Among Friends

by Caroline B. Cooney

In this fast-paced novel about the bonds of friendship, Jenny, Emily, and Hillary, known as the Awesome Threesome, thought they'd be a threesome forever. But with Jennie's relentless ambition, Emily's jealousy, and Hillary's building resentment, it seems the Awesome Threesome is destined to be a thing of the past.

Assigned to write in diaries for English class, the three girls, along with three other classmates, find themselves admitting things so terrible that even they are shocked. All are left wondering: What price does a person have to pay for being successful? The pursuit of the truth is compellingly chronicled and the resolution satisfies.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Childrens, Chick Lit, Contemporary

176 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Caroline Cooney knew in sixth grade that she wanted to be a writer when "the best teacher I ever had in my life" made writing her main focus. "He used to rip off covers from The New Yorker and pass them around and make us write a short story on whichever cover we got. I started writing then and never stopped!"
When her children were young, Caroline started writing books for young people -- with remarkable results. She began to sell stories to Seventeen magazine and soon after began writing books. Suspense novels are her favorites to read and write. "In a suspense novel, you can count on action."
To keep her stories realistic, Caroline visits many schools outside of her area, learning more about teenagers all the time. She often organizes what she calls a "plotting game," in which students work together to create plots for stories. Caroline lives in Westbrook, Connecticut and when she's not writing she volunteers at a hospital, plays piano for the school musicals and daydreams!
- Scholastic.com

Reviews

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used to read this book over and over when I was in middle school. I loved it! I haven't read it in about 25 years but I'm rating it as my 11 year old self. :)

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't read a contemporary young adult novel in a while, so this was a nice change. I've liked Cooney's books since I was a teenager, and I've read more of them as an adult than I did back then. I think she's a good writer and that she creates interesting plot lines and realistic characters. I liked the people in this book, and I liked that Cooney chose to reveal the plot through diary entries. I could see an influence on Ann M. Martin's California Diaries series and even some influence on Ann Brashares's Three Willows.
This is a relatively simple story mostly about the breakdown of a lifelong friendship, The Awesome Threesome, what jealousy can do to people, and what power forgiveness can have. There is an interesting subplot with the character of Paul Classified, and Ansley and Jared offer humorous diversions and add another layer to the central conflicts. Cooney reflected the different points of view well through each character's diary and distinctive voice.
I recommend this book mostly to Cooney fans but also to fans of contemporary young adult lit (well, contemporary to the 1980s anyway...).

[Curlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey" meets "Confessions of Georgina Nicolson", here we have intertwined stories of 3 best friends along with 3 other supporting characters. The author's writing style is distinct and compelling to read in every diary entry. There are lots of analogies that I find quotable and worth remembering. This is a story of friendship, jealousy, resentment, mystery, responsibility and redemption. Highly recommended for children who want to develop their journaling skills.

[SarahGR · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really wasn’t sure about this when I picked it up, but it has become one of my favourite reads of this year. The emotions are so honest and raw, it broke me down to my awkward, anxious teenage self and made me feel seen. I loved it.

[Sophia Gonzales · Rating 5 out of 5]

rachel berry type shit. this was so funny

[Dr. T Loves Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me start by saying this is not a badly-written story; it's just not my cup of tea. I don't love realistic fiction, generally, and this book is a great example of the type of realistic fiction I don't particularly enjoy. I like grand tales of epic adventure and tales of things that (probably) couldn't ever happen except in a clever author's head. This is pretty much the opposite of that.

The story follows a group of teenagers who are all certain their lives are terrible, and each character thinks the other characters have much better lives. And I understand that is the point of the story - to illustrate to teenagers that although they feel like they are the only ones who are messed up, that is not the case. And for a teenager who may not understand this concept, I can see this book being a revelation. I didn't read this book until I was in my mid-twenties, by which point I had already figured out that not only was I not the center of the universe, but that I was not even a very special snowflake, so this story didn't do much for me; but if I had found this story when I was in middle school, it might have been an eye-opener.

[Catherine Spaulding · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this as a teen, more for the way it was written than the actual story itself. I love the different perspectives of the six characters as told through their journal entries. The author does a good job of making each student unique and we get to see each of them through their own and their peers' eyes. While the main crux of the story involves a threesome of best friends drifting apart, the tertiary characters are actually more interesting to me. I wound up liking Ainsley, Jared and Paul far more than the three original characters. Paul's ordeal was hardly original, but his character improves and grows quite likable. Ditto for Ainsley and Jared, at first glance they are pretty dull preppy types but actually grow into something more.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, Caroline B. Cooney's books are really good. And this is just another on of them. Summerized-Three VERY VERY popular friends who ruled the school break up...because one of them started writing plays and songs and doing amazing things that made her even more popular, leaving the other two off her track. But the truth was, this play writing, singing, very talented girl did not have the life that less popular ppl imagined. Written through journal entries of MANY PEOPLE (lang. arts teacher made them keep a journal...like so many other books) you have to realize-being popular isn't all that wonderful.

The End :

[Jacque · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in preparation to use it as enrichment material with a group of middle school students. I was delighted to discover how realistically it dealt with a lot of issues everyone experiences throughout life: what is success, the differences in external and internal pressure, what is truly important; balancing committmetns to different areas of life and interest. I'm looking forward to some of the discussions I hope will spur from reading this book in a small group.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I thought this book was pretty good. In the beginning and most of the middle though i didnt like it much because all they were talking about was jealousy and all of that mean stuff. But I did like the moral at the end.

[E. Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book in junior high.

[Bryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must have read this fifty times in my teens and twenties.

[Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is the book about: Emily, Hillary, and Jennie have been friends forever and are known as the Awesome Threesome. But that is all going to change. Jennie is the smartest girl in school and obviously outshines the other two in the group. When Emily and Hillary become jealous things go another direction. On top of that it is their Junior year of high school and their English teacher, Mrs. Macbeth, assigns the class an assignment that will go over the course of 3 months. The students are each given a journal to write personal diary entries in about whatever they want. Emily, Hillary, Jennie, along with three other classmates, start to realize that they are writing terrible things about their friends. They also wonder, what is the consequence they have to pay for a friends success in life?

What I thought: I thought that this book was okay. It really wasn't that interesting because it just explained over and over again how they were all annoyed at Jennie. Some of the diary entries were a little confusing too and some of them didn't need to be there. I did enjoy the format of the book though, which is like your reading someones diary. Although the book took a very long time to read, I enjoyed some parts of the book.

Why I rated it as I did: I rated this book a three because I didn't like the plot and it wasn't very interesting to me. It was kind of boring at most parts and just repeated why they didn't like this specific character. In the end, I recommend this book to readers who like to read in a diary format.

[Cassie Stanyek · Rating 5 out of 5]

What the book is about…
Among Friends by Caroline B. Cooney is a book about three girls who call themselves the Awesome Threesome. Jenny, Emily, and Hillary, thought they'd be a threesome forever but when it begins to seem that Jennie might actually outshine her friends, feelings of jealousy and anger erupt. The six high school juniors discover surprising and painful things about themselves and their relationships with the people around them in the diaries they are asked to keep as an English assignment.

What I thought about the book…
I thought that Among Friends was such an outstanding book. The characters are very well written and they always make you want to learn more about them. The characters are presented in a way you can not forget and are completely realistic which is my favorite thing about characters. The problems with school, family, and friends addressed in this book is what happens in everyday life and I love that because you can relate to it.

Why I rated it as I did...
I rated Among Friends 5 stars because it was overall an amazing book. The book was not boring at all and was full of events and detail. The plot, characters, settings, details, were all written very well and the concept of the book was incredible.

[J Goldson · Rating 2 out of 5]

What the book is about: The book is about a group of three girls who were best friends forever, and have, now fallen apart. There's also the mysterious Paul who has his own story. All of the kids in their class have to write a dairy. The diaries shine a light on their lives.
What I thought about the book: I thought the book was stupid. Not even bad, it's ridiculously stupid. I didn't was to read this book, and it was very much a letdown. I would have preferred that Jennie be suicidal and depressed. It made no sense for her to run away. It was just a tantrum. If she really wanted to run away she should've not got on bus after bus after bus.
Why I rated it as I did: I really hated this book. However, I liked the character, Paul. That was the only reason this book got 2 stars instead of 1. There were some okay spots. In general, I'm not that into realistic fiction. However, this was significantly worse than other realistic fiction I've read.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

What it’s about: The book Among Friends by Caroline B. Cooney is about three girls who friendship got split because jennies perfectness, Emily's jealousy and Hillary's cruelty. There are also some classmates who see Jennie as perfect. After all the girls split up they end up hating Jennie leaving her with no friends. Jennie tries to find ways to get out of this.

What I thought: I thought this book was ok, it was a little confusing at some points and i think their could have been more events. I did like the way it was written from every characters point of view.

Why I rated it like I did: i rated it the way i rated it because it was not one of my favorite books but it wasn't terrible so i still enjoyed reading it.

[Louie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caroline packed a lot, a lot, into less than 200 pages. Fleshed out characters, realistic situations, stressful problems, and even a nuanced look at how we humans perceive and brutally judge one another. My only problems though were the dated language, offensive terms towards Native Americans and the mentally disabled are both not okay in my book, and less important, though also frustrating, I felt like the ending was a bit unsatisfying and could have benefited from more character growth in Hillary and an extra insight into Jennie with another diary entry would have helped round out the book more.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everyone in this book is obsessed with this girl name Jennie. That's basically the plot. I was hoping something crazy would happen like Jennie would turn out to be a cult leader or maybe a prophet, but that did not happen. Cooney does write nice sentences despite the melodramatic plots. I love her descriptions of clothes and hair and cosmetics. Kind of 80s but also timeless.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It is a great book for teens since it is about success, school, jealously, and friendship. I relate with Jennie a lot but I also relate a little with Emily. All in all, it’s a great book and I would totally recommend it!

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Available at the library when I needed a book. Didn’t know anything about it going in.

The diary format was good - so many meaningful points of view. That shed light on the characters as much as the story arc.

[Junessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

high school juniors write in journals about life

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm rating this as my pre-teen self. I read it repeatedly back then. It really made sense to me as my friends grew apart and moved on with our lives.

[Paula Lemos]

This book was an AMAZING book by Caroline B. Cooney. A lot of my friends told me that she was an outstanding author. I learned a lot from this book such as: you have to accept the people you love just the way they are, also another thing I learned from "Among Friends" is that ways for sucess is just to be proud of yourself for things that you do. I love the way Caroline Cooney wrote the format for this book; she wrote it in the form of a journal that the characters were assigned to do for English class. In the beginning they were a bit skeptic about the whole thing. They thought they writing in journals would be "a total invasion of privacy." I completely understand why they thought this, I think about it all the time. Thats why I don't keep a journal/ diary.

My opinion on this book was that Caroline Cooney had to go through similar experiences in her high school life because the amount of detail she put into each and every single one of her words is amazing. I absolutly adored this book. I would recommend it to EVERYONE I know. Because its not just a book for girls its also a book for guys because it shows you the importance of friendship.

[Minty McBunny · Rating 1 out of 5]

I used to LOVE CBC as a young teen, her Night to Remember series was a huge favorite of mine along with Don't Blame the Music.

So I picked this up out of nostalgia. I was disappointed though, the girls are very one dimensional and I found each of the 'Awesome Threesome's personality to be wearying after a few journal entries. There are plenty of books about childhood friendships breaking up as the girls turn into teens, that are far better (see: Class Pictures). And all the drama around Paul seemed like an entirely seperate (and more interesting) story than the main plot.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

What could be worse than a mother who doesn't think much of you? Than feeling like nobody will ever understand? Like your best friend will always outshine you and you will never be thought of as an equal?

Cooney tackles all of these fears and more in a timeless manner, told through the diary entries of three former best friends, their mysterious mutual crush, and the "preppy" couple who catalogs their relationships from afar.

Spectacularly realistic characters and situations and fast-paced action make this a very engaging read. I'm disappointed that I didn't discover Cooney earlier in my life.

[Theresa Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is right on track, and it feels so good to re-read it, years after I first did. Selfishly, what I like is that it's the kind of book I think I'm best suited to write- it's all about characters and their feelings, without a lot of action happening. There's a situation, and a resolution, but that's not the important part of what this book is about. And I like that it's told from the point of view of not just these three former best friends, but some other people in their extended circle, too. I guess it feels true to life in that high school is often about feelings and people, and less about the action that happens. That feels true to me.

[Kimberly Polanco · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished reading this book and its very intresting. It's intresting because the girl who had the looks and the brain she ended up being a loser and the other girl who was not popular and didnt have the looks was the one who took the guy. Let me start from the beginnng. There was the Awesome Threesome. There was Jennie, Emily and Hilary. There was probmems between them and in the end Jennie the popular and smart one ended up very bad and hilary changed but still inside was the same but Emily got the guy that every girl wanted. What a good school year.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Among Friends uses the "our English teacher is making us keep a journal" device, and the story weaves together six juniors' entries. There's The Awesome Threesome, the mysterious new boy, and the preppy couple. The Awesome Threesome has grown up together, but now Jennie has pulled ahead as a genius, composing, writing, and making costumes for the school pageant. Emily and Hillary are jealous, and life has no meaning unless you have friends to share it with. (1980s rich Connecticut kids go skiing in Vermont or to NYC for the day, and one even drives a Porsche to school.)

[Karen Edith Gallegos · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved this book. it's about three girls who before were the awesome threesome. they started falling apart because of jennie's popularity. what they have in common is that they liked the same guy, paul classified. emily starts hanging out with paul which make him tell all his secrets. ansley and jared are this couple who are going out since one year.

[Ilovereading · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book! I loved the jealousy everyone felt towards Jennie. To see my full review and many other preteen, teen, young adult, and adult fiction reviews, please visit:

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I have many other reviews posted also. Please take a look at my website.