The Red Balloon

By Sara Madden

What do you do when you know someone might leave-but you want to be their friend anyway?
In 1967, Tabitha is the tallest girl in her class and the quietest. She notices everything and says almost nothing.
Then Trudy moves in across the way.
Trudy wears a fedora and suspenders. She draws in a sketchbook she never lets anyone see. She keeps her life in a cardboard box she never fully unpacks-because unpacking means believing she's staying, and believing is the thing that hurts the most.
Tabitha writes I'd like to be your friend on a scrap of notebook paper, slips it inside a red paper m ch balloon, and clips it to the laundry line between their houses.
What follows is one year of notes and drawings and shared strawberries and piano music played into the dark. One year of friendship that will cost Tabitha more than she knows. And give her more than she imagined.
Some friendships last forever. Some last one year. Some change everything.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0H4QPWDF4
• ISBN13: 9798196687020
• Release Date: June 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.0" x 8.0"