Miss Emily by Burleigh Mutén (review)

The introduction to this slim, illustrated verse novel explains that the reclusive poet Emily Dickinson enjoyed the company of the children who lived nearby, often joining them in their pretend play. In this fictionalized account of those interactions, Dickinson takes the lead, inviting the children to dress as gypsies and slip out in the dead of night to greet the circus that is coming to town. Such an adventure is shockingly inappropriate and therefore must be undertaken in secrecy, which must be breached when the young narrator, Mac, sprains his ankle on the way home. A disgraced Mac is delighted by an unprecedented visit from Dickinson, who takes full responsibility and leaves the children with a story, and his punishment is lifted with a visit to the circus as well. While the tale has a measure of old-fashioned charm and mild historical interest, there is not much substance; the poetry, for the most part, is more prosaic than genuinely evocative of the elegant, significanceladen imagery of Dickinson’s own work, and the sense of adventure is relatively slight. The adult-inspired imaginative play and Mac’s pastor father’s admonitions that his actions reflect on the family may have appeal for temperamentally earnest children and their parents, however, and the story may hold interest for children being introduced to Dickinson’s poetry by presenting Dickinson herself as childfriendly. Historical notes on the characters and bibliography are included. Final art not seen.