Children's ✦ Penny’s Take
The Friendship Doll
Kirby Larson · 2012
78/100
👍 Worth It
The device of following one Japanese friendship doll through the hands of five American girls is imaginative and historically grounded, and Larson handles grief and mortality with the kind of quiet honesty middle-grade readers need. The episodic structure means some sections feel more complete than others, and the central friendship theme is arguably the book's weakest link — but the history and the emotional range make it a worthy pick for ages 8 to 12.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
safety94
substance76
craft78
originality80
accuracy82
hype72
age-fit82
human-eye78
Penny’s verdict78
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