Real Friends

Real Friends is a 2017 graphic novel memoir written by American author Shannon Hale (b. 1974) and illustrated by LeUyen Pham. The book chronicles Hale’s experiences growing up in Salt Lake City and starting school. The main narrative begins when Shannon starts kindergarten and ends just before she starts the sixth grade. Hale and Pham have since published two other graphic memoirs that continue the story of Real Friends. The second book in the series, Best Friends, was published in 2019; the third book, Friends Forever, was published in 2021. Real Friends tackles issues of bullying, social isolation, and mental illness. The memoir received critical acclaim. It was a New York Times Bestseller, a Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of 2017, an LA Times Best Book of the Year, a 2020 Illinois Bluestem Award winner, and more.

This guide uses the 2017 First Second e-book edition of the novel. 

Plot Summary

Shannon is about to start kindergarten in 1979. She has never really thought about making friends, as she has always been close with her mother. She is the middle child of a family of five, growing up in Salt Lake City, Utah. Although Shannon is very nervous about starting school, she soon befriends a girl named Adrienne. The two of them play intricate pretend games together. Adrienne helps draw her out of her shell. One day, Shannon is so delighted to see Adrienne that she kisses her on the cheek. Adrienne is uncomfortable, and Shannon never tries to kiss her again. The two are still close by the time second grade begins. One day, some boys grab Adrienne and try to kiss her, but Shannon chases them away. Soon after, Adrienne’s family moves away, leaving Shannon alone again.

After Adrienne leaves, Shannon makes a new friend called Tammy. Tammy is in foster care, which is a new concept for Shannon. Although the two girls remain friends for several months, Tammy does not really understand Shannon’s pretend games, and the pair have little in common. Tammy eventually leaves to live with her mother. Adrienne moves back home in time for the beginning of third grade. Shannon is delighted to have her best friend back, and the two are still close, but Adrienne now has new friends, too. She is close with Jen, the leader of several girls collectively known as The Group. Adrienne joins The Group effortlessly, but Shannon feels like she is always on the outside of things. Another girl in The Group, Jenny (not to be confused with Jen) is consistently unkind to Shannon.

Shannon also feels left out at home. Her oldest sister, Wendy, often gets angry with her, but her mother refuses to get involved in their fights. Shannon develops some symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), like counting the bricks on the wall at school. As she befriends Jen, Shannon’s status in The Group starts to improve. The other girls pressure her to sto playing games that they deem childish, and Shannon acquiesces because she wants to belong. During the summer between third and fourth grade, Jen invites Shannon to stay at her cabin for a week. The two of them realize that they have a lot in common and become better friends. Shannon gets glasses just before the beginning of fourth grade.

When school starts, Jenny is jealous that Jen and Shannon have become closer. She teases Shannon for wearing glasses and starts telling Jen mean lies about Shannon to break up their friendship. At home, Wendy cuts her hair short, rebelling against her parents’ expectations, and her relationship with Shannon becomes more antagonistic than ever. She often flies into a rage if Shannon irritates her, and Shannon feels as though she is living in a house with an aggressive bear that everyone else thinks is friendly. At school, she worries that if she tells her friends that Jenny is bullying her, they will kick her out of The Group entirely, and she will lose her friendship with Adrienne. Sometimes, the girls in The Group call boys in their grade and ask them to rate their looks. Shannon is consistently rated much lower than any of the others, even when they call the boy she has a crush on.

Shannon decides that she wants to be a writer. She is always inventing pretend games with her friends, though she has trouble summoning her ideas when she tries to write alone. School life and home life are equally challenging. Shannon grows distant from her mother when she realizes she will not get any support in dealing with Wendy. Shannon’s mother takes her to the doctor when she complains of repeated stomach aches, but the doctor does not realize that she is experiencing serious anxiety. Jenny continues to bully her. Adrienne refuses to leave The Group with Shannon since everyone is nice to her. Shannon wishes she could disappear since it does not seem like anyone cares about her.

Fifth grade begins, and Shannon is in a fifth-sixth grade split class away from most of her friends. Adrienne transfers to a gifted and talented program at a different school, leaving Shannon alone. Jenny tells The Group more lies: She says that Shannon is sick of all of them and signed up to be in a different fifth-grade class on purpose. Finally fed up with Jenny’s bullying, Shannon confronts The Group and tells them she will not play with them anymore. After a period of profound loneliness, Shannon eventually befriends two sixth-grade girls in her class: Zara and Veronica. They are kind to everyone, and they enjoy playing pretend games with Shannon. They all play soccer with the sixth-grade boys, but Shannon worries that she will be lonely when they all leave for junior high at the end of the year while she has another year of elementary school.

Shannon and Wendy finally find some common ground. Shannon realizes that Wendy has never had close friends and has always struggled to fit in. Wendy becomes more open to hearing about and sympathizing with Shannon’s experiences. Just before the end of fifth grade, Jen gets sick of being the leader of The Group. She asks Shannon if they can be friends again, and Shannon says yes. Jenny asks if she can join the group, but Shannon says no, not wanting Jenny to bully her anymore. Wendy leaves home for Los Angeles, though she is not yet 18. She makes Shannon promise to write to her and tell her how sixth grade is going. Shannon starts writing to her sister right away. She also finally gets to work writing her own stories without anyone else’s help. Although she does not know what the future holds, she has realized that nobody deserves to be alone. She also realizes that she finally has good friends around her, and together they can do anything.