Jade has a lot going on in her life with her Dad’s cancer and her best friend moving away. Her way to avoid no friend is to write a best friend into her life. But when her best friend becomes real, Jade still struggles with being a good friend. She doesn’t want to share Zoe with anyone and is afraid Zoe will make other friends. Jade’s feelings will feel very realistic to young readers and many will relate to friendship issues.

Sensitive ~ Thoughtful ~ Endearing

tl;dr: Friends can help you see the real you.

This sweet tale of young girls learning that being themselves is important. This story was well-written and sweet, telling the story of Jade, an observent, gentle girl, and her new friend Zoe. The writing is tight, and age-appropriate. But, what I appreciated most how Cooper brings emotion into subtly crafted sentences. In the end, this book is learning how to be honest with yourself and learning to love your imperfections. Really solid, enjoyable, girl-centered, empowering middle grade read.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4/5
There are so many real life topics addressed in this book, I think ever young person should read it.

I can’t describe the way this wrapped up so perfectly without giving away too much!

There were a few points that I felt the scene dragged on, but alas this was not written for my adult mind.

Overall well written and amazingly spoken. At times children young and old have to deal with hard life situations and sometimes the right book may be what they need to offer encouragement and strength in that time of their life. This is it.

Friend or Fiction by Abby Cooper
#FriendOrFiction #NetGalley

ARC Copy...It was good narrative mixed with magical realism (which the protagonist actually points out) of a girl going through all the emotions that comes with being lonely and her parent going through cancer yet she seems to go through with it via her creativity...which manifest in her "perfect friend" she made. It is also interesting how the dynamics with her "friend" works out as if...sometimes its better just let your creation free to be their own instead of controlling them.

Jade lived in a town where people didn't really stick around for long. Because Jade's family has decided to be in Triveda a little longer, Jade struggles to make any real friends. So instead she turns to her journal where she writes the best friend stories she could dream up. While she is busy writing stories she is missing out on a few things. But a strange turn off events with a boy named Clue have her questioning if her friendship stories are real or fiction. With a little magic, important teachers and new experiences, Jade learns the importance of living in the moment with the people closest to you and the value of real friends.
Cooper did a great job with Friend or Fiction with characters to wanted to know about, settings that were relatable and situations that made you to laugh, cry and read it all over again. I can't wait to share this with readers.

Full review on my blog (linked below). In this tale of magical realism, we meet Jade. Jade's father is going through chemo; her former best friend has moved away. All she has is her yellow notebook. With dreams of one day being a writer Jade fills her yellow notebooks with stories about her and her imaginary best friend, Zoe. One day Jade wakes up, and Zoe is no longer imaginary! In this beautiful and robust story, we watch Jade grow as a character through her experiences and realizations touching on sensitive subjects like friends, family, and mental health. This book is one that every middle schooler should add to their TBR pile. Thank you to Charlesbridge and Netgalley from providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Jade and her family find themselves in nowhere Colorado, where everyone moves away from sooner or later. Due to her dad’s medical condition, they have to stay longer than expected, leaving Jade feeling lonely, because her friends always move, and pressured, because she has to put up an “everything is fine” facade around her family. Wanting to have something constant in her life, she creates Zoe, her imaginary friend that comes to life one day, thus comes a story about appreciating what's around you. This felt very realistic. I felt whenever Jade became jealous, I would cringe whenever she tried to change Zoe’s path. The author did a good job of giving Jade a healthy conscience, because she would also address the things I felt were going a bit too far, like playing god to her imaginary-turned-real friend.

This book is really clear about the “lonely” and “alone” distinction, which I love. Jade almost, unwillingly, makes herself feel lonely, even though there are plenty of people who would love to talk to her/be around her (we've all been there). She realizes this toward the end of the book, that even if you’re lonely, it doesn’t mean you have to feel or be alone. I've already recommended this title to my students.

Thank you to Charlesbridge and Netgalley for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Jade is alone but not lonely, in school she hangs out by herself writing about her best friend Zoe, only she's imaginary until school mate Clue, somehow makes her come to life!



Jade and Zoe become inseparable and as Jade also deals with her dad having liver cancer it's a welcome distraction and amazing to live out her stories she invented even though she then learns she has to deal with the consequences of what she did and didn't include in her stories.



I really love the concept and design of the book how there's loop holes in her plan of creating a best friend but she doesn't fill in her life story so much that when she becomes real she loves alone and has no parent to look after her and her home is barren. Overall it was important showing how friends can feel like everything and how nothing in life is ever perfect we all aged a struggle and it's ok to not be ok.



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

This book was so inspiring! I loved everything about it! Having a best friend is amazing when your young and losing one can be awful and trigger all kinds of coping mechanisms! Thank you netgalley for the free arc in exchange for an honest review!

I received an electronic ARC from Charlesbridge through NetGalley.
Jade is a lonely sixth grader who finds her escape through writing. She creates a girl (Zoe) and writes stories about the two of them. Everything is happy and perfect in the stories so Jade can escape dealing with the fears in her life. Her dad has liver cancer. He came through one remission and the cancer returned. As the story begins, he has completed his chemotherapy but is still recovering.
A young man (Clue) in Jade's class takes her writing notebook and uses some magic to bring Zoe to life. Jade has to keep writing in order for Zoe to know anything. There are humorous moments as Zoe "comes to life." The rest of the book is dedicated to Jade facing her emotions and discovering what friendship really means - control or free choices.
Cooper captures the gamut of emotions Jade refuses to face and realistically demonstrates how a young girl channels this into writing. She learns about herself and being aware of others around her. She realizes how much of her life she has ignored to focus on creating a dream world both with the written and real Zoe.
Middle Grade readers will relate to the characters and recognize themselves and their friends and classmates. Readers experiencing trauma in their lives will identify with the methods characters use to cope.