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7 Great YAs About Best Friendship
Having great best friends is a quintessential part of being a teen. Sometimes, losing those friends is a quintessential part of it too. Whatever your YA experience with BFFs, there’s no question they possess the power to shape who you are, for better or for worse. They’re the people who are there for your breakups, your makeups, your crises big and small, your hold-my-hair-back (or hold-my-earrings) needs, your late-night phone calls, your ill-advised plans, and everything in between. Sometimes, they know you better than you know yourself; sometimes, knowing yourself means needing some distance. Whatever the BFF book you’re looking for, YA has got your back.
Open Road Summer, by Emery Lord
Everything about Lord’s wonderful debut novel screams romance—and the romance is indeed wonderful—but I dare you to read it and not come away with the feeling you’ve just read one of the best friendship novels in YA history. Dee and Reagan have been through everything together, and that hasn’t changed even now that Dee’s a famous country star. When Reagan needs to get out of town, coming along on Dee’s national tour is the perfect solution, and proves the two are each other’s anchors no matter the ups and downs or where they find themselves. (For further proof Lord is a master of writing great friends, check out her sophomore novel, The Start of Me and You.)
17 First Kisses, by Rachael Allen
On the surface, yes, this is a book about a girl named Claire’s first kisses with different boys, but the depth of its construction is my favorite thing about Allen’s debut—in fact, the story behind each kiss isn’t really about the kiss at all, but about the events surrounding them and how they’re actually landmarks for other important events and milestones in the other relationships in Claire’s life, including the one with her best friend, Megan. It isn’t a neat friendship, and it isn’t a perfect one, but so often, the close friendships we have aren’t either, and I love the way this one makes you take a step back to examine the good, the bad, and, most importantly, the necessity.
Ships in 1-2 days.
Since You’ve Been Gone, by Morgan Matson
Emily and Sloane were the best of the best, so when Sloane just completely disappears one day before what should’ve been a fabulous summer together, Emily is shattered. All she has left of her best friend is a to-do list of tasks for the summer, and a whole lot of memories. The list is Emily’s only hope for reconnecting with the best friend who isn’t answering her phone and hasn’t left a forwarding address…but it brings her closer to brand-new friends, too. As Emily works toward what she hopes is a reunion with her missing bestie, she realizes it’s the journey and not the destination that’s her Sloane’s gift.
Love and Other Theories, by Alexis Bass
I’m not gonna lie—this book kind of destroyed me. The best friends in this book are a unique crew, determined to keep themselves from the foolishness of heartbreak by establishing rules that keep them out of serious relationships. They judge the clingy girls, the sappy ones, the ones who let themselves get too attached, and discuss among themselves how this makes them Evolved as a result. But this poignant story takes that idea to task and examines the dark side of groupthink, though Bass takes a lot of care with the beautiful and supportive aspects of friend groups as well.
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Maybe One Day, by Melissa Kantor
Zoe and Olivia are best friends through thick and thin, including their dismissal from their elite ballet company. But when Olivia is diagnosed with leukemia, the friends go through far greater tests than they anticipated possible, with mutual support and encouragement, shared humor, and a whole lot of love. This is the one book on this list I haven’t yet read, but not only is it rumored to be one of the best YA friendship books out there, it was actually recommended to me (completely independently) by—wait for it—best friends. I took that as a good sign.
Under a Painted Sky, by Stacey Lee
Lee’s racially diverse YA western is about many things, but at the heart of it is the relationship between newfound best friends Sammy and Annamae. Sammy is a newly orphaned Chinese American girl on the run from the law; Annamae is the slave who joins her in the hopes of a better life. The year is 1849 and together the girls head west, disguising themselves as cowboys for the journey. What could be a terrifying and isolating trip turns into an excitement-laden adventure as the two work together, protect each other, make new friends, and become each other’s family in this unique and lovely historical.
Ships in 1-2 days.
Over You, by Amy Reed
When Max’s best friend, Sadie, is sidelined with mono over the summer, leaving Max effectively alone in unfamiliar territory, she could mope around in Sadie’s shadow. Instead, Max decides to embrace all the things she never would have at Sadie’s side, and by the time Sadie gets better, Max has to decide whether they really are best friends forever or better off apart. In truth, this book is almost about the opposite of best friendship—finding your own identity when you realize just how toxic the person you’ve been calling your best friend is. But as someone who’s prone to falling into those types of relationships, this is one of my favorite BFF books of all.