Families who loved Friendly Face by Scott Cawthon often look for books with a similar feel. These 20 recommendations were selected for their similarity in style, theme, and reading level.
A parent would reach for this book when their teenager is struggling with intense feelings of guilt, the heavy weight of grief after a loss, or the desire to undo a past mistake. While packaged as a horror collection based on the popular video game franchise, these stories serve as dark metaphors for the internal struggles of adolescence, specifically focusing on the consequences of poor choices and the difficulty of letting go of the past. The book is composed of three novellas. The title story features Edward, a boy haunted by the accidental death of his younger brother, who attempts to replace him with a customized robotic pet. The subsequent stories explore themes of social isolation, the pressure to fit in, and the ethical dilemmas of technology. Parents should be aware that while the setting is fantastical and scary, the emotional core is deeply grounded in the real world anxieties of middle and high school students. It provides a cathartic outlet for teens who prefer dark, high-stakes narratives to traditional self-help or realistic fiction.