Best Friends

by Jacqueline Wilson

Gemma and Alice, born on the same day, have been devoted best friends ever since. Despite Gemma's larger-than-life personality and Alice's quieter, calmer character, the two are inseparable - until that is Alice has to move house, all the way to Scotland. Gemma is utterly distraught, particularly at the thought that Alice might find a new best friend. Is there anything Gem's brothers, or perhaps her grandad, can do to help? Established fans, especially male readers, will be delighted to re-encounter the flamboyant Biscuits, co-star of Buried Alive! and Cliffhanger. A charming, funny and touching story will be adored by all Wilson fans from 7 upwards.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Middle Grade, Contemporary, Young Adult, Novels, Realistic Fiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Jacqueline Wilson was born in Bath in 1945, but spent most of her childhood in Kingston-on-Thames. She always wanted to be a writer and wrote her first ‘novel’ when she was nine, filling in countless Woolworths’ exercise books as she grew up. As a teenager she started work for a magazine publishing company and then went on to work as a journalist on Jackie magazine (which she was told was named after her!) before turning to writing novels full-time.

One of Jacqueline’s most successful and enduring creations has been the famous Tracy Beaker, who first appeared in 1991 in The Story of Tracy Beaker. This was also the first of her books to be illustrated by Nick Sharratt. Since then Jacqueline has been on countless awards shortlists and has gone on to win many awards. The Illustrated Mum won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award, the 1999 Children’s Book of the Year at the British Book Awards and was also shortlisted for the 1999 Whitbread Children’s Book Award.

Double Act won the prestigious Smarties Medal and the Children’s Book Award as well as being highly commended for the Carnegie Medal. The Story of Tracy Beaker won the 2002 Blue Peter People’s Choice Award.

Jacqueline is one of the nation’s favourite authors, and her books are loved and cherished by young readers not only in the UK but all over the world. She has sold millions of books and in the UK alone the total now stands at over 35 million!

In 2002 Jacqueline was awarded the OBE for services to literacy in schools and from 2005 to 2007 she was the Children’s Laureate. In 2008 she became Dame Jacqueline Wilson.

Reviews

[Charmel · Rating 4 out of 5]

one of my childhood faves <3

[Mariam · Rating 5 out of 5]

First impression: Awww!! ♥♥
I liked how the author portrays Gemma and Alice; different in personality, lifestyle, interests, almost different in everything, yet they were BEST FRIENDS!
I actually like Gemma's personality, so naughty and good-hearted
I loved it when Jacqueline added the run-away part!
It got on my nerves a bit.
I didn't like Alice's mom one bit. Sometimes I didn't like Gemma's, but she's way much better the Alice's.
Alice's mom is a portray of a bad mom, honestly!
I find it smart of the writer to add Flora. I did think she was kind at first, but then I hated her.
As Jacqueline's all other books, it didn't have the perfect ending of "lived happily ever after," yet it was such a happy one!
Jacqueline writes as if she was a child herself, she can well put herself into a child's shoes and speak like one, this is one of the most things I like about her; I can actually put myself into the book and live each moment. (I'm not a CHILD though)
The story overall is fun to read and true to happen.


btw,, something that really interested me is that it's not easy having a PC in every house =P so yeah alhamdulellah xD

[Simone Lavinier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jacqueline Wilson, Best Friends was an exceptional read, as are most of her books. The author's style of writing is very open and honest and this allows the reader to understand how each character feels at every stage. The book is about two best friends, namely Gemma and Alice who have been together since birth and who are also like chalk and cheese. Their dissimilarity in personality and physical appearance is what fuels their friendship and makes them compatible in that, what one lacks in, the other makes up for and vice versa. Their friendship is tested when Alice's father takes up a new job opportunity in Scotland and decides to move the family in a plight to raise their living standards for the finer things in life. The girls are obviously displeased, as they will no longer be able to see each other as often so decides to run away with only ten pounds between them. This get-away was short lived when they were spotted and as a result was in trouble with each of their parents. However, Gemma received the most punishment, being the more boisterous of the two, was always deemed as the trouble maker and was forbidden to see Alice. The girls were very distressed when Alice eventually moved; however they found ways of contacting each other and Gemma jumped at the chance when her grandfather offered to take her to see Alice. But when Gemma arrives she is confronted with a potential threat that is, Fiona, Alice's new friend. After Gemma loses her temper, Alice's mother, once again forbids Gemma having contact with Alice. Gemma is distraught, and thinks Alice has moved on when she doesn't receive a birthday card from her. Gemma is reassured when Alice manages to not only send a card but a special present for her. Throughout the book, the author makes the reader feel just how distressing it must have been for the two best friends after they learned of their forced separation. She does this through use of description and emotional speech. The reader can experience every scene through the imagery created. I would recommend this book to children in year 2/3 and above.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've got this book and read it a number of times. Alice is keeping a secret from Gemma. Which she NEVER does because they're BFFS. When Gemma finds out (By ACCIDENTALLY Looking at her diary) it changes EVERYTHING! Alice is moving to Scotland which is a whole country away. They try to run away but of course get caught. Gemma ACCIDENTALLY screams at Alice's mum and Her mum hates her. So when Gemma FINALLY gets to see Alice in Scotland she has a new friend, Flora. Flora tries to steal Alice away from Gemma and Gemma ACCIDENTALLY throws a cake on her face... Will Alice stay Gemma's BFF or Will she keep her distance....

[Tanja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now I know why this book is so popular with the girls at our school - they can relate so easily to the situation in which these two best friends are in: one moving away, leaving the other one behind. Can their friendship survive? A question that many of our students ask themselves at this time of the year, when a good friend is moving away. While definitely a great story, I found it in some instances a bit exaggerated(the disasters Gemma creates) and too easily resolved (the never ending loyality of Alice).

[Michelle Akaishi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that this book was really amazing as I'm a BIG fan of Jacqueline Wilson (n I actually mean it!!). Idon't care care if someone says that I'm too big for these kind of books....Books aren't read according to the age....They can be enjoyed by anyone at anytime....Simply..,my opinion is that books can be enjoyed by anyone (even by a monster or by an alien).

[Apatricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sem dúvida o meu livro de infância preferido!

[Shen (da Oreo)]

This book was very funny! I especially enjoyed the illustrations but what was being read wasn’t bad at all! I think that if I was Gemma I would really hate Alice she seemed like the goodgood2shoes suck up!
I always enjoyed jaqueline’s books but especially this one!

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't believe this book. I have really enjoyed Bad Girls by this author, but two girls who live near each other and share a birthday, grow up with nothing else in common at all, no common interests or behaviour, yet they are best friends. Their parents allow an unhealthy obsession to persist which shows itself as control freakish, jealousy, possessiveness, obsessiveness, insecurity and selfishness. The girls are about to be separated as one family is moving, so they first decide to run away then create havoc when that is stopped. One girl is milk-mannered and sticky sweet, the other seems to have ADHD and gluttony combined. The parents would I am sure have squashed her chaos and told her how to behave. By the end she is still throwing cakes at people. Get a grip.
I advise parental guidance before passing this to a child. The kids might well laugh, but we want them to learn too. Lessons are present, but few and not that well learned except that a badly behaved girl can walk all over everyone.
This is an unbiased review.

[Emma Grand · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book "best friends" is a delightful and fun story full of new complications at every turn of a page. Gemma and Alice have known each other since the day they were born. Both girls do everything together and have never gone one day without seeing each other. Gemma the main character is heartborken when she discovers that Alice and her family are moving away to Scotland. This novel depicts how Gemma deals with her sadness and how through their journey Gemma and Alice still stay best friends.

[Maira Asif · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best Friends- A magnificent tale of two friends who were best friends , together since day one. But.. unfortunately, one day they got separated they both were in tears 😭. The sadness throughout the book is high and increases as you read on.


An amazing book.
Would recommend.

[thegirlwiththesitatattoo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Little trip down memory lane

[Courtney Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do love a Jaqueline Wilson book, one of my first ones I read when younger! It was lovely to read this one to my daughter and reminisce, but also to see how different it seemed to me reading now as an adult. She writes brilliantly, with such important topics, I recommend this highly.

[ouliana · Rating 4 out of 5]

yeah, breaking up with partners is sad but the real heartbreaking tragedy is losing your best friend

[Guguk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kisah 2 sahabat, dua-duanya gadis cilik usia SD, dan salah satunya tipe "Lu yang tadi ngomongin gua di perosotan, yaa?" XD
Lumayan kesel sama si Gemma yang jadi rewel banget karena teman baiknya, Alice, pindah rumah.
Apalagi pas kejadian dia musuhin bocah di perosotan si Biscuit yang ga sengaja cerita soal Gemma & Alice yang mau kabur itu~, tapi ceritanya memang full-'tragedi'-anak-SD yang penuh dengan kesepelean yang terasa fatal di umur-umur segitu ^^

Untungnya, Gemma yang super aktif ini juga jadi sumber hiburan dengan kelakuannya yang kadang ngaco, kadang bikin ngakak XD
Penggambaran keluarganya -- ayah yang santai, ibu yang disiplin, kakek yang memanjakan, juga kedua kakak cowok dan Barking Mad -- semuanya aku suka, dan sekaligus bikin pengen noyor jidat si Gemma, "Dih~ 'ni anak.., udah dikelilingi cinta segini banyaknya, masih aja rewel sama ini-itu~"
Manusia sejak usia belia memang sudah menunjukkan tanda-tanda ketidakpuasan, mengabaikan apa yang dimiliki, dan merengek meminta apa yang tak tergapai~ ╮(︶▽︶)╭ //ngomongnya-sambil-ngaca-guk

Secara keseluruhan, menyenangkan bacanya ヽ(>∀<☆)ノ seperti hampir semua karya JW lainnya~

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Jaqueline Wilson books mostly because you get to understand how a character feels in a situation, and at points because Gemma writes it as a diary entry and expresses her feelings, I felt what she was feeling.I would recommend this book to anyone who like hearing about what other people have been through.

[Ciara K · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s literally years since I’ve read this, a nice start to the year. It’s definitely on the scale of being for Wilson’s more younger readers. It was cute albeit a bit overly childish, but I liked Gemma and her cheeky ways. It was a nice start to the yearly challenge

[Anusha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The nostalgia

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best Friends by Jacqueline Wilson is all about two best friends who were so close since they were born. Gemma, one of the two best friends is the loud trouble maker, but still cares very dearly about her best friend Alice. Alice is a quiet and shy girly girl who is the exact opposite of Gemma, and that's why they get along so well. Gemma gets her into things that may get them both in trouble in this story. The story starts when Gemma and Alice are the best of friends, no one could break their friendship. When Alice's mother tells Gemma's family that they all are moving to Scotland from England because there was a better job for Alice's dad, Gemma is heartbroken. Soon, when Alice's family throws a good bye party, and Gemma and her family attend, Gemma brings takes Alice so that they could run away so that she could be with Alice, and that is what gets Gemma and Alice into an enormous amount of trouble. Of course, they got caught and had to go back home to the way things were going to be. Gemma and Alice will forever be apart unless they think of something to help them get through them growing apart.

I think that the author wrote this book to show that anyone can get over things that could be major or minor. She must have gone through something heartbreaking like this, and she wanted to share her experience with the readers, but telling it in a different way so that maybe a young adult reader can understand. I really loved this book because I could really share and express the emotions of the character on the story, especially Gemma, since she seemed to feel the most grief over what happened. Sine Alice seemed to move on with her new life in Scotland fine, I didn't feel to sorry for her, but for Gemma I did.

I recommend this book to middle school age readers since it may teach you a lesson to let go and move on with your life if you are stuck at a certain spot and don't know how to move on. This book is a must read because it is so easy to relate to and really sends a message out to children that things can get better from where they are, you jut need to push through and things will go nicely for you.

[Rhian Niblett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best Friends by Jacqueline Wilson is the story of two friends, Gemma and Alice, who share the same birthday and always wish to remain best friends forever when they blow the candles out on their cake. Gemma is a rather feisty character; a tomboy who loves to get messy and always seem to end up breaking the rules. Alice is the complete opposite of Gemma; polite, quiet with a love of all things pink.

In the story, Alice and her family move away to Scotland and both Gemma and Alice are desperate to remain best friends. Firstly, they try to run away together to London however, this plan is scuppered when Biscuits, the cheerful, chubby boy in their class, tells his mum when he realises what they are doing. Alice and Gemma keep in contact via email, without their parent’s knowledge, but Gemma gets jealous of Alice’s blossoming friendship with Flora in Scotland. One weekend, Gemma’s granddad agrees to take Gemma to Scotland to see Alice but the day ends in disaster when Gemma, in a fit of jealousy, throws a cake at Flora’s face. There is a happy ending though, with Gemma becoming good friends with Biscuits and Alice sending Gemma her charm bracelet as a sign that they will be best friends forever.

I chose this book as I remember thoroughly enjoying it when I first read it as a child. The themes that appear in the story are things that children can really relate to, for example, moving away and making new friends. I like the style in which Jacqueline Wilson writes as it enables the reader to fully understand the characters, for example, when Gemma is talking or thinking, the vocabulary and pace reflects the type of character she is. The simple illustrations throughout the book are helpful in keeping the young reader engaged without taking too much away from the writing as Wilson gives detailed descriptions of each character.

This book would be suitable for upper KS2, ages 9 and up, and is ideal for independent reading rather than reading as a class as it is likely to appeal to girls rather than boys.

[Hayley (Backpacking Bookworm) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been a JW fan all my life and have enjoyed rediscovering her books again as an adult. In Best Friends, Gemma and Alice have been together since birth - literally, they were born on the same day and have been inseparable ever since, despite being complete opposites (Gemma is loud, selfish, and bossy, while Alice is timid, meek, and sensible). When Alice's dad gets a new job in Scotland, Gemma is distraught and does everything she can to keep Alice for herself, scared that she'll find a new best friend in Scotland and forget all about her.

This wasn't my favourite JW novel, however, I did appreciate the allusion to other books (Tracy Beaker and Biscuits from Cliffhanger). There were too many things I didn't like though:

- The characters - other than Biscuits and grandad, I found the characters unlikeable and hard to put up with. Gemma was actually a horrible friend and too self-absorbed for my liking. Her mum was also awful, as was Alice's and I couldn't stick them as JW would say.
- That brings me to the writing - I normally really like JW's style but this one felt repetitive and exaggerated - perhaps I was just more aware as I listened on audio at 1.75x but it all just felt a bit overcooked.
- I didn't really like the morals in the book - feeling like you can't move on from a friendship or have other friends, eating everything in sight to the point of throwing up because you won't politely say no, an unwillingness to share, etc.

It's not one I'll be passing down to my future child but there are more than enough others I've loved that make up for it.

Rating breakdown
Plot/narrative - 3.3
Writing style/readability - 3.2
Characters - 2.2
Diverse themes - 2
Ending - 3
Overall - 2.7

[Edward Knapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sixth book in my review list is the heart warming Best Friends by Jacqueline Wilson. The story features to girls, Gemma and Alice, Who are the best of friends. They were born on the same day and seemingly do everything together; however, they do have different personalities which add to their camaraderie. Each year they wish to be ‘best friends for ever and ever and ever’ and they appear to have an unbreakable bond. Devastatingly Alice’s father gets a job that is situated in Scotland and it appears that their friendship will be all but lost due to the distance they will be apart, they now have to navigate through life without one another and make new friends. Having found a new friend, Alice invites Gemma to stay only for Gemma to throw a cake in the face of the new friend because she does not like her. The story is a very popular one with children throughout primary schools. I think that it is easy to relate to for children as it deals with the complex world of friendships and break ups and how they are dealt with. Children throughout Key stage two in primary school do have a strong bond with their friends. The children would be able to relate to the strength of Gemma and Alice’s friendship and the sadness they feel when they are separated. This could be a good talking point for a class discussion especially if the book is used as a course reader for all the children to enjoy. Fascinating story and certainly one for the many years to come.

[Staceyburnett]

this book was a very inspiring book about these two best friends that have an friendship that could last a life time, the thing is...one of the best friends are moving to live somewhere out of the country! and now their friendship has been breaking apart....so now they have to do something to make them still have a tight friendship that could last a whole life time and try and stop them from breaking apart from each other.

This book is what i can really relate to...and it made me feel really clicked on to the story line, it made me want to read more and more as i could relate; this is why i enjoyed this book and found it very interesting.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alice and Gemma were born on the same day and even with very different personalities were best of friends. Through life they got up to all sorts and were inseparable. After a disagreement Alice had to move to Scotland and Gemma feared they would no longer be friends. Luckily her grandad decided to take Gemma on a road trip where the girls were reunited but Gemma met Flora Alices new friend, the eventful meet ended with a funny incident with a cake! A funny book about friendship, great to read highly recommend it.

[rory gilmore · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5, still makes me v sad

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 stars x

[Remy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm still allowed one-special-friend sleepovers so long as that special friend is Alice. So that's great great great because as I've probably said before, Alice is my very best friend.
I don't know what I'd do without her.

There is a very specific feeling felt by every young girl who is best friends with another young girl. It's such a universal, varied experience but the very same thing is at the heart of it. I liked how Wilson expressed it through this story, but there are just some things I liked even more:

First things first: Gemma and Alice are the titular best friends, but as this story is centred around the conflict that Alice has to move to Scotland, they actually spend the majority of this book separated from each other and Gemma plotting ways she can contact or see Alice. So instead, we see Gemma hang out with the other people in her life. I absolutely loved Gemma's relationship with her dear Grandad; I dare say it's better written than Gemma's relationship with Alice. She resents Biscuits, but later grows so fond of him (AS DID I, AND HIS CAKES ARE BANGER). Overall it's pretty simple but the main thing is that because Alice is not here anymore, Gemma steps out of that tight bond and gets the chance to develop relationships with the other people around her and essentially learns that it's not actually the end of the world after Alice moves away, and even if it is, it'll eventually stop feeling that way. It's the age-old adage of "the thing about life is that you think there's something you'll never get over and you always do. Every time."

Another thing I wanna point out is how everyone was downplaying Gemma's emotions. I bring you this quote from where Gemma must celebrate her very first birthday without Alice and everyone's planning it:

They were trying so hard to be kind to me and make my birthday special. Only it wouldn't work. It wasn't what I wanted.
I just wanted Alice to be sharing our birthday the way she always did.
Dad was looking at me eagerly. They were all looking at me. I had to think about what they wanted.

JACKY WILSON YOU QUEEN. If I had a dollar for every moment where something was really my choice but I also had to think about what *others* wanted, I'd be a rich woman. And this is after everyone's been calling Gemma silly for making such fuss about Alice moving because surely she'll have forgotten all about Alice in a few weeks and made another friend. That's very much not how that works. I wish my younger self could have read this and perhaps felt better about her childhood best friend who went off with someone else just because they weren't in the same class anymore... though that's a whole other can of beans, and well. I just really liked Gemma's personality. I loved that she was so naughty and scruffy and unapologetically herself, even if disaster charges everything around her. It really reminds one that the thing at the heart of this experience is love. Female friendship is different because there's so much love and intensity put into it than anything else. And even when it twists Gemma up and down, she's not ever truly alone or friendless. And I love that.

[Stefanny Natalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awalnya kupikir karakter Gemma disini mirip Tracy Beaker (my least fav chara in JW books) tapi ternyata beda. Aku suka gimana Gemma meskipun sering berulah nakal tapi terkadang masih menggunakan akal sehatnya. Sayangnya akibat sifatnya itu dia jadi sering smacam disalahkan. Poor Gemma :(
Dan aku suka pengembangan karakter Gemma disini di bab terakhir2. Untuk anak seusia dia ,tindakan dia termasuk dewasa. And guess what I LOVE BISCUIT!! He is such a kind hearted boy.
Kayaknya harus baca karya JW lain yg ada karakter Biscuitnya ini ahahha

[Kamons · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jacqueline is one of my favorite pre-teen telling stories. Her stories are simple and may happen to everyone. Best friends are one of those; sometimes we may separate from someone we loved, and we have to pass through it. This story is simple and easy to read but the ending was too abrupt. I think it should be something that makes Gemma learn more about how to make friends with other people more than this.

[rimbluebooks (Rim) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I haven't had a good laugh in ages. I laughed so hard reading this book. What can I say, really! 😂😂😂 Gemma reminded me a lot of myself to be honest.
I'm going to try and get some more of Jacqueline Wilson's books because I really liked the way she writes and I think 7 years old me would have really loved her books