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Summary
Summary
This sweet contemporary story about poetry, family, and determining your own destiny is perfect for fans of books by Wendy Mass, Joan Bauer, Sharon Creech, and Rebecca Stead.
Eleven-year-old Emily Elizabeth Davis has never met her father, so when a book of poetry with his name in it goes missing, Emily and her friends search all over their hometown of Berkeley, California, hoping to track it down. Meanwhile, even though her English-professor mother insists that Emily is destined to become a poet (she named her after Emily Dickinson!), Emily secretly corresponds with her idol, romance writer Danielle Steel.
As Publishers Weekly says, "Fitzmaurice's story deftly mingles Dickinson, Danielle Steel, a budding crush, and protesting tree sitters while maintaining suspense that leads to a satisfying ending."
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-7-Eleven-year-old Emily Elizabeth Davis's flighty mother reveals that Emily's rare volume of Emily Dickinson's poetry not only embodies her destiny to become a great poet, but also contains the name of Emily's unknown father scribbled somewhere in the margins. Unfortunately, Emily loses the book. Thus begins the plucky girl's search through Berkeley to find the lost collection, a series of adventures that force her to examine her beliefs about destiny, romance, and self-determination. Fitzmaurice creates a believable and relatable protagonist, but also develops funny secondary characters-including tree-dwelling environmentalists; a military-obsessed younger cousin; a faithful and smart best friend; and, of course, her scatter-brained, English professor mother. A clean, safe, child-friendly version of Berkeley features prominently. Fitzmaurice finds ways for Emily to evaluate different attitudes about fate through the many pages of this long book, especially via clever discussions about and references to Laura Ingalls Wilder, Danielle Steel, Star Wars, and many other cultural or literary elements. A sweet book that should appeal to fans of Wendy Mass, Joan Bauer, Sharon Creech, and the like.-Rhona Campbell, Georgetown Day School, Washington, DC (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Fitzmaurice (A Diamond in the Desert) explores fate and destiny with a light yet thoughtful touch in this novel about sixth-grader Emily, named by her free-spirit mother after Emily Dickinson. Emily's mother is sure that her daughter's destiny is tied to the famous writer's and that she will be a great poet (she even commemorates the important moments of Emily's life in a first edition of Dickinson's poetry). Emily, however, thrives on predictability and order, and has no feel for poetry-though she is obsessed with romantic novels' happy endings, since she is searching for one: finding her unknown father, whose identity her mother has never disclosed. Just as Emily learns his name is hidden in the Dickinson book, it is accidentally taken and Emily sets out to find it, challenging her mother's belief that things should "unfold in their natural course." Aptly set amid the hippie ambiance of Berkeley, Calif., and peopled by offbeat, but believable characters, Fitzmaurice's story deftly mingles Dickinson, Danielle Steel, a budding crush, and protesting tree sitters while maintaining suspense that leads to a satisfying ending. Ages 9-12. Agent: Jennifer Rofe, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Despite her mother's wishes, Emily (named for Dickinson) isn't sure she wants to be a poet when she grows up; she's more into romance novels. But when her first-edition copy of a Dickinson book--which doubles as her baby book--disappears, Emily is determined to find it. Fitzmaurice's musings on fate and destiny, echoed by a long-lost father subplot, may resonate with New Agey tweens. (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Sixth-grader Emily Davis, destined to be a poet like her namesake, discovers that she can help the hand of fate. Emily doesn't like poetry very much. She'd rather be a different kind of writer. Her single mother chose her name from a book she'd purchased the day before Emily's birth. Alongside Emily Dickinson's poems, she wrote important happenings from her daughter's life. But the very day Emily learns that one of those notes contains her father's name, the book accidentally goes to Goodwill. Her efforts to find it again and learn her father's name serve as the scaffolding for this first-person coming-of-age story set in Berkeley, Calif., during the 2006-08 oak grove controversy. Longing to complete her family, Emily actually practices composing happy endings for romance novels. With the help of best friend, Wavey St. Clair, and soldier-wannabe cousin Mortie, she haunts used bookstores. Some surprising coincidences and her new practice of doing the unexpected--to leave room for chance--lead to a very happy ending indeed. There's a proto-romance with classmate Connor Kelly, attention paid to environmental issues and some interesting poetry, but the focus is squarely on Emily's growing self-determination. Emotionally, her story rings true. Readers will applaud Emily's newfound understanding of the workings of destiny and might even follow her lead. (Fiction. 9-13)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Emily's father, whose identity is a mystery, has always been missing from her life, but this story revolves around another mystery: it's a missing copy of The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, the book that Emily's mother chose for her daughter before she was born, along with her name and destiny. Despite her mother's wish that she be a poet, the sixth-grader clearly prefers writing romance stories, complete with happy endings. Still, at home, at school, and on the hunt for the treasured book, poetry is often a topic of conversation or reflection. Fate and chance have a role in Emily's story, but she increasingly takes the lead and actively shapes her future. Emily's engaging first-person narrative chronicles her daily life, her wonderfully quirky family, her musings on fate, her growing sense of self, and her one-way correspondence with her favorite writer, Danielle Steel. The book's idyllically happy ending may have its critics, but most young readers will find it entirely satisfying.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2010 Booklist
