Friends First - Hardcover

Grade 6-8 Miranda and Gus have been best friends since infancy; his family has become an extended family to her and her mother, Fran, especially after the death of Miranda's father. During her eighth-grade year, Miranda experiences many changes. She loses the company of Emma, the housekeeper, after Emma and Fran disagree on sex education. Miranda is attacked in her hallway one day; although she is not hurt, she must acknowledge her vulnerability--especially to men. Newly aware of her own sexuality, she now feels frightened and ashamed. She even begins to exclude Gus from her life. Through his support and her mother's, Miranda is able to deal with the attack and establish a changed but special relationship with Gus. The story has enough familiar Boston landmarks to give concreteness to the events. The characters are quite believable, chronicling the curiosity, excitement, happy/sad emotions of a 14-year-old, as well as the fear caused by an encounter with modern life's violence. The adults are realistically portrayed; Fran displays the frustration and pain of any parent who wishes to protect a child and cannot. The story deals honestly with sexual harassment and sexual violence, presenting no magic answer, but concludes with the expressions and accomodations that allow the characters to cope with life's realities. --Carol A. Edwards, East Central Regional Lib . , Cambridge, MN
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

According to PW, McDonnell candidly yet delicately explores what reaching adulthood means for a girl in today's world in this thought-prowoking novel. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.