Friend or Fiction

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

I read this as I teach Middle Schoolers and am always looking for new texts to work with. I enjoyed the story and looked forward to seeing how it developed. As a book for young people it worked well and allows for a lot of discussion around what makes a good friend, how the choices we make affect us and people around us, etc. I enjoyed the developing friendship between the characters and the self awareness that came through. The latter part of the book was fairly predictable but I will not hesitate to use it in our school mindfulness sessions. Thanks for an easy read

Some books are just plain fun, as is the case with Friend or Fiction. The main character, Jade, is an aspiring author who has written herself a best friend, Zoe. She had several real life best friends before, but most people just didn't live in her town for long before moving on to a larger one. Jade's family life is currently tough as her father has been diagnosed with cancer and he loves to hear her stories about Zoe so she keeps on writing them. One day another kid in town tries a magical way to bring Zoe to life. This causes all kinds of excitement and drama but in the end Jade learns something about herself, about how to make friends, and even about crafting a great story. This is book is hard to put down once you pick it up, I kept finding myself coming back to read another chapter and another.

This book is well written and the characters are cute. This is a cute and sad book. It is about friendship and family. The pace of the story is good. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

This is such a cool book, and it has two levels. One level is that Jade is lonely and so writes about her imaginary friend. Zoe is the perfect friend, and all her stories tell of how perfect she is, how fun she is, and what a good friend she is.

The other level is <em>why</em> Jade has created an imaginary friend to write about, and how Clue notices this, and understands, and so decides to help her by using magic water to bring Zoe to life.

I loved how Zoe was exactly what Jade had imagined, down to not having parents, because Jade had never done that part of the backstory for them.

Then there is the issue of Jade's father having cancer, that is driving her to need to have something good in her life.

I thought the story was only predictable when it came to Clue. But everything else was a delightful surprise, and kodos for not making the Sparkly Girls into mean girls. I am tired of that cliche.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

A middle schooler in a small town where nobody stays for long, discovers true friendship. After her storybook perfect friend is brought to life, Jade finds out maybe fun and happy all the time isn't perfect. Sometimes what is right in front of you is actually the best friendship.

Friend or Fiction was so much more than I ever expected from a middle grade novel. The theme of friendship versus ownership is such a struggle for middle school students, and Abby Cooper did a beautiful job navigating these feelings within Jade.

What a sweet story of what friendship means. Jade was so realistic to me. I enjoyed getting to know her.

Sad, but sweet. A good read for upper elementary students anxious about middle school. Jade is a middle school student who lacks friends, has a father who has cancer, and life has sort of been put on hold. A writer's notebook is her only companion, but helpful teachers look out for her and there is happiness. It gets better. It is a message a lot of young people will need to hear before they leave the safety of an elementary school.

This book is about so much more than a girl and her imaginary friend. It also serves as a great lesson for middle school-aged children about what it means to be a true friend to someone. All of the worries Jade has about Zoe leaving her for the more popular girls at school are the same fears that many children experience, especially as they get older. Zoe serves as a way for Jade to not only deal with her fear of being abandoned by her friends, but to also deal with her fears about her father. The parts of the book that directly address Jade's dad's cancer are sad and funny and true to life. As an adult reading the book I picked up on Clue's backstory and motivation for helping Jade, but it may come as more of surprise to younger readers. I enjoyed getting to see Jade and Clue's friendship develop throughout the book. I also really liked the relationship between Jade and her younger brother; so often in stories the older sister wants nothing to do with a younger sibling, but Jade loves her brother and isn't embarrassed by him or his drawings. Again, as an adult I picked up on what the villain in his drawings represented, but Jade's realization was so sweetly written and served as another example of what a great sister she is. Part of me thinks the book could have done with the magical aspect and kept Zoe just as an imaginary friend, but part of me thinks it worked as a plot device.

I highly recommend this book to middle school librarians and teachers. It would be a great way to start conversations about writing, friendship, and family members with cancer or other serious medical conditions.

Don’t mistake the long lull between start and finish for anything more than extremely BUSY January. I loved the story of Jade and her family. Jade’s dad has cancer and she doesn’t make friends since they all leave the town anyway. She’s a writer! She writes during lunch and is supported by her teacher. Well one day her sort of friend Clue takes over and suddenly her writing comes true. There is a new girl named Zoe enters her school. Is it coincidence that Zoe is the best friend she has always dreamed
Of having? Read to find out! Fun story about relationships and overcoming obstacles. Well done, Abby Cooper!

this book came at an opportune time when I was going through interviews for uni apps and it felt like a warm hug.

things I really enjoyed about this book
1. touching moments that caught me by surprise. I cannot deny the fact that within the first 50 pages I had to put the book away because I felt tears welling up while reading on the train. I loved the family dynamics in this book, I loved how jade's father tried to be part of the family's life as much as possible and coped with his illness through humour and good fun (which hits close to home in many different layers)

2. I really enjoyed the diversity in the book as well, while it was pretty heavy-handed in that sense of telling us (instead of showing) that Clue has 2 dads and one of the Sparkles was wearing a hijab. nevertheless, it was pleasant to know that kids today would pick up this book and be introduced to a world where gay marriages are normalised and racism is not heard of.

3. this development of the plot is subtle. the transition from a happy, rainbows and sparkles friendship when Zoe first came to life to the unhealthy power dynamic between the duo was smooth and natural. at times, I would also wish Zoe would reach out to jade more. their relationship towards the end was so nice and it reminded me of my beloved friend in which we have no judgement and no jealousy.

some things I think could have been done better/ made the story more interesting
1. I wished we could have gotten other character's POV. I think I would have enjoyed listening to clue's and Zoe's side of the story.

2. how Zoe came to life was never properly explained because she did reveal that she was in a car and she was dropped off to the house opposite jade. I wished she had more questions to ask about how she was brought to life, the restrictions, limits and rules.

3. follow-up on point 2, whether the magical pond water only allowed one person to be brought alive at a time was also not explored. although it might be fleeting, I think a short appearance of clue's sister could have been touching and thought-provoking (what would you say to a dead beloved relative?)

4. jade could have given Zoe some parents! or in an attempt to save her dad, wrote 'Zoe found a surefire way to cure jade's dad's cancer'. I think that could potentially involve the adults more and gave more stakes to the story.


overall though, it is a book I would recommend primary and maybe even secondary schoolers as this book delves into the joys and importance of friendship, love and support. hence, it would be a handy guide for readers to forge and nurture strong friendships.

I enjoyed the book and really liked it. Waiting to hear more from the author. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc.

A sweet middle grade story—but I was left confused by some aspects.

Friend or Fiction contained some cool themes that I really loved, presented in an original, fun, and upbeat way. It had well-developed characters and a magical, imaginative storyline. However, the ending left me hanging... and not in a positive way.

Our main character, Jade, hasn’t exactly had the best luck with friendships. She lives in a “transient town,” which means most friends don’t stick around long enough to become best friends, something that is a hardship for sociable Jade, who only wants a best friend. So Jade comes up with a solution: she’ll just invent her own best friend. She begins writing about Zoe—the dream best friend, the best friend Jade has always longed for. Her notebook goes with her everywhere, and she can face anything with Zoe along with her for the ride. Safe in the pages of a notebook, she can invent all sorts of wild, fun adventures for her and Zoe, adventures where nothing ever goes wrong and they laugh and laugh for hours.

This was so heartbreakingly sweet and sad at all once. Jade’s vivid imagination is clear and transparent, something I think many will relate to. The concept of wanting a perfect best friend is a relevant concept to middle-graders for sure, and this aspect of the story was communicated fluently.

But then the story takes a magical turn when Zoe is brought to life by another classmate, Clue. Jade has always thought Clue was weird, and never really talked to him, but now she is forced to after he somehow has done this feat for her: Zoe is alive! And at first, Zoe is the most perfectest best friend Jade could ask. She also learns that anything she writes happens; she now has the opportunity to actually live all of her and Zoe’s wild adventures!

But after weeks of manufacturing friendship, and wondering if Zoe would even be her best friend if she had her own choice, Jade must face the reality of friendship. And this is where these themes appear. You can’t control others; you can’t force a friendship. Additionally, that friendship is built off of bad times alongside with good times—Jade has to learn that true friends don’t just laugh and laugh and build a friendship, but that it also involves going through tough situations together, something she never imagined in her notebook adventures. Against the backdrop of desperate, relatable Jade, who is transparently both so sweet and so human, I thought these themes were messages hard to miss—and ones so important for the middle school crowd as well.

The end, however, flummoxed me. Jade makes the bold, and brave, decision to let Zoe go. She has realized that she cannot force the friendship and that she isn’t a good friend if she tries to manufacture friendship. So she lets Zoe go—and Zoe....disappears? With how Zoe was brought to life explained so thoroughly, this sudden lack of detail surprised me. Further, the story ends with Jade realizing Clue is now her best friend. Essentially, the impression was that Zoe was a lesson, something important, but not the most important. And if Zoe had always remained on the page, this would have been absolutely correct. Zoe, in a way, paves the way to Jade’s personal growth and also teaches her about friendship, so she is able to open up to other people (aka, Clue). But the fact that Zoe was actually a person introduced an empathy in the reader that, to me, shook up this theme. Since Zoe was real—where did she go? Was she a real person who had no worth? Was she a meaningless real person? Was she a valuable person, who was easily discarded?

A little more clarification on this magical tone would have cleaned up a lot of confusion for the reader.

To sum it up, I loved the thematics and appreciated the incredible creativity of the author’s mixing of reality and fantasy. However, I felt it needed a little more cleaning up to really make sense to the reader and make the impact desired. 3.5 stars

Jade is going through a rough time, things are less than perfect for her at school and at home. She lives with her family in a no-name town where no one seems to stay for good. When Jade gets a best friend they always end up moving away, so she decides to make up an imaginary best buddy. At home things things are even more complicated since Jade’s dad has been battling cancer.
Things get really interesting for Jade when her imaginary friend becomes real. At first it seems too good to be true, but eventually becomes a great lesson on friendship for Jade.
I enjoyed the story and really liked Jade’s character.
Thank you to Charlesbridge and NetGalley for this advanced copy.

Although I get fatigue from so many “serious issue” books that are rampant in middle grade nowadays, the creativity of the story of middle schooler Jade - who invents a best friend in a notebook and then is shocked when a girl with the same name as her imaginary friend moves to town - pushes this into my “should buy” pile. Good for fiction readers who love to write, and also a good book for some lonely kids out there.

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.

Jade Levy is a middle school student who is tired of friends coming and going in their little town. When her dad gets cancer, she needs a best friend more than ever. She has always loved writing so she decided to create a best friend that would never leave. When a classmate helps Zoe become alive, Jade can’t believe it! Zoe is everything she imagined! Jade quickly realizes being in control of Zoe’s story isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and maybe she needs a differently type of friend after all.
Friend or Fiction was a sweet book that read very quickly. It dealt with some emotional topics but in a easy to relate manner. I would have loved for more direct references to childhood depression, as it is clear that Jade was dealing with this condition. Overall, it was a good read and I would recommend for ages 10 and up. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for this review.

I received an electronic copy from the publisher through Netgalley for an honest review.

Jade is a fourth-grader. All of Jade's best friends moved their town and left her; she is usually very lonely and spends her time writing about having a best friend named Zoe and all the fun things they do together. Her Dad is suffering from cancer and is her number one fan. Her brother Enzo, on the other hand, draws about everybody defeating a super villain. While Zoe is fictional, Jade is overjoyed when one day, Zoe becomes as real and true as her stories, with some help from her classmate Clue. But real life is out of her control and things don't always go as she plans...

This is one lovely story. Jade's family dynamics, the friendship and morality lessons infused within these few pages, and especially the part where Enzo's super-villain is revealed - it blew my mind. Kids would find this an amazing book to learn about endurance and perseverance. The writing style was also beautifully touching. Abby Cooper has penned down a miraculous story, even though sometimes the magical realism element seems to be questionable. I would definitely want my kids to read this book.

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.

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.

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.

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".

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I found this a little repetitive in parts but I think it wouldn't be as noticeable for the intended audience (age 10-13).

Jade realises over time that maybe best friends don't need to have the perfect friendship and like all of the same things whilst only wanting to be around each other. They can still be your best friend even if they like different foods, want to spend time with other friends and have different interests.

This book would be good for pre-teens to understand that they don't have to change themselves to be liked. When they are themselves, they will attract the right best friend as faking your personality or changing who you are will only make you feel more alone.

I was lucky enough to receive a netgalley arc called Friend or Fiction by Abby Cooper and this is my honest review. Friend or Fiction is middle grade story about a girl called Jade Levy who lives in a town where people come and go and it means that Jade can never keep a best friend. That is until when clue a fellow classmate who Jade dislikes takes her book where she writes about an imaginary best friend then to Jade's surprise a girl sharing the same names as her imaginary friend turns up in her class. Could they be the same person? There is another story which entwines throughout the main story and that is that Jade's dad has liver cancer. I find this part of the book beautifully written and what moved me to tears was that Jade's brother even though he was so young knew what was going on and drew pictures of a bad guy called can sir. There is so much in this book but I don't really want to spoil it for anyone who wishes to read it but what I will say if there are anymore Abby Cooper books I will most definitely be reading them so I am giving this book 4 stars

This was a really great read! I really enjoyed reading this book, would definitely recommend. This is a good book for all ages.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Charlesbridge for providing a free advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

All Jade Levy wants is a best friend. Someone she can have fun and be goofy with. Someone who won’t ask difficult questions that Jade doesn’t want to answer. But every best friend she has ever had never stays in Tiveda, Colorado where they live. Tiveda is a place where people stop through to stay a short while and then move on to bigger and better things. Or at least that is how Jade sees it.

But making friends since her last best friend moved away has been hard. Jade created Zoe the main character in her stories and also her best friend. She was able to share her experiences with Zoe with her family. She read them her stories about all of their fun and adventures. Her father loves hearing the tales of Jade and Zoe. But when Clue gets involved Zoe emerges from the pages of Jade’s stories as a real girl. What happens when the best friend from your stories comes to life? Will it be as great as it once was in the stories or will everything change? Can Jade keep from losing this best friend as well.

Jade is a fun, loving character. In her young age she is trying to take care of everyone around her to include herself. Since her father’s diagnosis she has tried to handle all that she can. So her parents aren’t burdened with her troubles. She sees the stories she reads to her father as a part of his medicine. She believed if she stopped reading them to him his illness could get worse. In this sweet, magical story, Jade learns friends aren’t always in the most obvious of places. And helping a friend with things that are emotionally hard is what makes a real friend. This a wonderful story about the importance of friends and family.
Highly recommended for middle school students.

I had imaginary friends as a kid (and older, ngl), so I was very excited to read a book about them! There's endless posibilities for writing imaginary friends, and no set rules. Which played a bit against this book and its characters.
Zoe crossing over to real life felt messy, since everything happened too fast and before I knew it the book was over. I think the author focused too much on Jade's internal monologue and didn't spend enough time studying how Zoe coped with being who she was. Because it was a complex thing! She had no family, virtually no free will, and only a basic understanding of how the world works. We get a sneak peek at just how messed up this is, but I think that could've been explored more and still keep it middle-grade.
The cancer element was harsh af, even more so after Bo's evil guy's reveal. I really appreciated that as a future psychologist, I honestly think that scene can be given to kids as a tool to pick up on preocuppying stuff younger kids may be doing, since us adults aren't always that good noticing that kind of stuff. I don't remember what grade Jade was on, but I thought that catastrophic way of thinking about her dad's cancer was out of place, kind of? Her thinking her dad would relapse if she stopped writing felt way too childish, I would've liked it explored a bit more, or left out altogether. It didn't add much to the story, and sometimes it got in the way of some other subplot waiting to unfold.
The magic element was on point!!!!! The fact that magic can be hidden in places you've never looked at twice before, and that some kids can pick up on it more than others, and that it isn't inherently good or bad but rather a weird blank slate that you have to fill somehow... it's my favorite kind of magic, and I've rarely seen it done well in a middle-grade. Props to you, Abby Cooper!!!
But also, I wish the side characters were explored more, and that's why I would absolutely love to read a sequel, maybe even a YA one. The blooming friendship with the Glitter Girls and Clue at the end absolutely saved the book for me. It felt like the perfect moral of the story. Also there's a lot of room for LGBTQ+ growth, since we also see Clue has two dads, so I would like to see how this queer-friendly environment would come into play as the kids grow up. The fact that their city is just a town people live for a while before moving to Denver would make the existence of a sequel tricky, but long-distance friendships, people moving in and out of town and changing friends are all things that happen, and I would like to see this author's take on them.

I was a bit torn about this book through the first half and considered 3 stars, but the more I read the more I realized how many readers will probably connect with Jade. Not every kid has a parent with cancer or deals with friends moving away every year, but all kids can identify with having troubles with their family life and insecurities about friendships. I liked the resolution and I would enjoy reading another book about Jade and her oppservations.

Friend or Fiction is the third novel from Abby Cooper, and it debuts on October 8th, 2019. Like her previous books, Sticks & Stones and Bubbles, Friend or Fiction is set in our modern world with one very specific element of magical realism thrown in. (I received a digital ARC of the book through Netgalley. All thoughts are my own.)

Jade has always felt adrift in her small town, and her dad's cancer diagnosis has only made things work. She (and her dad) takes solace in her creative writing about her imagined best friend, Zoe. So when a classmate's experiment brings real life Zoe out of the notebook and into her classroom, Jade couldn't be more thrilled. But is writing your own best friend the same as actually having one ... ?

I thorough enjoyed this amusing novel, and it has a lot to say about the realities of true friendship. I also particularly loved all the winks and nods about the writing process, especially some of the things Zoe doesn't know/have because Jade hadn't thought to include them in the writing. But you'll have to read it for yourself to find out more!

I think readers will really be drawn to the premise of this book ... and they might be surprised at how much it makes them think too!

I had the opportunity to read a NetGalley digital ARC of this middle grade novel in exchange for a review. I really enjoyed this magical realism story that will challenge readers to consider what makes a good friend.
Sixth grader Jade Levy lives in a town near Denver that sees many residents come and go. Jade has lost several best friends who moved away and never kept in contact. Making her friendless circumstances even more difficult, her father was diagnosed with liver cancer two years prior and her family has been focused on his recovery.
Unwilling to reach out to make any more friends who will probably just be gone tomorrow, Jade turns to her notebook in which she writes about a perfect friendship with a girl named Zoe. In her stories, she and Zoe always have so much fun together and everything is wonderful all the time.
But when one of her classmates figures out a way to bring Zoe out of the pages of Jade’s notebook and into real life, everything changes. Zoe moves into the empty house across the street from Jade and everything that Jade has ever written about her friendship comes true. As exciting as this situation is at first, Jade is uncomfortable when Zoe starts making friends and decisions on her own.
I like that Jade learns so much about just what makes a good friendship and a good relationship. She learns that she can’t be a good friend when she’s trying to control every aspect of Zoe’s life. She has to learn to let go of her controlling attitude, but she also has to let go of fear – fear of losing her friend, fear of losing her dad, fear of not being good enough on her own.
Thomas Merton wrote, “The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.” This really sums up this awesome middle grade read.

At face value, this is an easy middle grade book about a girl who wants a friend. Someone who doesn’t leave her because she had to go be by her sick dad’s side, someone who she can talk to, share secrets with, and just be friends with. Zoe is, on paper, the best friend.

Jade writes a lot of stories involving her and Zoe, and some of them come to life. What Jade doesn’t expect, however, is that Zoe might just want other things, too. She’s still going to be Jade’s best friend, but she has her own likes and interests too. And Jade doesn’t cope well with that.

If you’re a young kid reading this book, there are parts of the story that will hopefully stick out – like not controlling your friends. You can’t control anyone but yourself, and Jade learns this the hard way. She wants to control Zoe’s very existence right down to who she can sit with at lunch time, and it’s very unhealthy. She’s easily jealous, and it is understandable considering she’s been left by so many friends in the past, which is why she created Zoe in the first place.

This story touches lightly on the hardships of having a parent with cancer/long-term illness, and that can be hard for anyone, but especially young children to have to deal with.

It was an easy, quick read, and has a touch of magic, but that isn’t explored too deeply after Zoe is created.

I enjoyed Jade’s Oppservations throughout the book, too.

Living in a town, where people frequently come and go, left Jade feeling alone at a time, when she really needed a best friend. Her solution was to create a new bestie, Zoe, but when her new friend emerged from the page into real world, it prompted Jade to consider the complexities of friendship and the role writing took in her life.

• Pro: I could not resist Jade. I felt so much empathy towards her, as she battled her loneliness and sadness due to her father's recurrent cancer, but I also loved her introspection, her affection for her family, and her passion for writing.

• Pro: The entire concept of Jade's Oppservations was a win for me. I adored the idea of reflecting on the dual nature of things. These Oppservations were very keen and revealed a lot about Jade's emotions and worries.

• Pro: The focus on writing as an outlet and a craft was wonderful, and I also liked how this was used to help Jade reflect on her family, friendship, and feelings about everything was was going on in her life.

• Pro: Things had changed for the Levy family following her father's illness, but they still had so much love for one another, and it was a special treat being able to spend time with them all.

• Pro: Friendship was the central focus of this story, as Jade struggled with what it meant to be a friend, have a friend, and share a friend. The idea that you can be friends with someone, but they don't belong to you. It's definitely something that challenged me in my youth, and I felt it was addressed rather well in the story.

• Pro: The book leaned towards fun and upbeat, but having it set in an economically challenged town and containing a subplot of Jade's father's battle with cancer added a bit of weight. That said, it was handled beautifully and with sensitivity, and left me feeling rather happy and hopeful.

Overall: A lovely story of family and friendship with a touch of magic, that was thoughtful and heartwarming.

This was a great middle grade novel about the importance of friendship and family. The characters were easy to relate to and the story kept you wanting to know what was going to happen next. I would definitely recommend Friend or Fiction.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this book beforehand, especially since recently I’m not having a lot of luck with ARCs. But it was this was better than that I had thought!
This book with quite heavy topics, and I think the author did it very well! Especially because this book is for younger readers. I can definitely see how people how are in the same situation can see themselves in this story. I think this is a very important story for young readers!
Besides the disease of Jade’s dad, deals this book also with loneliness. Jade lives in a city where everyone comes and goes, and she struggles with making friends. So she makes her own, on paper. And for some reason she comes alive, now Jade struggles with sharing her perfect friend. Jade learns such important lessons about making friends, and living in the real world, compared to a fictional
one!
This book deals with heavy topics but in a very lite way, and I think for this book it worked so well!
I don’t have that much more to say about this book! It is a good and important story!
I took one star, because in the beginning of the book it was a bit unclear what direction the book would take, and it confused me a bit!

Jade and her family live in a town where people, including her best friends, come and go all the time. She loves writing and she's longing for a friend so she has decided to write about Zoe, her imaginary best friend. She writes about their perfect days and amazing friendship. One day, a girl named Zoe appears in her class and happens to live across her house. Is it just a coincidence? or is she Jade's imaginary friend comes to life?

Jade is such an incredible character. I loved her passion for writing and her love for her family. I loved her "Oppservation" entries in her journal. She's an aspiring writer which is being supported by her parents and teacher as well. It's just so heartwarming to read. One of the main themes in this book is friendship and the author handled it flawlessly. Same goes with the health condition of Jade's father. It's heartbreaking yet very inspiring. The writing is amazing and age-appropriate as well. The character growth in this book is on point.

I would like to read Clue's perspective or Zoe if possible. I also wanted to know more about the "magical" pond. But we don't get everything we want so it's totally okay for me because I really enjoyed this book. It's a middle-grade novel mixed with magical realism which was right up my alley.

This book reminds us to live in the moment and value the important people around us. This is also a great read for aspiring writers (both young and adult) out there.

*Huge thanks to NetGalley for the earc. This did not affect my overall opinion of the book.

How do you make friends in a town when everyone is always moving away and your family stays?

"Friend or Fiction" is a beautiful story about what it means to be a good friend as well as showing that there is no such thing as a perfect friend. Cooper explores some extremely heavy topics with a lightness and grace that allows this story to still be a lot of fun. Jade is such a relatable character, just wanting to fit in, and she is a great role model for bookish kids, showing that it is good to be different. Cooper also deals with the fact that everyone is going through things that other people cannot see and shows kids that they should be more accepting of those around them rather than writing off people quickly.

The magical realism of the story makes this story feel different and unique while still being relatable and quite realistic.

The need for a friend, life in a small town that is a way station to somewhere else, and the reality of families coping with cancer, are all themes in this well plotted magical realism tale. To fill the need for a BFF, Jade, an aspiring writer, has created fictional Zoe, and she records her adventures in a cherished notebook. Heeding the encouragement of her sixth grade English teacher, whose advice is sprinkled throughout the book, Jade takes every chance she can to write about Zoe and Jade, and every day after school, Jade shares her stories with her cancer weakened father, who is in the final days of chemotherapy. The family and school characters are so realistic that the magical realism simply slides into the story unnoticed. All ponds have magic water, and friendship is possible. Definitely recommend!

Friend or Fiction immediately caught my attention because of the cover, and then summary pulled me in. Imaginary friends are such a big and important phenomenon, yet so tricky to cover. Cooper used Jade's writing and I thought it absolutely brilliant.

Unfortunately the book let me down somewhat, as I wasn't fond of how easily Jade used her control over Zoe, even if she at times felt uncomfortable about it, and her clinginess and jealousy, even though I understood. It put a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, as I started out loving Jade, only to like her less and less as the story went on. However, because of the things I didn't like, there are some really important lessons in here for kids, that might otherwise not really hit home.

I do want to give a major shoutout to Clue/Gresham, for being so kind and helpful even if Jade is awful to him all the time.

Last, but not least, this deals with cancer in the family as well. And not just as a background thing- it's a big part of the story. Jade worries about her father all the time. I got really emotional over something related to it, concerning Jade's little brother.

Overall, I give Friend or Fiction 3,5/5 stars, rounded up to 4, as I did really enjoy reading it. It's a fast and easy read, dealing with some serious things. Would definitely recommend!

Friend or Fiction is a super cute and straightforward middle grave novel about family, friendship, and writing. The magic of an imaginary friend/character coming to life is a fun concept perfect for the intended audience. The story addresses typical themes found in middle grade novels such as friendship, jealousy, life's hardships (in this case a cancer diagnosis), and family bonding, all with a positive ending. The writing advice throughout is also helpful and appreciated. Friend or Fiction is a decent middle grade contemporary with a dash of magic. While it'll speak to the intended audience, it may be a little too bland for other age groups.

This was so fun! A touch of magic in an otherwise realistic friendship story made this fun to read. I loved all the ways Jade grew through the course of the book - her personal journey was the most satisfying part of this for me. TONS of material for a book group or a classroom read aloud to dig into - cancer, grief, isolation, family, friendship, etc. I also loved all the great writing and writer-related pieces of the story. Don't miss this one.

Thank you NetGalley, Abby Cooper, and Charlesbridge for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

From the Publisher:
Description
One creative middle-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.

I found it to be a charming story for girls. To invent your own best friend is an amazing thing, getting lost in your own stories. Very magical, well written. Great character development and the narrative flowed nicely.

I thought this was a cute and clever book that is helpful for middle-grade aged kids. I think it was good that it showed her dealing with hard situations. I think kids could really related to Jade on a lot of levels.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I’ll be honest: at first, I wasn’t really sure about this book. I thought it was a great concept but I wasn’t a huge fan of how Jade treated Zoe. BUT I was very happy with the resolution and how the book ended. I thought it did a great job exploring grief, fear, and how to navigate early friendships.

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC of this entertaining and inspirational read. Friendship is such a huge and important topic for middle schoolers and this book can help so many see that their struggles are not that different from others. I think the humor plus the serious tones really balanced out the story.

12-year-old Jade Levy writes stories. Since she doesn’t have a best friend anymore, she creates a fictional one named Zoe. They have all sorts of adventures together and Jade even enjoys spending her lunch period creating more episodes in her notebook.

Jade’s father has cancer and he finds comfort in listening to Jade’s stories. But one day, her friend Clue takes her writing notebook away without explanation. And when a real-life Zoe suddenly moves in next door, looking and acting exactly like the fictional Zoe, Jade is both excited and worried. What did Clue do to her writing notebook? Is Zoe really here to stay? But most of all: Can Jade trust Zoe to make the right decisions or do they need to be tediously detailed in her notebook?

Filled with magical realism, this story is one of hope and bonding. We clearly see that friendships are messy. Every day cannot be perfect and fun and everything we’ve ever dreamed about. We have all had to learn, at one time or another, that having friends doesn’t mean we don’t experience loneliness. And this point is such an important lesson for Jade to digest if she wants to be a good friend. I also appreciated that the story dives into how to write and how to trust your readers to fill in the gaps. This gave me pause as I thought back over the books I’ve read where the author gave me just enough for my imagination to fill in the cracks as well as the books that fed me every last detail. There’s so much content here for open discussion with young readers and writers!

Thanks to Netgalley and Charlesbridge for approving an e-ARC so that I could provide an honest review. This title published on October 8th, so run out and grab a fresh copy!

Abby Cooper’s middle grade novel, Friend or Fiction, begins with the common problem for this age of finding true friendship. Keeping friends for Jade Levy is complicated by her location in a town where people never live for long. She observes that nobody lives long in the transition town of Tiveda, Colorado because everybody longs to be anyplace else. After she loses several friends who move away and promise to keep in touch but do not, she creates her own friend Zoe in her writing notebook.

Isolating herself to write at lunch time, Jade assumes the Sparkle girls who group together in the cafeteria have shunned her. She loses herself daily in her story, reporting her word count to Mrs. Yang, her English teacher, when lunch is over. Mrs. Yang reads her work and inserts good writing habits and instruction into the support she gives Jade to be a good writer, but also encourages her to live her life fully.

Jade reads her account of Zoe to her father and it seems to cheer him after his cancer diagnosis. When it gets into the hands of her classmate with a nickname of Clue because he gives hints to answers, he does some magical realism with pond water and brings Zoe to life. Jade controls this new best (imaginary?) friend through her writing until that becomes disappointing. She must make some decisions about what true friendship entails and open her mind to new perceptions of Clue and the Sparkle girls.

This is a good book for a middle grader with the empathy to care about real world problems and the imagination to enjoy magical realism.

This was a very amazing book to read, I was hooked on every page and was struggling to put this book down. I loved all of the characters and how different but yet similar they were to each other! The way the book was well written flowed and I would definitely recommend anyone to read this book.

I can see this book becoming a popular book club read among the middle-grade readers. When reading you feel like you are Jade and feel her emotions so deeply. What she is going through is so common among our children. A sick parent and the life they know is turned upside down.

The magical realism that is part of the plot is used nicely. It didn’t make me cringe as some do. Middle graders will love it. I think my fourth-grade cousin will love this book.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher, Charlesbridge, through NetGalley. Any and all opinions expressed in the above review are entirely my own.

Have you ever had an imaginary best friend? What would you do if that friend came to life? Well, Jade doesn't have to imagine anymore. Her imaginary best friend actually came to life. Jade lives in a town in Colorado where people come and go all the time. Every time she thinks she has a best friend, they up and move and never stay in touch. She is so tired of being alone that she decides to write about the perfect best friend, Zoe. Jade and Zoe go on all kinds of adventures and are always there for each other. But one day when a boy from Jade's class, Clue, takes her notebook for the weekend, Jade feels lost. How can she survive the weekend without her stories about Zoe? When she goes for a walk she happens to see Clue by the nasty pond with her notebook. He drops a few drops from the pond and viola - Zoe appears in the house across the street. Jade has never been happier in her life. She can actually do all of the things that she has written about with the real Zoe. Things seem great at first, but when Zoe starts to get a mind of her own and starts to make other friends, Jade become very jealous because she doesn't want to share her friend. Then things get worse when Jade's parents surprise her and her younger brother with a vacation. Her dad is battling cancer and this trip is with other families who have someone battling cancer. Jade does not want to leave Zoe with the other girls at school because she is afraid she will lose her too. Jade is shocked to find Clue on this trip too, and it is then that she realizes that maybe she has had her nose in her notebook for far too long. Will Jade lose Zoe to the "sparkle girls" at school? Will Clue send Zoe back where she came from so that he can bring someone back to life? Will Jade and Clue realize that the friend they both have been longing for could be right in front of them? Read this incredible book about what it truly means to be a best friend!

I loved everything about this book! I was drawn into Jade's world from the first page and her loneliness broke my heart. And on top of that her sadness over her dad's illness made my heart wrench for her even more. I was so happy when Zoe came along for her, but I quickly realized that Zoe did not know what it meant to be a best friend. I loved how Abby Cooper worked her magic in this story of love, loss, family, and friendship. Don't miss this one!

This book is an exploration of what it truly means to be a friend. But it also covers many other relevant topics for kids today, like economic challenges, terminal illness, and loss of friendship due to moving. Jade lives in a sort of "stepping stone" town---people don't stick around for long there. So, she's struggled to make meaningful friendships and has resorted to an imaginary friend named Zoe who she writes about daily. When Zoe comes to life, it seems perfect, but Jade struggles when Zoe fails to live up to her expectations of what a best friend should be. She also struggles to deal with her father's cancer and his inability to be completely present in her life the way she'd like him to be. I'm not going to lie: Jade is sometimes a difficult character to like, even when you do sympathize with her. She often acts selfishly (with both Zoe and a boy named Clue, who she holds a grudge against), and her perspective is skewed by her past experiences of loss. Still, even though I didn't always love Jade's attitudes or actions, I was always rooting for her to grow and learn from her mistakes. By the end of the book, Jade realizes that she hasn't been looking at friendship the right way.

The magical elements of this book are intriguing and mysterious. And I love the way that Jade's love of writing was woven into the story (and into the magic in an unexpected way). Overall, this was a lovely story!

***Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley for review purposes. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***

Jade is a lonely girl. She has no best friend and her dad is fighting cancer. Instead of trying to make friends she write about a perfect friend - Zoe. But when a classmate, Clue, steals her notebook and sprinkles "magic" pond water on it Zoe becomes real. Zoe is just like Jade imagined - funny, popular, and she lives right across the street. But soon Jade realizes that she can't imagine every thought and action for Zoe and Zoe starts becoming her own person. Can Jade control this friendship?
This book was actually meatier and more thought provoking than it might appear initially - some good friendship guidelines and thoughts.

Friend or Fiction really took me by surprise. I had a feeling that this would be an interesting read, but this one definitely hit me in all the feels! I don't read many magical realism stories and this one reminded me that I really need to pick up more of them.

In Friend or Fiction, we follow our main character Jade. Life hasn't been normal for awhile. Her family moves around frequently and that hasn't made it easy to make friends. Things get even harder when her Dad is diagnosed with cancer and her best friend isn't the greatest friend after all. She has a clear idea of what the perfect best friend should be like and writes the adventures she wishes she'd have with that best friend.

This story sucked me in right away and I finished it in no time (it's under 300 pages, so a fast read anyways). I loved this story and it's very realistic. Jade has a lot to cope with and I think the author showed us how a kid her age would deal with everything. She doesn't make the greatest decisions, but no one is always perfect. The most important part of this whole story is that she really learns a lot while going. Friend or Fiction has great character development and is perfect for this age group. I think it's important they get stories that are realistic and some that they may be able to relate to.

Friend or Fiction is really touching and definitely brought tears to my eyes. I can't imagine what it was like for Jade. She has so much to deal with at a young age. Jade makes mistakes, but learns from them as well. This book is very friend and family orientated. Even though this book is filled with lessons, the journey is very enjoyable! I can't wait to see what this author writes next!

This is a pretty short book, a little less than 300 pages. It's a MG and those usually make for some shorter stories, especially the more contemporary ones. And Friend or Fiction reads as a contemporary in my opinion! There is a magical realism element in the story that is very important, but before and even after that happens it all feels very contemporary.

I listened to the audiobook for this one and was pretty much right away sucked into the story. We follow Jade, who lives in a small town in Colorado. Everyone seems to move from there all the time which makes it hard on her to find and keep a best friend. After hearing upsetting news about her dad's health and finding out her current best friend isn't that good of a friend either she stops trying. And instead she makes up her own best friend Zoe in her notebook, she writes about all the adventures they go on and fun days they have.

It was very interesting to see Jade cope with everything her family has been going through. She tries to not be a bother for her parents, to keep her dad's spirits up and to just take care of her own problems. While she wasn't dealing with her problems in the most healthy way, I do think it was a very accurate depiction of a young girl in this situation. It made it very real for me and I felt for Jade right away.

Jade made some decisions that weren't necessarily the best ones she could make, or ones I'd personally make. But it did make for a great way to show her growth and developments. I also think it was very realistic. And I think a lot of kids could learn something about making friends and friendships from this novel.

We have our main character Jade, like I said I think she can be very relatable for kids and I really enjoyed reading about her. She went through a great development and her story brought tears to my eyes more than once.

The other characters are mostly side characters. We read about Zoe, Jade's fictive friend, who doesn't really has a personality if I'm being honest. I didn't think she brought that much to the story herself, and she was mostly used for Jade's plot.

We also read about Jade's family, I especially loved her dad. I laughed out loud multiple times in regards to her family. But they were also present for some of the moments were I shed some tears haha. A very enjoyable and supportive family to read about, I wish we saw that in YA books ;) The last important character is Clue. I don't want to say to much about him, but I did really like his character. He isn't what he seems to be at first glance and I think he was a great addition to the story.

It's no surprise that I love a little magic in my middle grade, along with a heaping side of real-life issues and best friend goals. And Friend or Fiction by @_acoops_ was all of those things and more. In a small town people can't seem to stick around in, Jade hopes for a miracle and realizes an imaginary friend into a real one. This book is perfect for a reader who is transitioning from chapter books to longer middle grade. A sad but sweet and spellbinding story worth sharing.

A fabulous read for middle schoolers!

Full of childhood wonder, Friend or Fiction by Abby Cooper is a superb novel jam-packed with magic, wisdom and humour, but also contains a large sprinkling of realism. Set in Colorado, Jade Levy and her family are struggling with her dad’s diagnosis and treatment for a serious illness, and Jade herself is finding it easier to write about an imaginary world in her notebook than try to connect with the kids in her grade. Jade felt more like a good friend to me than a protagonist. Her struggle with aloneness, vastly improved by her vivid imagination, made her such a lovable character. The pages in this book seemed to whizz by. The author perfectly depicted different occurrences and the affable characters didn't end with Jade Levy. Her imaginary, dependable, and amazing best friend, Zoe and Mrs. Yang, Jade’s English teacher were just as winsome, as was her classmate, Clue. I wanted to know more about every single character in this book. Abby Cooper has fashioned a marvellous book that I highly recommend, without any hesitation.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my own request, from Charlesbridge via NetGalley and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

This book focuses on what it means to be a friend— told through a young protagonist navigating a lonely social existence and not knowing how to deal with the sickness of a close family member. Jade writes stories in her notebook to help her feel the sting of these pains less.

The book mixes in Jade’s written stories, and they feel appropriate to her age. I feel like the overall writing of the book gets stronger as it goes, but I don’t think a middle school reader would feel it was too juvenile or spoke down to them/ about them. It’s a good story and may help someone young to process their own feelings.

My heart breaks for Jade as she loses friend after friend since no one seems to stay in their town for long. But through her creativity, she writes about a best friend who moves in named Zoe... and then Zoe becomes a reality! Beautiful book about friendship, cancer, family, and a bit of magic.

A lovely book for young readers. This book tackles some big issues like cancer but is still a fun read for kids, and they will love the imaginary friend storyline.

I had the chance to read a preview copy of the book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers.

My heart feels full! This is a wonderfully important book not just for children, but for adults too. So many life lessons taught in a beautiful, simplistic on the surface and yet somehow undeniably complex underneath it all way.

Magical realism and make believe friends! What more needs to be said? This book is so fun and honestly can resonate with SO MANY KIDS! I don’t know anyone that wouldn’t or couldn’t relate to Jade. I think every reader and aspiring writer would love Jade and fall into this book like nobody’s business. It’s so amazing.

Another beautiful Middle Grade book in the magical realism genre.

There is sometimes nothing you can do, but to create your own friend to cope with life's struggles.

Trigger warning: Illness

Jade's had a rough couple of years. The small town she thought her family was just drifting through turned out to be more permanent than she expected. Her father was diagnosed with liver cancer, plus all the friends Jade managed to make have moved away. Writing stories in her notebook is the only way Jade feels in control of her life, and she creates a literary best friend for herself: Zoe.

Things get very interesting when a real life Zoe shows up to school, and Jade's frenemy, Clue, admits that he helped bring her to life.

This was a cute tale about friendship, the unpredictability of life, and letting go of what we cannot control.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

Aaah this was so cute! It didn't blow me away or anything but it was definitely enjoyable. Exactly what I needed right now.

Friend or Fiction is a middle-grade novel that follows Jade Levy who lives in a very small town in Colorado. She is very lonely and spends all of her time writing a story in her notebook about her imaginary friend, Zoë. When Jade's friend, Clue, does something with her notebook, Zoë suddenly appears in real life. What does this mean for their friendship? Jade has complete control over what Zoë does and knows. Does this mean Jade finally has a best friend?

I really loved the moral of this story. Jade finds out what friendship really means and what best friends do for each other. I also really loved Clue! He's such a cutie

I don't know how old Jade is since it isn't mentioned in the book (at least, I don't think so) but her behavior is really childish. Her dad has cancer and her mother told her to deal with her own problems if she can. Jade takes this somewhat too seriously and thinks everything is too much and that it will make her dad sicker. The same for when she is scared to stop continuing to tell her dad the Zoë stories. I was just a bit annoyed by that.

Overall, I really liked this and I definitely recommend it! But if you're quickly annoyed by childish behavior, maybe this one isn't for you.

This book was so adorable and fun to read! The concept had me hooked from the first page. A fictional character, that you love writing about, actually comes to life and moves in next door? I couldn’t put it down.

I loved the author’s style of writing. She wrote the book in a sweet, charming, simplistic manner. I loved the concept of “Oppservations” where the character observes something opposite of what it should be. What a unique concept! I’m going to start using that in my life. The story has so many heart-warming moments as well. For instance, I loved when Bo uses his illustrations to fight the imaginary “Can Sir” (i.e. Cancer) that’s affecting his father. Also, the various writing tips that Mrs. Yang gives Jade. I am not an author, but if I decide to be one, I am going to follow some of these!

The characters are also written so nicely. Jade is not a perfect character, but you want her to have some friends and not be lonely. I really liked how the author mentions the difference between being a friend and controlling someone. Zoe is hilarious and perky and someone you just want to hang out with all the time. Everyone in Jade’s family is also mentioned in such a positive manner, even though they are facing challenges. On a side note, I also loved the magical elements included in the plot.

Honestly, I really couldn’t find anything wrong about the story to criticize about. It’s a simple, feed good, sweet story that stands out and makes you smile. Overall, “Friend or Fiction” is worth reading!

Very light magic in a well written middle grade story. Touches on some harder topics such as cancer.

This had great themes and was a great discussion piece with my son who is learning about bullies from experiencing it himself, this was helpful in that conversation on what makes a true friend.

I really enjoyed this story, I thought I was very well written and dealt well with such a difficult subject. I think this book will be really helpful to kids who might feel like their friend don't understand the big things that unfortunately some kids have to deal with. Great lessons about friendship and family.

Really good book for middle school girl trying to navigate the world of frienships while staying true to oneself.

What a beautiful gem of a middle-grade read!! I absolutely loved it and hope to read it with my tween oldest when he’s a but older!

This was extremely adorable and cute.
It really warmed my heart. Very nice for a middle grade read!