Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (All My Friends) through Raincoast Books. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated. 
A while back I reviewed a graphic novel entitled All Together Now by Hope Larson, it featured Bina and a few of her friends. All My Friends continues the story of musician Bina and her friends. She, a 14 year old girl, has a band in this graphic novel and much of the story revolves her musical aspirations.
All My Friends, details
Relationships between friends, music, LGBTQ and hetero relationships, listening (or not listening) to parents, problem solving, and secretive planning fill the 192 pages of this graphic novel. Written by Bestselling author Hope Larson, students in 10-14 will understand Bina and her friends. This is the third book in the Eagle Rock Series. The first two books are All Summer Long and All Together Now. Farrar Straus Giroux published, and I received an copy from Raincoast books for my review.
Learning More
I struggled with Bina absoluate defiance when her folks said no. We see them explain why they chose to say no, they think, at age 14 a record contract would be more pressure than Bina and her friends are ready for. Bina and her friends get so upset by this. As a parent I would be appalled at this behaviour. Steming from this defiance are lies, scheming, and deception. None of which really get them what they want.
I appreciated catching a glimpse of Bina’s inner thoughts. She occasionally struggled with her deceptions and schemings. Her dislike of lying to her parents helped her to open about some parts of her life which was great!
As you might be able to tell, the colour scheme is monochromatic. Various shades of pink for black or white contrasting. I can understand the use of pink as it matches the name of the group, and is predominately about a group of girls. I just would have loved more colour throughout.
But the font is easily readable.
I loved how the complexity of relationships was shown. From anger at parents, to the conflict of lying, to love, and familial interactions. It’s not always easy being a parent, a sibling, a friend, a child or to even be in a relationship.
You’ll see interracial marriage, hetero relationships, LGBTQ relationships, relationships that break apart, and relationships that have stood the test of time. You’ll see how a community can pull together to make an event happen, and how knowing people, building connections, can help launch a career. And through it all, you see parents actually parenting. I so love seeing books where parents actually do their job.
Add to your shelves?
If you want to avoid the normalizing of same-gender relationships, this book is not for you. Perhaps you have a child who wants to start their own band, or loves books with strong female protaganists, All My Friends will suit the bill. If you like a book that shows parents parenting and children being creative about problem solving… this works!
Overall, not a bad book, nothing truly objectional. Just three girls highly focused on their musical careers, dealing with protective parents, and entering the dating world.
From the parenting point of view, sounds like a really good one. I would not bring it into my home, though, because at the age it is aimed at, they need sound Christian morals and not something that would normalize sin.