexpected friendship in the process.

KURTZ, Scott. Table Titans Club. illus. by artist. color by Steve Hamaker. Holiday House. 2024. ISBN 9780823453160.
Gr 5-8–Who hasn’t thought middle school was a castle maze just waiting for a knight in armor to conquer it? Kurtz’s graphic novel showcases a Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game club. When the club is in danger without a sponsor, new girl in town Val joins the wrestling team to convince the coach to fill the role. This title will inspire youths to think outside the box of typical interests, take risks, find their friend group, and try new adventures.

LYNCH, Chris. Walkin’ the Dog. S. & S. 2024. ISBN 9781481459204.
Gr 5-8–Thirteen-year-old Louis has been homeschooled in his sleepy New England town until middle school and suffers from anxiety—especially about his mom, who is in rehab for painkiller addiction. Louis’s dad recruits him to take care of his neighbor’s behemoth of a dog named Amos. When Louis unexpectedly meets Agatha and Cy, he not only finds new friends but business partners in his dog-walking venture. Louis realizes he’s more than just a dog whisperer, and potential friends are everywhere you look.

MCNICOLL, Sylvia. Blue to the Sky. Cormorant/DCB. 2024. ISBN 9781770867475.
Gr 5-7–Severe food allergies have prompted 12-year-old Ella to be homeschooled since kindergarten. Now Ella’s entering middle school, and BFF Zenia tries to embolden her with a climb to the top of Toronto’s CN Tower for the World Wildlife Fund. Knowing this task will be a physical challenge, Ella starts training and learns more about who she can rely on. The arts strengthen Ella’s resolve with a classical music mantra in her head, and poetry always in her heart.

REYNOLDS, Justin A. Running in Flip-Flops From the End of the World. Scholastic. 2024. ISBN 9781338815160.
Gr 3-7–Similar in humor to Max Brallier’s “The Last Kids on Earth,” this sequel to It’s the End of the World and I’m in My Bathing Suit follows Eddie as he tries to make sense of a postapocalyptic world with friends Xavier, Sonia, Trey, and Sage. In book one, everyone except the friends mysteriously disappeared during the Lake Erie Beach Bash. Life without parents works for a while until the friends have too much time together. Can the group make amends while solving the problem of the apocalypse? Reynolds also explores friendship with someone living with ADHD.

SAEED, Aisha, Huda Al-Marashi, Jamila Thompkins-Bigelow & S.K. Ali. Grounded. Abrams/Amulet. 2023. ISBN 9781419761751.
Gr 5-8–A modern-day Breakfast Club–esque adventure where four Muslim tweens are stranded in an airport after attending a religious conference. The group helps one another voice their major parental problems and unpack their identities. Twelve-year-old aspiring spoken-word artist Feek relies on Nora, a Michigan congresswoman’s daughter, to corral his younger sister while karate champ Sami and 11-year-old Hanna scour the airport for a missing cat. Will the newly formed crew reunite for future high jinks?

STAMPER, Phil. Eli Over Easy. HarperCollins. 2023. ISBN 9780063118836.
Gr 5-8–Sensitive Eli is still recovering from the unexpected loss of his mother to COVID-19 and his recent move from the Midwest to New York City. When he discovers his mom had a cooking blog, Eli constructs each recipe with cute neighbor Mat and his grandmother, eventually designing a baking app. Stamper illustrates the role technology can play in friend groups and depicts tender moments, including Mat coming out to Eli.

TERESE, Ali. Free Period. Scholastic. 2024. ISBN 9781338835830.
Gr 4-7–Gracie and Helen are two months away from eighth grade graduation and love to coast by with pranks and excuses. Working with restorative justice, the principal assigns the girls to a community action club to do something that matters to the school. After an embarrassing accident brings an awareness of access to menstrual supplies, the girls grow up a little and embrace activism with newfound friends, campaigning for funding to supply period products in all restrooms.

WINSTON, Sherri. The Braid Girls. Little, Brown. 2023. ISBN 9780316461610.
Gr 3-7–One summer brings a shocking amount of change for 12-year-old Daija, Maggie, and Callie. Maggie’s dad surprises her with the news that she has a sister, Callie, who begins to live with Maggie’s family after her mother passes away. Maggie’s BFF Daija really wants to earn money for ballet. In the spirit of entrepreneurship, the girls see a market for their hair braiding skills at summer camp. When some styling competition arrives, pranks ensue, alongside blossoming new family and friend bonds.

WANG, Andrea. Summer at Squee. Penguin/Kokila. 2024. ISBN 9780593111314.
Gr 3-7–After a lonely seventh grade, Phoenny Fang looks forward to her favorite time of the year, summer Chinese cultural camp. Unfortunately, Phee’s separated from her best friends and is bunked with five girls who were adopted by American families and haven’t experienced Chinese culture the way she has. When Internet trolls leave hate messages on the camp’s social media pages, the campers have team meetings that help them bond over a shared mission of cultural appreciation and organize a DIY fashion show.

Laura Dooley-Taylor received her MLIS from Dominican University in 2007 and has been a school librarian for 17 years.