top ten books about friendship

Tuesday, May 27, 2014 |
Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, where we all get to exercise our OCD tendencies and come up with bookish lists.  If you’d like to play along, check out this post.

top ten tuesday

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is a ‘freebie’ (meaning you can choose whatever you want to build a list around).  I haven’t been very faithful about posting TTT lists in 2014, so I’m going to steal last week’s topic and focus on books that feature friendship.  I was very careful constructing this list – there aren’t any sibling friendships here!  I wanted to write about books where the best friends are outside the nuclear family.

Top Ten Books About Friendship

1. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein – Code Name Verity contains one of the best friendships I’ve ever read, watched, or experienced.  AND it’s a great book, too.  If it didn’t make me tear up just thinking about the ending, I’d read it all over again tonight.

2. The Only Alien on the Planet by Kristen D. Randle – Can you be the friend of someone who never responds or reciprocates?  This older YA novel (published in 1996 – ye olden days!) wrestles with some powerful questions about friendship and family.

3. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling –  Oh, the Harry Potter books!  They’re as much about Harry finding a family made up of friends as they are about magic.  And the special bond between Harry, Hermione and Ron is something I’ll carry in my heart for always.

4. Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger – This book is underappreciated.  Set in WWII, it features a correspondence between a young boy and his idol, a baseball star.  The shenanigans that ensue result in a friendship (and story) full of vitality and wit.

5. Pegasus by Robin McKinley – Oh good gravy, this book!  It features a fast, forbidden friendship between a princess and her Pegasus, Ebon.  McKinley always writes beautiful relationships, but this is something special, even for her.  Too bad it’s a cliffhanger, and the second book nowhere in sight yet… *le sigh*


6. The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls by Claire Legrand – Victoria and Lawrence are friends, mainly by dint of Victoria’s force of will (Lawrence is a bit fuzzy on why exactly Victoria is his friend).  And it is this precocious friendship that leads her to the gates of the mysterious (and horrible!) home run by Mrs. Cavendish when Lawrence disappears.

7. Magic for Marigold by L.M. Montgomery – I liked all of the Green Gables series, but I truly fell in love with L.M. Montgomery’s writing in this standalone novel.  Marigold’s adventures and friendships are delightful, and Montgomery’s especial knack at capturing the fleeting memories of childhood is on display.

8. Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo – A Newbery Award-winning book needs no introduction, but I’ll say that Flora and her squirrel Ulysses and their compatriots made me laugh out loud on multiple occasions.

9. The Adventures of a South Pole Pig by Chris Kurtz – Another Flora enters the mix!  This time she’s a pig determined to prove her worth as a sled dog.  A treacherous journey will test her ambition and spunk, but Flora makes friends wherever she goes (no matter the species!).

10. Plain Kate by Erin Bow – What can I say about this book?  It’s heart-wrecking, in the best kind of way.  And Plain Kate’s friendship with the cat Taggle is part of that.  Dangit, I have tears in my eyes from typing this.  Erin Bow, you are TOO talented!

What are your favorite books about friendship?

12 comments:

Tales of Whimsy said...

What a cool list. I keep meaning to read Plain Kate.

Liviania said...

Great choices. I love that you went a little vintage.

La Coccinelle said...

I've had Plain Kate in my TBR pile for so long. It's an e-book, so it's not sitting in front of me all the time... and it keeps getting forgotten. I really need to get around to reading it!

Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies said...

Great list! I do want to re-read Code Name Verity -- I'd like to see how it reads knowing all the twists ahead of time... but I agree, I'm afraid of getting weepy all over again! I'm curious about Pegasus: I've read pretty much everything else by Robin McKinley. Some of her books are among my favorite all-time books, and some I can barely get through. The synopsis didn't really appeal to me when it came out -- but it sounds like you'd really recommend it. How do you think it stacks up against her other books?

Katherine P said...

Great choices! So glad to see Magic for Marigold getting some love! It's a delightful book and the first Montgomery book I introduced my daughter too. It's probably not my favorite but it definitely is one that gets overlooked and really shouldn't

Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm said...

Great picks, I loved that topic. Harry Potter made my list too, there are so many amazing friendships in that series. Here's my post, I decided to go with my favourite mind-blowing book endings.

maria helena said...

Great list!

Cecelia said...

Lisa: If you like character-based fantasy that may be slow-moving at times (very focused on the world-building), you'll love PEGASUS. It was one of my favorite McKinley reads. My other favorites: CHALICE, SUNSHINE, THE BLUE SWORD and BEAUTY.

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Code Name Verity is such a great friendship book! I just got Rose Under Fire from the library and can't wait to start it.

Unknown said...

Ooh, this one sounds like it's right up my alley. Onto the watch list it goes. Good find, Celia.

kayerj said...

from your descriptions these books sound like gems. (I totally agree with your description of Harry Potter and friends)

Leslie @ This is the Refrain said...

I'm writing a story right now that is going to be grounded in a friendship and I'm so excited that this is the Top Ten Tuesday! I agree with you that the friendship in Harry Potter is one of the best parts :)

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