The Kind of Friends We Used to Be

The Kind of Friends We Used To Be

        The Kind Of Friends We Used to Be by Frances O’Roark Dowell is about these two girls in middle school who were best friends, and know they can never be best friends like they used to be.  Marylin is a middle school cheerleader who is obsessed with popularity and hairstyles, and Kate is the exact opposite with her combat boots and hankering to learn guitar and to write her own songs.

        In the middle of seventh grade Marylin continues to hang out with the cheerleaders, although she is realizing that the controlling Mazie does not always have her best interest in mind.  When Marylin meets the new girl, Rhetta, she never dreamed that they could have something in common.  Rhetta’s amazing drawings of fairies reminded Marylin of the stories she always imagines but never has the courage to put on paper.  When the friendship between Marylin and Rhetta gets bad Marylin decides to stay a cheerleader just for the sake of following.

        Kate also makes new friends with the person who just a year ago had made Kate feel so awful could possibly become someone who she could share her thoughts and feelings to when something went bad.  When Kate decides to move from an interest in basketball to taking up and instrument, Flannery, her new best friend, provides the support and encouragement that Kate needs.  Kate also finds another musical kindred spirit when she meets Matthew Holler, who is not like the other boys but helps her to be something other than a girly-girl.

        Both Kate and Marylin realize that their friendship will survive the test of time, but they also realize that they will both need other friends to support and treat them right.  No matter what happens in the end they will always be friends with different thoughts and appearances but, they will always be with each other along the bumpy paths that they each take.