Meet Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham, creators of Friends Forever!
What initially drew you to comics?
Shannon Hale: I didn’t grow up reading comics. I simply didn’t have access to them as a kid. But I always looked forward to the comic strips in the Sunday newspaper. Later my husband Dean introduced me to the comics he’d grown up reading, and I fell in love (with him and comics). I keenly felt the lack of this brilliant medium of visual storytelling in children’s books. Dean and I were excited to start writing comics for kids so more kids like him could find books to fall into.
LeUyen Pham: Honestly, the first time I really picked up a graphic novel and connected to it in a deep way was when I read Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi. The book had come out at our local indie comic store, and hadn’t yet reached the international heights it would. I just remember crying and connecting to the character in such a deep way, and thought that if I ever made a graphic novel, that was exactly what I wanted to do. Persepolis was my gateway drug, and after that I just kept gobbling them down. It also helps that my French husband is also an artist and has a healthy collection of comics from abroad. But I never thought it was a medium in which I would do well in. It’s incredibly hard, so different from picture books. If picture books are like climbing a mountain, graphic novels are like running marathons. Different muscles, different tolerances, both insane endeavors.
What was your inspiration behind Friends Forever?
Shannon: I struggled with friends a lot in elementary school, and when my own daughter was facing similar struggles, I decided to write about it in a graphic memoir, Real Friends. After Uyen and I did a second book about sixth grade, Best Friends, it felt natural to do one more. Friends Forever happens in eighth grade, a hugely transitional age for me. It was my first year of being a teenager but last year before high school, when all the challenges started to get weightier. I kept all the notes my friends passed me in eighth grade, so I feel like I’d been preparing to write this book all along.
LeUyen: Shannon is one of my closest friends, but our bond is formed by how incredibly similar we are. So much of Shannon’s experiences, while unique to her, are incredibly relatable. Shannon is the writer I would have obsessed over as a kid, so I think it’s fair to say that Shannon was my inspiration. As well, Shannon and I both have kids around the same age, and I thought of them a lot during the making of this book. I felt like I was drawing Shannon’s daughters in so many of the scenes, as well as my sons. The bulk of the book was done during lockdown, and so for my eldest, Leo, who was missing eighth grade, I realized that he was experiencing that seminal year through Friends Forever. That’s a crazy thought.
What scene or panel sequence did you most enjoy drawing?
Shannon: For me, I most enjoyed writing the funny bits and daydream sequences. I took particular inspiration from ZZ Top’s “She’s Got Legs” music video. :)
LeUyen: I loved drawing the fantasy scenes. They’re always such fun. Shannon’s fantasies align amazingly close to fantasies I had as a kid, and it’s fun to go back and make those dreams into actual drawings. Also, Shannon just has really funny stories, all the typical teen angst dreams of being a famous writer or going from ugly duckling to beautiful swan, it’s just such a pleasure to draw them out and make them real. And the 80’s! Neon colors, permed hair, shoulder pads — just so much fun.
About the Book
Following up their mega-bestselling Real Friends and Best Friends graphic memoirs, Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham are back with Friends Forever, a story about learning to love yourself exactly as you are.
Shannon is in eighth grade, and life is more complicated than ever. Everything keeps changing, her classmates are starting to date each other (but nobody wants to date her!), and no matter how hard she tries, Shannon can never seem to just be happy.
As she works through her insecurities and undiagnosed depression, she worries about disappointing all the people who care about her. Is something wrong with her? Can she be the person everyone expects her to be? And who does she actually want to be?
With their signature humor, warmth, and insight, Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham have crafted another incredible love letter to their younger selves and to readers everywhere, a reminder to us all that we are enough.
