The False Friend by Myla Goldberg (Doubleday/Random House, 2010)

Most people have read Myla Goldberg’s first novel Bee Season, AND loved it. I include myself in this category. Well I finished reading Myla’s newest, The False Friend two nights ago. Upon reading the dust jacket I knew that I HAD to read this book. Just the synopsis was incredibly enticing. The story is prefaced on a 32-year-old Chicago resident named Celia Durst remembering a day from her long ago past that she has blocked out from memory. It took place after school with four of her fellow “friends.” I put friends in quotations because the way the girls treat each other is anything but friendly.

Celia and her “bff”, Djuna, are the ringleader bullies of this group. Although they are partners in crime they often had vicious fights. This one ended in Djuna heading out into a locally claimed haunted wood. Celia went in after her and only Celia came out. Fast forward two decades and Celia is living with her boyfriend, Huck and their two dogs in Chicago. Huck comes home from work one day to find Celia already there and laying prostrate on the bed. She tells Huck what she “remembers” from that day. This is not what Celia and the other three girls told the police when they reported Djuna’s disappearance. Oh and by the way, Djuna was never seen again. So that is all I am going to reveal about the story line. You just need to read it to find out the rest. That’s not hard.

This book really brought home a prominent issue of today, BULLYING. While reading this I couldn’t help but remember all the headlines I have seen just within the past year about teen suicides caused by bullying. It really makes you think about what we all could do to stop this cruelty. -Ellen

Nan also liked False Friend; Read her blog here.

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