Best Friends is Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham’s second relatable for the 10 and up crowd graphic novel. Adults can see themselves, too (then and now) in this book about being a sixth grader where when you think you have it figured out, everything changes. Again.
A fast-paced story takes Shannon and her friends through the trials of growing up. The year is 1985 but it could be anytime. Friendships change, boys are no longer “off limits” for friends, you still only play with the ones “you like” but of course, you do not actually play. Rating phone calls no longer only consist of “what do the boys think of a girl’s face and personality.” What they think of someone’s body comes into play as well. Feelings get hurt as rumors and half-truths fly around (even from some adults). And for the first time, Shannon is aware “adults have lives outside of Shannon’s World.”
In “Shannon’s World” women’s “rolls” are old school: You need to get a boy to like you, you must be quiet, the roll of a woman is to be a wife and mother. And the only jobs Shannon has seen a woman have is mother or teacher. It is not until her substitute teacher (after her regular teacher has gone on maternity leave) and a librarian show her that woman can be writers, that Shannon is good at writing (despite her fears) and that writers are not all “old dead guys from the past” that Shannon takes a few steps to becoming Herself.
This coming of age story has great illustrations that are not-too busy and boldly illustrated. They show Shannon’s World perfectly. We see her anxiety and OCD, “girl issues” (from casual mentioning of menstruation to safety issues) and we see the birth of a writer.
