When seventh grader Emma-Jean Lazarus encounters the popular Colleen Pomerantz crying in the girl's bathroom, she ignores her usual instincts to stay out of the messy lives of her classmates, and promises to help. Emma-Jean's adored father, a brilliant and eccentric mathematician, died in a car accident two years ago, and it almost pleases her that people think she's strange, just like he was. True to her promise, Emma-Jean comes up with a "multistepped, highly logical plan of action" to thwart the powerful, bossy, and insidious Laura Gilroy from going on a ski trip with Colleen's best friend, Kaitlin. This quirky, insightful, and ultimately poignant little novel focuses, in alternating chapters, on the interactions of the two girls: Colleen, the popular student who tries to be nice to everyone, and wonders if she’s worthy of her popularity, and Emma-Jean, the unpopular one who has always accepted her own exclusion from the in crowd until now.
This will be a wonderful book to use for a Mother-Daughter book club discussion, since it delves into both girls' personalities with such compassion and clarity.
Reviewed by JF.
Themes: DEATH. FRIENDSHIP. MIDDLE SCHOOL. MOTHERS.
- Get this into the right hands by recommending it as a read-aloud for kids lucky enough to be read to in later elementary or early middle school.
- Faith Brautigam, School Library Journal
- Readers will cheer on Emma-Jean as she begins to see more clearly and enter more fully the world around her, messiness and all.
- Publishers Weekly
- This gem of a book lends itself to a discussion of bullying (especially girl bullying), loss, friendship, character change, learning differences, and problem solving.
- Children
- The comic juice in the story comes from Emma-Jean's hyper-rational yet totally skewed take on reality, and her evolution from analyst to actor makes for a captivating, highly satisfying read.
- Kirkus Reviews