The Friends [Mass Market Paperback]

Rosa Guy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 18, 1995

Phyllisia eventually recognizes that her own selfish pride rather than her mother's death and her father's tyrannical behavior created the gulf between her and her best friend.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Laurel Leaf (December 18, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440226678
• ISBN-13: 978-0440226673
• Product Dimensions: 4.8 x 0.5 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #891,263 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Group Reading Project, November 10, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Friends (Mass Market Paperback)

"The Friends" was an amazing novel by Rosa Guy. The story touches you deep down inside because it's so realistic. You just want to reach in to help the main characters. The setting takes place in Harlem, New York in the 1960's.

Phyllisia Cathy is the main character narrating the story in first person. Phyllisia and her family are forced to move to Harlem, New York where her father, Calvin opens a resturant. The Cathy family makes their new home in an apartment. Life for Phyllisia is much harder in Harlem than it was for her on The Island. After getting beat up and called names she starts to get used to the new life style. She soon makes a friend named Edith Jackson. Edith is shabby and sloppy looking. At first, Phyllisia is a little hesitant, but realizes how desperate she is for a friend and accepts her friendship. They have great times together but Phyllisia is slightly embarassed to be seen with Edith because of how she looks. Then, one day when Phyllisia gets caught in a riot Edith saves her life. After the experience, Phyllisia looks past their differences and just sees her as a friend. Meanwhile, at home Phyllisia's mother, Romona, is acting strange. Phyllisia and Ruby work hard to care for her when they discover that she is sick. When Romona becomes angry one day she reveals that she has breast cancer and dies within a few days. Phyllisia takes the death very hard. She stops eating and becomes very weak. Ruby tries her best to care for her younger sister but Calvin decides to take matters into his own hands. He forces Phyllisia to swallow the food and if it comes back up, she gets whipped with his belt. Eventually, Phyllisia regains her strength and is able to return to school.

Phyllisia doesn't see Edith at all for a very long time. She is afraid to sneak out to see her because of Calvin. She knows Edith needs her when she finds out that Randy, Edith's older brother, was killed fleeing from the police. At home, things are very bad for Ruby and Phyllisia. Calvin is meaner than ever and takes his anger out on his daughters. He beats them and yells at them. The girls are afraid to speak to him. Phyllisia becomes so angry and lonely inside that she becomes rebellious. She stops caring about what Calvin will do to her. She gets Calvin so angry from skipping school and hanging out with boys that he decides that he will send Ruby and Phyllisia back to The Island.

Phyllisia finally decides to visit Edith at her apartment. When she arrives she is greeted by disturbing news. Ellen, Edith's baby siter whom Phyllisia loved, is dead. Edith's other younger sisters were taken to an orphanage and Edith was scheduled to be taken away soon also. Phyllisia, feeling desperate to comfort her friend, promises to visit her and her sisters every day at the orphanage. Phyllisia didn't know how to keep her promise if she was going to be living thousands of miles away. Phyllisia decided to sum up all of her courage to confront the almighty Calvin. She argued and stayed strong when fighting him. She did not want to leave Edith. In the end, Phyllisia hits Calvin's only soft spot and is allowed to stay.

The story ends happily and surprisingly. The story teaches how important a good friendship is. The author, Rosa Guy, wrote the novel based on her own experiences. She grew up in Harlem and wants everyone who reads the book to know how hard life can be at certain times. "The Friends" is the first book of a trilogy. The trilogy includes "Ruby" and "Edith Jackson". "The Friends" is a great novel for young adults everywhere.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great coming of age novel, May 1, 2002

By 

"July Lady" (MS United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Friends (Mass Market Paperback)

The friends is about the friendship of Phyllisia, and Edith. Phyllisia is a new student in a Harlem school who is made fun of because of her West Indian style of talk. Edith is poorly dressed girl, who is the only one willing to be friends with Edith. Even though Edith is the one nice to Phyl, she still thinks she is better than her, and love hurting Edith's feeling time after time. Phyl is ashamed of her mom meeting Edith. Edith's mom is battling breast cancer. The friends is a good novel for anyone to read, and get something from it about the right way to treat people.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A book I recommend..."The Friends", October 8, 2003

By 

Trina Joy (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Friends (Mass Market Paperback)

I recommend this book to middle school children because it is a book about building healthy friendships and family issues. Phyllisia Cathy was rejected and beaten up by her schoolmates, sometimes for being smart, or sometimes for nothing at all. She was a, slightly, prosperous fourteen-year-old girl with a complete family, meaning a mom, a dad, and a sister. Then there was a girl named Edith Jackson who was indigent, not so smart, and came from a shattered family. Edith was furthermore one of the toughest girls in school. These two total opposites meet after Edith stuck up for Phyllisia after she was crudely beaten. From that moment on they knew they needed each other. Edith and Phyllisia had a roller coaster friendship ride. They went through problems in school with peers, to Calvin, which is Phyllisias inferior father, to the possessiveness of Phyllisias sister, to even the death of Phyllisias mother by reason of breast cancer. Phyllisia assisted Edith with taking care of Ediths younger siblings, and guided Edith out of trouble, because before they met Edith use to steal and curse. This book shows the significance of friendship, and the way teenagers can get through the hardest time just by having someones sustenance. The family life that goes on in this book does not only happen in books and in movies, but also in fact happens in actual life. That is one of the surpluses of this book, teenagers can comfortably connect to the problems. Altogether, this is a worthy book for middle school children because there are a lot of life long lessons that many teenagers learn at that age.