The Real Deal: Friends

by Jack Canfield (Compiler), Deborah Reber, Mark Victor Hansen

The second book in the breakthrough series gives teens the real scoop on the ups and downs of friendship in a stylish package complete with sidebars, quizzes, cool graphics and, of course, great stories from teens for teens. The Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul books have sold more than 15 million copies, and they continue to be the strongest selling Chicken Soup backlist. This new series keeps the best of the old (the stories teens love) with the best of the new— “ teen talk” text breaks, splashy graphics, sidebars, quizzes and other cool features.

The second book in the series, after The Real Deal School, explores all facets of the classic obsessions of every child from ages 9-19: friends— making them, keeping them, fighting them, losing them, helping them and competing with them. And there are no lectures here: this is the straight talk from teens for teens that this audience loves.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Anthologies, Childrens, Short Stories, Romance, Inspirational

260 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Jack Canfield is an American motivational speaker and author. He is best known as the co-creator of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" book series, which currently has over 124 titles and 100 million copies in print in over 47 languages. According to USA Today, Canfield and his writing partner, Mark Victor Hansen, were the top-selling authors in the United States in 1997.

Canfield received a BA in Chinese History from Harvard University and a Masters from University of Massachusetts. He has worked as a teacher, a workshop facilitator, and a psychotherapist.

Canfield is the founder of "Self Esteem Seminars" in Santa Barbara, and "The Foundation for Self Esteem" in Culver City, California. The stated mission of Self Esteem Seminars is to train entrepreneurs, educators, corporate leaders and employees to achieve their personal and professional goals. The focus of The Foundation for Self Esteem is to train social workers, welfare recipients and human resource professionals.

In 1990,he shared with author Mark Victor Hansen his idea for the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. After three years, the two had compiled sixty-eight stories.

Canfield has appeared on numerous television shows, including Good Morning America, 20/20, Eye to Eye, CNN's Talk Back Live, PBS, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Montel Williams Show, Larry King Live and the BBC.

Canfield's most recent book, The Success Principles (2005), shares 64 principles that he claims can make people more successful. In 2006, he appeared in the DVD, "The Secret," and shared his insights on the Law of Attraction and tips for achieving success in personal and professional life.

Jack Canfield was born on August 19, 1944, in Fort Worth, TX. He is the son of Elmer and Ellen (a homemaker; maiden name, Taylor). He attended high school at Linsly Military Institute, Wheeling, WV, 1962. He went to college at Harvard University, B.A., 1966; University of Massachusetts at Amherst, M.Ed., 1973. Canfield married Judith Ohlbaum in 1971 (divorced, November 1976); he married Georgia Lee Noble on September 9, 1978 (divorced, December 1999); he married Inga Marie Mahoney on July 4, 2001; children: (first marriage) Oran, David, Kyle, Dania; (second marriage) Christopher Noble. He is a Democrat and a Christian, and his hobbies include tennis, travel, skiing, running, billiards, reading, and guitar.

Reviews

[Devon · Rating 2 out of 5]

A vague self-help book full of heteronormative, conservative, and religious-tinged stories that's now hopelessly outdated. Good if you have absolutely nothing else to read.

[Angel (Bradford) Tweed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book it was very helpful
Gave me alot of feedback on how to be a better friend

[yasmin · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book 💓

[Peytan Foster · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was OK, definitely had some good tips, but there were a few things I didn't agree with.

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought reading Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul: The Real Deal Friends was really fun and interesting for me. I like reading these kinds of books because it contains realistic short stories about teenagers and their life. It also contains advices you can try when you and your friends are going through a rough time. This book also makes me laugh when i read something i've done with my friends because it makes me think back on the good times we've had. Sometimes it also makes me think back on the times when me and my friends got into fights and arguments.

Overall, i think this book is a nice book to read and it can give you a whole lot of thoughts about your times with your friends. Also, you can learn a lot about friends from this book too.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

All of the chicken soup books for teenage soul are the most enlighten books teens can read or every adults. I enjoyed reading this book because the stories are short and easy to read + understand. It also opens your eyes to new things in life and a new way to solve problems. This book is easy to relate to it shows the reader that people are not alone in the world and many people face the same problem. It really taught me that life could be a lot worst and that I should take the good with the bad. I pulled out many lessons from the book at the end that i should not take anything or anyone for granted in my life. I would recommned this book to anyone because it really makes you put your self in the other person shoes and allowed you to see throw the author eyes.

[Pamela S · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Realistic" is one word that I would use to describe this book. Accidentally met this book in the scarce book collection of my school library, it became my best friend for the rest of that day. This book talks about everyday teen issues such as dealing with losing someone we knew, friendships, Fitting in, queen bees, love, crushes, romance, and other issues. This book is so far the most realistic and down to earth book i've ever read; through this book I am capable of putting myself in different people's situation without leaving my comfy couch.

This book tells many stories from many other teens just for you, which you would totally be able to relate to although you might never experience this before. Highly recommended this easy reading book.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

i think this book is really the real deal because it tells all the things about friends. their are things that are bad and true at the smae time. Also they seem to really be experimenting like having a teenager doing their information. I like the idea of friends but i think that their are things that people should be keeping to themselves. When it told me that a cat is a womans bestfriend not alot of us the people that are reading this would understand a cat but a dog is a mans best friend it would make sence because it was proven.

[Nasser · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contain short stories where teenagers have a problem and in the end with the help of their friends they solve the problem. now that’s good and all because it teaches people lessons in each story but I think that some of the short sorties could of had some twists or maybe some other real life things that happen to teens but I am just saying this from a teenagers point of view. but this book was ok.

[Georgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book. It has many stories written by people my age and even older. There are many stories which I can relate to and even stories which help me make decisions. These are real life stories and that's what I love about it!! I recommend this to any teen. It really helps to read things like these because you can see that other people everywhere are going through the same things you are going through. I love different chicken soup books but this one is my favorite!

[ruth assefa · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was amazing. i am going to go to high school soon and it was really help full. i enjoyed it a lot. i lost this book for a day and i got so depressed. i wanted to finish it. and now i did. it was fantastic read. i recommend this to some one that is going to high school or some one that is in high school. it had interesting facts and good read

[Krissy Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for a young person. I read it to a young lady with special needs and she seemed to enjoy it. It has a lot of positive messages in there. I only gave it 3 stars because the subject matter wasn't as useful to me, I've already lived through all that and had my own similar experiences. I'm guessing a younger reader would rate it higher.

[Karen]

several interesting stories of young or teenaged individuals and the way they cope with friendly relationships.

anyone can relate and draw connections to many of the short stories within this book.

[cali · Rating 4 out of 5]

i am still reading this book, it has a bunch of real life stories written by teens. the good thing about it is you can just pick it up and read a story every now and then and you won't forget what it's about!

[Brittany Wilkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just really like these kinds of books...mostly because it tells stories about what has happened to other teenagers and i can really relate to a lot of the stories so it gives good advice about how to handle certain situations :)

[Jeevan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book tells you about the teens losing and gaining friends. It also tells what some people do to fit in, and how they solve their problem.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are so many inspiring stories in this book and i have read it multiple times with great interest

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome, once again! Loved it! I will always remember each story!

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a big fan of the format, but stories are nice

[Ashlyn]

my mom got it for me for christmas, its pretty cool

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has a good insight of friend troubles, boyfriends and other various things. Its a great read if your in such a place as that.

[Prashansa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its awesome! I would try to read more chicken soup books.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

random stories tthat are about teenage life like school and love and stuff.. idk how to review this...

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really good. I enjoyed the quizzes that popped up every so often. I also enjoyed the facts and resources that were available. The book covered many areas of friendship.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually don't have the patience for self-help books, but this one was very informational and helpful.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have liked this book more if I was a 13 year old girl, but since I'm 18, it was okay.

[Lindsey Gibson]

This book is filled with poems dealing with real experiences with friends. The class can write about their own personal experiences with friends.

[Katie (BooksRUs) · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved reading this book!

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good Chicken Soup book, even if you are not a teen anymore.

[Clara · Rating 1 out of 5]

It tells a lot of storys. Boring!