Find your next great read for Friendship Day by exploring my reviews of these YA books about friendship.

There’s something special about the friendships in high school. The deep emotional connections formed between best friends is strong, especially for those with the trust to share one another’s true selves. Bonds are formed through shared secrets, experiences, and common enemies, but the nature of friendship relationships is complicated. The pain of transitioning away from a long-time best friend can be a lasting and bittersweet loss.

Reading stories about the joys and heartbreak of these friendships can be a comfort. The best YA books about friendship capture all the highs and lows and complexity of these relationships. All friends disagree and fight. Sometimes friendships don’t survive to adulthood, but sometimes they do.

Here are my reviews of the best YA books about friendship. Sometimes they’ll make you laugh out loud. Sometimes they’ll make you cry. But in the end, you won’t forget them.

The Cutting Edge of Friendship by Khristina Chess

“Elana and I had always been as different as horses and helicopters. In an interview for our school paper last year, she described me as a reckless adventurer—audacious, fearless, and running on pure adrenaline—and herself as a hopeless romantic who dreamed of nothing more than a family as big and boring as the Brady Bunch.” ― Khristina Chess, quote from The Cutting Edge of Friendship

Sadie and Elana are keeping dangerous secrets.

Best friends since elementary school, they know everything about each other, but on the night of the fireworks, something terrible happened to Sadie that she hasn’t told anyone. She can’t even say the word to herself. Instead, she’s started cutting to deal with the pain.

Elana has a secret of her own; she’s texting Hunter and making plans for a clandestine meeting with him. She doesn’t know what he did or why he really wants to keep their relationship secret.

To end this dangerous cat-and-mouse game, Sadie must reclaim her courage and rescue Elana before a rapist can attack again.

So powerful! The Cutting Edge of Friendship instantly drew me into the tangled conflict, and I couldn’t look away until the girls were safe.

What I love most about The Cutting Edge of Friendship is Sadie’s fierce and resilient character and the raw and authentic emotion as this painful story escalates toward its thrilling climax. The friendship between the two girls is deep and authentic, which makes the betrayal all the more poignant. This is the kind of novel that really shows how someone self harms to cope with pain in the aftermath of sexual assault. You won’t want to miss this powerful YA book about friendship that explores its complicated nature.

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

“…we’ve learned that all we can do is look after our own. Reese and Byatt, they’re mine and I’m theirs.” ― Rory Power, quote from Wilder Girls

I wanted to read Wilder Girls for many years on the basis of its cover alone. It’s one of my top-10 YA favorite covers of all time. It’s so beautiful and intriguing, without even knowing what the story is about.

An all-girls school on an island is quarantined because of a mysterious plague that has killed a significant portion of both the student and faculty population, as well as animals, and the remaining people are infected. This disease does terrible things to them. Now, they’re waiting for a cure. It’s been promised. They just have to stay alive until it comes.

The pacing is fast, and I was drawn into the relationships between the girls. They are gritty heroines. I couldn’t wait to discover what was truly going on and how this situation would ultimately be resolved.

This YA book about friendship in an apocalyptic crisis is worth a try. Don’t miss it.

Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

“We used to be pretty good friends, but fourteen-year-old girls are psychotic.” ― Jesse Andrews, quote from Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

How can a book about a teenage girl dying from leukemia be so funny?

Greg and Earl are weird, unlikely friends and amateur filmmakers who manage to fly below the radar at school and enjoy their private world. Then Greg’s mom makes him reach out to Rachel, a childhood friend who has been diagnosed with leukemia and needs a friend.

Earl turns out to be the more compassionate of the pair, and the two of them set out to make a movie about Rachel. Their brilliant idea fails in execution and is the Worst Film Ever Made.

This fun, funny, and all-around wonderful YA book about friendship is full of crude humor, heart, honesty, and surprises as Greg learns things about his long-time friend Earl, as well as himself, through this journey with the dying girl, Rachel. I can’t say enough good about it. Buy it. Read it. Laugh.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart 

“Life feels beautiful that day. The four of us Liars, we have always been. We always will be. No matter what happens as we go to college, grow old, build lives for ourselves; no matter if Gat and I are together or not. No matter where we go, we will always be able to line up on the roof of Cuddledown and gaze at the sea. This island is ours. Here, in some way, we are young forever.” ― E. Lockhart, quote from We Were Liars

What an unexpected and beautiful story about friendship, coming of age, and sorrow!

I wasn’t sure I’d like this book, but I fell in love with it. By the end it made me cry. This YA book about friendship is about a group of privileged young friends and their lies, family secrets, grief, and love. It’s a mystery. The beautiful and disorienting plot will leave you reader breathless until the very end.

If you haven’t picked this one up yet and are looking for a great YA book about friendship, do yourself a favor. It’s a whirlwind read. 

Broken Things by Lauren Oliver

“Before we were the Monsters of Brickhouse Lane—before everyone from Connecticut to California knew us by that tagline, and blogs ran pictures of our faces, and searching our names led to sites that crashed from all the traffic—we were just girls, and there were only two of us.” ― Lauren Oliver, quote from Broken Things

Once there were three friends who were writers and obsessed with a fantasy novel about a magical world. But one of the girls was murdered, and everyone thought the other two killed her. They didn’t.

Five years after Summer’s death, the friends are reunited and put on a path to find out the identity of the real killer.

This YA book about friendship is a mystery told in alternating viewpoints. I wanted to know what happened to Summer. Who murdered her and why? What happened that day in the woods? The dark plot twisted and kept me guessing until the end.

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

“She peels an orange, separates it in perfect halves, and gives one of them to me. If I could wear it like a friendship bracelet, I would. Instead I swallow it section by section and tell myself it means even more this way. To chew and to swallow in silence here with her.” ― Nina LaCour, quote from We Are Okay

I wanted to read this book for many years on the basis of its cover alone. Look at it! I didn’t even know what the story was about, but it must be beautiful with artwork like that, right?

The book blurb doesn’t prepare you for what this story is about. The plot meanders between present and past. In the present, Marin is staying in her freshman dorm room alone over Christmas break because tragedy has occurred. What tragedy? Well, that’s the big mystery. Her best friend Mabel from California shows up to try to talk her into coming home, and oh by the way, the two of them were romantically involved in the past.

But not anymore.

Mabel doesn’t understand why Marin left without speaking, what happened in the interim, and why she is refusing to come home. Finding out these answers is the main story, but what this book is really about is grief, loneliness, betrayal, longing, being orphaned, and growing up.

I liked We Are Okay. It’s quiet. It’s understated and lovely. I really felt Marin’s sorrow.

If you are looking for an evocative YA books about friendship, grief, and loss, you definitely want to add this one to your TBR pile!

The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson

“We might as well make some trouble together.” ― Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson, quote from The Agathas

I absolutely love Kathleen Glasgow and all her books. The Agathas is a good read, and I could not guess who the killer was until the very end. I enjoyed the growing friendship between Alice and Iris, as well as the secondary cast of sidekick characters they brought onto the case. “Fun” is the adjective other reviewers have frequently used for The Agathas, and I can agree with that. Plucky Alice and sensitive Iris make a fun pair of sleuths.

I felt the book fulfilled its mission in its mystery genre, and if the characters and writing weren’t as lovely as Glasgow’s other books, that’s more of a byproduct of the category. Also, it’s a collaboration and my first glimpse into anything by Liz Lawson.

If you’re looking for an entertaining YA book about friendship with a fun mystery too, you should definitely add The Agathas to your TBR pile. In fact, Kathleen Glasgow is such a great author that she’s on my list of Best YA Authors to Binge on Kindle Unlimited because she’s all-around amazing!

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

“We all have to find our own ways to say good-bye.” ― Sherman Alexie, quote from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Junior Spirit is a courageous boy who dares to leave the reservation, his school, and his best friend to seek a different life. His story is funny, heartbreaking, inspiring, and brave. I loved his quirky voice, his cartoons, and I cheered so hard for him in his basketball game.

This novel highlights the contrast between extreme poverty and wealth, as well as racial differences. These themes are handled with humor and sensitivity. This YA book about friendship is another winner that does not disappoint.

Other YA Books about Friendships

If you are looking other YA books about friendship, check out the YA Friendship Books, Toxic Friendships in YA, and Teen Friendship Books lists on Goodreads. You may also be interested in my post on Other Good Reads.

Do you have any personal favorites to recommend to me? I’m always looking for another great read in this category.

Khristina Chess is the award-winning author of several YA novels about troubled teens turning corners. You can find her on Amazon, Goodreads, and Twitter as an active daily contributor in the #5amwritersclub.