Top Ten Tuesdays #3: Books about Friendship

This is a weekly meme hosted by the girls at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is book friendships, about the wonders of bonding with other humans.


Max's Picks


The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan, besides being absolutely sensational, features one of the greatest and most entertaining friendships I've seen in a book. Even though it's not necessarily YA and more of a children's book, I think it's amazing how Grover, Percy, and Annabeth's friendship grow over the course of the series and the adventures they have in it.


My second pick would be The Book Thief by Marcus Zuzak. The friendship between  the orphan Liesel, the protagonist in this WWII tale, and the Jewish man Max that her foster parents are hiding in their basement was wonderful. I also really enjoyed reading about Liesel's friendship with Rudy.



My last pick is Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen. While the friendship between the main character Colie and her new friends Morgan and Isabel wasn't exactly the same sort of friendship in the other two book I've mentioned, or that Tessa's mentioned down below, making new friends was an important part of the book. I thought their interactions were really realistic and fun, and Colie learned what having real friends was like.

Tessa's Picks

Even though this classic is not really YA, it has to be my first pick: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling. The whole series is really about friendship and pushing the limit of those bonds. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are considered the "Golden Trio" who help each other, through troll attacks, robbing banks, and fighting the Dark Lord, to save both of their worlds.
 

My second pick is My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. In my humble opinion, the best friendship is the bond between siblings, specifically sisters. Anna literally gives everything she has to save Kate, even when all hope is gone. At the end of the story, Anna gives Kate the ultimate gift that will stay with her forever.




My third pick is not as popular, but still conveys the same message -- The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater.  This is one of my favorite, but not well known, books. Four prep school boys strengthen their friendship and really show how to stick with each other through everything. Then, Blue is adopted into their friendship and she creates a dynamic that no one saw coming.

My final pick is The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. There are countless interlocking friendships in this series, including one of my favorites, Clary and Simon. Jace and Alec are so close that they are like brothers. On the other hand, Clary and Jace are almost as close as siblings.

Cassia's Picks

My first pick would have to be the River of Time series by Lisa Tawn Bergren. The entire series is about rebuilding relationships, whether it's with the love of your life, your family, or new friends. It's in all of the books, but it is most prominent in the third book, Torrent, which is why I have that picture instead of the first book. I can't say much about it without spoilers, so I'll go with what's in the first book, Waterfall. It goes through Gabi leaning more about herself, and, well, the human race and what it means to truly live.

 
Next, I have The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. It's just a great book about friendships, for the good or the bad. Sometimes friendship causes you to do things you wish you didn't, sometimes it helps you to be better, and it's not always by choice. It just happens, and you don't even know why. Or, at least Ponyboy doesn't. ;) There are a lot more great themes in this one, most of them about friendship and human nature.

 

My last pick is The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Yeah, you knew it was coming. This book is definitely about friendship and "the wonders of bonding with other humans." Hazel doesn't want to be a grenade; Augustus teaches her that she will never be a grenade to the ones that love her. And a bunch of other great themes about being human. I can't say anything more or else I'll go on a rant with spoilers, but you get the idea. Even though it's only a couple relationships in the entire book, a lot is said about bonding with other people.