BFF or NRF (Not Really Friends): A Girl’s Guide to Happy Friendships

Gr 4-7–An interactive self-help book about building healthier, happier friendships for young girls. The colorful text with plentiful pink is designed to look like a notebook and functions as a workbook. Each chapter includes an interactive component with quizzes, places to respond to a wide range of scenarios, and invitations to reflection. Framing friendship as a choice, Speer advises readers that close friends may not be made until middle school. From examining friendships to building friendship skills, the book is focused on emotional health, including taking responsibility for one’s actions and dealing with conflict effectively. A section labeled “Super-Duper Important” emphasizes the importance of contacting trusted adults if there are situations of potential harm. Focusing largely on female friendships with she/her as default pronouns, the text does make a disclaimer that the information could be applied to friends using any pronouns. The book wraps up with discussion questions for debriefing about each chapter. There aren’t additional supplemental resources or back matter included within the book.