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This list features middle grade books (ages 8-12) about children dealing with toxic friendships. Most of these stories are focused on the character's journey of letting go and moving on from dysfunctional friends.
All too often, kids are told to put on a brave face when dealing with toxic friends or they are gaslit because they were "just joking" but it is important to help kids identify moments when their friends are disrespecting them and when to let go and foster better friendships with new people.
I do not count books where good best friends have a breakup and makeup situation. This list is about letting go of bad friends.
All too often, kids are told to put on a brave face when dealing with toxic friends or they are gaslit because they were "just joking" but it is important to help kids identify moments when their friends are disrespecting them and when to let go and foster better friendships with new people.
I do not count books where good best friends have a breakup and makeup situation. This list is about letting go of bad friends.
Score
A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 1 |
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Sleepovers
by
3.70 avg rating — 7,804 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 1 |
|
Bye Forever, I Guess
by
Jodi Meadows (Goodreads Author)
4.39 avg rating — 1,093 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 3 |
|
Vicky Angel
by
3.63 avg rating — 15,437 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
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| 3 |
|
Out of My Mind (Out of My Mind, #1)
by
Sharon M. Draper (Goodreads Author)
4.35 avg rating — 185,393 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
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| 5 |
|
Bad Girls
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3.61 avg rating — 9,938 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
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| 5 |
|
Take It from the Top
by
Claire Swinarski (Goodreads Author)
4.05 avg rating — 500 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
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| 7 |
|
Girls Under Pressure (Girls, #2)
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3.68 avg rating — 10,542 ratings
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
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| 7 |
|
Flipped
by
Wendelin Van Draanen (Goodreads Author)
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 125,212 ratings
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
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| 9 |
|
It Happened to Anna
by
Tehlor Kay Mejia (Goodreads Author)
3.62 avg rating — 395 ratings
score: 96,
and
1 person voted
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| 10 |
|
Bras & Broomsticks (Magic in Manhattan, #1)
by
Sarah Mlynowski (Goodreads Author)
3.73 avg rating — 9,843 ratings
score: 95,
and
1 person voted
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| 11 |
|
Wonder (Wonder, #1)
by
4.36 avg rating — 1,180,007 ratings
score: 94,
and
1 person voted
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11 books ·
2 voters ·
list created September 17th
by Georgina Warren (votes) .
Tags:
bullies, bully, dysfunction, female, fiction, friendship, girl, girl-power, girlfriends, girls, mg, middle-grade, therapy, toxic-friendship, tween
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by
Georgina
(new)
Sep 19, 2025 08:29AM
One book features a girl that tries to reconnect with an old friend that left her for a popular clique but then realizes that it's better to let her go because she was never a true friend in the first place.
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