Friends: Stories About New Friends, Old Friends, and Unexpectedly True Friends

by Ann M. Martin, Meg Cabot, Rachel Cohn

Stories of friendship from some of the most acclaimed and dynamic writers in children's books today, edited by Ann M. Martin and David Levithan, with all proceeds going to The Lisa Libraries.

The friend can be the girl next door . . . or a faithful dog . . . or a teacher . . . or just plain invisible. But in every life, there's at least one friend who changes your life. In this collection, writers including Virginia Euwer Wolff, Ann M. Martin, Pam Munoz Ryan, Tanuja Desai Hidier, Walter Dean Myers, Rachel Cohn, Meg Cabot, Jennifer L. Holm, Patty McCormick, David Levithan, and Patrick Jennings present stories about friendship and all of its reverberations. All proceeds go to The Lisa Libraries, which provides small libraries for children in need.

Genres: Short Stories, Anthologies, Realistic Fiction, Childrens, Young Adult, Fiction

192 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2005

About the author

Ann Matthews Martin was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane. After graduating from Smith College, Ann became a teacher and then an editor of children's books. She's now a full-time writer.

Ann gets the ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are written about contemporary problems or events. All of Ann's characters, even the members of the Baby-sitters Club, are made up. But many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes.

Ann has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.

Since ending the BSC series in 2000, Ann’s writing has concentrated on single novels, many of which are set in the 1960s.

After living in New York City for many years, Ann moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where she now lives with her dog, Sadie, and her cats, Gussie, Willy and Woody. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and needlework. Her favorite thing to do is to make clothes for children.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/annmma...

Reviews

[April Fell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Name: April M. Fell
APA: Levithan, A. M. (2005). Friends: Stories About New Friends, Old Friends and Unexpectedly True Friends. New York: Scholastic, Inc.
Genre: Short Stories
Selection Process: our textbook
Title: Friends: Stories About New Friends, Old Friends, and Unexpectedly New Friends
Review:

The back cover of this book of short stories sums up the entirety of this collection, “Everyone has at least one life changing friend.” This is a collection of 10 short stories by highly acclaimed child-teen authors-Meg Cabot, Brian Selznick, Pam Munoz-Ryan to name just a few. It is important to mention all of the authors writing for this collection donated their portion of the proceeds to The Lisa Libraries Organization (www.lisalibraries.com). This organization donates books to smaller libraries that serve needy children.

Patricia McCormick’s Smoking Lessons addresses the clique issues faced by so many teens who ask, “Where and how do I fit in here?” Squirrel by Ann Martin is a story of an abandoned dog facing the dangers of street life after having spent many years living outside. The last years of his life are spent in the company of an elderly woman in her warm and cozy home. As he rests on her lap, the dog thinks back to his days on the street as a young dog, and his memories of those times are overshadowed by the love he feels for his new owner.
This book offers the reader an opportunity to sample each author’s writing style, character and plot development while exploring the meaning of friendships. I do recommend this book for 6-8th graders exploring new authors and writing styles. I look at this book as a springboard to other fiction titles by the same authors. I appreciated the fact the proceeds for the book went toward a socially responsible cause.

[Rain Misoa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first anthology I have ever read and let me tell you, I am glad that I picked this up. It's such an emotional collections of stories about children and the friendships they make during their life. It's such a relief to read a book directed towards friendships. Just friendships. Most books today are about romance and action and what have you. There's not enough to go on about the friendships people share with others. It's amazing!

All of the stories here have a lesson to teach you about the people you choose to make friends with. I enjoyed every single one of the stories. My least favorite was Patricia McCormick but that's only because I can't stand girls who are clones. However, it serves a purpose and it teaches you a valuable lesson and I appreciate the story being included in this anthology.

My favorites are of Ann M. Martin, Rachel Cohn, and my all-time favorite is David Levithan. They each had a very different view on how friendships are and are so in-depth with what they write that you can't help but love what's being given to the reader. I love their stories and their style of writing. It left me breathless and wanting more. I really think they did a wonderful job in getting the meaning of friendship across to the reader.

This is an amazing anthology! I love everything about it. The stories were easy to follow and well thought out and... man! I am in awe at it! I defintely think you should check this book out. Especially if you want to try a something different in the YA field. Besides, it's just nice to see what true firendship is all about and not that false cookie-cut-out you see in most YA novels. Read this book. You will love it.

[Amelia McLaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the book Friends, it talked about the two things that mean the most to me today, friends and family. Not only was this book action packed and full of literary devices, it was also kinda hilarious on pages in certain chapters. The book was quick read only taking me a short week to read. I would totally recommend this to people in need of a friend or a laugh. The book taught me to appreciate the people around you, and to look out for the people that will look out for you. Since there were multiple stories in this book, I decided to choose one as my favorite. My favorite short story was called My Best Friend.

I enjoyed the short story My Best Friend because it talked about her unexpected relationship with a crocodile and a grandma. I liked this because it shows you can be friends with anybody and any races. I enjoyed this whole book and totally recommend it to all young adults in need of a smile or an uplifting

[Marisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Friend Who Changed My Life - Pam Munoz Ryan
My Best Friend - Jennifer L. Holm
Connie Hunter Williams, Psychic Teacher - Meg Cabot
Squirrel - Ann M Martin
Smoking Lessons - Patricia McCormick
Shashikala: A Brief History of Love and Khadi Tanuja Desai Hidier
The Wild Prince -Brian Selznick
Flit - Patrick Jennings
The Justice League - David Levithan
Minka and Meanie - Rachel Cohn
Doll - Virginia Euwer Wolff

[Risa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I only read the stories by meg cabot,rachel cohn,david levithan, and ann m. martin. The one by meg cabot was my favorite because it was about her favorite teacher that helped her realize that she was going to be a author someday.

[Heatherblakely · Rating 3 out of 5]

These stories were really cute. Some were better than others, but overall this was a cute, quick read.

Although I was annoyed that Ann M. Martin's "About the Authors" section didn't mention The Baby-Sitters Club.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked these stories! They were about all types of different friends. What's a good friend. What's a bad friend. Read this book to find out.

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only read a few of the stories. Most were pretty boring.

[Alixa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories I just couldn't read cos the writing style was weird but most of them were really good:-)

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read it a long time ago! This book is short stories about friends. Some stories were amazing an dsome were not, but I recommend this book to readers who enjoy realistic fiction!

[Lydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a truly enjoyable anthology, worthy of reading.

[Renee Hall · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyable enough, but no real standouts among the stories for me.

[Talia · Rating 4 out of 5]

great book! loved every story! great book!

[erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

nice collection of stories about friendship...some better than others. but all in all a good set of stories. my favourites were by jen holm, david levithan

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would give this 4.5 if possible

[Jay Miraldi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an anthology about friendship. About finding, making, having, keeping, losing, fighting with, making up with, growing closer to, growing apart from, and just plain being friends.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good set of stories for kids about friendships. One of the most haunting is "Doll," about giving to the underprivileged.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some cute stories, some that were just Meh. Read it in one sitting.

[Ayla]

It is great for feedback on kinds of friends. Also, if kids ever fell they are alone- just remember their are others like you and you will find FRIENDS!