hush Friendship

Our friends are super important to us. We can't imagine disappearing and losing those relationships, and we know it would have been especially hard in junior high and high school, which is how old Toswiah/Evie and Cameron/Anna are in hush. Forbidden all contact, Toswiah/Evie leaves Lulu, literally her best friend since birth, and Cameron/Anna loses her cheerleading squad and a large group of friends. Both girls feel these losses in a big way when they first move to the Northeast.

While losing their friends ultimately pulls the sisters closer together, it isn't until Toswiah/Evie starts making new friends outside of her family that she feels ready to make a new start in a new home. Cameron/Anna is off to college, after all, so Toswiah/Evie needs to find some other kids to keep her company—especially on her runs.

Questions About Friendship

1. What does the way each sister makes and interacts with friends say about her personality, both before and after the relocation?
2. Which do you think would be harder: to leave one close friend like Toswiah/Evie or to leave a large group of friends like Cameron/Anna?
3. What stands in the way of the girls making new friends once they move to the Northeast?
4. Are the sisters also friends themselves?

Chew on This

Toswiah/Evie is unable to recognize herself in her new name until she hears it spoken in friendship.

Cameron/Anna refuses to make new friends as an act of resistance against her new life situation.