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The Friendship Ring #1
If You Only Knew
Tomboyish, 12-year-old Zoe is friends with everyone in seventh grade, even the boys. She's never wanted a best friend, until now, as she tries to win over quiet, serious CJ.
Paperback
First published July 1, 1998
21 people are currently reading
262 people want to read
About the author
Rachel Vail
56 books457 followersBirth
I was born on July 25, 1966, in NEW YORK CITY, and grew up in New Rochelle, NY, with my mother, my father, and my younger brother Jon. (And down the street from my future husband, though of course I didn't know that until much later.)
Interests
Some details, I do know-I was very into reading and theater, so I read every book I could get my hands on (especially realistic fiction, either contemporary or historical) and took acting workshops and auditioned for every play in school, camp, or the community. I played Peter Pan, Miss Hannigan in Annie, Benny Southstreet in Guys and Dolls, the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, and lots of extremely memorable chorus parts-for instance, I was "girl number two" in Fiddler on the Roof-the one who said "We heard about your sister, Chava". I didn't care -I just wanted to be on stage. Waiting backstage before curtain call, after giving my all in a performance, was the best feeling I knew. In seventh grade I started taking magic lessons, and by eighth grade I was making all my own spending money by performing at kids' birthday parties as a clown named Tallulah. I liked the freedom of wearing all that grease-paint-I could be as wacky and un-cool as I wanted. I tried dance but felt so clumsy. I faked a sprained ankle to get out of the recital. I took voice lessons which made me a little light-headed (and I was afraid of the voice teacher's growling, drooling Doberman) and both saxophone and piano, neither of which I ever practiced. I did well in school but started a lot of my work at the last minute, in a crazy mad dash, so that it was never late but there were usually careless errors or areas I had to fudge. I had this idea that to work hard at something was sort of a negative, an admission that I didn't have natural talent. If I wasn't going to be Mozart and have the music (or dance, or math, or social studies term paper, or whatever) channeled through me from God, then I was just embarrassing myself by all that workmanlike effort. I didn't get over that idea until after college, by the way.
Career Ambitions
I never really planned to be a writer. I planned to be a financial wizard after learning about option-spreading at age 10, then a poet after discovering Shakespeare at 11. After overhearing "the real power is held by the lobbyists" on a class trip to Albany, I planned to become a lobbyist. Secretly, of course I always imagined myself as an actress, but that didn't seem hard or important enough, and also I worried I wasn't naturally gifted enough.
Parents
My parents were always great. I liked to make them proud, and they trusted me and supported my efforts and interests, which was sometimes weirdly tough. There was so little for me to rebel against.
As a Kid
When people ask me what I was as a kid, I always feel like my answer is at best incomplete.What are you like, as a kid? I'm still trying to figure out what I'm like as an adult.
Socially
Well, things went in waves. Sometimes I felt very "in", very aware of and tied in to the whole scene, excited by who liked whom, all the gossip, some of it less than kind. Other times I felt so alone-like there was nobody like me, nobody who liked me, nobody to talk to. And much of the time it was somewhere in between. A best friend when I was lucky, and a few people in each crowd I liked and who liked me. I resisted being classified as a brain or a jock or alternative or popular-too limiting. I would have to shut down too many parts of myself to be just one type.
Adolescence
I went through a very intense stage in middle school (Junior High). I worried about being too ordinary. I also worried about being too weird. I also worried about changing states of matter, my inability to be morally certain, ignorance (my own and world-wide), and making a fool of myself.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/rachel...
I was born on July 25, 1966, in NEW YORK CITY, and grew up in New Rochelle, NY, with my mother, my father, and my younger brother Jon. (And down the street from my future husband, though of course I didn't know that until much later.)
Interests
Some details, I do know-I was very into reading and theater, so I read every book I could get my hands on (especially realistic fiction, either contemporary or historical) and took acting workshops and auditioned for every play in school, camp, or the community. I played Peter Pan, Miss Hannigan in Annie, Benny Southstreet in Guys and Dolls, the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, and lots of extremely memorable chorus parts-for instance, I was "girl number two" in Fiddler on the Roof-the one who said "We heard about your sister, Chava". I didn't care -I just wanted to be on stage. Waiting backstage before curtain call, after giving my all in a performance, was the best feeling I knew. In seventh grade I started taking magic lessons, and by eighth grade I was making all my own spending money by performing at kids' birthday parties as a clown named Tallulah. I liked the freedom of wearing all that grease-paint-I could be as wacky and un-cool as I wanted. I tried dance but felt so clumsy. I faked a sprained ankle to get out of the recital. I took voice lessons which made me a little light-headed (and I was afraid of the voice teacher's growling, drooling Doberman) and both saxophone and piano, neither of which I ever practiced. I did well in school but started a lot of my work at the last minute, in a crazy mad dash, so that it was never late but there were usually careless errors or areas I had to fudge. I had this idea that to work hard at something was sort of a negative, an admission that I didn't have natural talent. If I wasn't going to be Mozart and have the music (or dance, or math, or social studies term paper, or whatever) channeled through me from God, then I was just embarrassing myself by all that workmanlike effort. I didn't get over that idea until after college, by the way.
Career Ambitions
I never really planned to be a writer. I planned to be a financial wizard after learning about option-spreading at age 10, then a poet after discovering Shakespeare at 11. After overhearing "the real power is held by the lobbyists" on a class trip to Albany, I planned to become a lobbyist. Secretly, of course I always imagined myself as an actress, but that didn't seem hard or important enough, and also I worried I wasn't naturally gifted enough.
Parents
My parents were always great. I liked to make them proud, and they trusted me and supported my efforts and interests, which was sometimes weirdly tough. There was so little for me to rebel against.
As a Kid
When people ask me what I was as a kid, I always feel like my answer is at best incomplete.What are you like, as a kid? I'm still trying to figure out what I'm like as an adult.
Socially
Well, things went in waves. Sometimes I felt very "in", very aware of and tied in to the whole scene, excited by who liked whom, all the gossip, some of it less than kind. Other times I felt so alone-like there was nobody like me, nobody who liked me, nobody to talk to. And much of the time it was somewhere in between. A best friend when I was lucky, and a few people in each crowd I liked and who liked me. I resisted being classified as a brain or a jock or alternative or popular-too limiting. I would have to shut down too many parts of myself to be just one type.
Adolescence
I went through a very intense stage in middle school (Junior High). I worried about being too ordinary. I also worried about being too weird. I also worried about changing states of matter, my inability to be morally certain, ignorance (my own and world-wide), and making a fool of myself.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/rachel...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
May 7, 2011
I bought this book in middle school and something about it resonated with me to the point that it's still one of my favorite reads. I love the simplicity of the writing style and the way that it perfectly captures that weird, confusing time middle school is for girls. Love, love, love this.
April 22, 2008
i loved this book! i really just kind of liked the theme but, i dont know! i really liked it though! it started when my sister told me that she had a security camera hidden in her room. i knew she was lying, but she just kept on denying me! so i went into her room and stole a bunch of stuff including some books, pens, even one of her shirts! for about a week, she hadnt noticed or said anything about it. one day, i told her that i had stolen her stuff and that her "security camera" hadnt caught me. she said, "oh, it saw it. i watched the tape and thought," she just stole some useless junk, she can keep it." so i did keep the junk(but gave back some stuff that I though was junk too)and kept this book. i read it, and liked it. that was just a little story i thought id put in. just to let you all know how i found out about this book
August 11, 2017
I read If You Only Knew in about the 6th or 7th grade, probably. (For reference, I'm now 27.) For a long time, all I could remember about it was a few vague character details, and that it was smaller than a standard-size book.
But then I found it again, thanks to this lovely group: What's the Name of That Book???
If you only read excerpts of If You Only Knew, you might think it was a couple different things.
Is it a coming-of-age tale about a girl desperately trying to convince herself that she isn't attracted to other girls?
No, sadly. It's not.
Could it perhaps be the story of five sisters who protect each other from their controlling, slut-shaming father?
Disappointingly, no. (As far as I can tell, this is all the father does. And the plot thread never really goes anywhere.)
Alas, this is merely the story of a very whiny pre-teen girl, upset because she's a tomboy with no close female friends, she has four older sisters, and she's tall.
Whomp, whomp.
I mean, I'm aware that she's going through puberty, but I want to point out that I remember thinking she was an overreacting whiner when I originally read this -- as a preteen. And while it's been a fun trip down memory lane, I don't think I'll be revisiting any of the rest of the series.
Two Stars: This book was not good for me. I can (probably) understand why someone else might like it, but I didn't. I won't be recommending it to anyone.
But then I found it again, thanks to this lovely group: What's the Name of That Book???
If you only read excerpts of If You Only Knew, you might think it was a couple different things.
Is it a coming-of-age tale about a girl desperately trying to convince herself that she isn't attracted to other girls?
In the back of my mind I was thinking I should probably just relax and let CJ tell me a funny story for once, but it feels so good to make her laugh I wanted to prepare something. (pg. 80)
She shivered a little in her flimsy t-shirt. You can see her collarbones, she's so thin. They made me mad. Skinny girls get the boys. Graceful, cute, sweet girls who are so good they'll ride five miles in cool weather to tell a friend terrible, exciting news. (pg. 202)
No, sadly. It's not.
Could it perhaps be the story of five sisters who protect each other from their controlling, slut-shaming father?
"No." Colette pulled her shirt back down over her stomach. "It's my body."
"Not while it lives in my house, it's not!" Dad screamed. (pg. 86)
"I am not mutilated!" She screamed. "I like how I look!"
"You look like a whore!" Daddy yelled. (pg. 134)
Disappointingly, no. (As far as I can tell, this is all the father does. And the plot thread never really goes anywhere.)
Alas, this is merely the story of a very whiny pre-teen girl, upset because she's a tomboy with no close female friends, she has four older sisters, and she's tall.
"They had a kid every year for four years," I explained. "A-B-C-D: Anne Marie, Bay, Colette, and Devin. Then the next year a dog, Elvis. And then me. But my mom was like, no way is this one Fiona, don't even think I'm going through this twenty more times; this kid is named Zoe. As in, The End."
"Well, it is sort of alphabetical," CJ said.
"No. You get it? Z."
"Just with a lot of letters skipped."
"Oh." I could see what she meant. "Thanks for pointing that out."
"I'm sorry."
"Great," I said, "the one thing I thought was my own." (pgs. 7-8)
Whomp, whomp.
I mean, I'm aware that she's going through puberty, but I want to point out that I remember thinking she was an overreacting whiner when I originally read this -- as a preteen. And while it's been a fun trip down memory lane, I don't think I'll be revisiting any of the rest of the series.
Two Stars: This book was not good for me. I can (probably) understand why someone else might like it, but I didn't. I won't be recommending it to anyone.
December 22, 2022
If you want to remember what it's like being a girl in 7th grade, read this book! I read this book years ago, when I was around 10 years old, which is the intended target audience. It was one of my favorite books, it got me into reading. Highly recommend this series if you want your kid to get into reading.
Reading this years later now as an adult I still love it! It's so funny that I remembered the story as I was reading. I was sure I would remember next to nothing, but I must have read this book over 15 times as a kid. I guess everything is still there.
Back then there was something in the books that resonated with me, they are so real to what is like at that age. Now, looking back I still agree with that. I can't wait to read the whole series. I had only read two books in the series back then book 1 and book 5. They can be read as standalone as each book focuses more or less on a different character but it does follow the same plot. Book 1 is Zoe's book, book 2 is CJ's book, and so on. It took me a few years to find the name of the series again, but I'm so glad to be reading this whole series finally.
Reading this years later now as an adult I still love it! It's so funny that I remembered the story as I was reading. I was sure I would remember next to nothing, but I must have read this book over 15 times as a kid. I guess everything is still there.
Back then there was something in the books that resonated with me, they are so real to what is like at that age. Now, looking back I still agree with that. I can't wait to read the whole series. I had only read two books in the series back then book 1 and book 5. They can be read as standalone as each book focuses more or less on a different character but it does follow the same plot. Book 1 is Zoe's book, book 2 is CJ's book, and so on. It took me a few years to find the name of the series again, but I'm so glad to be reading this whole series finally.
June 2, 2022
I bought the first three books in this series during one of those book-fairs Scholastic would set up in school libraries so students could come in and spend their allowance on fresh, new books. (Do they still do those? And can they start doing them for adults? Those things were fun.) I can't remember how old I was or what school I was going to for this particular book-fair, but I remember being immediately drawn to these books because of their size and the cover art. I devoured all three of them immediately (easy to do since they are very short), and from that moment on, they became some of my favorite books.
Flipping past the front covers (my copies are the pocket editions), I think one thing that struck a chord with me is that these are girls I would have known and interacted with growing up. Each of the first three books bring us a different representation of what growing up can feel like for a pre-teen/young teen girl. Morgan in particular reminds me of someone I actually knew. She was a bully (the girl I knew) and Morgan is not, but when I read Morgan's book, I do feel like I get a bit of insight into what that girl I grew up with was feeling inside. A brittle, distrusting person because of life circumstances. CJ felt like the girls I envied most in school, pretty, well-liked, recognized for their talents, and reading her book felt like getting a glimpse into Their worlds, something I knew would never happen in real life. Those girls were never going to hang out with me. The protagonist I most related to myself though was Zoe. Our lives are totally different, but the way she felt about herself and her place in life mirrored many of my own feelings. As one of her older sisters says, '...I was all jagged edges, and life felt so fragile. I was, like, barbed wire, and life was like panty hose I tried to slip through, but it was always catching on me.' I didn't understand what that meant at the time as I always struggled with actualizing my own feelings and pinpointing exactly what was going on, but as an adult OOF, I feel that.
Something that has always stuck with me about these books is Vail's way of showing the complexity of female friendships, feeling like you're missing something or you're out of step with everyone, the way you can end up at cross-purposes when you weren't even trying to. Female friendships are confusing, and it's easy to do the wrong thing, and I've definitely always had difficulty in that area of my life. I think that's also why stories and characters like this are so common in middle school and YA literature. Because they're so universal. Fitting in, belonging, family drama, feeling out of place in your own skin, confusion over friendships and crushes. Even as an adult, those things can follow you.
I don't really recommend reading the other books in this series. Not only did the publisher decide not to print them in the same pocket size format (which was a HUGE selling point for me), but they feel and sound very different from the first three books. I've often pondered over this, and I've speculated that they might have been written by ghostwriters, but obviously, I can't know for sure.
Regardless, the first three books of The Friendship Ring will always have a special place on my bookshelves. They felt like pocket friends I could take with me into my daily life, there whenever I needed them. And it was those three little books that sparked something inside me as I got older, something that said, 'Maybe I can write stories like that too.' And that might be the most meaningful thing about these books for me, that they encouraged me to pursue something that would one day become my dream.
To The Friendship Ring I say thank you. I literally would not be the person I am today without you.
Flipping past the front covers (my copies are the pocket editions), I think one thing that struck a chord with me is that these are girls I would have known and interacted with growing up. Each of the first three books bring us a different representation of what growing up can feel like for a pre-teen/young teen girl. Morgan in particular reminds me of someone I actually knew. She was a bully (the girl I knew) and Morgan is not, but when I read Morgan's book, I do feel like I get a bit of insight into what that girl I grew up with was feeling inside. A brittle, distrusting person because of life circumstances. CJ felt like the girls I envied most in school, pretty, well-liked, recognized for their talents, and reading her book felt like getting a glimpse into Their worlds, something I knew would never happen in real life. Those girls were never going to hang out with me. The protagonist I most related to myself though was Zoe. Our lives are totally different, but the way she felt about herself and her place in life mirrored many of my own feelings. As one of her older sisters says, '...I was all jagged edges, and life felt so fragile. I was, like, barbed wire, and life was like panty hose I tried to slip through, but it was always catching on me.' I didn't understand what that meant at the time as I always struggled with actualizing my own feelings and pinpointing exactly what was going on, but as an adult OOF, I feel that.
Something that has always stuck with me about these books is Vail's way of showing the complexity of female friendships, feeling like you're missing something or you're out of step with everyone, the way you can end up at cross-purposes when you weren't even trying to. Female friendships are confusing, and it's easy to do the wrong thing, and I've definitely always had difficulty in that area of my life. I think that's also why stories and characters like this are so common in middle school and YA literature. Because they're so universal. Fitting in, belonging, family drama, feeling out of place in your own skin, confusion over friendships and crushes. Even as an adult, those things can follow you.
I don't really recommend reading the other books in this series. Not only did the publisher decide not to print them in the same pocket size format (which was a HUGE selling point for me), but they feel and sound very different from the first three books. I've often pondered over this, and I've speculated that they might have been written by ghostwriters, but obviously, I can't know for sure.
Regardless, the first three books of The Friendship Ring will always have a special place on my bookshelves. They felt like pocket friends I could take with me into my daily life, there whenever I needed them. And it was those three little books that sparked something inside me as I got older, something that said, 'Maybe I can write stories like that too.' And that might be the most meaningful thing about these books for me, that they encouraged me to pursue something that would one day become my dream.
To The Friendship Ring I say thank you. I literally would not be the person I am today without you.
Read
March 27, 2016NOSTALGIA!!!!!!
August 24, 2021
It was a boos series that I enjoyed much when I was in my early teens.
November 28, 2021
Loved this book! Tomboys are cool!
February 21, 2024
Es imposible no sentirse identificada con Zoe cuando una recuerda esa edad. Los miedos, las preocupaciones, las amistades, los primeros amores. Todas esas cosas que comienzan en esa etapa de la vida en la que dejas de ser una niña para ir convirtiéndote poco a poco en mujer. Una historia muy llevadera, entretenida y muy juveni
November 18, 2025
I loved this book in junior high and related to Zoe on so many levels - especially the strangeness of always being "one if the guys" until one day you don't want to be any more. Reading it again as an adult, it still holds up fairly well when it comes to navigating friendships in your early teen years.
February 3, 2019
Best scholastic book fair pickup
October 11, 2019
I have a soft spot in my heart for this series as I read it at the perfect age for the audience (I'm in my 30s now), but I do need to reread it.
January 23, 2020
I still love this book. Can anyone tell me if Zoe and Tommy ever ended up together?
May 2, 2014
If You Only Knew
Rachel Vail
600L
Star Rating 3.5 Stars
#1- I actually enjoyed the book. I think it was because it was realistic fiction so I can better relate to the book. Also the book was about an average girl, Zoe, who was trying to become best friends with someone who she could talk about with anything. Zoe hopes that her friendship will last with CJ without breaking up CJ's friendship with Morgan, her previous best friend.
#2- My favorite part of the book was when Zoe asked Tommy, her crush, who he likes. She was trying to set him up with CJ but then he said that he likes Zoe. She wanted to say that she likes him too but she wanted to be best friends with CJ more so she told him that he should ask out CJ. One thing I didn't like was that the next books in the series are just the exact same stories but in a different person in the story as the narrator.
I would recommend this book to people that enjoy teenage drama and girly stuff. I'm not saying it is strictly for girls, but it is more for girls than boys.
Rachel Vail
600L
Star Rating 3.5 Stars
#1- I actually enjoyed the book. I think it was because it was realistic fiction so I can better relate to the book. Also the book was about an average girl, Zoe, who was trying to become best friends with someone who she could talk about with anything. Zoe hopes that her friendship will last with CJ without breaking up CJ's friendship with Morgan, her previous best friend.
#2- My favorite part of the book was when Zoe asked Tommy, her crush, who he likes. She was trying to set him up with CJ but then he said that he likes Zoe. She wanted to say that she likes him too but she wanted to be best friends with CJ more so she told him that he should ask out CJ. One thing I didn't like was that the next books in the series are just the exact same stories but in a different person in the story as the narrator.
I would recommend this book to people that enjoy teenage drama and girly stuff. I'm not saying it is strictly for girls, but it is more for girls than boys.
August 8, 2022
I can't believe it. I just can't. If there is something I hate that happens on books/series is when the protagonist, even when he/she knows that their love interest returns the feeling, forces the other person return somebody else's feelings just because they feel sorry for them. It is simply stupid. In which world would that work? It will make the tree of them unhappy. Ugh. Sorry, I needed to spill out.
The book is cool, but sometimes Zoe's lack of personality is annoying, but it's a teenager thing I guess. I'm looking foward for the next book <3
The book is cool, but sometimes Zoe's lack of personality is annoying, but it's a teenager thing I guess. I'm looking foward for the next book <3
September 4, 2013
I purchased the first and second book in this series as part of the scholastic book club in elementary school. It came with a replica of the friendship ring, a granny knot in silver, which I wore well into high school.
The characters in these books aren't all that different from many young adult characters. They're unsure of themselves, they want friends, they're curious about new things, etc. However, I enjoyed reading about them and they passed the time nicely.
The characters in these books aren't all that different from many young adult characters. They're unsure of themselves, they want friends, they're curious about new things, etc. However, I enjoyed reading about them and they passed the time nicely.
September 22, 2014
A journey back to 7th grade, which was not good for me. My sixth grade friends had recently dumped me and told me I didn't have any spunk. Seriously. So I entered 7th grade (the first grade in my middle school) without any close friends. Thank the powers that be for sending me Alyson. Anyway, 7th grade is full of hormones and boys and homework and boys and trying to fit in and boys. This story did a fine job of taking me back 30 years.
January 25, 2012
Feels pretty authentic. 7th grader needs to navigate friendships and how they change as hormones start to kick in. Zoe = Very likable protagonist. Tommy = good pal from childhood & possible love interest. CJ = pretty, popular girl & possible BFF Morgan = pretty, popular, in competition to be CJ's BFF Jonas= Tommy's twin.
August 15, 2007
This book is about how these to girls Zoe Grandon and CJ Hurley were friends.All of a sudden they wanted to because the best of friends over the school year.So Zoe had to figure out what she was gonna do about the situation.
October 17, 2008
this was a good book but the shape of the book it self is a little strange. I think that this is one of the books were you need to read the whole series. also it is more of a girl book and i wouldn't recomend it to a guy.
August 25, 2011
I read this because I wanted to have some Young Adult recommedations to give to potential buyers of books for the YA genre and this came recommended. This is one in a 5 book series and while the writing was simple and the plot predictable I'm not going to lie - I want to read the rest!
September 15, 2013
When I was younger, I read this when it first came out in 1998. It had such an appeal to me. The relationships/ friendships, etc.
Reading it as an adult though, there wasn't as much appeal. I still appreciate it for what it was though.
Reading it as an adult though, there wasn't as much appeal. I still appreciate it for what it was though.
October 1, 2013
As not much of a book nook I read this book not by force but at first i was very reluctant to start reading but in the end I really liked it It really reminded me of my friend at my old school because I was like Zoe and she was like CJ
August 12, 2015
I thought this was a cute book it shows you how much friendships count throughout this book Zoe just wanted to be friends with CJ and she even set up her best guy friend with her so that she could be happy and have a boyfriend. To me this book shows the true meaning of friendship.
February 12, 2016
I remember buying this from my school book club and liking this like 12 years ago. It came with a cute little friendship ring. I remember the ending wasn't satisfing but I saw there were other books to this series so maybe that's why.
September 10, 2008
this series is lame! they make 7th grade seem like a soap opera; it's so stupid. not worth reading...
September 25, 2009
I really liked this and was sad I could never find any more in the series!
Read
June 27, 2009i think this book was pretty good.
August 2, 2011
Very well written. Its about this girl her friends and family and their troubles. It's what some families really go through.
January 31, 2012
This book was originally for my sister to read, but I think she just passed on it. So i read it, it's a quick easy read good for teens. Has positive messeges.
3 and a 1/2 stars from me :)
3 and a 1/2 stars from me :)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews