| Best friends -- Juvenile fiction. |
| Friendship -- Juvenile fiction. |
| Families -- Juvenile fiction. |
| Neighbors -- Juvenile Fiction. |
Available:*
Library | Collection | Material Type | Call Number | Status | Item Holds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Cobourg Branch | Searching... Unknown | Junior Fiction | JF Mac | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
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Summary
Summary
Printz Honor and bestselling author Carolyn Mackler joins our charming WISH line with this story of a friendship between two girls.Meet Hannah. Her name is a palindrome. Her birthday is on New Year's. She wishes she had a cat. She's medium height and a little awkward. Her life has NOT been fun lately -- her dad and stepmom are having a baby and, worst of all, her best friend next door just moved away. Now a new girl is here, taking over her best friend's bedroom . . . and her own identity.Meet Emme. Her name is a palindrome. Her birthday is on New Year's. She loves her enormous orange cat. She's so short that last week she was mistaken for a kindergartner. She's found moving hard . . . but at least there's the girl next door, Hannah. Maybe they'll become friends?While Hannah and Emme are alike in so many ways, they're different in some wrong ways, too. Is this the perfect friendship . . . or a recipe for disaster?From award-winning writer Carolyn Mackler comes a funny, smart story about finding out who your best friends are, in good times and bad.
Author Notes
Carolyn Mackler is the author of the popular teen novels, The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things (A Michael L. Printz Honor Book); Tangled ; Guyaholic ; Vegan Virgin Valentine ; and Love and Other Four-Letter Words . Carolyn's most recent novel, The Future of Us , cowritten with bestselling author Jay Asher, has received starred reviews, and the film rights have been sold to Warner Brothers. Best Friend Next Door is her first novel for a younger audience.
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-5-When Hannah's best friend and next-door neighbor Sophie moves to Canada before the start of fifth grade, Hannah can't imagine life without her. Soon a new family moves in with a girl the same age as Hannah taking over Sophie's old room. After a rocky start, Hannah and Emme become fast friends, bonding over their shared love of palindromes and peanut butter and their dislike of pizza. Not everything is rosy as Hannah struggles to accept the new addition to her family and Emme deals with bullying at school. Mackler captures the ups and downs of close friendship as Hannah and Emme's relationship is challenged as they begin to discover their differences. The girls learn what it means to be a friend, in good times and bad. Mackler depicts modern families in an unobtrusive way-Hannah's dad and stepmom are expecting a new baby and Emme has two moms. VERDICT Sure to find readers amongst young readers, this charming book will be a hit with fans of Meg Cabot's "Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls" series (Scholastic).-Sarah Polace, Cuyahoga Public Library System, OH © Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
Hannah is having a bad week. First, her best friend Sophie has moved three hundred miles away. Then, her dad and stepmom inform Hannah shes going to be a big sister and expect her to be thrilled -- shes so not. (Her stepmom -- the only mom shes ever known -- is in the process of adopting Hannah; does she still need a real child?) Moments after they drop the baby bomb, she meets Emme, the new girl next door, who has the nerve to move into Sophies old house. Its all too much. Luckily, Hannah eventually comes around, and how could she not? She and Emme have a ridiculous (and somewhat contrived) amount in common -- palindromic first names, same age and birthday (New Years Day), and they both love peanut butter and hate pizza. With humor and honesty, the two girls narrate alternating chapters, drawing readers in as they describe their friendship over the next six months as it grows then faces the usual setbacks -- differing interests, jealousy, misunderstandings. Mackler has a spot-on understanding of fifth graders and their emotional concerns, and details such as Hannahs first thought (the unfairness) at learning Emme has two moms (I dont even have one to call my own) display her inside knowledge of contemporary kids lives. jennifer m. brabander (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
The last thing Hannah Strafel wants after her longtime next-door neighbor and best friend Sophie moves away is a new neighbor or best friend. But, unexpectedly, she gets both when Emme Hoffman-Shields arrives, and the two fifth-graders learn they both love palindromes and swimming and even share the same birthday. However, as they discover differing interests and face separate challenges, from school to home, each fears growing apart. Happily, through ups and downs, they come to new understandings, including the importance of honesty, communication, and trust and that although commonalities may bring people together, differences can strengthen and enrich relationships, too. Mackler, author of The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things (2003), here insightfully portrays the complexities of friendship and adapting to change. The girls' alternating first-person narratives occasionally blur, but lend depth to their individual and shared experiences, from confronting bullies, to insecurities, to adapting to a new sibling. Hannah's dad and stepmom and Emme's two moms (whose gay relationship is a nonissue) provide loving, reassuring presences throughout. Despite some predictability, an engaging, supportive read.--Rosenfeld, Shelle Copyright 2015 Booklist