True Friendship Laurie Halse Anderson Analysis

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Most people believe that their true friends are the ones that hang out with them during the week and have a fun time when they are together. Laurie Halse Anderson uses conflict to show how your true friends are revealed during your darkest moments. By dealing with a difficult struggle, people can learn who their true friends really are. People who go through tough times learn who their actual friends truly are. During the assembly, Melinda hears kids laughing behind her and when she turns around she spots Rachel, her ex-best friend. Laurie Halse Anderson writes,” This was the girl who suffered through Brownies with me, who taught me how to swim, who understood about my parents, who didn't make fun of my bedroom...Her eyes meet mine for a second. …show more content…

During lunch, Heather decides to tell Melinda that they can't be friends anymore. Heather says,”We were never really, really friends, were we?’...’You are the most depressed person I’ve ever met, and excuse me for saying this, but you are no fun to be around’...’Look, you can’t eat lunch with me anymore.” After a long time of trying to fit into her new school, Heather finally finds a group, the Martha’s, that is pretty popular and accepts her. They tell Heather that in order for her to join she must tell Melissa that she can't be friends with her anymore. Heather begins finding out about Melinda's reputation and history as the book goes on and decides to abandon the only friend she had so that she could be able to incorporate herself into a more socially accepted group. Heather obeys them and betrays the first person that ever accepted her in her new school, Melinda, just so that she could be popular. Melinda believed that Heather was her friend because they hung out a couple of times and they were always together during school. Heather is not a good friend because instead of helping Melinda deal with her problem, she betrays her and joins a different group of

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