Hale is the writer of Goose Girl, Princess Academy, and the Wonder Woman graphic novel Diana: Princess of the Amazons, so she has an extensive following among young readers. “While she was writing the second book, we started talking about whether or not we would address things like body changes, boys, the world around you changing so quickly and you feel kind of stuck in place,” Hsu said, “and she said, ‘Well actually, that happened in eighth grade more than in sixth grade.’ And so that snowballed into the third book.”

“Shannon really digs deep into her childhood trauma,” Hsu said, “and she’s not shy about being raw and honest with her emotions, so each book is hard for her.” Although Hale was reluctant at first, she did decide to do a sequel.

Neither Hale nor Hsu initially planned for a trilogy, but as they worked on Real Friends, Hale kept bringing up other incidents from her life. LeUyen Pham is the artist for all three books, and PW is exclusively revealing the cover of Friends Forever here for the first time. She acquired the book for First Second, Roaring Brook’s graphic novel imprint, and both Real Friends, published in 2017, and its sequel, Best Friends, published in 2019, went on to become bestsellers.įirst Second will publish the third book in the trilogy, Friends Forever, in August 2021 with an announced first printing of one million copies. That was shortly after Hsu had come to Roaring Brook Press as a senior editor, in 2014 (she was recently promoted to editorial director). Within those 25 pages all those feelings from my childhood came back, and I thought, ‘There is something so special here.’ ” I was feeling all those insecurities I had when I was younger. With their signature humor, warmth, and insight, Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham have crafted another incredible love letter to their younger selves and to readers everywhere, a reminder to us all that we are enough.When Connie Hsu read the first few pages of Shannon Hale’s graphic memoir Real Friends, she said, “I felt seen. Is something wrong with her? Can she be the person everyone expects her to be? And who does she actually want to be? Everything keeps changing, her classmates are starting to date each other (but nobody wants to date her!), and no matter how hard she tries, Shannon can never seem to just be happy.Īs she works through her insecurities and undiagnosed depression, she worries about disappointing all the people who care about her.

Shannon is in eighth grade, and life is more complicated than ever. Download a FREE sneak peek of Friends Forever by Shannon Hale illustrated by LeUyen Pham.įollowing up their mega-bestselling Real Friends and Best Friends graphic memoirs, Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham are back with Friends Forever, a story about learning to love yourself exactly as you are.

Shannon hale friends forever