Just like Molly by Pippa Dowling

Ill. by Sunshine. Empowering Resources, 2016. ISBN 9780994501073
At some stage in their young lives, children have an imaginary friend - one who likes to do the things that you like, eat the things you eat, be scared of the things you are scared of and share good times with you.  And so it is with the little girl in this story.  Her friend Molly loves playing games, going to the park and going on the slides, eating fish and chips and gelati.  She doesn't mind the other kids who are noisy but the barking dogs are a bit frightening.
But one day Molly disappears and no amount of searching finds her.  Things are bleak and lonely especially as school has just started and everyone seems to have a friend already.  And then one day a little girl called Zoe offers to share her crayons . . .
This is not an uncommon theme in children's storybooks but the remarkable thing about this one is that the author wrote it when she was just 10.  She is now just 13. Whimsical characters in colours that echo the mood of the story bring the little girl and her friend to life and reassures those who are about to begin a new phase of their life that there will be someone ready to support them. It opens up opportunities to talk about what friends are and how to initiate friendships through kindness and that through our lives we will have many different friends.
You can read more about this young author on the publisher's site and perhaps her story will inspire the writers in your class to keep at it.
Barbara Braxton