Three friends discover real friendship when they form a weekly dinner club, going to each other's homes for a great home-cooked meal. Each girl has a crisis going on in her life. Junie's boyfriends of one year wants more and more sex, which she is really not ready for. Cecelia's father has found a new love, after 14 years of widowhood. Danielle just can't seem to stay away from bad boy Steve, and won't use her God-given singing voice anywhere in public.

They all go through trying times, but the dinner club holds them together and gives them focus, especially after Danielle's beloved Nonna dies.

Certainly fits the criteria for the list. ( )

Reviewed by Taylor Rector for TeensReadToo.com

Celia, Junie, and Danielle all become friends on a whim. Celia and Junie are already friends when GIRLS DINNER CLUB starts, and one night, Danielle was at Celia's house while Junie was there. Danielle offers to make them both dinner, and because of this all the girls become friends by regularly meeting at each others houses and making and having dinner together. They celebrate with each other through the good times and the bad. Some of the things that happen to the girls include: crushes, boyfriend problems, and family issues; just the basic teenage girl problems. It's definitely not written in a depressing way, as there are so many funny things that happen in the book. During one of their dinners together they even get in a food fight! It shows a great friendship that grows between the girls. I would recommend this book to any girl who loves to read about friendships, relationships, and great food.

While I was reading GIRLS DINNER CLUB all I could think about was how good of friends the girls became. All formed such a close bond over something everyone loves--food! This is the first book that Jessie Elliot has written and there will hopefully be more to come. Even though this is Ms. Elliot's first book, it feels like she has written a million stories! GIRLS DINNER CLUB is so well-written and the characters seem so real that it feels like you could be their friend, as well. ( )

Readers who liked The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants will also like this book. It's a great story of friendship and also showed a variety of different homelife-styles. Great quick read. ( )