FRIENDS: Stories About New Friends, Old Friends, and Unexpectedly True Friends
by edited by Ann M. Martin, David Levithan and others
Scholastic Press
ISBN: 0439729912
Ages 9-12
192 pages

FRIENDS: Stories About New Friends, Old Friends, and Unexpectedly True Friends is a collection of stories by many well-known children's authors. It celebrates the many different forms that friendship can take.

Allegra moves around a lot because her mother is always searching for a better life. She finds herself living in the Shady Grove Trailer Park in Alligator Grove, Florida. Her best friend, Alexandra, has red hair and freckles; the only problem is that she isn't a real person --- she's an imaginary friend. Sometimes that's the best friend a girl can have.

Squirrel is an old dog, and she has done fine on her own for most of her life. The garbage pile was her best friend for a long time, until she met another old girl named Susan. Maybe Squirrel does need a friend after all.

The eleven talented writers in this collection all recognize friendship for what it is: something intangible that passes between two people and creates a special bond. Sometimes the friendship lasts a lifetime, other times it is very brief. And sometimes the friendship is unexpected and comes as a surprise.

The authors of this collection have asked for all the profit from the book to go to the Lisa Libraries. This nonprofit organization donates new children's books to needy children to honor and memorialize children's book editor Lisa Novak. You can find out more about this organization by visiting www.lisalibraries.org.

Readers of FRIENDS will be able to enjoy touching stories of friendship and help a worthy cause at the same time.

   --- Reviewed by Renee Kirchner (renee.kirchner@usa.net)

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