Best Friends is a great look at the murky waters of Middle Grade friendship. The author really captures how friendships change and evolve as children age and how difficult it can be for them to navigate these changes.

Kids who loved the first book, Real Friends, will also love this book. The first book wasn’t my cup of tea, but middle grade students love all the friendship drama. That continues in this second book.

The sneak peek chapter of "Best Friends" is fantastic. It looks to be a great follow-up to the wonderful "Real Friends".

I loved "Real Friends": great illustrations, funny and sincere story, great message. So many of my students love it as well, and it is regularly checked out from the library. We all can't wait for "Best Friends" to be published!

This one is a must-have!

This looks like it is going to be just as fantastic as Real Friends, but since I was only given the first 18 pages to read, I will not be able to give a complete book review. I'm excited for this one to come out!

Just a preview of this sequel to Hale's Real Friends, but it looks just as great, relatable, and realistic as the first. Can't wait to read more. This will definitely be a hit with tween patrons at the library.

The first few pages of this cartoony, middle school show great promise! Based on Shannon Hale's previous successes alone, this book with be a huge hit.

I received an electronic ARC of the first chapter from First Second Books through NetGalley.

I am a librarian and our readers love these books! I can't keep her books on the shelf. Great book!

Even though this was only the first 18 pages of the book, it definitely made me want to read more. I am interested to see what will happen with these girls.

I want more of "Best Friends" now that I have read the chapter sampler. It looks like it will be every bit as engaging as "Real Friends" was.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the preview.

Loved reading more about young Shannon! Middle school life, being a girl, a younger sibling, no matter the time period this takes place in, it will always be relevant!

After LOVING Real Friends, I was excited to hear about a sequel! This sneak peak was not enough! Looking forward to its release this month!

Loved this sampler. As always, I feel as if Shannon Hale took a bit of my childhood and created a story meant for me. I cannot wait to read more. I'm sure it will be just as fantastic as REAL FRIENDS.

This looks like a great follow up to Shannon Hale's "Real Friends" graphic novel. It's about a group of girls who are friends at the start of their last year in elementary school. They all want to be popular and have lots of friends but of course there is drama about who is friends with who and who likes who and who doesn't. I think the kids are going to love this one as much as they loved the last one.

My students are excited for Shannon Hale’s sequel to Real Friends! It depicts an honest sixth grade experience of navigating school, friendships, and drama that many can relate to. Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC!

Friendship, popularity, bullying and rumors - 6th grade is hard! And that doesn't even include school work, older sisters and families! In this amazing sequel to Real Friends, Shannon Hale strikes the perfect cord in regards to the social perils a girl can face in middle school, finding true friends, and finding themselves. A must read! Recommended for 4th-6th grade.

I received the first chapter of this book from netgalley.

It appears to be a great follow up to Real Friends, which I quite enjoyed. Hale doesn't disappoint with her stories and Pham's illustrations are dead on. I'm anxious to get my hands on the rest of the book.

The sample chapter I received introduces the start of sixth grade for the characters from the first book. Hale sets the stage for the crises that will follow during this school year. Already, the main character has been vulnerable with the readers and shared her confusion about fitting in and being accepted.

I really enjoyed the chapter available to read. I think it's a great take on navigating the often-fraught path of middle school friendship.

In this chapter sample, there's already so much that a middle school student, especially girls, can relate to. I can't wait to read more.

Keenan and Zarabeth (ZeeBee) live in a unique town that straddles the border between Michigan and Canada. Keenan lives with his dad on the US side of the border as he recovers from tuberculosis contracted while living abroad with his mom and step-dad and ZeeBee lives with her parents on the Canadian side. The two team up to solve the mystery of a missing treasure buried by gangsters said to have lived in their town in the 1920s and 30s as well as figure out just how ZeeBee’s troublemaker, monster of a dog really died. Readers of Gordon Korman’s Ungifted and Slacker series, Restart and others will see his style in the pages of Notorious and maybe, since it is not nearly as long as those titles, reluctant readers looking for some action amidst realistic middle grade kids just like them will give it a try. After loving this one, maybe they can be encouraged to try other works by one of the best writers out there right for middle grade readers. Highly recommended with no content reservations. Possible extension activities for teachers using this one would be having students research lighthouses, mobsters and lawmen from the 1920s and 30s and maybe even whether the town of Centerlight even exists.