Showing AND Telling

I'm a big fan of Andrew Clements and his authentic and entertaining middle grade message books. This book, (the last to be published before his death in 2019), is top form. It's partly about fads, but it's mostly about how competition, envy, and bossiness can break up even a long term friendship. And it's about who needs to adapt, who needs to forgive, and what needs to change, for a threatened friendship to be salvaged. All of this, in classic Clements style, is accomplished in a light handed and entertaining fashion.

Thinking about how and why this book works so well, I had a happy thought that turns on the concept of "showing not telling". I don't like that phrase as a book review because I think it's sort of lazy and uncritical. (It's actually a form of telling instead of showing, heh, heh.) The beauty of Clements' books is that they both show and tell, which makes them accessible to and rewarding for a very wide range of readers.

In this one we have conflict between Grace and Ellie because Grace is fed up with being Ellie's sidekick. Grace is angry when Ellie co-opts Grace's whole button operation. Ellie is mean to Grace when Grace finally fights back, and Grace is over the top when she ultimately stands up for herself. Hank, their mutual friend, is caught in the middle, and the whole school, one way or another, gets sucked into the passive/aggressive battle.

Clements tells this entire tale, and makes his point, in two parallel lines. The book is narrated in the first person by Grace. If we follow her thoughts and her interior monologue, and the comments of a few others, including adults, the whole story is told to us. Grace is exceptionally self aware and so she tells herself, and us, what's going on and why, and what lessons there are to be learned. But also, Grace and Ellie and Hank are very articulate, and they talk openly and perceptively to each other about everything that's going on. Just from their dialogue and actions, we can see and intuit everything that's going on, and draw our own lessons from the characters' behaviors and results.

The upshot is that younger readers are told the story, and older readers can see the story unfold. Looking back, that seems to be the pattern for other Clements books, and it certainly strikes me as what makes his work so accessible and popular, even though nothing terribly antic or hilarious happens in them.

So, once again I ended up being impressed by Clements' admirable ability to tell a good story, teach a number of valuable lessons, and be entertaining, (and upbeat), all at the same time. A nice entry from an author who will be sorely missed.

(For what it's worth, (and really sorry to be a pedantic crank), the book is great on middle grade friendships, but not as much on economics. Grace tries to kill the fad by dumping thousands of buttons on the school. She's been told that oversupply will kill demand. As I understand it, (quick and dirty version), oversupply doesn't directly reduce demand; it reduces price. It makes the good so cheap the good loses any real value as an item to possess. What Clement really is illustrating is "positional goods", which are goods that lose value once everyone has them. This is one way that economic bubbles, (i.e. fads), end up growing and then bursting, which is a valuable lesson in its own way, but not really a lesson on supply and demand as such.)

(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

I didn't know what to expect when I started this book, but I know this author is a rather popular one in our store. I think I had tried a book by him before and I wasn't taken by it, but this book charmed me. I really enjoyed it and can see why his books are so popular.

The adults aren't as present in this book as say Jake Burt's books, but they aren't completely absent and they do serve important appropriate adult rolls, so that was a positive. The kids were realistic, and I really liked the scientific bent of the MC and her male friend. (sorry, I don't recall the names, I devoured this book in one sitting, so don't remember the specifics. Completely me and not the book.)

The collecting thing was a tad on the hoarder-ish side, but not over the top. The buttons were cool and I liked the idea they had at the end and that the kids worked together to make it happen. They had some adult help when necessary, but they were the ones doing it. I liked that, very empowering.

This was a fun book, with gentle issues of friendship and being honest present but not hitting the reader over the head. Excellent choice for a young/middle reader. 4.5 stars, rounded down to 4 because while I really liked it, it's not one of my absolute favorites. Definitely one I will be recommending to our customers and that I recommend now. Quick, fun read.

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's/Random House Books for Young Readers for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

A great book! A very thoughtful protagonist. Wonderful to see the growth in the characters. I love Andrew Clements and am delighted to have received a copy of this new book in exchange for my honest review. And Honestly I can very highly recommend this book. I found the characters to be very real and the situation, too. A feel good book as the characters learn and grow and come to a fine solution to a sticky problem. Mr Clements really understands kids and how they think. A lot of depth, but still a page turner. The book is very enjoyable with several good lessons, but never knocks you over the head with them. I think middle grade children would really like this one.

A cute middle grade book about the fads of kids and the effect they can have on friendship. I really liked Grace as the main character, very logical but also very full of compassion and kindness. As someone who loved 'Frindle' as a child, I can say Andrew Clements still has the magic. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-galley for review, all opinions are my own.

I absolutely LOVE this story! Grace and Ellie have been best friends forever, but when Grace shares her story about finding a bunch of buttons in her grandpa’s old mill, Ellie has to one-up her. This makes Grace realize she is always living in Ellie’s shadows and she is sort of tired of it. I would be too!
The story of their friendship is a cute one, but what I really love about this book is just Grace! She is a thinker! She is always dreaming up questions about her world and coming up with theories. When the school becomes obsessed with trading buttons she has to think up a way to stop a school fad, and quick!
Just an adorable middle grade book! Highly recommend!
Thank you to Random House Children’s and NetGalley for this fun story, it made my day

Andrew Clements did it again! Refreshing book! Loved it! Thank you netgalley for the free arc in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this story of friendship, as our protagonist Grace is forced to examine her long-time friendship with her best friend and finds that she is ready to make new friends. When science-minded Grace accidentally starts a new fad at by bringing in some buttons she found over the summer, she is taken by surprise by the effect it has on all of the students at her elementary school. The button craze changes the social landscape and comes between Grace and Ellie. Grace has always felt some discomfort with her friendship with Ellie and this situation brings things to a head. Grace tries to be objective but finds her emotions taking over. It was a satisfying read. Hand this to your upper elementary kiddos looking for a friendship story with a bit of drama.

Thank you Random House and NetGalley for this review copy. The Friendship War is another relatable book from Andrew Clements. I am constantly recommending his books to kids at school, and they love them for the realistic characters and relatable stories. The Friendship War is no exception. It explores friendship and the ways an idea can spread quickly. Grace the main character attempts to take a scientific approach to studying the way fads spread. Kids who enjoyed No Talking and Frindle will love this book too.

Science-minded Grace is a collector of interesting objects, so when she asks her grandfather if she can have the thousands of old buttons she finds in the old building he just purchased, he doesn't hesitate to hand them over. When Grace brings a few of the buttons to school, however, she is unprepared for the sudden enthusiasm for buttons shown by not just her best friend, Ellie, but also her entire class! As Grace and Ellie become consumed with the excitement of crafting, playing, and trading with buttons of all varieties, they also begin to realize the problems in their friendship, namely that Ellie shows off a lot and Grace resents her for it. Before long, the button frenzy becomes less about the buttons and more about trying to one-up and get back at each other. Grace wants to end the button fad once and for all and get things back to normal, but shutting it down proves to be a lot more difficult than putting it into motion in the first place.

This school story does a great job of describing the experience of getting caught up in a fad at school. Clements gets all the details just right, including the way fads sometimes grow and change overnight, and even the reactions of teachers and administrators when a fad begins to consume too much of the students' attention. He also uses the button fad very effectively as a vehicle both for Grace and Ellie to confront the strain in their friendship, and for Grace to become better friends with another classmate named Hank, who shares her scientific interests.

The flaw in this book, though, is how much exposition there is at the start. The strong story at the heart of this book is very slow to get going. The book opens with Grace arriving for a visit with her grandfather, leading the reader to believe that this visit and this relationship will be the focus of the novel. Just as the reader begins to settle into this story, however, Grace is suddenly heading right back home, with the buttons following by mail, and it's clear that this has all just been backstory leading up to the real story the author wants to tell. Only a few of the details revealed in these early pages are even remotely relevant to the rest of the book, and it takes a while to refocus after the abrupt shift in the narrative. I also found it a little unnecessary that Grace occasionally worries about whether Hank thinks she is cute. Not every middle grade novel needs to have a dating-related subplot, even a subtle one.

The Friendship War has some positive wisdom to impart about the importance of honesty and taking ownership of one's mistakes, and about placing a greater value on people than on objects, which I really appreciated. There is also a surprising amount of information about the history of the materials used to make buttons, which becomes interesting within the context of this story. While this isn't Clements's best book, it will satisfy most readers who enjoy his realistic school stories, especially those who see some of their own experiences mirrored by the story. (Thanks to Random House Children's and NetGalley for the digital review copy!)

Grace is a fifth grader who loves collecting objects. Her latest interest develops after visiting an old factory with her grandfather. Now Grace is hooked on buttons - and so is her entire school. What starts out as an innocent interest turns into something that is divisive and exhausting.

I enjoyed reading The Friendship War. Grace is a likeable and relatable character. The setting of an elementary school was personally refreshing to read. I can truly see many similar students enjoying this book as well.

I absolutely LOVE this story! Grace and Ellie have been best friends forever, but when Grace shares her story about finding a bunch of buttons in her grandpa’s old mill, Ellie has to one-up her. This makes Grace realize she is always living in Ellie’s shadows and she is sort of tired of it. I would be too!
The story of their friendship is a cute one, but what I really love about this book is just Grace! She is a thinker! She is always dreaming up questions about her world and coming up with theories. When the school becomes obsessed with trading buttons she has to think up a way to stop a school fad, and quick!
Just an adorable middle grade book! Highly recommend!
Thank you to Random House Children’s and NetGalley for this fun story, it made my day! My opinions are my own.
This will feature on my blog Thursday January 10, 2019.
www.colecampfireblog.com
LanaLCole@yahoo.com

4.5 stars. Terrific! Another great school story from Andrew Clements (Frindle, No Talking, Loser's Club). Clements really understands kids and schools and fads. There's even a great author's note in this about where the idea for the book came from.

Anyone who works in a school or who remembers a fad from their childhood will find the button fad here familiar. I loved the whole journey. Grace is a great character, too, more scientifically minded than other kids might be mid-fad, but that made this especially fun to read. She learns a lot in the story - about buttons, about economics, about friendship and about herself. Highly recommend!

The Friendship War
by Andrew Clements
Random House Children's
Random House Books for Young Readers
Children's Fiction
Pub Date 08 Jan 2019


I am reviewing a copy of The Friendship War Through Random House Children’s and Netgalley:


Grace and Ellie have been best friends since second grade despite their differences. Grace is usually happy to be Ellie’s sidekick while Ellie is the center of everything. It all changed when Grace starts a new fad at school a fad to do with buttons. Eventually the whole school is collectin, trading and even fighting over buttons. This fad just may land her into big trouble and may even end Ellie and Grace friendship because Ellie is not used to being pushed to the sidelines by anyone including her best friend.


Grace realizes there is only one thing to do to save her friendship and to get out of all the trouble that it’s causing and that is to enlist the help of Hank the biggest button collector in the sixth grade to stop the fad. But will they be able to?

Find out In the Friendship War!


Give our of five stars!


Happy Reading!

1. I wish this could have been titles The Button War but Avi snagged that. 2. This is the strongest book by Clements I have read in a while - I really liked it.
When Grace went to visit her grandfather over the summer they visited many places but their visit to the old mill he had just bought was really cool. While there Grace found boxes of buttons. Her grandfather agreed to ship them to her - a whole pallet. Soon after she got them she took some to show at school and realized that they weren't all just gray plain buttons but there were all shapes, sizes, and ages. When she decides to give some away at lunch she unknowingly starts a fad. While cool at first after a while it threatens her friendship with Ellie and could even get her in trouble.
A great middle school read.

As a school teacher, this book hit close to home as I witness the fads that come in and out of the schools every year.

This book centers around Grace and her obsession for collecting mundane objects. After visiting her grandfather, she happens to take in buttons; lots and lots of buttons. And low and behold, the buttons become the new fad in school. However as the buttons begin to take over the school, Grace finds herself in an unlikely situation, a feud with her best friend. Will Grace be able to fix her friendship or will button fever be to hard to pass up?

Andrew Clements does a great job of capturing real world problems that students face in the school. The characters are relatable, have flaws within themselves, and show that it's not always easy to manage everything that is happening in life.

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

I love the way that Clements can take a realistic, but simple, moment and cleverly imbue it with all the importance and drama of middle school life. Grace's unique character is a delight, and her story provides such a nice lesson on nurturing true friendship- even when it gets hard.

3.5 Stars

Look, I read FRINDLE back in fourth grade and I remember really liking it. That being said, I hadn’t picked up Andrew Clements book since then, so when I saw THE FRIENDSHIP WAR on NetGalley, I was curious enough to request it.

I’m very glad I did.

It was an interesting topic - fads, and bringing up more recent ones like fidget spinners was interesting. Personally, I was never a huge fan of fads and usually just waited for them to blow over. But I really liked the way this book handled the subject (it kind of reminded me of that one episode of ARTHUR where all the kids were obsessed with those Woogle toys).

Will I be purchasing in January when it gets released? Yes.

As always Andrew Clements delivers a page-turner! I love that this book wrapped in math, history, economics, and friendship. And just a hint of bullying. He is a master story-teller. Can't wait to talk about this book with my students.

I love Andrew clements books. They are short books with realistic lessons. This will be a great one to add to the library.

When Grace visits her grandfather in Massachusetts, they tour an old clothing factory that he has bought to renovate and turn into shops. Grace is allowed to take items she finds home with her, and when she finds boxes of buttons, she asks to have them all... all 24 cases of them! Her grandfather agrees and ships them to her house. When school starts, Grace is a little apprehensive because she hasn't seen her best friend, Ellie, all summer. Ellie is very enthusiastic and talkative, and wants to tell Grace all about her fabulous summer and all of the great new clothes she has gotten. Grace is a bit weary of always having to support Ellie, especially since she never seems to care about what Grace has done, so she decides to bring in some buttons to school. Ellie, of course, tries to upstage her. To her surprise, her fellow classmates seem very interested, and soon a huge button fad has started. Ellie starts making the buttons into bracelets, and trading them for fancier buttons. Another classmate has a very cool button, and Grace gets into the middle of the trade... and makes a better offer so that Ellie loses the button. This sets off a fight between the two girls. Luckily, Hank is very interested in the buttons, and he and Grace start hanging out together, research buttons and having fun together. Grace goes through her own family's buttons, and even asked her grandfather is she can have whatever buttons her grandmother, who recently passed away, might have had. Hoping to calm the fad down, Grace takes a lot of buttons to school and spreads them on the lawn, with the thought that an oversupply of buttons will lessen demand. This backfires, but Grace owns up to her actions. Will she be able to put things right with Ellie?
Strengths: This was a clever way to address fads in school. There always seems to be one around, doesn't there? As someone who has three glass jars of buttons, some dating back quite some time, this seemed completely realistic to me! The fight with Ellie, the budding romance with Hank, and the problems the grandfather is facing are all very realistic. Clements is a master of the school story, and The Friendship War is another great book.
Weaknesses: While I liked the way all of the characters eventually acted, I didn't much care for Grace. There is something half a bubble off about her personality that wasn't very pleasant.
What I really think: I'll probably purchase, since Clements fans come in fairly reliable waves. This is a must purchase for elementary libraries, and will certainly see enough use in a middle school as well.