BOY FRIENDS, GIRL FRIENDS, JUST FRIENDS

by Arlene Kramer & Irene Willis Richards ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 9, 1979

Richards and Willis' How to Get It Together When Your Parents Are Coming Apart (1976) was sensible and sympathetic, and so is their second book, on friendship; but without its predecessor's crisis focus this has less obvious application. More serious than a second-person advice book but eschewing as well any heavy psychological analysis, it is arranged in chapters which begin with representative situations--Lisa is hurt when best friend Kim transfers her attention to a boy; Tony must choose between staying friends with Matt and staying in the band that has replaced Matt as lead guitar--and then consider the problems and issues (rivalry, expectations, handling rejections) that the cases raise. In the process the authors go into such matters as the reasons for particular friendships, and they explore relationships in terms of individual needs--for example, ""Conflicts with friends endanger the friendship only when they lower the self-esteem of one or both of the friends."" Readers impatient for content, practical or otherwise, will find it all a bit soft, though compared to most teen advice books it is sane, mature, and honest.

Pub Date: March 9, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1979

Categories: NONFICTION