Must Be Friends

Some friendships aren't chosen-they're forged to survive.

Summer 1927. Jo's mother is in prison, her stepfather's temper has left more than one bruise, and every grown-up in her Midwestern city seems to be looking the other way. Sam is an orphan riding the rails, safer dressed as a boy than as the girl she is. They meet on a vacant-lot baseball field in caps and knickers, hiding who they are from the boys around them-and from the men who think girls are theirs to use.

One violent night forces Jo to swing Sam's bat for real, and everything changes. Suddenly the girls are alone in a small house with a hidden income and no adults they dare trust. In disguise, they build a fragile life together: playing ball with the neighborhood boys, hauling bootleg moonshine on their bicycles, and slowly letting a few good people into the circle they've drawn around each other. But the more they risk, the closer danger creeps-from backroom bootleggers who notice too much to a gray Chrysler lurking at the edges of their world.

As America edges toward the Great Depression, Jo and Sam have to decide how far they'll go to stay free-and whether they can stop running long enough to claim a home of their own. Harrowing yet fiercely hopeful, Must Be Friends will resonate with readers of The Outsiders and The Book Thief who love historical stories of girlhood in disguise, found family, and the cost of protecting the one person who finally feels like home.

Corey Johnson, MD, has spent over thirty years practicing medicine in rural Utah, witnessing firsthand the complexities of trauma, courage, and human connection. Drawing from this deep well of experience, he crafts thoughtful, character-driven fiction marked by emotional honesty and narrative authenticity. Must Be Friends is his debut novel, reflecting Johnson's keen insights into friendship and resilience, and establishing him as an emerging voice capable of exploring the profound with simplicity and clarity.