The Science of Friendship

By Tanita S. Davis. HarperCollins, August, 2024

Tanita Davis is an award-winning author who has lived most of her life in northern California. Tanita often writes about young Black girls who are about to outgrow the social oppressions that surround them. The girls face their turmoils in ways that illuminate the strengths that can be found within.

That’s just what Rylee is trying to do in The Science of Friendship. Having just left elementary school, she’s beginning to see the world in a new, independent way. Her former “friends” pushed along her growth process after a particular meangirl incident at a pool party and it leaves Rylee hurting. She’s devastated, starting a new school year with no friends. As she works through the who, what, and why of her frenemies, she meets Devon, Leo and Cam, and discovers how she can be a better friend.

And then there was Devon. Rylee shook her head in amazement. Devon was exactly the same as she’d been two years ago: kind, funny, and easy to just hang out with. Devon made dopey jokes, and laughed at them, she found everything everyone else said interesting, she asked good questions, and when her friends talked to her, she really listened, and gave them her attention.

Rylee missed that. She hadn’t noticed when her time with friends had turned stressful, and she’d felt like she’d had to be careful, to say things that wouldn’t tick anyone off, to wear the right things, to laugh at the right times, and know about the right looks, and music, and shows. With Devon, Rylee hadn’t realized how little she’d been judged all the time for everything, until she had been with a group of girls who did judge her, sometimes laughing at her for liking or saying or doing the “wrong” thing. (NP)

What works: Rylee’s voice is authentic and clear in this empowering story of self-discovery. Rylee keeps moving, growing, and learning. The message is clear: bullying is wrong, but bullying happens. The bullies win if we don’t learn what we need to learn and move on from them. Davis plants nuggets throughout the book to provide readers with both hope and empathy.

Science is the other half of this title! Rylee is paired with DeNia Alonso to write an article about friendship for the school newspaper.  DeNia is a budding scientist, so she pulls Rylee into the world of scientific reasoning. Readers soon realize that science really does have a place in our lives.

Pass it OR Grab It? This inclusive, encouraging, and empowering book with practical STEM implications belongs in every middle school and public library.