Bad Best Friend

Niki and Ava have been best friends since 4th grade, which is why what happens in PE is a total shock to Niki.  The gym teacher tells everyone to pair up with their best friend.  No problem, right?  Everyone knows Niki and Ava are best friends, right?  Except Ava pairs up with cool girl Britney and leaves Niki alone like the third elephant on the day the ark was loaded.

Niki can't figure out what happened.  She's always been a good friend to Ava, always concerned about her feelings and wants.  This can't be real!

Thanks to the PE fiasco, Niki has started spending some time with Holly who used to be her best friend before Ava moved to town.  Niki is surprised to discover how much she enjoys hanging out with Holly and her friends, even if she can hear Ava's voice in her head calling them boring nerds.

This is all so confusing, but Niki doesn't feel comfortable talking to anyone about it, especially no her mom.  She always tries to be the easy kid.  Her younger brother Danny takes a lot of her parents' energy, and her mom somehow has this idea that Niki is wonderful and kind.  She doesn't want to shatter her mom's perfect idea, but she also knows this is NOT true.

Is Niki doomed to be the third elephant forever, left out in the cold alone? 

There is so much to love in Rachel Vail's new book!  Please hand this to all middle schooler everywhere, especially girls!  Vail does such a wonderful job of writing the relationships between these characters--Ava who manipulates and gaslights Niki and Niki who doesn't even realize she is unhappy and being manipulated by her so-called best friend.  Holly is the girl we all want to be, cool, confident, and generous.  Also, well-done for mirroring the daughters' relationships in the mothers.  Unfortunately, we don't always grow out of unhealthy friendship patterns.  And the ending is great!  No one gets off the hook too easily for their bad behavior.  Highly recommended!