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Reviewed by:
  • Another Day as Emily by Eileen Spinelli
  • Deborah Stevenson, Editor
Spinelli, Eileen. Another Day as Emily; illus. by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff. Knopf, 2014. [256p] Library ed. ISBN 978-0-449-80988-4 $15.99 Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-449-80987-7 $12.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-449-80990-7 $10.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 4-6.

The summer that Suzy turns twelve starts off with a drama: her four-year-old brother is hailed as a hero after dialing 911 for an ailing neighbor. Hero boy Parker becomes the narrative that dominates Suzy’s household, even as she enjoys the summer program at the library, where she’s learning about Emily Dickinson, and gets increasingly interested in a nice boy. When Parker ends up wrecking Suzy’s birthday (Phillies-loving Suzy and her father were going to attend her first game ever when Parker goes temporarily missing), she’s had enough. She shuns the world, garbs herself in white dresses, and asks to be called Emily, all in the manner of the poet who inspires her—but is being Emily really the solution to her problems? In Spinelli’s lightly turned and accessible free verse sequence (each short poem has its own title and leads seamlessly into the next), Suzy’s voice is prosy and authentic with just enough insight to lend perspective (“One teeny-tiny coax/ and I might topple,” thinks an Emily-weary Suzy hoping to be encouraged to join a family outing). The book quietly layers factors on Suzy that make her vulnerability understandable, and it hits a nice note, not too serious (her father’s audible grumbling has a certain objective reality) but not dismissive, about her Emily phase. Spinelli continues to be a sympathetic chronicler of tween tribulations that don’t always rise to the level of trials, offering a rewarding experience for young readers not looking to leapfrog into YA. Final illustrations not seen.

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