In our July/August 2015 issue, reviewer Jennifer Brabander asked Goodbye Stranger author Rebecca Stead about the writing her teen girl protagonist's friendships. Read the starred review of Goodbye Stranger here.


Jennifer M. Brabander: Longtime friends Bridge, Em, and Tab have such different interests, but they manage to sustain their friendship; the three girls are “independent together.” Is this your own mantra for good relationships?

Rebecca Stead: Absolutely. Why should people who love each other act the same way? I’ve come to believe that the most important question about any friendship is, “Does this relationship allow me to be the person I want to be?” My closest friends are not the people I’m most like. They’re the ones with whom I feel most like myself.

From the July/August 2015 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.