Illustrated by Jess Bradley.

Published by Guppy Books, 2023.

Best Friends Forever is the first book in a brilliant new contemporary middle grade series entitled Bigg School. Each book in the series focuses on a different group of Year 7 friends at the school. We begin with Lola and Evie.

Lola and Evie have been BFF since they were babies and are just like peas in a pod. When they move to secondary school, even though they don’t end up in the same class, Lola expects everything to stay the same. Yet when the annoying Cleo becomes friendly with Evie, stealing her away from Lola, three most definitely becomes a crowd. At home things are tough as well because Lola is going through changes there too. Her parents have recently divorced and they’re having to move out of the family home. Over the course of the book, Lola must learn that, although it’s difficult, not all change is bad…

This is a hugely relatable book with situations and characters that children themselves will be all too familiar with. The book’s plot centres around the pain and confusion that’s caused when friendship groups change, and the associated feelings of jealousy, loss and rejection. Other emotions that are explored include feelings of injustice, being misunderstood and having your feelings ignored.

It will be reassuring and comforting for children to recognise themselves in the story and realise that they’re not alone; their experiences and emotions are typical of many other children too.

I really liked how the book didn’t shy away from exploring difficult emotions and tricky topics. In this way, it reminded me of Jacqueline Wilson’s stories. Raw emotions are laid bare and the book feels very real because of it.

The book will also resonate because it deals with all the complexities of starting secondary school: the overwhelming size of the place, fears of getting lost, adjusting to different teachers and the pressures to grow up and ditch childhood interests in favour of make-up and boyfriends. I thought the depiction of mean girl behaviour was spot on: snide comments, casual put downs, and a shallow obsession with appearances.

Sprinkled throughout the book are Jess Bradley’s fabulous mini illustrations – they’re cute and funny and really support the story.

Best Friends Forever is a great story about navigating friendships, change, and all the ups and downs of growing up. Ultimately it has a positive and hopeful message and I enjoyed watching Lola and Astrid’s friendship develop. The latter scenes between Lola and her brother Matthew were really touching too. The second book, Double Drama, comes out in April 2024 and I can’t wait to read it.

Rating: 💙💙💙💙

Suitable for children aged 8+

Thank you to Guppy Books for sending me this book to review.