The Friendship List Series

Normally, I put up all the book covers in a series, but I'm going to be lazy this time and only use the first one. 

There are four books in the Friendship List series.

11 Before 12 (2017)

12 Before 13 (2018)

13 and Counting (2019)

13 and 3/4 (2020)

I think that's the entire series. Greenwald definitely ended it on a note that feels final. 

The premise of all four books is the same: two best friends (Kaylan and Arianna) make a list of things to accomplish within a set time period. It begins with them doing 11 things before they turn 12 as a means of distracting themselves from the stress of starting middle school. 

As with all these middle grade books, there's a lot of friendship drama. Greenwald is the author of the TBH series I finished a few months ago and wasn't really impressed with. Friendship List is certainly a stronger series with better characters, though honestly, they're not extremely likeable. 

Kaylan is constantly worried and hates change. She definitely grows throughout the series, but she has some pretty terrible moments. In the fourth book, she learns her mother is engaged and she suspects Ari knew and didn't tell her. Ari DID know, but she chose not to tell Kaylan because she didn't want to ruin Kaylan's time while Kaylan was at camp, but mostly because that's something she needed to learn from her mother. Which is 100% true. It wasn't Ari's place to tell and the fact that Kaylan even entertains the idea that it was is why she's not particularly likeable. The best thing she has going for her is that she's a comedian. Not a lot of middle grade/YA books with girls who aspire to be in comedy. Points for that. 

Ari is the far stronger character. I enjoyed her a lot because she's Jewish and that's not just a throwaway line, but a large part of her character. You go along with her for the process of her bat mitzvah and it's quite interesting. She's a religious character with depth but it's not done in a preachy or fake-feeling way. She's also different in that while the books are centered around the friendship between the two girls, Ari feels like she's "her best self" when she's at a Jewish summer camp that Kaylan doesn't attend. And in the fourth book, she suddenly wants to go to boarding school to try to have that camp feeling all year long. She's very independent and does well on her own, unlike a lot of tween characters. 

Overall, I liked the series, but Greenwald is not the best middle grade author out there. I'm glad I read it and I'm keeping these, unlike the TBH books. I may read these again at some point.