Friendship

The underlying theme pervasive throughout the story of Beth Lambert, the eleven-year-old main character of Philip Hall Likes Me, I Reckon Maybe is true friendship. Beth is a loving child who is close to her parents and loves and appreciates her family. At the tender age of eleven, she is following the natural course of maturation by seeking friends and building relationships outside her nuclear family.

Since she has been the baby of the family for all of her eleven years, Beth wants something she can love and care for—just like the care and protection she has enjoyed during her life. She decides that a puppy would be the perfect object for her affection. She goes through a series of three puppies—one she even names Friendly—in an effort to find a breed of dogs that will not make her sneeze. Unfortunately, through...