The Friendship War

Bailey Carr makes this audiobook feel like a one-woman show with a rotating cast of sixth-grade voices. Her pacing is so crisp that a story about collecting buttons becomes a race against the lunch bell, and her ability to switch from Grace’s dry sarcasm to her mom’s exasperated sighs without missing a beat is downright impressive. The production is clean—no muffled cafeteria noise to distract from the dialogue—so you’ll believe you’re sitting right there at the table with Grace, Ellie, and the infuriatingly cool new kid, Hank. My only quibble is the abrupt shift in Grace’s voice mid-book; for about thirty seconds, she sounds more like a kid from a different decade, which jolts you out of the moment. And while the resolution wraps things up neatly, I wish Clements had lingered a beat longer on the aftermath of the friendship war—did Ellie and Grace really just go back to normal, or was that the most realistic ending? Still, Carr’s energy sells every scene, from the thrill of scoring a rare button to the sting of realizing a friendship was more one-sided than you thought. If you’ve ever watched a trend sweep your school—or your own kid’s social scene—you’ll recognize Grace’s world immediately. The audiobook’s runtime is just long enough to feel like a real school day: not a second is wasted, but you’re desperate for recess.