Middle School Confidential: Real Friends vs. the Other Kind - Review

Middle School Confidential: Real Friends vs. the Other Kind
Ages: Teens -Tweens

In her first book of the series, Annie Fox dealt with self awareness and confidence building. Here she draws her sights on the next big topic - friends. Once again the format is easy to read with small doses of information, but packed with a punch like haiku. In this little book it is amazing how much is covered: sex, abusive relations, gossip, dating, breaking-up, possessiveness, expressing feelings, how to stand up for yourself, suicide. Advice is temperate and moderate - sensitive but not condoning, straightforward but not brusque and no preaching.

If you have read the first volume, the characters in the comics are familiar and serve to tie the two books together. The format of short advice paragraphs, questions, quotes from Terra's advice columns and the bibliography of books and websites serves the topics well.

So much has been covered in these two books that I am wondering what could be next - but I am sure that Annie knows.

Reviewed by: Editor - 08/09

  • Middle School Confidential: Real Friends vs. the Other Kind
  • Author: Annie Fox
  • Illustrator: Matt Kindt
  • © free spirit publishing $9.95
  • Platform(s): Book
  • Book Site: http://middleschoolconfidential.com/