The Friendship War

October 29, 2018
In the latest on-point school story by Clements (The Losers Club), compulsive collector Grace is thrilled when her grandfather says she can keep the 27 boxes of buttons she discovers in his old mill. But after she shares some of the cache with her classmates, the show-and-tell spirals out of control, and kids schoolwide become obsessed with collecting and trading buttons. A math and science whiz, Grace becomes fixated on “collecting data” by counting the buttons on all her schoolmates’ clothing, and eventually comes to the obvious conclusion that she and her peers have contracted “button fever.” Though painstaking details of button swapping weigh down the narrative, Clements uses the over-the-top fad as a conduit to explore more substantial themes, including Grace’s conflicted feelings about her superficial, know-it-all best friend; her deepening friendship with an insightful boy; and her affecting bond with her grandfather, who, like her, is mourning his wife’s death. Regretting the frenzy she instigated, Grace applies the theory of supply and demand in a bold move to end it, precipitating a rewarding finale that underscores the value of friends and family—and wryly reveals the limitations of the scientific method. Ages 8–12. Agent: Amy Berkower, Writers House.

November 1, 2018
Clements draws on his memory of classroom fads for this newest exploration of sixth-grade politics.Grace likes to collect things. When her grandfather takes her around the old New England mill he's bought, she decides to add the dozens of boxes of buttons she finds there to her already-cluttered room. "I have a theory about why I collect so many things," Grace adds intriguingly, but this motivation is never satisfyingly revealed. Described as "pretty," she prefers scientific observation to trips to the mall and is slowly realizing the ways that her best friend, Ellie, who's also "pretty," makes her feel inadequate and unsupported. When Grace brings a handful of buttons to school as part of a social studies unit on the Industrial Revolution, other kids become inexplicably fascinated by them, and soon their school is overcome by a button craze reminiscent of the 17th-century Dutch tulip bubble or, more recently, Pogs. As trading and hoarding reach a fever pitch, Grace tries to navigate the destruction of one friendship, the start of another, and her own place in the middle school hierarchy. The button craze keeps the story tripping along, but somewhat broad characterizations and relatively low stakes--not to mention a perfectly neat ending--do not. Grace goes to an Illinois school where no one is identified racially, but all faces on the cover present white.A readable but essentially inconsequential addition to Clements' oeuvre. (Fiction. 8-12)

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Gr 3-6-Grace is a compulsive collector who thrives on collecting just about anything. She is over the moon when her grandfather says she can keep 27 boxes of buttons that they find in an old building that he just purchased. Grace adds these boxes to the myriad random objects and junk that she already has stored in her overflowing bedroom. When she takes some of the buttons to school, collecting buttons becomes a schoolwide frenzy. This causes Grace to become fixated on collecting data by counting the buttons she sees all around her, including the ones on her schoolmates' clothing. The button fever fascinates Grace, but she eventually comes to the conclusion that it has to end. Grace also has to deal with the feelings she begins to have for her bossy, superficial friend. Clements portrays elementary students in a clear light, especially in how quickly they can get swept up in the latest fad. The never-ending details of button swapping, however, become tiresome. VERDICT Hand to devoted Clements fans; a secondary purchase for smaller collections.-Amy Caldera, Dripping Springs Middle School, Dripping Springs, TX

Copyright 1 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

inmemoryofcpr - It all starts when Grace discovers an old box of buttons in her grandpa's old mill and then brings it to school. But then when she unawarely starts a fad, things start to go out of control and Grace loses her best friend. So a war is started, and when Grace tries to stop the war, she makes everything worse. I would recommend for ages 10+ I've always liked Andrew Clement's books and this was no exception. I could feel the character's feelings really well and I can relate to Grace from the way she thinks, hypothesizes, and her actions. You know, the way I have so many common things with her is super cool. I would recommend this if you liked the book Stick and Stones or the 14th Goldfish.

November 15, 2018
Grades 3-6 A girl accidentally starts a school fad, causing a rift with her best friend, in this latest novel from Clements. Grace loves collecting interesting things, so when she visits an old mill with her grandfather, she becomes the proud owner of boxes and boxes of vintage buttons. The buttons are a hit at school, and when Grace's classmates start bringing their own buttons to trade, a button craze is born. Grace likes the fad, especially since it leads to a new friendship with smart, inquisitive Hank. But it also causes a feud with her best friend Ellie, who can't stand that Grace can out-trade her for the best buttons. Grace must deal with button fever and fix her friendship. The funny, science-loving Grace is an endearing narrator?just the right person to document the strange but creative ways her classmates' button obsession flourishes. The buttons could stand in for any number of middle-school fads, but they carry the extra poignancy of forgotten objects given new life. A fun, charming story about fads and the friendships that outlast them.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)