Life Without Friends [Hardcover]

Ellen Emerson White (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1987

After the drug-overdose death of a fellow student, Beverly breaks away from the fast crowd but finds herself friendless and full of guilt until she meets Derek who helps her come to terms with the past and look with some hope to the future.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Beverly had a rough junior year at her exclusive Boston prep school. She got involved with the wrong crowdso wrong that now two kids are dead, her former boyfriend is on trial for murder, and she's the chief witness for the prosecution. Bev's an outcast at school; she starts her senior year isolated and hopeless. It truly is "life without friends" until she meets Derek at the Public Garden. He's a young maintenance worker and a world apart from her preppie ex-friends. His wit and friendship gradually break down her defenses and she starts to care again. With a less skillful writer this could have been yet another bleak catalogue of contemporary teenage problems: divorce, suicide, drugs and self-destruction. But White (the author of several YA novels) has created a believable heroine kids will care about, as well as a highly readable, satisfying story.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-10 This sequel to Friends for Life (Avon, 1983), a tale of drugs and murder, deals with another of Tim's victims, his one-time girl friend, Beverly. Already alienated by her parent's divorce and her mother's subsequent suicide, Beverly bears an additional burden of guilt. She knew better than anyone how crazy Tim was; she had been a victim of his violent temper. If she had only told someone about him, perhaps the murders could have been avoided. She blames herself for the death of a classmate, and so do fellow students, who avoid her. She cuts off the overtures made by her stepmother and resists the help of the psychiatrist she visits weekly. But she finds herself initiating chance meetings with Derek, a young groundskeeper who works in a nearby park. Although at first she's sure that her father won't approve, she finds a tender heart under his wise-guy wit and begins tentatively to trust him. When she finally confesses her involvement in the murders, his understanding allows her to start forgiving herself and to finally accept her new family. While the story veers toward melodrama at times, it is compelling, and readers will appreciate the hopeful note at the end of the book. Eleanor K. MacDonald, Palos Verdes Library District, Calif.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Trade (March 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590337815
• ISBN-13: 978-0590337816
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,424,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ellen Emerson White has lived in New york City for many years, but still hankers for New England a bit.

She roots for the Red Sox, even when they are not at their best.

She is wicked private.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still my favorite book after 12 years., December 9, 1999

By 

"raisingrrl" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Life Without Friends (Paperback)

I am 23 years old, but I am not ashamed to tell the Amazonian world that LIFE WITHOUT FRIENDS by Ellen Emerson White is without a doubt my favorite book. It still holds the place of highest honor on my bookshelf. My poor little paperback is tattered and falling apart now, and I have two other copies in such bad shape that the covers and pages have been taped and re-glued back together and the lines of print are barely visible. I have read this book countless, countless times. Even today, after college and into grad school, I read it whenever I get sad or lonely or depressed, and it never fails to pick me back up again.

Of course, I can't say that this is the best book ever written. But so what? Sometimes you have just have to make room in your life for a story with characters so real and so believable that your own world disappears and you begin to think you were born in Boston and lived in the brownstone next to Beverly, Marianne, and Nick Johnson.

I wished throughout my adolescence that I would wake up in the morning as Beverly; that I would walk down to the Public Gardens to meet Derek for a clandestine cigarette; that I would go home to Marianne and Oliver and a nutritious supper.

And it's funny how my life has sort of paralleled Beverly's: I worked at an ice cream store throughout high school, figuring if it was good enough for Beverly...

My boyfriend of six years smells of motor oil and grass clippings and can create small objets d'art using wood and a swiss army knife. He has a noticeable southern accent, not unlike Derek's Bostonian twang. He is brilliant and more intelligent than you would ever realize just by looking at him, also not unlike Derek...

Although I didn't major in film, I have often dreamed of making this tiny novel which has made such a huge impact on my life into a movie. It deals with real teenage issues and problems on such an honest level, I can't imagine ANYONE not being able to identify with it.

Ellen Emerson White, if you ever start thinking that your work is meaningless, know this: LIFE WITHOUT FRIENDS *literally* altered the course of my life. And I thank you for it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What Would Happen If You Were A Killer's Girlfriend?, July 12, 2002

By 

Silmarwen (Huntington Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Life Without Friends (Paperback)

Beverly is a typical seventeen year old teenager who lives with her father (a Harvard professor), her stepmother (a "hippie child") and her stepbrother Oliver, an adorable 5 year-old. She goes to an upscale private school and used to date one of the handsomest, most popular guys in school. She gets straight A's and is at the top of her class. The only problem is, she is a witness for the prosecution at the trial of her ex-boyfriend for murdering a girl at school and attempting to murder two other students.

This book tells the story of how Beverly tries to live a "Life without Friends" because she feels that she doesn't deserve them. She often wishes that her ex-boyfriend had killed her instead so that she wouldn't have to put her family through the spectacle of a murder trial. However, she accidentally meets a guy in the park named Derek and becomes friends with him. Beverly is very scared of trying to love someone again and pushes Derek away every chance she gets, but she really likes being around him...

Eventually, Beverly & Derek do get together and Ellen Emerson White takes us through Beverly's changing relationship with her father, her stepmother, her new boyfriend and her psychologist and shows us that there are always people who love you, no matter what happens.

Although this book is written for teens and children, I think that it is wonderful and I have read and re-read it many times. Beverly is such a likeable character and most girls will identify with her low self-esteem and her desire to change her life. The characters are well developed and fun to get to know. I especially enjoyed Beverly and her interaction with the people around her. She has an offbeat sense of humor and often makes the reader laugh during the telling of the story. I highly recommend this book for any female who is looking for a nice romance with a more serious undertone.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beverly's Life Long Friend, November 14, 2005

By 

Sundiata - See all my reviews

This review is from: Life Without Friends (Paperback)

I discovered this book about 8 years ago in my library's discarded book bin. I was a little disturbed by the Red Sox hat the girl was wearing on the cover, but it was only $0.10, so I got it anyway. Within two hours, I had discovered my favorite book. I have a nice hardback and two paperback copies that I have purchased, scared that I might lose one. I have never read a book so many times, and I carry one with me when I travel because the story is so familiar and comforting. I highly recommend ANYTHING by Ellen Emerson White, for anyone over 12 or so. I am 21 now, and the story still captivates me.