| Title | : | The Friendship Matchmaker (The Friendship Matchmaker #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1862919208 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781862919204 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 160 |
| Publication | : | First published July 27, 2012 |
The Friendship Matchmaker (The Friendship Matchmaker #1) Reviews
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This is an awesome book!!the friendship matchmaker ,is a girl, who gives advice to people without friends, but a new girl comes in and trying to ruin her place as the friendship matchmaker. then they have a huge fight, which becomes into a contest.Who ever makes a person without a friend, with a best friend that can not leave them.(a true best friend)See what happens!
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I did not like Lara in the begin but I quickly realized something must have happened to make her think of school like that. By the end I liked her a bit more and it turned out pretty good.
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I'm giving this book two stars because I think the theme of how difficult and stressful it can be to make and keep friends is one that will really resonate with it's target audience. Apart from that, I had mostly negative feelings about it. It was a quick, pretty entertaining book that I can imagine my elementary school students gobbling up, and that is one of the problems: it is set in 7th grade, but the writing style and situations felt very early to mid elementary. The kind of friendship problems that the main character helps her classmate solve are so reminiscent of the kinds of issues my second and third grade students needed help with. Older kids, even fifth graders, definitely had friendship issues too, but they were often more complex than the ones presented as 7th grade problems in this book. I suppose this is aimed at a young audience who likes to "read up" about older students, but the disconnect in ages felt off to me.
The bigger problem for me, however, was the consistent victim blaming and the pervasive negativity about appearance, book choice, being "weird" and basically standing out in any way at all. Yeah, I know in middle school standing out can be seriously "bad" and stressful, but for a book whose message I believe is intended to be that being yourself is ok, this spends a lot of words repeating all the ways in which being yourself is not ok, and kids internalize that kind of message when it is stated over and over.
I was also bothered by the main character referring to other characters as having "brain problems" simply because she didn't like their choice of clothing or reading material. The victim blaming came in the form of the main character firmly placing the responsibility for bully-prevention on the shoulders of the people being bullied. Her advice to dress a certain way, talk a certain way, choose certain books, is often explicitly tied to the explanation that if they choose wrong they are just asking to be bullied. Not a good message for this age group (or any age group, including adults, really.) There was a bully character who was told to shut up a couple of times and given detention a couple of times, but no one (kid or adult) made any effort to change his behavior
I know part of the point of this story is that the main character is wrong about a lot of the stuff mentioned above, but it takes until the last few pages for her to come to this realization, and even though she does say she is wrong in the end, the only thing she specifically says she is wrong about is "teaching kids to trust no one, especially themselves." None of the harmful advice given to "...those who wear glasses, are cross-eyed, have birthmarks in strange places, are too short, too tall, too skinny, or too fat -" is recanted.
I think this author is a good writer, I just wish she had been more thoughtful about the words she was putting in front of youngish children. -
Lara is the school's friendship matchmaker. She goes around pairing people based on common interests, much like a regular matchmaker would do. Because she is so busy with this work, she doesn't have time for friends of her own. But Lara's rules for friendship matchmaking often involving changing aspects of oneself and morphing into someone you're not. When Emily Wong moves to the school and starts questioning Lara's methods, Lara challenges her to a matchmaking contest. Each girl has to find a friend for someone on Lara's Total Loner list by the end of the month.
This book was fairly predictable. At first I couldn't stand Lara. She was an annoying, condescending, know it all. But this changed as the story developed. I still didn't end up feeling sorry for her, but the reason she acts the way she does is revealed and understandable. It was a good light read. -
I thought this book was a great book about friendship,but it kind of got confusing with all the words from the friendship matchmaker manual in the book. This book is about a Friendship Matchmaker a.k.a-Lara who helps kids find best friends. But the people that she is helping,is not being theirselves.Lara has rules for them to follow to get friend and she's telling them not to be them selves. Anyways there's this new girl that is coming to school a.k.a-Emily, and Lara is trying to help her fit in but Emily doesn't need any help.So Lara and Emily have a face off to find a kid that doesn't have any friends and try to make them have a best friend in a month with thier own rules.Will Lara win and find a kid a best friend, or will Lara lose.U will have to read the book to find out!!
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An OK book about a girl who works hard to match up kids into friendships but doesn't have any friends for herself. It's an interesting premise and makes me wonder just what kind of person she would have paired me with if she'd been at my school back when I was 12. (Probably written off as a TL...?)
Ah well, it was still fun to read even if you can kind of guess that the journal she writes in was going to take a nasty "Harriet the Spy" turn (does anyone still read that?) It has some good things to think about though, and a unique approach to the topic of bullying.
Overal a solid story worth reading. -
I really like this book because it gives you an idea about people who make friends really fats and people who don't. Some people like me, don't like to find friends really wan them but are to afraid to find them. I think that 1 graders would really like this book because it has a lot of funny parts in it but it is not to hard to read
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this book was formative to my primary school years.............mr wilson is the #og for giving me this as a goodbye gift
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Lara Zany is famous at her middle school for being a Friendship Matchmaker. A loner by choice, she devotes all of her spare time to helping her classmates change their behavior in order to become suitable best friends for other kids in their grade. Though she doesn’t like to talk about the details, Lara has had experiences that make her an expert on changing oneself to fit in. When Emily arrives at the school, however, she begins to challenge Lara’s ideas, suggesting that maybe girls really can be themselves and still be cool.
This book has a fabulous set-up, and the perfect title. The title is actually what made me pick it up, and the story itself is exactly the kind of thing I would have loved to read when I was in fifth or sixth grade. Lara is a sympathetic character whose point of view reflects the worries of lots of girls her age. Her advice is questionable, but her heart is in the right place, and kids who read to the end will be likely to forgive her for leading her classmates astray in the first place.
What they will be less likely to forgive, I think, is the rushed ending itself. Lara hints throughout the story to the sordid past events that turned her into a loner by choice. The reader gets really interested in that backstory, but it is never explained. There is a brief moment where it looks like we will get answers, and Lara literally flees the scene, leaving the entire thing unresolved. On the flip side, everything else in the story is tied up way too quickly and neatly, making the reader wonder why there was ever so much turmoil in the first place. The story deserved a much more thoughtful and truthful ending, and it disappointed me to see that the brilliant concept was not carried through to its completion very successfully.
Only one thing gives me hope - there is a sequel entitled The Friendship Matchmaker Undercover, where I hope maybe these important neglected issues from the first book will be revisited. I would still argue that the author should not have left those dangling threads for the second book, but if I got some closure in book two, I’d be happy enough to let that slide.
The Friendship Matchmaker is a good middle grade read to recommend to fans of Lauren Barnholdt, Jo Whittemore, and Tricia Rayburn. It’s realistic and engaging, with a positive message and lots of heart. Girls will see themselves in Lara, and in many of the other characters as well, and they’ll have lots to say about Lara’s rules for making friends. This would also be a great mother-daughter book club read! -
Lara wants to make sure everyone has a best friend. It doesn't matter that she doesn't, because it's understood that she is far to busy helping others to have time for that herself. But when a new girl (who is disturbingly uncaring about others' perceptions of her) challenges Lara to see who can make a better friendship match comes to town, things get hairy for Lara. Abdel-Fattah does a nice job of setting up a main character and her mission, even dispensing bits of the yet to be published Manual of making and keeping friends throughout the novel. The characters and language are authentic to a middle schoolers. While the focus here is on middle school friendship, it is refreshing that the focus is not popularity. Lara understands that while popularity might be nice, the only thing a person really needs to get through middle school is one really good friend (and a caring family plays an important role too). This book slowly reveals the true value and meaning of friendship with honesty and humor. Recommended for gr. 4+
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I'd give this book 2 1/2 stars if I could. It started out just okay, but I liked the ending.
I had a shaky start with this one. Lara Zany is the official "friendship matchmaker" at her school. She comes across as sincerely wanting to help others make friends, yet she's got a misguided list of "rules" about how to make and keep friends in school. She's not very likable at first, but I have to admit, by the end - when she learns a thing or two about how to really make friends - I was glad everything worked out for her.
I'm always on the lookout for diversity in books, so I'll mention that this book happens to have a character named Emily Wong. She is the new girl in school who just happens to be Chinese. She is an independent-minded individual and is immediately skeptical of Lara's "rules". Again, she was strangely not entirely likable. I liked her confidence and sense of self, but she kind of bordered on impertinent.
Finally, I was a little put off by how the characters in this book were meant to be 7th graders. They actually seemed to behave more like 5th or 6th graders to me. -
Aw, I thought this was a cute book :) A super-fast, light read, perfect for a lazy afternoon.
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3 1/2 stars Laura Zany runs a friendship service—kind of like a dating service-- for middle schoolers, and gives advice on how to be friends/popular. Basically her rules are this: cave in to pop pre-teen cultural demands. However when the new girl, Emily Wong, becomes popular without following the “rules,” Laura gets upset and proposes a friendship competition.
(spoiler alert)
In the long run, Laura becomes friends with a “Total Loner” (read total looser) and realizes that Emily simply likes people for who they are, and is kind and supportive, without bothering with “the rules.” This book could be a springboard for good discussion with middle-school age youth about friendship and what’s really important in relationships. -
Since the book is written for young readers, as an adult reader I found the plot-line of the story to be slightly predictable. However, I thought the idea of a Friendship Matchmaker was great, aside from the fact the main character (Lara Zany) was not particularly likeable. On the flip side, the character Emily Wong - who is competing against Lara in friendship matchmaking - appears immediately to be a quirky yet breezily cool character able to make her place despite being the "new kid" at school. Although not a main character, she leaves a lasting impression bringing home the message of not being afraid to just be yourself!
This may be a book that some of my Year 7 students will enjoy reading.
Now on to reading The Friendship Matchmaker Goes Undercover... -
Recommended for gr. 4-7 - upper elementary/lower middle school. The ending was somewhat predictable, but still enjoyable.
Lara is her school’s self-appointed official Friendship Matchmaker. Students seek her out for advice on making friends and keeping them. She is working on a manual of friendship rules and advice, most of which involve doing, liking and wearing things to better fit in. She apparently does not have time for friends of her own due to her own self-described big heart and generous spirit. When a new and non-conforming student arrives at Lara’s school, she must prove that her rules work, and in the process discovers what friendship is really about. -
Lara believes herself to be a Loner By Choice establishes herself as a Friendship Matchmaker, a sort of counselor and platonic dating service in one. Then she gets into a competition with a new girl who believes Lara's rules for friendships are insane and mean giving up everything you are, so are these friendships really genuine?
Predictable ending, bland plot, only minor acknowledgement that The Rules really are terrible ideas (pretend to love a thing that someone else loves, make sure your hair and clothing are completely nondescript, etc). Upper-elementary; even 6th graders will probably find this too young for them. -
This was a good come-uppance story about a popular, know-it-all girl who is a friendship matchmaker in her school. She has rules everyone should follow in order to attract friends, even if it means not being yourself, faking interests, and pretending fondness for people with whom you feel no real connection.
The writing is such that readers will see the change coming over the main character and will be glad that she finally sees the light about what it means to have and be a real friend.
Though a little bit of a stretch, the ending is a happy one with everyone forgiving each other and lessons learned.
Recommend this for 4th-7th graders. -
Seventh grader Lara Zany is the friendship matchmaker at her middle school. Following along her story as she matchmaker friends at her school and later you discover how she started this journey to become the friendship matchmaker. However, a new student Emily Wong comes into the new school year and shakes things up for Lara and the rest of her peers at Potts County Middle School. How do you really make friends? What are the aspects you and others need to have deep friendships? What are the rules to keep good friendships? What will Lara learn from Emily? Will Lara end up having a best friend herself? Read this funny and insightful book in the lives of middle schoolers and friendships.
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Better than expected! Lara prides herself as a friendship matchmaker, choosing just the right friend for students in her school. She is so good she conducts workshops at lunch and is writing a manual. What we soon find out is that Lara doesn't have any friends herself. With her use of fun acronyms (LBC= loner by choice...) and rules, the story reads quickly. As she races to find a best friend for Tanya she begins to learn the truth about herself. This book could provide some good talking points in a classroom setting dealing with friend dynamics and social behavior.
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I want to preface this by saying that I think this is a fine book for 5th or 6th grade girls to read. It teaches a good lesson and tells the story in a good way. However, I didn't really enjoy it. Some children's and middle grade books are really good and can speak to readers of all ages. This just wasn't one of those books. It really is only a book for young girls. I think that my daughters will probably enjoy it in a year or two.
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I found Lara so irritating, and then I saw that the synopsis said it was a reimagining of Emma by Jane Austen and I was like wow.......yep. It’s that clueless, controlling anti-heroine again..,love that girl...but seriously this book was fine and I liked the sort of coming-of-age vibe but it made me mad that the kids were such assholes to each other. Even in the end no one really held Lara accountable for her bullshit. Didn't hate it but also couldn't say I really enjoyed it.
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This is a sweet, girly story. Judy Blume without the edge and just right for upper elementary school readers. The likeable narrator will win over young readers (her heart's so clearly in the right place, even if her methods seem suspect). While the ending's a little too neat, kids will easily identify with the trials and tribulations of making new friends.
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I really enjoyed this book about Lara who's life work is to find friends for others. Lara's advice is suspect and there is quite a bit of fun to be had there. There is depth and heart in this novel as we find out what has shaped and influenced Lara and her life's ambition to be a friendship matchmaker.
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Good basis for a story, but the characters seemed a bit forced and unrealistic. I think more depth would have helped. Why did Tanya sniff school supplies? Was it because of her parents' divorce? Would Lara's peers really have forgiven her for writing terrible things about them in what amounts to a SLAM book because Emily said to?
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This is a quick book about friendship and fitting in for 4th and 5th grade girls. Things seemed forced at times and I had higher expectations for the author (I've enjoyed her other books) but I can see the appeal for middle grade girls.
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This book looks like it is going to be great like all Randa's other books.
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As an adult I did not care for the book, but my sixth grade girls loved it! That's why I read it!
