It doesn't look like a sad book, but this book was pretty painful to read at times. Young Shannon faces bullying from Jenny, one of the girls in her circle of friends who seems to want to make Shannon miserable out of some unhealthy competitiveness (Jenny's insecure and cruel and targets Shannon because she's sensitive and nerdy). Then at home, Shannon is bullied and hit by her older sister Wendy who takes out her anger and frustration on Shannon because she's jealous that their parents are always praising Shannon's goodness. Wendy is sometimes drawn as a ferocious, menacing bear.

Yeah, it's pretty rough. But there are good times too. Between bouts of anxiety and obsessive counting and tapping, Shannon nurtures her imagination by playing all kinds of make-believe games. And then she finally finds the titular "real friends" she's deserved all along. And there's a very satisfying ending in which Jenny and Wendy both get what's coming to them, but in different ways.

The moral is: If people make you feel like shit, they're not really your friends, are they? Funny how hard it is for so many of us to learn this lesson. I suppose it seems like the alternative to dumping mean "friends" is being alone. But there are always other possible friends you just haven't noticed yet.

This is a fictionalized version of beloved author Shannon Hale's own childhood, so it's set in the late 1970s and early 80s, and the plot isn't constructed neatly like you would expect from pure fiction. Important characters appear and then disappear, which felt a bit ragged to me. (I'm thinking mainly of Adrienne's abrupt departure, Tammy's brief interlude, and Kayla who is never given a backstory -- in the Author's Note Hale calls her the "hiding-behind-the-shrub companion" and says her "situation" was hard, but still no specifics, even though they got to know each other better in high school. I was left wondering if Kayla was facing racist bullying because she's black, but race is never addressed in this book.) I suppose we can chalk this up to real life being messy and not being able to fit another subplot.

The Hales were churchgoers and young Shannon imagines at times that Jesus is her only real friend. I don't think it was intended to be funny, but it gave me a chuckle. ( )

About the trials and tribulations of friendship in elementary school. I started reading around midnight, and I was so riveted that I stayed up and finished it. Very sweet with a satisfying ending. ( )

Representation: Side Black character
Trigger warnings: Bullying, abuse
Score: Seven points out of ten.
This review can also be found on The StoryGraph.

7/10, the last novel I read was quite enjoyable so I hoped that this memoir which I've been wanting to read for a while would be good as well; I liked this one even though I already read the other two books in the series and I can't wait to see what this author will write in the future since I've enjoyed three of them from her so far. It starts off with the main character Shannon detailing her life from kindergarten all the way to 3rd grade where most of the story takes place, I liked this exposition where I saw all her friends and family members and seeing how she lived her early childhood. Her friend since when she started school called Adrienne drifting away from her and joining this new community called the Group so I kept reading on to see where this was going. She meets a new friend called Jen who seemed nice at first but her true personality would be revealed later as she experiences what it's like to be part of the Group however it turns out that it's not as good as it appeared as this group just bullies people to be popular or another reason and the Group begins to tease Shannon which I didn't like and also she had a troubled life at home which made me feel bad for her. The latter half of the book focuses on Shannon in the 4th to 6th grades, making more real friends, hence the title, only to realise that Jen wasn't a real friend so she stopped befriending her and also forgiving Adrienne which I liked. If you like memoirs about friendships this is for you and you can read the other two books in the series to learn more about Shannon's life. ( )

Shannon has trouble making friends until she meets Adrienne, who Shannon believes will be her friend forever, but that isn't to be the case when Adrienne's family suddenly moves away. Now she doesn't know what she will do for friends especially since everyone she knows is a part of "The Group," the name for the most popular girls in school.

Real Friends is a graphic novel about making friends and how to deal with being bullied. Shannon is mostly likable, but occasionally becomes annoying when she whines and cries about things. Other characters in the story either become part of "The Group" is almost a character in the story because so much of what is happening is related in some way. Overall, Real Friends is a cute novel that includes several topics of interest to its target audience. ( )

This was a fine friendship story, but it felt a little like it just skimmed the surface. I felt like I was left hanging with that intense situation with Shannon's older sister, and very little information about day to day family life. A little more info and dialogue with family members would have been good. ( )