Growing Friendships

May 15, 2017
Kennedy-Moore and McLaughlin highlight five skills—reaching out, stepping back, blending in, speaking up, and letting go—to help readers make and maintain friendships. Each chapter introduces a dilemma relating to one of 15 fictional kids: Aiden tries too hard to be funny, Susan assumes that others are being mean behind her back, and Mackenzie has trouble joining a group. Mingus’s cartoon spot illustrations and comics sequences add humor and help illustrate various points (such as the “power difference” involved in bullying, versus other social conflicts). Multiple-choice quizzes and reader-directed questions (“Do you have a habit of apologizing when you didn’t do anything wrong?”) invite children to apply these ideas to their own developing relationships. Ages 6–9. Agent: Stefanie Von Borstel and Taylor Martindale Kean, Full Circle Literary.

August 1, 2017

Gr 2-6-This guide to friendships is simply illustrated and full of useful information. Written by a child psychologist and a professional parenting writer, this book goes over basic information explaining how body language and verbal signals can help signal the progression of a friendship. It provides basic coping skills for anxiety so that readers can attract more friends. There is also a section on bullying and learning to say no. The information is a lot to digest for a younger crowd, while the conflicts presented are too young for a middle grade audience. Recurring dog and cat mascots are supposed to provide a bit of levity but just end up being diverting. The section on blending in may put off more independent and individualistic types, and the section on anxiety isn't always clear about the feelings it's trying to help children cope with. Overall, though, the information is accurate and helpful. VERDICT A decent guide for younger middle grade collections, even adults could learn something from this book.-Kathryn Kania, Pelham Public Library, NH

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2017
Grades 4-7 For children and preteens, perhaps no other aspect of life is as stressful as making and maintaining friendships. The author team of Kennedy-Moore and McLaughlin offers sound advice from the perspectives of psychologist, parent, blogger, and therapist. Using fun cartoons, relatable stories, metaphors, and bulleted summaries, this provides basic skills training for kids looking to widen their social circles. From reaching out to make initial contact with potential friends, through navigating tricky situations and mitigating arguments, myriad issues are described. Readers are encouraged not to just follow prescribed advice but to consider the feelings of others and to use their own judgment in choosing a course of action. Many of these skills are important lifelong lessons that will benefit readers long after their adolescence. While skills like saying no and compromising may be intuitive to some, for many others, particularly those in their awkward preteens, the advice in the book will be invaluable. This is an authoritative and appealing resource for children working on fitting in and finding a tribe.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2018
An unusually practical guide to making friends, keeping friends, and knowing when to end a friendship. Clinical psychologist Kennedy-Moore and parenting writer McLaughlin offer tips on recognizing others' "stop signals," naturally joining activities, matching the tone of a conversation, and more. The dense black-and-white format may seem off-putting, but relevant cartoon scenarios, (eye-roll-inducing) jokes, and reflection questions break up a highly readable text. Reading list. Glos.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)