Invisible Emmie
By Terri Libenson
Hi! Do you like to read comics? Well, this book is a comic – sort of. There are two main characters. One is named Emmie (that’s actually why I wanted to read this book!) and the other is named Katie. It switches story points throughout the book, though both have to do with each other. Emmie’s story is more like a book than a comic and Katie’s story is more like a comic than a normal book.
Emmie is thirteen and in 7th grade. She used to be loud when she was a baby, but now she’s as quiet as a mouse. It actually says in the book that a mouse and Emmie have a tie for muteness. She has two older siblings. They have grown up and moved away. Her parents work in different cities, so that leaves her at the house alone after school while she waits for her parents to come home. The house used to be very loud when her siblings were around. Now, the house is pretty quiet. Her mom is a fitness person. She believes in eating healthy foods. Her dad is really quiet and it doesn’t really say what his job is. Emmie has a best friend. Her name’s Brianna. Brianna lives exactly nine minutes away by car. Her nickname is “Bri.” Emmie’s favorite thing to do is draw. Emmie says that she’s pretty bad at the usual things that get people’s attention.
Now, onto Katie. She’s in 7th grade like Emmie. She’s very popular. She lives in a center house in a neighborhood with all her friends around her. Her parents run a candy business and sometimes she’s the taste-tester. Her parents are pretty cool and they’ve never embarrassed her. Katie has lots of hobbies. She likes a lot of fashion, music, and social events. She also likes to play sports. On weekends, her friends come over and have sleepovers. Sometimes she goes to the mall and she meets new people. Some call her lucky, but she works hard for everything. Basically, she’s just an average teenage girl.
It’s a school day for Emmie. Her parents go through the usual questions and then it’s off to school for her. She has a normal morning (a normal morning for Emmie means that no one pays attention to her and she goes to lots of classes which, in her words, are “boring”)….
Katie has lots of friends and can’t wait for school. It’s time to head to class. She can’t wait to get her day started! She spends the morning chilling, unlike Emmie. She’s really organized and has lots of time to relax…
Emmie’s first period is science. Once Emmie gets into homeroom, everyone is talking. Everybody has someone to talk to except for Emmie…
When Katie gets into class, everyone is already sitting down and doing stuff. Emmie starts drawing. The class bully, Joe, snatches her drawing away and laughs. Katie gives Joe a mean look and he hands the drawing back to Emmie. Katie feels sorry for Emmie…
Emmie has a bad time in gym, but Katie has a great time. Next, she goes to English. It’s her second favorite class because Emmie loves to write and the stuff sticks to her brain when she does it…
This is the part where there’s some yucky-lovey stuff. Tyler is the cool boy in the class. He asks Katie if she’ll go out with him. She says yes….
Next is lunch. Emmie and Bri start writing love notes about boys they like. Emmie’s love note slips out of her hands when she’s walking out the door. The bully, Joe, sees it and picks it up. Uh oh! You know how I said earlier that Emmie likes someone? Well, the bully, Joe, is friends with that boy that Emmie likes (although he’s nothing like him).
Will Emmie get the note back before Joe shows it to the entire school? Or will Emmie be humiliated? As I always say, read the book to find out.
I recommend this book to people who know not to say the bad words that are in this book. And, yes, there are bad words. And if you’re okay with yucky-lovey stuff. If your parents won’t let you read this book because of the description, don’t read it!
A few helpful things I like to say about the books I read:
“Run and Get Mom” (how I describe the scariness factor):
There were no scary parts in this book.
“Yucky-Lovey Stuff” (how I describe the romance factor):
There were a few yucky-lovey spots in this book. But just like boyfriend and girlfriend – no kissing!
I give this book 3 wands.
It has a few bad words in it and a few yucky-lovey parts in it, but if you took those things out, it would be a really good book! My favorite part is the ending (but I don’t want to say anything that will spoil it).
