"Whether you're 9 or 19, chances are that you're obsessed with friends. The second installment of the Chicken Soup Real Deal series gives young readers a free pass to the roller-coaster ride of friendship. With stories, poems, sidebars, quizzes, and splashy graphics, The Real Deal Friends offers informal peer-group advice, not stern parental lectures."
– Barnes & Noble Editors
– Barnes & Noble Editors
The Real Deal: Friends gives teens the real scoop on the ups and downs of friendship in a package complete with sidebars, quizzes, cool graphics and great stories from teens for teens. This book explores all facets of the classic obsession of every teen: friends—making them, keeping them, fighting with them, losing them, helping them and competing with them.
Peek inside the other books in
The Real Deal series!
The Real Deal series!
Friends. How important are they to you? If you're like most teens, friends are at the top of your list, and when you consider how much time you spend with them—whether hanging out by the lockers before school or Instant Messaging long after your parents have said "lights out"—it's no wonder that they have a huge influence on the person you are today.
Maybe that influence is a good thing. Maybe your friends push you to be a better person or help you get through difficult times in your personal life. Or maybe they're influence isn't so good. Maybe your friends are the kind of people your parents would rather you didn't hang out with at all, and even though it's exciting being friends with the biggest rebel in school, when you're being honest with yourself you'd have to agree with your mom and dad.
Friends can be our trusted confidants…our soft place to land…our Saturday night companions. And while friendships are not without challenges, they're usually worth it. There's nothing quite like the comfort that comes from knowing that someone's got your back when you need them most.
Have you had friends who've come and gone and others who've stuck with you through thick and thin? Have you had nasty breakups with friends, where even though you didn't want it to happen, things ended up pretty ugly? Have you watched a friend go through something really tough and felt completely helpless? Have you been friends with someone of the opposite sex and then gotten confused when one of you started having feelings for the other?
Take comfort…you're not alone.
And that's why we decided to make this second book in the Real Deal series all about friends. Inside, you'll find real stories and poems from real teens—teens who write about their friendship highs and lows and everything in between in the hope that their experiences might make a connection with you.
Once again, we received many, many more submissions than we could possibly include in this book, but we want to thank all of you who took the time to submit your poems and stories. Hats off to you! But even if we didn't include your story in this book, know that we did read each and every submission, and what you wrote let us know what issues were most important to you. We hope that you find your experiences reflected in this book.
Like the first book in the Real Deal series, Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul's The Real Deal: Friends is chock full of quizzes, side stories, and tons of information on the kinds of things you want to know about: movies to see, books to read, fresh ways to look at tough situations, websites to check out, and things to explore in your journal. Plus this book also has my voice throughout. That's right…me. And while I'm not a teen anymore, I used to be one myself, and I continue working with teens today as a mentor and workshop leader. You'll get to know more about me in the introductions I've written to each story, especially since I lay it all on the line and tell it like it was and still is. Come to think of it, maybe I'm a bit too honest? In fact, my parents shouldn't read this book. Hmmm…I wonder if I'm too old to be grounded? Oh well… Anyway. I hope you enjoy the book. And more than anything, I hope that it helps you to have more fulfilling relationships with the friends in your life today, as well as all the friends you'll be collecting along the way.
© 2003-2007 Deborah Reber
