It’s a STAR for WE USED TO BE FRIENDS!

Bafflement permeates this title as a child recalls a relatively recent falling-out with a longtime best friend. Significantly, there doesn’t seem to have been an inciting incident for the break, apart from a fight that wasn’t all that different from the youngsters’ other conflicts. This time, however, the kids don’t make up. “Dad says sometimes friendships are like that. They just end.” Campbell’s text is peppered with profound moments of insight, perfectly encapsulating the experience of a relationship falling apart. “Sometimes when I feel this way, I make myself even sadder. It’s like my brain wants to pile up every sad thing on top of each other at once.” Catharsis ultimately comes not in the form of reconciliation, but rather from a firm acceptance of this new reality. While most authors would cave at some point and allow the youngsters to rekindle their friendship, Campbell is unafraid to stick to her guns, keeping the children estranged right to the end—and making clear that neither is to blame. Sicuro’s mixed-media art uses the occasional speech balloon to help document the different stages of a doomed friendship. The protagonist is tan-skinned; the friend is pale-skinned.

The art of moving on receives an entirely new treatment in this skillful treatise for the young. (Picture book. 4-8)