The Prince & the Dressmaker, written and illustrated by Jen Wang, is a young adult graphic novel that takes place in Paris during a historic period of change with societal rules clashing with the modern age. Prince Sebastian’s parents are looking for a bride for him, meanwhile he is living a secret life at night. Frances is a brilliant dressmaker constrained to alterations and basic dresses until she’s given the opportunity to let her ideas fly. While her creativity shined and shocked society and lead to her dismissal, it ended up giving her an even greater opportunity. Sebastian offers Frances a job as his personal dressmaker and reveals his secret: that sometimes he wears dresses. Frances takes flight and designs amazing one-of-a-kind pieces for Sebastian to don as he transforms into his alter ego: Lady Crystallia, a fashion icon! Frances embraces Sebastian and loves being his friend and unleashing her creative designs. Sebastian flourishes as Lady Crystallia but takes advantage of Frances’ friendship by not realizing how much it hurts her to be a secret. Both Sebastian and Frances learn what it means to be true to themselves and a true friend. This is a heartwarming fairytale of friendship. As an added bonus, if you enjoy book to film adaptations, this is rumored to become a musical soon!
Another coming of age story featuring friendship, and being true to yourself is Leahon the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli. Leah Burke was first introduced to us as Simon’s best friend in Simon vs. theHomo Sapiens Agenda. This book features Leah’s first-love, high school friendships and (of course) teenage angst. (You can read more about the Creekside series, check out our previous blog post: The World of Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda.)
The Lumberjanes series by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Shannon Watters is a graphic novel series that feature friendships with a fun twist! Jo, April, Mal, Molly, and Ripley are five best friends spending the summer at Miss Qiunzilla Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s camp for hard-core lady-types and are determined to have an awesome summer together, no matter what mysteries are thrown their way. This series thinks outside the box as the friends encounter magical creatures, mysteries and intrigue at camp and learn how to keep their friendship to the max!
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Do you have any favorite fictional friendships? What helps you to build lasting friendships and confidence to be yourself?
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