The Initials-that's what I will call this group! We will be lifelong friends, sharing, laughing, and enjoying life just like the characters in my books, thought 13-year-old Emma. Not many people are lucky enough to have trusted, forever friends, but the women in The Initials have been close since they were teenagers. Time has since separated them, but they are reunited by a tragedy as they mourn the loss of one of their group. The women spend a week together reinventing the friendship they all treasure so deeply. They analyze the definition of friendship --is it a need for approval, sharing, understanding? What is it that makes people connect and continue to want to be connected? In their youth, friendship was more about a desire for acceptance, but somewhere along the way, it all changed-and friendship crossed over into a new realm of security and safety. The Initials is a book about the trials and tribulations of female friendship, and the underlying thread of love and loyalty that ties them together.