Dear Friends

by Lisa Greenwald

Overview

From Lisa Greenwald, the beloved author of the TBH and Friendship List series, comes a novel about one girl’s mission to revisit her top 5 friendship fails and prove she’s totally best friend material! 

Eleni is the kind of person who’s always had a BFF—an automatic, guaranteed by-her-side person—at home, at school, and at camp. And since before she was even born, her very best friend has been Sylvie Bank.

But when Sylvie’s end-of-summer birthday party becomes the end of their friendship, Eleni can’t picture starting middle school without her BFF by her side. She can’t picture anything without her BFF—especially the looming school overnight. Who will she even room with?

So before the big overnight, Eleni sets out on a mission: to figure out where her friendships went wrong, what’s wrong with her, and what makes a good friend. But if she’s totally honest, there’s only one real goal: to win back Sylvie Bank!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063062689
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/09/2023
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	342,677
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 5.10(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Lisa Greenwald is the author of the TBH books, the Friendship List series, the Pink & Green trilogy, and several other novels for tweens and teens. A graduate of the New School’s MFA program in writing for children, she lives in New York City with her husband, daughters, and mini Bernedoodle, Kibbitz.

Editorial Reviews

"Readers will be amused by the different friend categories Len comes up with, and her dedication to her mission. VERDICT Middle schoolers trying to navigate ever-shifting relationships will relate to this sweet story. Recommended for juvenile realistic fiction collections." — School Library Journal

“A deep and charming dive into the oh-so-familiar feelings of lost and found friendships. PS Who wouldn’t want Eleni as their bff?” — Terri Libenson, New York Times bestselling author of the Emmie & Friends series

Praise for TBH, This Is So Awkward: “Get ready to fall in love with these girls who use their humor and wit (and lots and lots of emojis) to right wrongs and build bridges.” — ALA Booklist

“Greenwald successfully blends emojis and text to bring the high drama and emotional changes of middle school to life. This first in a new series for preteens and young teens who value friendship and doing the right thing is pretty endearing.” — Kirkus Reviews

“In this fine successor to Lauren Myracle’s TTYL and its sequels, Greenwald (11 Before 12) realistically captures the language of texting tweens, including exuberant use of emoji, and how mistakes can be made and tone misunderstood amid rapid-fire digital conversations.” — Publishers Weekly

“Enticing and readable.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Praise for Friendship List #1: 11 Before 12: “This book will entice those who want to read about a relatable, funny young woman.” — School Library Journal

“Kaylan’s first-person voice perfectly captures the horrors of starting at a new school, from the prospect of eating alone in the cafeteria to the awkwardness of meeting a new neighbor boy.” — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

Enticing and readable.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Praise for TBH, This Is So Awkward: “Get ready to fall in love with these girls who use their humor and wit (and lots and lots of emojis) to right wrongs and build bridges.

ALA Booklist

A deep and charming dive into the oh-so-familiar feelings of lost and found friendships. PS Who wouldn’t want Eleni as their bff?

Terri Libenson

06/01/2022

Gr 3–7—Len, real name Eleni Belle Klarstein, named after her grandmothers, is a soon-to-be middle schooler. Just back from summer camp, she's anxious to reunite with her best friend Sylvie. It's hard reigniting their friendship since it feels as if they have been apart forever, and Sylvie has made other friends. Len feels left out. Her mother is too controlling and doesn't help her navigate the choppy waters of middle school. Len writes in her journal in an effort to understand conflicts, and she tries not to go down what she calls her "worry spiral." In fact, she feels all her friendships have unraveled, so she decides to embark upon what she calls Eleni Belle Klarstein's Friendship Fact-Finding Mission. She will study all of her ended friendships, retrace all her steps and discover what happened, what was her fault, what she could have done better, and most importantly, how to get Sylvie back to being her true confidant. Readers will be amused by the different friend categories Len comes up with, and her dedication to her mission. Len, who is Jewish, is depicted with light skin and dark hair. VERDICT Middle schoolers trying to navigate ever-shifting relationships will relate to this sweet story. Recommended for juvenile realistic fiction collections.—Lisa Gieskes

School Library Journal

2022-03-02
Eleni Klarstein, feeling like a friendship failure after Sylvie Bank ditches her, launches a Friendship Fact-Finding Mission to set things right.

Leni is looking forward to starting sixth grade with bestie Sylvie by her side, but even before school starts, Sylvie distances herself. Leni is heartbroken—she lost her camp friend over the summer, too. When she thinks about it, other friendships in the past have also lapsed. In this heartening tale, Leni decides to take a long look at friendship by conducting a dedicated investigation. Through her first-person narration, readers feel up close and personal with all Leni’s emotions: the pain, the humor, and the shock. As she reconnects with friends past, Leni discovers much about others and how they experienced their relationships with her, and she bravely faces some hard truths about herself. In the process, Leni brings closure to some relationships and develops new ties. It’s the rare individual who can take such an awkward, glorious deep dive, and readers will be grateful to go through everything with Leni as their guide. Ultimately, she learns that sometimes the right thing is accepting that relationships grow and change. In case readers need reminding of this, there’s a handy list of “Top Ten Takeaways” for being a good friend at the end. Leni is White and Jewish; there is some diversity in the well-rounded cast of secondary characters.

Uplifting. (Fiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews