Buddies

by Barbara Park

Thirteen-year-old Dinah Feeney's popularity with the in-crowd at Miniwawa summer camp is threatened when Ferd Wadley, the camp nerd, seems determined to be her friend.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Childrens, Juvenile

119 pages, Paperback

First published March 12, 1985

About the author

Barbara Lynne Park was an American author of children's books.

Reviews

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was given this book as a birthday present when I was thirteen - I still have it. As another reviewer pointed out, while it's undeniably dated, it still rings true. Dinah Feeney considers herself "average" and longs to be popular - so she thinks going off to a summer camp will be a way to be one of those "popular kids" like her older sister. While she does manage to strike up friendships with two other girls who fall into something of that crowd, she finds herself hampered at nearly every turn by a lonely, awkward (and at times, irritatingly gross) girl named Fern. Dinah has been blessed (or sometimes in her mind, cursed) with a kind heart which makes it hard for her tell Fern that she doesn't really want to be her friend. Pressured by her new pals Cassandra and Marilyn, Dinah takes the risk but finds herself guilt-ridden.

As adolescent and glum as I've made the premise seem, this is actually in parts a very funny book. I think we can all relate to those early adolescent summer adventures and longing to belong.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is yet another vintage novel I picked up for my ten year old daughter and had to read so we could discuss it. She prefers older books because of the realism, better writing and plot development. This book was about a typical average girl named Dinah, who is sick of hand me downs and being ordinary. She fantasizes that going to camp will give her a taste of adventure and popularity. Unfortunately, at the bus stop she is introduced to the most extreme nerd ever, Fern Wadley, and given the task of being her buddy. Dinah gets stuck in a cabin with Fern, but also shares it with outgoing Marilyn and beautiful Cassandra, the it girls. At first the girls include Fern, but she is incredibly gross- snorting and picking her toes and being inconsiderate. She follows them so closely that she constantly knocks Dinah's sneakers off her feet, grabbing her shirt from behind and stretching it, poking the other girls and just being weird and annoying. Her behavior was bizarre. Eventually the girls get fed up and try to ask her nicely to find other friends, but she doesn't take the hint. Dinah gets so fed up that she pushes her out of their canoe and that's when Fern avoids them for the rest of camp. The lesson of this book is a bit convoluted to me. It's one thing to be nice and include everyone, but this girl had serious issues that needed to be addressed, not foisted on 13 year old girls who are also trying to grow up. Fern's behavior was not acceptable either. She needed counseling. It just wasn't fair to expect other kids to know how to deal with her. Today if a kid acted like this, we would assume they were on the spectrum and try to get appropriate therapy. Definitely an excellent dilemma book, but I am sure my adult 2023 perspective is different than what children reading this at the time would have thought. Can't wait to see my daughter's reaction.

[Krista · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was a kid, my mother signed me up with something called the "just For Girls" Book Club that would send me a new book every month or so. I remember the day I got this one and began to read. I devoured it in one day...one sitting!

It was also one of the first books that made me laugh out loud! I think I sang the cannibal songs for weeks afterwards.

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars. Hadn’t opened this paperback since I was a kid, thought I’d mostly enjoy it again for nostalgia reasons, but this pleasantly surprised me with how well it holds up, strong storytelling with humor sprinkled throughout and circumstances and emotions that are universal regardless of whether you grew up in the eighties or not.

This is a slim book, under two hundred pages, so there isn’t room for going into much detail about camp activities, though there certainly were moments involving that, as well as a talent show performance that deserves extra points for originality. The focus here is mainly on Dinah wanting to shed her kind reputation and experience what it’s like to be popular at summer camp, only right away she’s saddled with Fern, a girl who is the antithesis of popular.

I liked that this isn’t as simple as setting the reader up to hate Dinah for prioritizing popularity, and feeling sorry for outcast, Fern, you feel for both sides of the situation.

Dinah is likeable, you see her experiencing plenty of guilt plus she’s stuck in an identifiable and emotionally complicated situation where being nice requires her to be somewhat unfair to herself. Also Fern’s quirks can be tough to be around, you can understand how even the nicest person might reach their limit, so you get why things go the way they do even if you wish they hadn’t.

Then there’s Fern, likeable, too, in her own unique way. We’re not in her POV, still from early on you have the sense that her reluctance to speak, her so quickly clinging to Dinah has to do with how she’s been received by other people, and the story takes you on this painful to watch arc with Fern, where you see her becoming more and more comfortable with these girls, mistaking Dinah’s innate kindness for friendship.

As for the ending, the realism there very much contributed to the high rating I gave this one.

[Vikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick fun read!

[mdt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dinah Feeney looks forward to going away to camp and re-inventing herself as a popular girl. Before she even gets on the bus to camp, though, mouth-breathing Fern latches on to Dinah's shirt-tail and refuses to let go. Dinah manages to befriend gorgeous Cassandra (of the two up-turned collars) and wise-cracking Marilyn, but Fern threatens those relationships with her constant unwanted presence.
Memorable for the talent-show cannibal themed song (sung to the tune of Row-Row-Row Your Boat).

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Not as dated as you'd expect from a book written in 1985. A few laugh-out-loud moments, and a realistically messy conflict and resolution make it worth the hour it takes to read.

Also, the line about an Uber-Prep being in such a hurry that she only had time to put on one polo shirt about killed me.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! "Cannibal's Soup is good food!" :D

[Shevonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book as a preteen so now I'm reading it with my daughter.