Looking for an unforgettable collection of YA books about friendship? As an award-winning author and veteran blogger, I’ve spent over a decade analyzing and recommending the most impactful YA novels about tough topics like emotional bonds and navigating change in friendship.
There’s something special about the friendships in high school. 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.
You’ll find detailed reviews of more than a dozen of my favorite novels in the roundup below. Discover your next great read for Friendship Day in this roundup. Sometimes they’ll make you laugh out loud. Sometimes they’ll make you cry. But in the end, you won’t forget them.
Forgotten But Never Gone by Khristina Chess
Friendship Themes
Cross-sex friendship, loyalty, & shared experiences
What it’s about
A girl walks up the road and vanishes from sight, and the town’s apathy proves as terrifying as the darkness that swallowed her.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“I think it was this rebellious quality about her that allowed everyone to write off her disappearance so easily. Kids like Half-pint ran away. This whole generation was full of delinquents. Blah, blah, blah.” – Khristina Chess from Forgotten But Never Gone
If you’re drawn to those cold case shows and unsolved mysteries, those heartbreaking stories of missing girls and unclaimed Jane Does, Forgotten But Never Gone is for you. Set in 1980, this historical YA novel transports readers back to a time before AMBER alerts and 24-hour news cycles, when carefree kids roamed neighborhoods with little supervision and always returned home in time for supper.
Except sometimes they didn’t.
The story begins with the disappearance of fifteen-year-old Rosie Fields, affectionately nicknamed “Half-pint” by her friends. One of the last to see her was Bobby, a foster kid whose life Rosie once saved. When the police dismiss her case as just another runaway, Bobby refuses to accept it, and in his relentless search for his friend, he follows one lead after another until he makes a shocking discovery.
I highly recommend this layered and unsettling YA mystery, which exposes some of the reasons why more people seemed to vanish without a trace in the 70s and 80s. What makes this book especially powerful is its dual resonance: it’s both a gripping page-turner and a thoughtful exploration of how society failed vulnerable youth in the past. Bobby’s friendship with Half-pint and his determination to find her reminds us that sometimes the most unlikely person can become the keeper of truth, and that refusing to forget is itself an act of justice.
Fans of historical mysteries, true crime narratives, or YA novels with grit and heart will love Forgotten But Never Gone. The story lingers long after the final page, leaving you haunted not only by Rosie’s fate but by the real-life children who have never been found.
Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain
Friendship Themes
Shared experiences & mystery
What it’s about
A local girl goes missing, and friends with secrets work to uncover the truth.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“Knowing is hard, but it's a thing you can survive. The not knowing will kill you in the end. It's the secrets that fester." ― Ginny Myers Sain from Dark and Shallow Lies
A girl is missing from a small town where all her peers have some kind of paranormal skill, yet despite all the supernatural power pulsating in the air, no one seems to be able to find her or reveal what happened to her.
This magical mystery kept me guessing until the very end. I couldn’t wait to figure out what happened to Elora, and there were plenty of suspicious characters to blame for her disappearance—including her close friends!
There’s plenty to love about this novel, including the atmospheric setting, alligators, mud, and strange powers of the summer children. You can practically feel the thick humidity in the evening over the Louisiana bayou. You won’t want to miss this enchanting YA book about friendship, magic,and other supernatural things.
Wilder Girls by Rory Power
Friendship Themes
Shared experience
What it’s about
Quarantined students in a girls' boarding school grapple with a terrifying and mutilating disease.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“…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 a survival situation is worth a try. Don’t miss it.
The Cutting Edge of Friendship by Khristina Chess
Friendship Themes
Emotional bonds & navigating change
What it’s about
Two best friends hide dangerous secrets—one about sexual assault and self-harm, and the other unknowingly walking into the predator’s trap.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“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
Absolutely gripping! For readers drawn to the deep emotional connections formed between best friends, The Cutting Edge of Friendship is for you. This realistic novel explores the wounds of self-harm, shame, and redemption following a sexual assault. Sadie’s resilience is fierce and unforgettable, and the book’s raw, unfiltered pain hits hard. This story doesn’t shy away from the truth—it reveals, with painful honesty, how self-harm can become a desperate response to trauma.
From the very first page, it’s clear that although Sadie and Elana have always shared everything, now they’re keeping secrets that could destroy them. On the night of the fireworks, something terrible happened to Sadie—something she can’t even name. Instead, she turns to cutting, the only way she knows to cope.
But Elana has secrets too. She’s been texting Hunter, making plans to meet in secret, and never questioning why he insists on hiding their relationship.
As their lives spiral deeper into danger, Sadie must find the strength to fight back—not just for herself, but for Elana—before a predator can strike again.
I wholeheartedly recommend this poignant YA book about friendship and the trust involved in sharing our truest selves. It’s definitely worth a look. In fact, don’t miss Khristina Chess’s other novels about self harm through eating disorders, such as The Delinquent Hero and Hollow Beauty. This author is on my list of Best YA Authors to Binge on Kindle Unlimited because she tackles so many tough topics with heart.
A Long Stretch of Bad Days by Mindy McGinnis
Friendship Themes
Enemies to friends
What it’s about
An unlikely team pairs up to create a local podcast and solve an old murder.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“Good people can do terrible things, Lydia. The longer you live, the more you see it.” ― Mindy McGinnis, quote from A Long Stretch of Bad Days
Mindy McGinnis is one of my favorite YA authors, so I couldn’t wait to dive into this new book. The setup and beginning starts off slow, but once Lydia and Bristal begin chasing a murder mystery in their small town, the plotting was great. The ending was a surprise to me, but I’m an easily fooled reader.
I especially enjoyed the friendship that developed between the girls, despite the fact that they come from very different socioeconomic backgrounds. Lydia is right. Bristal comes from the poor part of town and has a family reputation. People think of her as disposable. She’s not. She sharp-witted and funny, and she helps Lydia to see things very differently.
If you’re looking for a YA book about friendship and an offbeat mystery with interesting characters, be sure to check out A Long Stretch of Days! In fact, Mindy Micginnis 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!
Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
Friendship Themes
Funny adventures
What it’s about
A quirky and hilarious amateur filmmaker sets out with his friend to make a movie about a dying girl—which fails spectacularly.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“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
Friendship Themes
Shared experiences
What it’s about
A hypnotic, disorienting story about wealthy lifelong friends and a secret that threatens all of them.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“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
Friendship Themes
Shared experiences
What it’s about
Friends investigate an unsolved murder that impacted their lives and entire community.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“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
Friendship Themes
Emotional bonds
What it’s about
After the death of her father, a young girl isolates herself in her grief.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“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
Friendship Themes
Unlikely friends, different backgrounds
What it’s about
An unlikely team pairs up to investigate a murder in their town.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“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!
Unquiet Riot by Khristina Chess
Friendship Themes
Shared experiences
What it’s about
A teenage psychopath and his delusional best friend spiral into a deadly game of lies, loyalty, and school violence in this explosive psychological thriller.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“Best friends don’t label each other as crazy or rat each other out to adults.” ― Khristina Chess, quote from Unquiet Riot
Riley isn’t a psychopath—he just doesn’t feel emotions.
Embarrassment, insecurity, suspicion—it’s all mysterious. He’s learned to read faces, but they never match the words people say.
Then Henry arrives. Henry is fascinating. Henry is dangerous. He believes the world is crawling with robot impostors, that shadows escape from electrical wires, that knives beneath his mattress will keep the monsters away. For Riley, stepping into Henry’s world is like visiting a foreign country—thrilling, unpredictable, alive.
When Henry vanishes, the police come knocking. And Riley lies.
Now it’s a game. If Henry talks, Riley loses.
Chilling and compulsive, Unquiet Riot is a mind-bending YA book about friendship that unravels bullying, deception, and the disturbing factors that allow tragedy to unfold. With an unforgettable unreliable narrator and a slow-burn descent into chaos, this is a must-read for anyone drawn to stories exploring the psychology of school violence.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Friendship Themes
Challenges in friendship & finding oneself
What it’s about
A funny and inspiring coming-of-age story about a courageous boy who dares to leave the reservation, his school, and his best friend to seek a different life.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“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 hilarious YA book about friendship is another winner that does not disappoint.
The Wicker King by K. Ancrum
Friendship Themes
Finding oneself & shared experiences
What it’s about
A chilling story about two friends who descend into madness together.
Why I Love It - Book Review
"Perception is relative. So is sanity, if you think about it. It's totally a Minority vs. Majority thing. If you fall on one side of the line, take a ticket and proceed. If you fall on the other, shit gets real." ― K. Ancrum, quote from The Wicker King
This novel is a fast-paced read with super-compelling characters in a relationship that evolves into a more dangerous thing with each passing page. I had a paperback copy and enjoyed the layout and visual design of the experience of the book. You can physically see the descent into darkness on the side of the pages. The creativity in this technique makes this book special.
There are moments between these two boys that are truly chilling, when Jack's dominance over August goes too far:
"We have to drown you," Jack continued bluntly. "Or just nearly enough that you pass through the gates, but not so much that you can't come back from there."
I won't give any more away. The psychological dynamic between these two characters will draw you in and keep the pages turning!
I recommend splurging on the paperback for this one so you can enjoy the visuals. For compassionate YA books about friendship and mental illness, The Wicker King is one of the best!
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.
Author Bio
Khristina Chess is an award-winning author of a dozen young adult novels, including The Cutting Edge of Friendship, The Delinquent Hero, and Junior Missing. Hollow Beauty, her book about eating disorders, was named a finalist in the Next Generation India Book Awards. She tackles tough teen topics and writes binge-worthy books across multiple genres, including contemporary, thriller, mystery, and adventure.
In a recent interview from her alma mater, she described how her experience in the creative writing program prepared her for success.
