The primary theme of Real Friends is Shannon’s attempts to form genuine friendships in her first few years of school. Early on in the book, Shannon’s mom asserts that all any kid needs is one good friend to support them as they grow up. For most of her childhood, Shannon believes this to be true. She thinks her one friend must be Adrienne, the first person she ever befriended when she was in kindergarten. She puts so much emphasis on her friendship with Adrienne, Shannon is willing to go through a lot of teasing and uncertainty with The Group in the hopes of keeping Adrienne close. Shannon’s love for Adrienne sometimes causes her to ignore other potential friendships. While Adrienne is away, for instance, Shannon is friends with Tammy, but she never really cares about Tammy’s experiences and constantly compares her to Adrienne.

When Shannon finally extracts herself from The Group, she briefly experiences genuine isolation. She has spent so much time focusing on her friendship with Adrienne that she does not have anyone else to rely on after leaving The Group. Losing her friend group, however tumultuous a group it may have been, makes Shannon’s already difficult mental health situation a lot worse.