This content analysis of fourteen young adult novels examines the manner in which friendship behaviors and trends vary depending on the gender of the characters. Similarities and differences between male and female same-sex friendships in these novels were compared to determine the extent to which friendship patterns are determined by gender, and then the findings of the content analysis were compared to the trends observed in the psychology literature regarding gender and adolescent friendships. Results indicated that while psychology literature suggests many gender-based differences in friendship patterns, these differences are not actually reflected in the young adult novels being published today, which depict same-sex friendships as being largely similar in terms of the most significant trends.Master of Science in Library Scienc
