Not the Worst Friend in the World is a commendable middle-grade book. The author, Anne Rellihan, does a solid job of portraying realistic emotions and situations for the young people in the story. She identifies the hurt of lost friendships, the need to commune with one's peers, and the pain of fraying families in a natural manner. The book addresses painful subjects, and the author deals with them naturally, letting the hard blows hit without too much brutality for this age group. Her percipience of the sensitivities of children is palpable.
The references to Louise Fitzhugh's "Harriet the Spy" added little to the story. Young people owning journals where they keep observations and reactions to the world is not unusual. I felt that rather than being an accolade to Fitzhugh's 1964 book, Not the Worst Best Friend in the World borrowed too heavily from it. While the character's practices were mainly dissimilar, the emotional repercussions were far too close for my liking.
Middle-grade students will find much to enjoy and identify with in this novel.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Workshop. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book provided by the publisher, Penguin Workshop, via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

After Lou makes a mistake and says some things she can't take back, no one in school will talk to her, except the new girl, Cece.

This book takes us through Lou's 6th grade year and the ups and downs of being in the 6th grade. How mean the girls are, especially. I'd forgotten what it was like to be 12 and surrounded by horrible kids who want to best each other.

A cute story, but it moves a bit slow .

I really enjoyed the book. It was well written, the pacing was just right. Also loved the plot twist, it was well done.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this middle grade novel.

I really loved this story. A heartbreaking mystery, and a lot of friendship struggles are central to this book. Both come with a whole lot of heart, and I think readers will really enjoy this one.

This book was fabulous! I really enjoyed all the plot twists and the way the story moved, and I also really liked how the reader only gets bits and pieces of what happened in the past at a time. Overall, this book was really good and very well written.

A beautiful book! The slow reveal of how Lou had hurt her friend Francie and how she held onto the pain of losing her friend alone was excellently paced. Cece's journey to look for her mother was both realistic and an homage to the mystery novels that the girls had both read.

The details about the Catholic school were helpful to set the scene and gave a weighty background to the girls' interior turmoil.

Not the Worst Friend in the World is a classic story about friendship. Middle school girls will definitely relate to what Lou and her friends are going through. This story is perfect for middle grade students. It will help them understand what it means to be a good friend and how to accept others for who they are. I enjoyed reading it and I it has great lessons for students at this age.

Beautiful, beautiful book. It's actually the kind of book I'd have loved to read when I was 12/13, when my then friends started to change and get interested in different ("adult") things and I wanted to stay a kid a little while longer.

I also like that the author didn't antagonize Francie and her new friends beyond what was neccessary to the story, realizing that, besides them being kids, they're humans and humans make mistakes and are morally gray.

Cece's story was enthralling and even if I understood what was going on from the beginning (as a 28yo lol), it still plagued me with doubts while making me read with kindness in my heart to understand Cece and her search.

A wholesome book (and a debut moreover!!!) that I'd love pre-teens to read.

I love a good middle grade mystery. I sincerely think that there should be more of them. Rellihan’s novel kept me riveted and pulled at my heart strings.

Can Lou Bennett keep a secret? She’ll do just about anything to prove herself to her new friend—and the best friend she betrayed—in this debut novel that is a modern-day Harriet the Spy with high emotional stakes.

It’s the thirty-fourth day of sixth grade at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic School in Missouri, and eleven-year-old Lou wishes she could rewind time.

The story revolves around Lou Bennett, who gets in to a dispute with Francie, who is supposed to be her best friend. In need of comfort Lou befriends a new girl in her class, Cece, only to discover a shared experience. Their friendship quickly takes an unexpected turn when Cece confides in Lou about a challenging situation involving her parents.

Cece, living with her father, expresses a heartfelt desire to reunite with her mother and goes so far as to claim that she has been kidnapped by her father. Lou, grappling with the weight of her own past mistakes, becomes determined to help Cece navigate this difficult situation. She doesn't want to disappoint another friend.

I found the resolution of the story very satisfying and somewhat believable.

Not the Worst Friend in the World is a page-turning mystery with a deep emotional layer, authentic characters and relationships, and a perfect middle grade voice. The heavier topic of imperfect parents is balanced with dashes of humor--one scene was so hilarious I handed it to my husband so he could laugh with me.
Middle grade readers will find much to relate to in the character's struggle to navigate shifting friendships. The first-person voice is engaging and feels true to a sixth-grader. Overall, this is a page-turning, expertly-written story, and I look forward to seeing more from the author.

I really adored this one and think the majority of readers can relate to this one in many ways regardless of age. Poor Lou, dealing with both a friendship breakup as well as issues discovering her identity and figuring out her relationship with her parents - I just wanted to hug her! As a middle school teacher, I think this story is a good depiction of what it's like to be a middle schooler; it's important to keep in mind that while, as adults, their problems may seem small to us, that doesn't mean it's small to them. I can already visualize the students that this book would be perfect for and plan on adding it to my library upon release. Thanks for the ARC!

Can Lou Bennett keep a secret? She’ll do just about anything to prove herself to her new friend—and the best friend she betrayed—in this debut novel that is a modern-day Harriet the Spy with high emotional stakes.

This was really cute and well-written. Excellent middle-grade coming of age story reminiscent of Harriet the Spy (which I loved as a kid).

I'm sure the target audience of this story will like this. I always try and read books for all ages, as there are plenty of books in which adults are not the intended audience, but I love them anyway. This one is just not for me. I think it will be a good story, but I don't want to push through it only to give this a two stars, which isn't fair to the audience or the author. I had to DNF this around 5%. I would consider checking out other stories by this author for a teen or ya story.

Not the Worst Friend in the World is Anne Rellihan's debut contemporary middle-grade novel set to be released this February.

The story revolves around Lou Bennett, who gets in to a fight with her best friend, Francie. Seeking solace and connection, Lou befriends a new girl in her class, Cece, discovering a shared experience. However, their friendship takes an unexpected turn when Cece confides in Lou about a challenging situation involving her parents.

Cece, living with her father, expresses a heartfelt desire to reunite with her mother and goes so far as to claim that she has been kidnapped by her father. Lou, grappling with the weight of her own past mistakes, becomes determined to help Cece navigate this difficult situation. She doesn't want to disappoint another friend.

The author approaches difficult subjects with care and tact, allowing young readers to engage with the story while gaining valuable insights into the complexities of real-world issues. I especially liked the resolution of the novel, I found it satisfying. This novel is a great addition to the contemporary middle-grade genre and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Lou started 6th grade with a best friend breakup and things have been going downhill since then. She’s become an outcast at her Catholic school, watching her former bestie Francie move on. No one really pays her any attention until a new girl Cece asks Lou to help with an investigation—into her own abduction. Cece is convinced that her father has kidnapped her from her mother and wants Lou’s help to prove it. Told in dual timelines between the present and flashbacks to Lou and Francie’s friendship building from kindergarten, this is a story of hard friendship lessons, of understanding the difference between lashing out at a friend with hurtful comments and saying something to help them even if it may be an uncomfortable truth, and of dealing with really challenging family situations. I loved that the characters in this book act like real, messy kids who make mistakes and have to deal with the consequences in their relationships. In the end, I didn’t know if they were all going to be friends forever, but it was clear each of the girls had learned something about themselves and was trying to do better as all of their relationships evolved. Note that cruel words are said on-page about learning differences, but they are addressed directly and purposefully within the story when deciding if this is the right time for your MG reader to pick up this book. Highly recommend! Thank you so much to the publisher for the chance to read early.

"Not the Worst Friend in the World" is a bittersweet middle grade novel about a girl named Lou who had a big fight with her friend, and is left friendless. Lou's friend, whom she'd been best friends with up till their fight befriended the more "popular" girls, who talk about people behind their backs.

Lou knows that their not speaking is all her fault, and she wishes she can take back every mean thing she said.
Until Cece comes into the picture. Near the end of the book, and this is my opinion, some of you might hate it, I was really beginning to dislike Cece. Cece gave Lou a folder saying all the reasons why she thought she was kidnapped by her father. I think she was really, really trying to believe that her mother would come back, swoop in and retrieve her from her father. But her mother was absent.

(This may be a spoiler), But Cece was so RUDE to her father. I mean, I sort of get she might have suspicion that he kidnapped her, but she didn't know for sure. I don't know if it will be too insensitive to say this, but she was acting sort of selfish. She literally got everything she wanted, and she barely says anything to her father. And he literally did nothing to her.

Anyway, Lou is trying to help her get to her mother, meanwhile dealing with her own problems. I think this book really addresses what it's like to be a tween. I can feel all of Lou's emotions, I can really see from her point of view in this book. I was rooting for her the entire time. Thanks to Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Not the Worst Friend in the World is a story of friendship amongst preteen girls. It deals with many of the complicated parts of being a tween: strong emotions, family troubles, and growing up. I was hooked on this book and wanted to see what would happen to all the characters in the end. I will be recommending this book to my students.

Thank you to Holiday House for the digital ARC!

NOT THE WORST FRIEND IN THE WORLD captures the epic highs and lows of being a sixth grade girl in a way that feels totally authentic. There’s something about that specific grade where some friends are changing faster than others, and keeping up seems impossible. Lou’s voice is bright, witty, and realistic, and I really appreciated how flawed she was as she navigates friendship breakups, secrets, guilt, big feelings, and apologies. Middle grade readers will resonate with the exploration of different family structures and what it means to be there for a friend, even when you aren’t sure what the right thing to do is.

I read this in one session in about ~3 hours. I’m excited for readers to get their hands on it!

From kindergarten all the way through to 5th grade, Lou has been best friends with Francie, who is outspoken and feisty. Until, in the beginning of 6th grade, Lou does something that leads to a falling out between the two.

Lou quickly recognises that the estrangement is her fault, but is unsure about how to rectify the situation. In the meantime, she feels relegated to invisibility without the vibrant Francie at her side.

Desperate to prove her credentials as a good friend, when the opportunity comes up to engage with the new girl at their school Lou takes it. Unfortunately, having agreed to help out Cece, she may have bitten off more than she can chew.

Cece is convinced that her father has kidnapped her, and appears to have some grounds for thinking this. But once Lou discovers that this is a mistake on Cece's part, she is stuck between a rock and hard place, because this is one truth that her new friend does not want to hear...

This story has a lot of heart, and feels authentic. At the core of it is the need for friendship that we all experience, as well as the challenges of maintaining stable relationships between 11-year-olds. It will appeal to a lot of readers in the target age group, particularly those who are fans of more thoughtful stories.