*Part of Memorable Books of 2018 on Amazon!
*Award winning book!
Title: Best Friends Forever
Author: Arti Sonthalia
Type: Paperback
Age group: 8-12 years
It is said that “Friendship is one of the greatest gifts of life” and I believe that if you have even one good friend in your life who always has your back, you are extremely lucky. We make so many friends while growing up, but a BFF (Best Friend Forever) is someone with whom we can share our innermost secrets. A BFF never lets you down and is someone with whom one can spend hours without getting bored. This is the kind of relationship to which one can fall back to when in need.
But what happens when your best friend becomes or seems to become someone else’s best friend? She or he is no more inseparable from you and is enjoying someone else’s company more…? Isn’t it heartbreaking? Well if I correctly remember in my school days I was quite possessive about my BFF and her not paying attention to me used to hurt badly!!
Times have changed but friends and friendship related troubles are still the same. Many children in their tweens or even as teenagers go through a difficult time emotionally when one of their best friends or BFF starts behaving differently.
I was trying to find a book on this very topic for my 9 year old daughter, who was facing some friendship related issues, when I chanced upon this wonderful book, ‘Best Friends Forever’ by Arti Sonthalia. The story revolves around Pari, a fourth grade student whose world turns upside down when a new girl Amber joins their class.
Aditi, who is Pari’s BFF and was until now inseparably close to her, is given charge of helping Amber with lessons as she is new to the school. A series of events give Pari an impression that her BFF is slowly drifting away towards Amber, and things go wrong to an extent that a time comes when Pari and Aditi stop talking to each other.
Pari holds Amber (who is actually a good girl) responsible for this change of circumstance and and feels cheated by Aditi (who likes Amber and is good friends with her but is not purposely trying to hurt Pari and is unaware of her emotional turmoil). Though Pari never directly confronts Aditi or Amber, her emotional turmoil is quite evident in her behavior and work. Her friendship problem is having a spillover affect on her school related work too.
This is not the end of problems for Pari. Besides the emotional turmoil that Pari is going through, she has to deal with Vishnu, (her annoying class and project partner). Also at home she has an elder sister who keeps nettling her.
So what happens to Pari and Aditi’s friendship…? Will there be an outburst or will there be a calm resolution to this problem…? What is Amber’s role in all this…? Is Vishnu really an issue or an asset…? Will this story have a happy ending…?
Read this simple, sweet and poignant story to know the end.
After reading this book my daughter has learnt that being possessive in friendship is natural, but being over possessive is what creates trouble. Understanding and giving everyone their space in a relationship is very important.
She has stopped fretting over small issues and doesn’t feel that anyone is ignoring her.
This book is to the point and the storyline is gripping. It’s language is simple and an 8-10 year old independent reader will enjoy it most. Parents can even read this book together with their children and discuss a thing or two about friendship. It’s a perfect read for a child who is going through a rough patch in friendship. All in all, a wonderful must must read.
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