Quiz: Which YA Besties Are Most Like Your Friends?
If you have a best friend or a close-knit pack of BFFs, you can get through anything. Young Adult literature about friends and friendships perfectly captures best friends’ loyalty and love during some of the toughest years. From surviving school to surviving first love drama, your friends can boost your spirits with unconditional love, comfort, and a sense of humor. Based on some of the best YA novels about friendship, I created this little quiz for you to find out which iconic YA besties most resemble you and your crew. Take the quiz, and let me know which one you got in the comments.
Which YA besties are You? – THE QUESTIONS
(1). How did you first become friends?
a. You bonded as nerds among normals in a geek club like marching band, debate, or newspaper.
b. You were each other’s competition at first, but after a while you realized you could dominate the world if you combined your ambitions to conquer the playing field.
c. You found each other on the edges, maybe sitting out of gym together, cutting class in the nurse’s room, hanging out in the same secluded corner of the library, or bumping into each other at a quirky diner.
d. You met in homeroom, on the bus, through assigned seating, or in some other way that threw everyone in each other’s paths.
(2). What do other people think of you and your friends?
a. You’re kind of invisible, unless someone wants to buy an essay off you. Everyone just assumes you’re The Big Bang Theory but with even less romantic action.
b. The hallways part when you and your friends walk down it. You’re trendsetters, and everyone envies you. Boys and girls alike get tongue-tied around you.
c. People find you edgy and unpredictable. You might even intimidate them with your bleak nihilism. They think you’re a bunch of misfits, and are therefore obsessed with you.
d. They are jealous. People are attracted to your power but suspicious of your tiny cult since you mostly keep to yourselves. Secretly? They all want to break into your circle.
(3). What do you and your YA besties have in common?
a. Fandoms, knowledge of obscure subjects, and unrequited crushes.
b. Status, ambition, and a sense of style.
c. Anxiety/depression/tortured mental anguish, a love of cult classic movies and books, and secrets.
d. Common enemies, courage, and a desire to make the world a better place.
(4). What’s the farthest you might have gone to help one of your YA besties?
a. Dropped everything to help them in a quest, especially if it involves love.
b. Connected them to someone who could help them, like an online friend.
c. Covered up for them if they skipped class or were in a secret relationship they needed to hide.
d. Risked your life—many times—to help them get out of a jam.
(5). What happens when you fight?
a. Lotta braniacs? Lotta disagreements. You will tell someone they are about to make a mistake, even if it’s hard to hear, but you want the best for each other. If one nerd succeeds, you all do.
b. Gossip, alliances, and betrayals… sometimes you wonder if you’re more frenemies than friends. You’ll always have each other’s backs, though, and will take down an outside threat.
c. Sarcastic remarks and painfully honest observations sometimes cut deep. And the bitter truths about your dynamics can be hard to face (or deny). But you need each other and stick together.
d. You yell, get it off your chest, and maybe even cry. You’re brutally honest with each other, always. But you know your love runs deeper than any insults or slights.
So, Who is Your Crew? – ANSWERS
MOSTLY A’s… Quentin (“Q”), Ben, and Radar from Paper Towns by John Green
“Paper Towns” by John Green
Like Q, Ben, and Radar from Paper Towns, you and your friends are a bunch of overachieving brainiacs… and you love it. Your combined IQ probably tops 600, yet you can be quite dumb about certain things (especially if there’s love or lust involved). Fortunately, your friends are there to pool your geek together and figure out a way out of a jam. Your different skill sets provide a well-rounded way to tackle any situation, so if you’re kind of clueless about flirting, you can count on your friend to coach you through, or at least be your wing man. You adore road trips and solving mysteries. You may be nerds, but you love adventure and won’t shy away from danger, or any excuse to drop a fannish reference and show off your intelligence.
MOSTLY B’s… Kyla and her friends from The Takedown by Corrie Wang
“The Takedown” by Connie Wang
When The Takedown‘s heroine Kyla and her best friends walk through a room, everyone shuts up, takes their eyes off their phone, and watches. You and your friends are just as powerful and popular as Kyla’s gang. You each have high standards, and you hold everyone to them. Appearances matter. Exuding a fierce and flawless aura means nobody messes with you—except for each other. It’s competitive among you guys, but you push each other to be your best. That’s not to say there aren’t hidden allegiances and alliances among you, though. Still, when it comes down to it, you’d drop everything to help each other and will stake your reputation to defend your friend’s honor. You respect each other’s opinions and are brutally honest. Sometimes there are tears, but more often there are hugs. It can get catty, but you love these YA besties and would do anything for them.
MOSTLY C’s… Charlie, Patrick, and Sam from The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky
Like YA besties Charlie, Patrick, and Sam from The Perks of Being a Wallflower, you and your friends are so uncool you’re cool. You and your friends are in the rare and coveted position of being both outsiders and above everyone else. You don’t care what anyone thinks, which automatically wins you admiration. People might even be a bit afraid of you. You dance around the edge of danger, and carefully guard painful secrets, experimenting with new ways to push the limit, checking out new counter cultures and ways to screw with authority, even if it does mean breaking the rules. You guys are a tight crew, but there might be some unresolved romantic tension hovering between you. Sometimes it seems like you’re one big love triangle, or square, or hexagon, or some weird shape. Your crew has some issues; anxiety, depression, weird tics and neuroses are common. “Normal” isn’t in your vocabulary, but love and loyalty run deep among you beautiful misfits.
MOSTLY D’s… Harry, Ron, and Hermione from the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
Harry, Ron, and Hermione from the Harry Potter books
The classic YA besties trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermione from Harry Potter are the iconic best friends who play off each other’s strengths with undying devotion. Their dynamic wouldn’t work if everyone was as meticulous and brilliant as Hermione, as bold and impulsive as Harry, or as loyal and humble as Ron. Just like these friends, you and your besties are super close. Your story goes way back, and you’ve been together through so much, including key milestones like losing someone close to you, growing into and out of different personalities and interests, falling in love for the first time (maybe even among yourselves), and shaping your evolving core beliefs and passions. Your crew has been there since the beginning, and you know they’ll be there till the end. Sure, you get on each other’s nerves sometimes, but you’re always there for each other, through good times and bad.