“With Friends Like These” chronicles the lives of 5 friends: Cassidy, Evette, Janiel, Khaliyah, and Trina. The book takes place primarily in New Jersey from 1991-1999, the friends Freshman year in high school, and follows the characters into adulthood. The book tells the story from Cassidy’s perspective, but as the plot progresses the reader is allowed to see the perspective of various characters. Cassidy begins high school as a shy, awkward, skinny girl attending a private school, a two bus ride from her urban home. She befriends 4 girls in private school. Cassidy and the leader of the friends Khaliyah become the closest of friends. During Cassidy’s Junior year she decides to stop talking to Khaliyah because Khaliyah slept with her crush. Their friendship is strained until by a chain of events Khaliyah and Cassidy’s paths cross in adulthood. While in high school Cassidy finds her father in bed with another man. This causes her to move in with her successful, drug dealing boyfriend. Evette ends up sleeping with Cassidy’s brother Rich which further divides the friendship. After high school all 5 girls go their separate ways. Janeil, Cassidy, and Trina attend college, Evette barely graduates from high school before she finds out she is pregnant with Rich’s baby, and Khaliyah becomes the top stripper in Miami. Someone close to all the friends gets murdered, and this causes the group to try to mend their friendship to find out the truth. When a competition for men, drugs, money, and power ensue,With Friends Like These, Who needs enemies?
