TTT - Top Ten Books About Friendship

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. 

Each week a new topic is given and weeks topic is:

Top Ten Books About Friendship

Considering how highly I value depictions of friendships in books and in television, I found it really hard to compile this list! I kept thinking of my favourite TV friendships and how few book!friendships measured up.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein 

"Queenie" and Maddie have one of the most amazing friendships I've read in my entire life. They are platonic soul mates and I'm still recovering from the heartache that this book caused me. I want a friend as loyal and caring and loving as Queenie and Maddie are to each other.

Kiss the Morning Star by Elissa Janine Hoole 

Anna and Katy have a really beautiful friendship. I love that Katy is there for Anna when Anna needs her most. I love that this was a road trip book with a focus on friendship rather than romance. It wasn't my absolute favourite book, but it was a lovely friendship.

Pirate Cinema by Cory Doctorow

Trent and Jem have a very strange friendship. They're a pair of homeless teens who meet when Trent runs away from home, and Jem shows him the tricks to staying alive and even thriving on his own. They end up finding an empty building and squatting in it and fixing it up together and even though sometimes they hate each other, they always help one another out. I loved that Trent's romance with 26 (yes, that's her name) takes a backseat to his friendship with Jem throughout most of the novel. Jem is without a doubt the most important person in Trent's life.

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta 

I love everything that Melina Marchetta touches, but I found Saving Francesca to be, overall, a pretty forgettable book. The best part of it was definitely the friendships that Francesca builds. She isn't particularly nice to the other characters at the beginning of the book, particularly the other girls. I was particularly touched by her friendship with Jonah Griggs, mostly because on the surface they have absolutely nothing in common. I also loved the relationships between her, Tara, Siobhan, and Justine. Their friendship was born of circumstance, but became so much more than that. 

The Miseducation of Cameron Post - Emily M. Danforth

I'll tell you right off the bat that I'm not talking about Coley Taylor. The friendships I'm highlighting from this amazing book are between Cam and the people she meets at the de-gaying camp that she is sent to late in the book. It's an unusual place to make such strong, incredible, honest friendships, but Cam manages it. I'll admit I don't remember a lot of detail from this book (I don't even remember Cam's friends names!) but it's still one of my favourite books.

The Disenchantments - Nina LaCour

I have a feeling Nina LaCour is going to be one of my favourite authors. I've heard only good things about Hold Still and her new book is one of my most highly anticipated books of 2014. That said, the friendship between Colby and the girls in The Disenchantments is wonderful. They have their spats and sometimes they hate each other, but at the end of the day they're all there for one another 100%. 

The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater

The friendships between the boys are SO STRONG. Despite their (vast) differences, Gansey, Adam, Ronan, and Noah are very close. As Blue notes at one point, these boys don't go anywhere without one another. They travel as a pack. They accept the things that they don't like about each other, while also trying to help each other with their problems. Well, it's mostly Gansey being everyone's rock, but I loved the scene where Ronan jeopardized his future to save Adam (even when Adam didn't think he wanted to be saved). I just wish Blue had some real friends - she just doesn't quite fit into the group as well as I'd have liked.

Holes - Louis Sachar 

I read this book in elementary school and was incredibly affected by the friendship between Sidney and Zero. My memories of the film may be more vivid, but this book (and friendship) was a major part of my childhood.

Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell

Cath and Reagan have a great friendship because they take each other as they are. They don't like each other at first, mostly because they are so different. Being roommates, they have to put up with each other and Reagan eventually becomes Cath's only friend. What I loved was that they retained their differences while being changed by their friendship.

Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery 

How could I possibly compile a list of beautiful book friendships without including Anne and Diana? I've spent my entire life looking for the Diana to my Anne. I mean, Anne named her oldest daughter after Di. It doesn't get more devoted than that. I may or may not use the phrase "kindred spirits" on a regular basis.