Best Frenemies Forever

by Megan McCafferty

Overview

From mega-bestselling author Megan McCafferty—author of the beloved Jessica Darling series that The Wall Street Journal called “Judy Blume meets Dorothy Parker”—comes a hilarious love letter to the magic and heartache of middle school friendship.

Sophie Dailey is NOT looking forward to starting middle school. For one thing, she doesn’t look like other kids. Instead of trendy tank tops, she wears high tech shirts that block UV rays. (Sun protection is serious business!) And she definitely doesn’t sound like other kids either. (She can’t say “holla” or “hot take” without making a weird face.) Needless to say, this is probably why her best friend, Ella, ditched her for Queen Bee Morgan.

Sophie is comfortable with who she is and doesn’t want to change. But she’s also pretty lonely without Ella. Even worse, Morgan seems intent on making seventh grade miserable for Sophie, and Ella doesn’t bat an eye at the bullying. Then a new girl moves in next door to Sophie. Kaytee Ray is everything Sophie is not: fashionable and super-confident.

Sophie can’t believe Kaytee wants to spend the last days of summer with her. Determined to keep Kaytee as a friend, Sophie lies about her social status, claiming to be besties with Morgan and Ella. As long as Kaytee attends Villa Academy—a private school on the other side of town—she’ll never find out her first friend in New Jersey is a loser.

But can any friendship built on lies survive seventh grade?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781338722499
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	05/17/2022
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	67,230
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

Editorial Reviews

Praise for True to Your Selfie:

“A quick, entertaining read for fans of frenemy fiction.” — Kirkus Reviews

“This current and relatable novel will resonate with middle school readers, especially those who have felt the pressure to create a perfect social media presence.” — School Library Journal

“McCafferty effectively captures tween speak and the allure of social media while exposing its inauthenticity.” — Publishers Weekly

Praise for Megan McCafferty:

“Judy Blume meets Dorothy Parker” — The Wall Street Journal on The Jessica Darling Series

From the Publisher

05/27/2022

Gr 3–7—Sophie, newly best-friendless, is wading through a lonely summer and dreading seventh grade when confident neighbor Kaytee moves in. Sophie is delighted that Kaytee wants to be friends, especially since Kaytee is going to attend a private school; Kaytee will never know that Sophie has been ditched by her former best friend and is the target of ongoing bullying by the popular, social media-savvy squad that her former friend has joined. Sophie's guilt-inducing small lies about being popular morph into more complicated ones as the groups of girls encounter each other and Kaytee eventually switches to Sophie's school. Sophie knows she is awkward, but doesn't know how to change it. She admires Kaytee's "cool girl confidence" and convinces herself that "what Kaytee doesn't know will only help our friendship grow." Kaytee has her own embarrassing past, the truth of which slowly unfolds. Sophie takes advantage of this secret before the girls ultimately reconcile. This is a sequel in the "Mercer Middle School" series, but can stand alone for new readers. The girls' friendship rings true, as do the instances of bullying and the lingering hurt of a friendship ending unexpectedly. Even with short chapters, the story occasionally lags, and the heavy-handedness of Sophie's parents' beliefs occasionally get in the way of the story, despite playing a part in Sophie's own mindset. Most characters are cued as white. VERDICT Despite some shortcomings, the always-relevant topic of friendship drama makes this title an acceptable choice where there is need.—Laura Stiles

School Library Journal

2021-12-07
Sophie befriends her new neighbor, hoping Kaytee will never learn why she was deserted by Ella, her former best friend.

Sophie’s been lonely the whole summer, but little does she suspect that bubbly Kaytee also has secrets. Kaytee’s parents are sending her and her twin brother to private schools, so Sophie feels safe lying about her popularity. In reality, Ella was wooed away by mean girl Morgan in sixth grade, and now “MorganElla” are joined at the hip, excluding and being unkind to Sophie. Everything starts to fall apart when Kaytee, who is miserable at her private school, transfers to Sophie’s public school. Sophie—smart, science-oriented, and a budding feminist—has no interest in clothes, makeup, boys, or social media. Kaytee acts more like the popular girls, but there is a part of her ocean- and dolphin-loving self that genuinely likes Sophie. Still, practical Sophie, generally good-hearted, is not above considering blackmail after she learns her neighbor’s well-kept secret. The middle school friendship problems in this novel ring true, but some of Sophie’s first-person narration feels artificial. Readers will tire of frequent pronouncements from Sophie’s social worker mother and environmental scientist father. Most characters default to White; names cue some minor characters as Asian or Latinx.

Seventh grade friendship issues loom large in this novel that doesn’t stand out from the crowd. (Fiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews