One True Friend

October 1, 2001
Best buddies Doris and Amir return in Joyce Hansen's One True Friend. In this follow-up to The Gift-Giver and Yellow Bird and Me, much of the novel unwinds through letters revealing the solid connection between the two lonely friends now living in different cities that are worlds apart.

December 1, 2001
Gr 6-8-This novel about a boy recently placed in foster care has much to recommend it, though Hansen crowds a plethora of subjects into 154 pages and portions of the writing are unnaturally stiff. Amir and his siblings were separated after their parents died of AIDS. He has bounced around New York City from relatives to friends to a group home, but when the book opens he has joined his youngest brother in a foster home in Syracuse. Feeling isolated and confused, the 14-year-old initiates a correspondence with Doris, a friend from the Bronx. She offers advice and shares some of her own anxieties. As the oldest child, Amir feels compelled to search for and reunite his family. Once they are found, he must decide whether little Ronald will be better off with the foster parents who want to adopt him or with his brothers, sisters, and aunt and uncle. Amir and Doris explore the ties that bind families, the commitment that may take precedence over blood bonds, when promises to friends or relatives need to be broken, and a host of other topics. Amir comes across as a likable kid, but the burden of so many issues often overwhelms the plot as much as it weighs on the hero.-Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Public Library, NY

Copyright 2001 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2001
Gr. 4-7. Amir is terrified of his good fortune. He has finally found his little brother, Ronald, whose loving foster parents even seem to want to include Amir as well. But, as he tells his friend, Doris, in a series of letters, Amir's mother gave strict death-bed instructions to keep the family together, and he still hasn't located his other brothers and sisters. Hansen has written a touching story of a young boy's struggle with a painful past and a scary future. His letters to and from his friend express the many sides of Amir's conflict. Doris helps him understand his foster parents, his choices, and the truth that "someone is going to end up unhappy," even as she gives him advice that he ultimately rejects. And Amir dispenses his own advice as well, as he gradually reveals his family history. Both sad and hopeful, this story dramatizes the struggle for survival, the primal pull of family, and the gift of "one true friend."(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2002
Separated from his siblings after his parents deaths, fourteen-year-old Amir yearns to reunite his family. Letters between Amir and his friend Doris show Amirs gradual acceptance of his foster family. In this sequel to "The Gift-Giver" and "Yellow Bird and Me, " Hansen presents a touching portrait of a boy struggling to figure out what he wants and what is right, and a friendship that gives him the strength to do so.

(Copyright 2002 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)