Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree, by Lauren Tarshis, is a lovely and insightful book about what it’s like to be different.Middle school can be a tough place and Emma-Jean definitely marches to her own beat. Unlike the rest of her seventh-grade classmates, Emma-Jean uses reason to guide her actions. Her incredibly logical brain helps her to stand apart from the social turmoil that upsets and excites her classmates and avoid the emotional confusion of 12-year-old friendships and enmities. But Emma-Jean’s detachment is broken when she uses her keen intelligence to extract classmate Colleen from a sticky social situation. Once Emma-Jean sees how her logical solution can “solve” an emotional problem, she can’t resist meddling again. Soon, all her chickens come home to roost and Emma-Jean must realize that logic just can’t solve matters of the heart.
This book would be a perfect read for later elementary or middle school girls: it takes a realistic but detached view of the all-consuming social jostling that takes place during this period of childhood. With a clear message about standing up for what's right, and a charming plot that moves along briskly, most girls will find lots to like about this title.
Fiction
Grades 4-7
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