12. What Would Emma Do? - Eileen Cook

For: YA
Published 2009
307 pgs.
Rating: 4
Finished: Feb. 15, 2009 in Las Vegas

A trade paperback that never came out in hard cover, is copyrighted 2009 AND already in the Pima Library at the end of January? This, in itself, is an oddity.

Another oddity - this is the second book in a row - totally unintentionally - that is about fervent Christian-right teenagers being caught as hippocrites, followers, liars - with the still fairthful but honest, THINKING teen being the protagonist.

Emma lives in a small town, Wheaton, Indiana, middle of America's heartland, middle of America's dairy farms, and splat in the middle of the midwestern Bible belt. Pastor Evers leads his Trinity Evangelical flock wihich includes a high school, the setting for this story. Darci Evers, his popular daughter, is the antagonist. Emma's two best friends - one, Colin, a young man that she's known and trusted since she was two, and the other, Joann, who is kind and trustworthy and always there for her, are now, as seniors in high school, a couple. Emma's single mom moved them from Chicago back to her hometown when Emma was young. And lastly, Emma is a runner - is on the track team - is really, really good and hoping for a full scholarship to Northwestern, which is the only way she knows she'll get to leave this small town that she hates.

So. The stage is set for the story. Short chapters. The beginning of each is an italicized "talk" that Emma has with God. Clever and thoughtful and very, very, very funny.

All of a sudden the crowd of popular girls start fainting and having seizures (just like late 17th century Salem, though that is never mentioned), to cover up a drinking/drug party that Darci Evers attended. It goes up and down from there - quickly and with continued humor that I greatly enjoyed.

The ending was disappointing. Build up, build up, drop fast. Darn! Another twenty pages of the kind of action and talk that took place in the rest of the book would have made this a five for me.