The Friendship War

The absorbing book I read is The Friendship War. It is a story about Grace, the main character, and the fad for collecting buttons in her school. Grace brought thirty boxes of buttons back from the old mill building her grandpa bought recently. As soon as she displayed the buttons during the class, something changed. Students began to collect, trade, and even fight for the buttons. Grace and her best friend, Ellie also had a bitter quarrel over a pinwheel button that both of them took a fancy to. From then on, Ellie gave Grace the silent treatment, starting running her own button business. On the other hand, Grace got to know Hank, the button expert and the biggest button fanatic, better, and he was believed to bring her more pleasure than Ellie. However, it dawned on Grace that she shouldn’t have excessively blamed Ellie for their squabble, and she gradually got tired of the button fad. As a consequence, Grace started to figure out a way to end the button fever, attempting to make up with Ellie. Finally, the order in the school was restored and Grace has since had two intimates to share her life experience with.

The most charming content is no doubt the friendship between the three students. The author described their story vividly and I was up and down all the time while reading this book. As a teenager, I am totally capable of relating to their emotional development. For instance, I often feel that my friend don’t take me seriously just like how Ellie always turned a deaf ear to Grace’s sharing. Besides, that Grace, who was fascinated to integrate scientific theory into her normal life, had difficulties keeping their relationship in perspective is fully in line with my experience. It is tough for me to treat someone I attach great importance to objectively. Therefore, I have learned three essential methods to deal with the fight between my friends and me. First, properly express my thought to them so that each of us can adjust our attitude to the relationship in time. Next, when I am in an emotionally unstable state, think twice before taking action so that there won’t be impulsive gesture which may harm my friends. Last but not least, don’t hesitate to apologize for my mistakes. Most of us will be too embarrassed to admit our faults, and it is likely to make the circumstances worse. These are important concepts I have learned from the book, and I will keep them in mind to build a comfortable but not casual friendship.

Another unforgettable element in this story is the way Grace got along with her family members. Her brother, Ben, for instance, provided her an economic concept while she was looking for a solution to bring the button fad to an end. He explained that a very large supply of anything would kill the demand for that thing, including buttons. Clever as Grace was, she immediately came up with an idea- spreading boxes of buttons all around the playfield! In fact, before she conducted her economic experiment, Ben had told her that she shouldn’t do anything after realizing the concept. Apparently, he knew what Grace would do after having a conversation with him. He warned her just to deny the involvement in the crazy project. The content of this chapter brought me a lot of laughter, also showing how tight their relationship was. Their interaction was cheerful, and their relationship was built on deep trust. It was one of the reasons why I couldn’t help keeping reading this intriguing book.

The Friendship War absolutely hit the spot. I learned some interpersonal skills while enjoying the fascinating plot the author presented. I believe that I can deal with the relationship with others more appropriately in the future, and the euphoria the book brought to me will forever remain.