Asking for a Friend

April 15, 2024
A nonbinary middle schooler experiences the highs and lows of friendship. Twelve-year-old Eden Jones is lonely. Even after switching schools, they haven't made any friends, but they've been lying to their mom to keep her from worrying. This ruse works fine until Mom excitedly announces she's throwing Eden their first birthday party with other kids. Now, socially anxious Eden, who's white, must approach the classmates they've claimed were friends and invite them to the celebration. Outgoing Duke Herrera, a popular Filipino American basketball player, befriends Eden right away, bonding over being trans, while white lesbian Tabitha Holt and genderqueer Jackie Marshall, who's Black, take a little more effort to grow close to. Even trickier to approach is pansexual Ramona Augustus, whom Duke warns Eden against. Eden finds themself with a group of friends for the first time, but as their lies pile up, their newfound social acceptance is threatened. The book's depiction of social anxiety rings true; Eden refuses to raise their hand in class and uses breathing exercises to cope. The characters are lovable if a bit smooth around the edges; even when they mess up, each has good intentions, and conflicts are handled in a textbook-perfect way. But Riley's fictional world is one in which queer joy always triumphs, and that alone is a breath of fresh air. A slightly saccharine deep dive into queer friendship. (author's note, queer glossary, resources) (Fiction. 8-12)

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May 1, 2024
Grades 4-7 After losing their one friend, Eden changes middle schools and tries to start from scratch. But then they tell their worrywart, hard-working mother they've been making friends, and before they know it, they're caught in a web of lies leading up to the big birthday party Mom wants to throw for Eden. Riley's sophomore novel (after Jude Saves the World, 2023) delivers queer joy while telling a story about how social anxiety disorder and queerness can get in the way of daily life for a middle-school kid. Eden and their friends run the gamut of queer identities and emphasize the overall fluidity of identity, since, after all, as humans we are always changing and evolving. It's undoubtedly an affirming read for those who are looking for themselves in either queer protagonists or characters with serious anxiety, and it's a gentle foray for those interested in reading outside of their lived experience. Riley smoothly folds in different perspectives and approaches to queerness, and anxious, observant Eden is the vehicle through which readers can take it all in.

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June 1, 2024

Gr 3-7-Eden Jones is trying to make it at a new school after a heartbreaking loss of friendship at their previous one. Their Social Anxiety Disorder, as Eden and their single mom capitalize it, will surely lessen at the new school and a fresh start. Not wanting to disappoint their mother, Eden lies about having friends. When their mother announces that she will host the friends at their upcoming 13th birthday party, Eden is determined to make this happen by becoming actual friends with the students they've told their mother about. Eden manages to genuinely connect with most of the friend-targets, and they quickly become an LGBTQIA+ crew. But as their lies pile up and the friends grow closer, Eden must face some tough truths about themself. The insta-friendships that develop with this group of queer junior high kids are both preposterous and believable. At first, when all of the characters immediately come out to each other, it seems too rosy; but once readers understand that each of them lacked queer community, it makes sense that they bond so strongly. All of the characters are well defined and represent various shades of the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. The writing is reminiscent of Judy Blume and Alex Gino with its matter-of-fact tone, but at times it feels unrealistically and awkwardly chipper. Yet Eden's inner voice of anxiety, low self-esteem, and panic attacks are spot-on. The author's notes include information about the characters' identities and a glossary of terms. VERDICT Ultimately this sweet novel reads like an old-school afternoon TV special. It's realistic, if a bit cheesy, light entertainment with an obvious and hopeful message.-Elaine Fultz

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