How to Lose a Best Friend

By Jordan K. Casomar, MTV Entertainment Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing Division, 2024

Background information about the author: Jordan K. Casomar, 

https://www.jordankcasomar.com/, is a Black prose writer from West Des Moines, Iowa. He holds an MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of Minnesota. He was selected for a MacDowell Fellowship in fall, 2021. He currently lives in Washington, DC with his wife and their two cats. How to Lose a Best Friend is his debut novel.

Brief synopsis of the book: Casomar says “it’s a young adult romantic dramedy about a boy named Zeke who’s in love with his best friend Imogen and everyone’s always assumed that they end up together and they’ve been real open about that assumption but this has put Imogen under quite a bit of pressure especially because she doesn’t feel the same way and that’s something that Zeke is just not willing to accept.” Not only does Zeke refuse to accept Imogen’s feelings for someone else, Zeke sets into motion a series of actions that cause serious consequences with his family and friends, especially Imogen.

Casomar says “I wanted to show how someone can use art as their voice when their voice cannot or will not be heard. Throughout the novel Imogen struggles against these assumptions about her love life. She readily admits that people have reason to think the way that they do but that doesn’t mean that people can just disregard her feelings on the matter. . .there’s only one place where Imogen feels truly safe and that is in her own stories where she has control. . .Imogen has a panic attack in relation to the situation with Zeke and she can’t calm herself down. . .she pulls out her notebook and writes about losing herself in a story. . . and slowly but surely she finds a source of power within her.”

As a result, Imogen is not only praised for her story, but is also praised for expressing how pressures and expectations can affect a person’s life.

What works: The alternating voices of Zeke and Imogen. Through these alternating voices, the reader gains much insight into Zeke’s and Imogen’s character.  What also works is the relationships between Zeke’s and Imogen’s families.  Since Zeke’s and Imogen’s parents  have known each other for years, their expectations about Zeke’s and Imogen’s relationship is realistic. Using art as a voice also works. Imogen’s story resonates with so many people that they understand her.

What doesn’t work: Some readers may think that some of Zeke’s actions is unrealistic or that Zeke has gone too far. I disagree. Casomar really brings home the point about male toxicity and the extent some males will go to make a female love them.

Grab it!  This book will be a great discussion starter on expectations and assumptions about male-female love relationships and friendships in general.  This book can also help young people use art to empower and express themselves.