Pretty solid middle grade option. Deals nicely with issues both common (feeling like the odd one out, not being part of a best friend pair) and more specialized (parent with cancer, figuring out how to allow your best friend to have their own life). Realistic without being overly scary or overly sentimental.

Unfortunately I just couldn't get into this one. I couldn't connect with the characters or the story. I think if I had read it younger I would have enjoyed it much more

When I read about this book I was concerned that I would not like the magical realism piece. However, it worked because how impossible and unrealistic it is to depend on one person to meet all of a person's friendship needs.

Jade, a talented writer, has had a string of bad luck when it comes to best friends—that’s why she makes her perfect companion up on the pages of her precious notebook. When Zoe comes to life, things are a little uneasy at first—Jade can hardly believe it—but they soon pick up where they left off on the pages (and some earlier experiences) becoming inseparable in school and after as Zoe’s moved in across the street. I laughed out loud a few times as Zoe was introduced to new (to her) things and had a flashback myself of being sent out to the hall with uncontrollable giggles. It was an clever take on the imaginary friend premise and interesting how their relationship develops. Jade has a little growing up to do as she becomes over protective of Zoe and feels that their friendship is threatened by the sparkle girls in their classes. Additionally, she’s experiencing some uncertainty at home as well with her fathers cancer diagnosis and chemo treatments. Although it is magical realism, readers will identify with the desire to be loved and accepted. There are some tender moments between characters that were very real and relatable. I loved Jade’s growth and her reflections. This story has a lot of heart and lessons to be learned about the true meaning of friendship.

Making friends is always hard, and Jade finds it so, too. Her bestie is in a big yellow notebook; her name's Zoe. Imagination is not something Jade lacks, so she can imagine all the fun she and Zoe can have.
This is the story of how to see and make friends with those around you, those waiting for you to look. Clue is one these people waiting. With a bit of magic, he makes Jade's wish come true - Zoe gets to live and be an in-real-life friend for Jade. However, Jade soon learns that it's harder than she thought to control every aspect of a friendship, and that being yourself and letting your friends be themselves will lead to a healthy friendship.

There are other deep aspects in the novel: Jade's sadness that people don't seem to stick for long in her town, her father's illness, her striving to be a better and better writer listening to Mrs. Yang's tips, her English teacher. All these add depth and by the end of the novel, Jade is more mature and sure of herself and her place in the school and in her family.

I absolutely adored this, and I think it's perfect for every middle grade student, but not only. A good starting point for discussions as well.

I really enjoyed this book, and Jade's journey. She makes mistakes, and seems quite controlling at times, but I felt like she learnt from it all and grew a lot by the end of the book. Jade is a typical young girl, feeling lost and confused, and forcing herself to cope on her own without being able to rely on her parents or a friend for help. As the reader, you can understand her desperation for a friend. I wish she had treated Clue a little better earlier in the book and realised that he could have been a good friend to her. I think this book is relatable and definitely one I would recommend to my students.

I received this arc in exchange for an honest review.

After moving to a new town, Jade is lonely. Her previous friends have left. She entertains herself by writing stories about spending time with a girl named Zoe.

I liked this book. All the characters are interesting and have depth. Jade is interesting protagonist who learns from her mistakes. I enjoyed the themes of accepting imperfections and worrying about impressing others.

When you’re a child and someone moves, you might not ever hear from them again, let alone see them. Jade’s despair felt realistic. As someone with a relative with cancer, I could relate to her struggles. I also wrote as a child to deter my loneliness.

I appreciated how the novel doesn’t delve deeply into the mechanics of Zoe’s transformation. It’s not logical, so why waste time giving convoluted explanations? This is a character driven story, not one that needs to be bogged down by unnecessary worldbuilding.

While I liked some lines, the writing is bogged down by filter words, telling, and a few awkward sentences. However, since this is a children’s book I won’t consider the style a major concern.

My other complaint is the ending, it’s fitting for Jade and Zoe’s character arcs but it’s confusing and raises questions.

If you want a children’s book with strong themes and characters, I recommend Friend or Fiction.

Thank you Netgalley and Charlesbridge for providing me with an advanced e-copy of Friend or Fiction by Abby Cooper.

This was a magical read and very clever. It was so much more than just a girl and her imaginary friend. And a great lesson on friendship. Not everyone will be the "cool kid" with all the friends.
Thanks for bringing Abby to life. I reallu enjoyed her and ger family.

Cooper, Abby. Friend or Fiction. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge, 2019.

Finished 6/12

4 stars

Summary from Net Galley
One creative middle-schooler schooler discovers that the best friend a girl can have is the one she makes herself in this charming magical realism read.

Jade's life hasn't exactly been normal lately, especially since her dad's cancer diagnosis. Jade wishes her family could leave their no-name town in Colorado already--everybody else does sooner rather than later, including every best friend Jade's ever had. So she makes one up. In the pages of her notebook, she writes all about Zoe--the most amazing best friend anyone could dream of.

But when pretend Zoe appears in real life thanks to a magical experiment gone right, Jade isn't so sure if she likes sharing her imaginary friend with the real world. To keep her best friend (and even make some new ones), Jade learns how to cope with jealousy, that friends should let friends be true to themselves, and that maybe the perfect best friend doesn't exist after all.

My Review

The premise of this book was one that interested me. No close friends so Jade writes a story about a best friend who lives across the street. Through magic this friend comes alive. Abby Cooper did a good job of making Jade grow as the story progresses. I found the story to be a bit slow moving but the plot premise was interesting enough to encourage me to keep reading to find out what would happen next. The story touches on several things which affect children - particularly loneliness and a parent with a critical illness, in this case cancer. Through the story, readers can be lead to live in the real world, not a made-up world and to look for friends in unlikely places.

Possible Area of Concern:
While a very quiet and subtle inclusion - so quiet I almost missed it - one of the characters has two dads (no mention of a mom). The way it was mentioned leads me to believe the parents are a pair of men. The children in that family are adopted.

Because of this area of concern, I will not be able to place this book in my K-12 Christian School library.

I like Abby Cooper for her ability to make the genre of magical realism accessible to young readers. I'm sure many kids would love to have an imaginary friend come to life. I liked that Jade learned how to make a "real friend" during the course of the novel. Jade wasn't always likable but I don't think main characters always have to be likable - it makes them more relate-able to the reader in my opinion.

I love this one! While Jade and her family deal with her dad's cancer and ongoing treatment, she worries about not having a true friend. She begins writing about Zoe, the friend she wishes she had. Jade spends a great deal of time writing about their adventures, always seeing to it that they have happy experiences. When a boy known as Clue figures out a way to bring her fictional friend to life, it seems perfect! Perfection is not part of real life though, and problems start to arise quickly. Jade must examine what she really wants in a friend and whether she needs to control Zoe like she could in her stories. I think this one will be a hit with middle grade readers!

I think this is my favorite Abby Cooper book so far! I loved the premise and the friendship issues, while based in fantasy, are so relevant for her readers. The ending was satisfying without being overly "happily ever after".

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I love a clever story. Jade is a loner, but she longs for a best friend. The perfect BFFs does exist - on the pages of Jade's notebook, each tale written from Jade's lonely heart.

One day, a neighbor moves in across the street and she is very familiar. She and Jade are automatic BFFs - but at what cost? Is a friend really a friend if you control her every move? Is having a BFF by your side while your dad struggles with cancer worth any price?

I can't wait to introduce this to my middle school students. A story of unlikely friendships, assumptions, and compassion will be perfect for this age group.

Thank you to NetGalley and Charlesbridge for an eARC of this book.

What if you could write a story, and your characters came to life in the real world? Better yet, what if you could write yourself a best friend, and by continuing her story, she could be everything you wanted her to be. That's what Jade things has happened to her when a classmate steals her writing journal and uses some magical water on it. At first, Jade is delighted to have Zoe come to life, but she soon discovers that it's not quite what she expected it would be.

This is a great story with a touch of magic that loosk at what it really means to be a friend, including emotions like jealousy that go along with it. Jade's dad is also dealing with liver cancer, and her obsession with writing stories eventually takes a backseat when her family goes on a trip and she sees what she's been missing while isolating herself in her imaginary world. I love. Jade's friend, Clue, is a character that I really loved because he helped Jade break out of her own thoughts, and face what was right in front of her.

Jade and her family were on the move to a new city until life threw a curveball. One day, while celebrating a friends birthday, Jade is suddenly picked up and has to go check on her dad, who is sick. Things are never the same for Jade from that day, forward. One of Jade’s favorite hobbies is to write and she wants to be an author one day. So to get through a challenging time her life, Jade decides to write a story that centers around one character. I love how Abby Cooper takes a realistic situation and gives it the right spin where the reader is able to feel sympathy, laugh, cry, and relate to the main character(s). Ms. Cooper writes with a keen sense of how tweens would feel, living though this moment. Friend or Fiction is a story that I can’t wait to share with my students.

TW: Liver cancer, loneliness, death, losing a friend
I think this story was a good balance between the magical realism and keeping it lighthearted while also showing Jade's character growth. I liked Jade and Clue's friendship more than I liked Zoe and Jade as bffs. I like the lessons taught within the story. I did get bored in the middle of it but I know it was a necessary part for Jade's growth.

I received this book on netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What would it be like if your imaginary friend came to life?

Jade has been writing about her imaginary friend, Zoe, for a very long time. One day, a classmate "borrows" her notebook, and surprise, surprise! Zoe comes to life. Soon Jade realizes that things aren't as great as she thought, and she has to make some hard choices.

What I liked:
-This was a book about an imaginary friend! That's cool!
-I thought that Jade, the protagonist was well thought out. She was lonely, which explained a lot of her behavior.

Things I didn't like as much:
-How did no one notice Zoe was living alone? I get the whole magic thing, but still.

Overall:
Kids who have or had imaginary friends will enjoy this book, as it explores what exactly it might be like if your imaginary friend came to life.

I liked the premise of this story, but I'm not sure I bought into the magic completely. I would however recommend this book to a fifth grade or above.

I went into this book not really expecting much because I was under the impression it was for readers on the younger side. However, once I started reading it I was quickly enticed with the entire storyline. The characters were very well written and I felt connected to each of them and I didn’t want the book to end. It was absolutely amazing all the way around.

This book was quite a thinker. The main premise is that Jade is a very lonely 6th grader. Her town is full of transients, no one but her family staying for very long. Rather than making the effort to make new friends, she escapes to her writing and creates the perfect friend there named Zoe. When a magical experiment gone right brings Zoe to life, Jade isn't sure what to think. At first it is ideal, but as Jade stays longer the perfection starts to wear off, especially when Jade realizes that she is still able to control Zoe with her writing. The importance of Zoe is that Jade is forced to consider the people around her and the life she is living, not the story that she is creating in her beloved notebook.

What I really loved about this book was Mrs. Yang, a sort of English teacher/fairy godmother character. Mrs. Yang was there from the beginning, cheering Jade on as a writer, but also telling her that real life should be the inspiration for your stories, not the other way around. I also thought that the relationship between Jade and Clue was really special. They were both struggling with feeling alone, though for very different reasons.

Abby Cooper likes to use magical realism to take complicated emotional topics and make them a bit easier to understand. This was a surprisingly endearing story.