Customer Reviews

The Friends

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"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.

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.

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.

I agree w/ the last commentator below. This was one of the best books I ever read as a teen. I was in H.S. and my 10th grade teacher wanted our class to buy and read the book and be prepared to answer any questions she had at the time. She would assign certain chapters for us to read for homework. Well, the book was sooo good that I did not follow her lesson plan and read the entire book on my own. If anyone wants a good book, that you cannot put down and a novel that's a continuous page turner, then buy this book. You will not be disappointed.

I am in my junior year of college, and in class the other day my professor asked us to try and recall a book from elementary school that we remember explicitly because it was just that good, and this book was mine. I read it when I was in fifth grade, and I read it over and over; I remember that I was one of the best books that I had ever read and when he asked without hesitation it came into my mind. So, im buying it now just to have it as a memento of one of the best books I've read.

I thought this book was so well written and enjoyable. I could relate to all the characters in the book or knew someone like them. The book had so many twist and turns and it kept me guessing and wondering, I couldn't put it down. It had me reading other books by Rosa Guy too.

This is an excellent book for juveniles to adults. It is interesting, emotional, and very well written. As a middle school teacher, I highly recommend it for middle school students (7th/8th grade level).

That first day of school can make you or break you. Unfortunately, for Phyllisia is made her day. She had a brawl in front of school the same week. Adults looking out of their windows...just looking not helping. The young girls gets teased and into a fight in the first week. Wow! Then, she has to the audacity to judge the one person that attempts to be her friend, Edith - the ragamuffin that has holes in her stockings. Judgement was her downfall; but she learned to work with Edith. They became best friends. The lesson is don't judge people you don't know. As she learns about Edith, she learns about herself. A book that I believe every girl should read before they finish Junior High. I read it a little late - age 15.

If you judge people before you know them, then try reading "The Friends", by Rosa Guy. I think this book is for people around 13-14 years of age. My favorite scene in the book is when the main character, Phyllisia judges a girl named Edith.
She thinks Edith is dirty and mean, but finds out that she is nice and sweet and not very mean or bad at all. Edith and Phyllisia wind up becoming best friends and then are never allowed to talk again. They could have been friends sooner except that Phyllisia was so quick to judge. I appreciate how the author made her paragraphs rich in detail. I love when the person telling the story is descriptive. I liked this book a lot. I enjoyed "The Friends" because there was a lot of suspense and it described things with great detail. I related to this book, so it made me appreciate the book ten times more. I also used to judge people a lot and now I think before I judge. That is why I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone. I hope my review has been helpful to you.

If you dont believe people and judge them then you should read "The Friends". There is a lot of love and friendship in this book. Hopefully you will learn how to be nice to people and make friends. This book is for people 12 and up, for teenagers to. Mostly teenagers are the ones that have problems in their lives. This book is a good book that every one should read. This book is a really interesting book. The literacy device that I appreciate is that Phyllisia is rich and has a friend that is poor and she doesn't care that her friend is poor. She still wants to be friends with her even though she is poor. Phyllisia and Edith are best friends. I like this book because there is a lot of drama and friends that are not alike and still want to be together. I hope you read this book.