A Great Book About Friendship

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I have to say I realy enjoyed this book! I especialy liked the fact that it was presented in diary format - making it fun to read. After all: who has not wished they could read someone's diary? As you get to know the people in the book you start to understand the secret's they hide and feel like you can conect with them. I think boys and girls will like this book.

Journal of Friendship

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Three girls who had been friends since 3rd grade are given a daunting assignment. Their aptly-named 11th-grade English teacher, Ms. MacBeth, has a fondness for Shakespeare and journals. She assigns her students the task of keeping a journal with the clear understanding that their privacy will not be violated.

Jennie Quint, an over-achiever, pressured by driven parents to succeed at all costs is the leader of a clique called "The Awesome Threesome." Bright and talented, she has written a musical and scores of music and is in the accelerated academics program.

Hillary Lang is also an only child. She shares some of Jennie's classes and over time, her adoration of Jennie starts to ebb as jealousy and resentment set in.

Emily Weinstein has one younger brother and is determined to catch up to Jennie. Dubbed "the Star of the East," in part a nod to the Christmas musical she has written and also in part a mocking nickname for her high academic ranking on the East Coast, Jennie comes under scathing attack from Emily.

The fall of the Threesome is an insidious, gradual progress that accelerates during the months of December and January. The three girls and two classmates try to ferret out the screts of a new boy in their grade, a boy whom they nickname Paul Classified. Paul in turn has a journal rife with tragic family secrets, such as a mentally ill stepmother and a sister who left home.

In time, the students develop a startling awareness of themselves and the words of George Harrison seem sadly apt in this book, "it's easier to see the books upon the shelf than it is to see yourself." Jennie sadly discovers that in her household, she is viewed more as a trophy than as a daughter. Hillary confronts her resentment and makes some startling self discoveries as well and Emily realizes that she has let anger erode her part in the Threesome and that of the three, it is her daring to step up to the plate for Paul that expands the Threesome to include other students. They all see themselves and discover their true feelings about themselves and each other and how they evaluate other people.

An excellent, well written book that I think all ages will enjoy. It is intense and compelling and a richly drawn portrait of several very realistic and appealing characters.

Among Friends

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Among Friends is a good book for teenagers in high school. It is interesting in the way it deals with real-life situations that happen in school.

This book is about a group of kids in high school that keep diaries for one of their classes. It is intriguing to see how they all respond to different situations. Mainly, the story is about the "awesome threesome", Jennie, Hillary, and Emily. They were the best of friends until high school, when jealousy split them up. Jennie, always being perfect at everything she did got to Hillary and Emily, and made them despite her. What Hillary and Emily didn't know is that Jennie was going through a hard time. Jennie wanted to be perfect to make her parents proud, but if she did that, her friends would dislike her.

I liked this book because I could relate to the situations that happened in the book. I given this book four stars and highly recommend it.

I liked it and I'm 20!

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I bought this book because I am trying to write teenage fiction and the books I've read on the subject say to read teen fiction so you can get familiar with the genre. Well, I still consider myself a teen anyway so I bought this book also because it looked interesting.

This book seemed very realistic. There is your classic overachiever (Jennie) and the two friends in her shadow (Emily and Hillary) who are jealous of her. I've been in their place with a friend who could just do no wrong. The book is fast-paced and enjoyable. I really liked the ending. This book could really happen!

"Among Friends" Review

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Caroline B. Cooney seemed to have written an amazing book on the problems that teenagers face while in their high school years. "Among Friends" tells the story from the teenagers point of view.
There isnt just one main character. Instead the author did a wounderful job keeping your attention by having six main characters. Each teenager is writing in their journals and discussing the problems that are accuring at school.
I found this unique way of writing to be cleaver and catchy because each problem that comes up is seen in a different piont of view. Also it made you think of which character you could relate to the most and what you would do if you were put in that posision.
A good example of the different perspectives would be when Pual first came to school. Everyone thought that the reason of why Pual was telling anyone about himself was because he was keeping all these exciting adventures from the class. Unforutantley that wasnt true. Instead the reason why Pual wasnt saying anything was because he was scared of fasing the truth and he was ashamed of his life at home. Not knowing this, all the kids at school were pressuring him to tell them information about his life.
By reading the other kids journals it was helpful to see how the same situation should be solved in different perspectives. Amy was going to wait untill he felt like he wanted to tell and the other kids just felt like they needed to know.
Overall I felt that this book was an excellent book. I also felt that it was extreamly helpful seeing that other kids went through the same things that teenagers today are going throught and being able to read about it. This book was something that I could relate to in real life and I would highly recommed this book for anyone who likes to read suspenceful books that will always keep you guessing.