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What Would Emma Do?
Thou Shalt Not Kiss Thy Best Friend’s Boyfriend...again...
There is no greater sin than kissing your best friend’s boyfriend. So when Emma breaks that golden rule, she knows she’s messed up big-time...especially since she lives in the smallest town ever, where everyone knows everything about everyone else...and especially since she maybe kinda wants to do it again. Now her best friend isn’t speaking to her, her best guy friend is making things totally weird, and Emma is running full speed toward certain social disaster. This is so not the way senior year was supposed to go.
Time to pray for a minor miracle. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s time for Emma to stop trying to please everyone around her, and figure out what she wants for herself.
307 pages, Paperback
First published December 30, 2008
20 people are currently reading
3055 people want to read
About the author
Eileen Cook
40 books997 followersEileen Cook spent most of her teen years wishing she were someone else or somewhere else, which is great training for a writer.
You can read more about Eileen, her books, and the things that strike her as funny at www.eileencook.com. Eileen lives in Vancouver with her two dogs and no longer wishes to be anyone or anywhere else.
You can read more about Eileen, her books, and the things that strike her as funny at www.eileencook.com. Eileen lives in Vancouver with her two dogs and no longer wishes to be anyone or anywhere else.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 145 reviews
January 5, 2019
The cover copy of this book was simply too tempting to pass up. How do you recover from kissing your best friend's boyfriend? And in a small town where everybody knows everything about everybody else? Intriguing, yes? Unfortunately, Eileen Cook fumbles this wonderful premise and seems intent on digging her hole deeper the longer the book continues.
Two factors weight this book down throughout (and that's before you get to the tragically stupid non-ending). First, the tone of the book holds nothing but contempt for its characters. Emma and Todd are the only vaguely sympathetic characters with everyone else being the kind of people the unreligious imagine religious people to be. That's right, the whole thing is one broad, poorly-drawn stereotype that is never challenged and with only the one note throughout. Second, it does the same thing with faith, God, and particularly the Bible--i.e. it presents the stereotype held by those who reject organized religion and the Bible and treats it as reality.
So yeah, it's a giant straw man aimed right at organized religion and faith and designed to show how hypocritical believers are. By the book's midpoint I was desperate for some relief--even a single character of faith who wasn't a giant, raging hypocrite would have been nice.
By the three-quarters mark I had given that hope up and was just waiting to see how the romance turned out. Silly me! By the time I got to the end, I found that this isn't a romance! That's right, the book sells itself as if it is one (both in the cover copy and throughout the course of the story it displays all the markers), but then Cook gets all "literary" by simply ending at the resolution of the one part that was absolutely certain (because, duh, it's the part that "proves" the superiority of Emma's individual morality over all that "God" stuff).
So the book turns out to be both a cheat and a take-in. Badly done. I'm afraid I have no respect left for Cook and I've lost some for Meg Cabot for endorsing the book, as well. Sad...
Two factors weight this book down throughout (and that's before you get to the tragically stupid non-ending). First, the tone of the book holds nothing but contempt for its characters. Emma and Todd are the only vaguely sympathetic characters with everyone else being the kind of people the unreligious imagine religious people to be. That's right, the whole thing is one broad, poorly-drawn stereotype that is never challenged and with only the one note throughout. Second, it does the same thing with faith, God, and particularly the Bible--i.e. it presents the stereotype held by those who reject organized religion and the Bible and treats it as reality.
So yeah, it's a giant straw man aimed right at organized religion and faith and designed to show how hypocritical believers are. By the book's midpoint I was desperate for some relief--even a single character of faith who wasn't a giant, raging hypocrite would have been nice.
By the three-quarters mark I had given that hope up and was just waiting to see how the romance turned out. Silly me! By the time I got to the end, I found that this isn't a romance! That's right, the book sells itself as if it is one (both in the cover copy and throughout the course of the story it displays all the markers), but then Cook gets all "literary" by simply ending at the resolution of the one part that was absolutely certain (because, duh, it's the part that "proves" the superiority of Emma's individual morality over all that "God" stuff).
So the book turns out to be both a cheat and a take-in. Badly done. I'm afraid I have no respect left for Cook and I've lost some for Meg Cabot for endorsing the book, as well. Sad...
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June 1, 2016Of course I love it- I wrote it. : )
July 21, 2012
Well that was disappointing.
I was expecting a nice fluffy book. Instead I got a town full of preachers who made me super angry and zero romance.
Here's the thing, I'm Catholic, I believe, but I also think faith is very personal, it's not something I talk about unless it's already been brought up and I dislike it when anyone shoves their believes (or anti-believes) in someone else's face. Emma herself is not like this, but the rest of the town is. They're also bat-shit crazy, and will believe anything so long as it coming out of the mouth of a 'good christian' and immediately distrust people who don't share their beliefs. Also the town hates brown people. That was actually a kind of amusing part of the story since Emma was making fun of it. But anyways, this is a super crazy town, and while I know people like this exist in the world, I'd prefer to have nothing to do with them as they make every one else look bad. So this book just shoves you into this world of crazy Christians and it just kind of gets worse and worse. This lie comes out and the whole town goes insane thinking terrorists are drugging all the young popular girls in 'the heart of America' (really?). Stupid people frustrate me to no end and this entire book was just about Emma being surrounded by stupid people who talked about God non stop, and will blame everything on someone with zero evidence.
I think I'm being kind of hard on this book, I mean Emma had a level head and really that's all that should matter. Except it just doesn't in this case. It's pretty preachy, in the crazy kind of way, and the town is crazy and made me crazy repeatedly going 'WHAT! how.. WHAT!?' as the situation continued to get more and more ridiculous and the people crazier and crazier.
Also Emma's talks with God at the beginning of the chapters weren't really necessary most of the time and honestly I felt weird reading them.
I was expecting a nice fluffy book. Instead I got a town full of preachers who made me super angry and zero romance.
Here's the thing, I'm Catholic, I believe, but I also think faith is very personal, it's not something I talk about unless it's already been brought up and I dislike it when anyone shoves their believes (or anti-believes) in someone else's face. Emma herself is not like this, but the rest of the town is. They're also bat-shit crazy, and will believe anything so long as it coming out of the mouth of a 'good christian' and immediately distrust people who don't share their beliefs. Also the town hates brown people. That was actually a kind of amusing part of the story since Emma was making fun of it. But anyways, this is a super crazy town, and while I know people like this exist in the world, I'd prefer to have nothing to do with them as they make every one else look bad. So this book just shoves you into this world of crazy Christians and it just kind of gets worse and worse. This lie comes out and the whole town goes insane thinking terrorists are drugging all the young popular girls in 'the heart of America' (really?). Stupid people frustrate me to no end and this entire book was just about Emma being surrounded by stupid people who talked about God non stop, and will blame everything on someone with zero evidence.
I think I'm being kind of hard on this book, I mean Emma had a level head and really that's all that should matter. Except it just doesn't in this case. It's pretty preachy, in the crazy kind of way, and the town is crazy and made me crazy repeatedly going 'WHAT! how.. WHAT!?' as the situation continued to get more and more ridiculous and the people crazier and crazier.
Also Emma's talks with God at the beginning of the chapters weren't really necessary most of the time and honestly I felt weird reading them.
September 19, 2018
I think I’m going to skip Eileen Cook’s older books. They aren’t working for me and I really love her newer stories.
That’s all I’m going to say.
That’s all I’m going to say.
June 2, 2009
This title was everywhere when I decided to enter the blogosphere. Its cover was on every blog, reviewed nearly daily and yet I was so preoccupied with the start up of PSnark that I didn't really absorb the reviews. Thank goodness.
Though the title mimics the question of 'what would Jesus do?' and openly questions Christianity, I didn't feel it was disrespectful or had an ulterior motive. I was dense enough not to realise this would be a book with heavy emphasis on the exploration of religion but immediately picked up illusions to The Crucible. While I would imagine some readers of a more religious bent could take issue with the tone, I think it was incredibly funny, accurate and in touch with teens. If anything, Cook has expertly used a lighter tone to ask some really deep questions about organised religion, hypocrisy and peer pressure. In some ways it reminded me of an amazing indie film, Saved.
Emma is the driving force of this story. She's strong, willful, passionate and more important, questioning of her life and those around her. Emma's stuck in a town of pod people who feel the need to relive the lives of their parents. I could feel the frustration of this character strongly, wanted her to break free from the town's clutches and start afresh. This town was equally as frustrating as the town from Footloose and shared many rules but unfortunately no toe tapping Kevin Bacon. Her decision making leaves much to be desired but I always understood what motivated her actions. Cook allowed me to empathise, a skill many authors need to develop more with their protagonists.
That being said there were a few elements that annoyed me. In particular the running subplot that's results in a cliched decision by her mother. I don't want to give too many details but it ruined the sprint to the finish line for me. Most of the secondary characters possess interesting dimension but I really believe they could have been fleshed out more. Colin (the boyfriend in the summary), a character who's a catalyst to the events of this book is predominantly left hanging for the second half. He's a character who comes across as largely inconsistent. I did enjoy the fact that those who prefer to have a predictable lifestyle, one that Emma chooses to reject, are allowed to justify their life choices. That Emma's jaded perspective of the town isn't shared by everyone and that they have valid reasons of their own to stay. It provided a nice counterpoint to Emma's strong opinions and I never felt that Cook was judging them for wanting to settle.
What Would Emma Do was a vastly entertaining read which tread the tightrope of addressing alternative perspectives of Christianity in a light but questioning manner. More importantly it makes the reader question their stance whilst relating to many of the characters.
Though the title mimics the question of 'what would Jesus do?' and openly questions Christianity, I didn't feel it was disrespectful or had an ulterior motive. I was dense enough not to realise this would be a book with heavy emphasis on the exploration of religion but immediately picked up illusions to The Crucible. While I would imagine some readers of a more religious bent could take issue with the tone, I think it was incredibly funny, accurate and in touch with teens. If anything, Cook has expertly used a lighter tone to ask some really deep questions about organised religion, hypocrisy and peer pressure. In some ways it reminded me of an amazing indie film, Saved.
Emma is the driving force of this story. She's strong, willful, passionate and more important, questioning of her life and those around her. Emma's stuck in a town of pod people who feel the need to relive the lives of their parents. I could feel the frustration of this character strongly, wanted her to break free from the town's clutches and start afresh. This town was equally as frustrating as the town from Footloose and shared many rules but unfortunately no toe tapping Kevin Bacon. Her decision making leaves much to be desired but I always understood what motivated her actions. Cook allowed me to empathise, a skill many authors need to develop more with their protagonists.
That being said there were a few elements that annoyed me. In particular the running subplot that's results in a cliched decision by her mother. I don't want to give too many details but it ruined the sprint to the finish line for me. Most of the secondary characters possess interesting dimension but I really believe they could have been fleshed out more. Colin (the boyfriend in the summary), a character who's a catalyst to the events of this book is predominantly left hanging for the second half. He's a character who comes across as largely inconsistent. I did enjoy the fact that those who prefer to have a predictable lifestyle, one that Emma chooses to reject, are allowed to justify their life choices. That Emma's jaded perspective of the town isn't shared by everyone and that they have valid reasons of their own to stay. It provided a nice counterpoint to Emma's strong opinions and I never felt that Cook was judging them for wanting to settle.
What Would Emma Do was a vastly entertaining read which tread the tightrope of addressing alternative perspectives of Christianity in a light but questioning manner. More importantly it makes the reader question their stance whilst relating to many of the characters.
January 7, 2012
Ok, so I kind of hated this. Emma lives in a small religious town and complains about how hypocritical everyone is when they send Bibles to Africa instead of much needed food, while each new chapter opens with a completely ridiculous (and often religiously offensive) "poor old me" rant to God about her so very horrible disastrous life. And she wonders why God won't step in and make it all better. Oh, and her life isn't so horrible, she isn't a starving kid in Africa that is for sure. I have some patience for teen angst, but really this girl was a mess.
I have always hated the Crucible, it made me crazy frustrated as young girls claimed to be victims of witchcraft. This book is a modern day take on it as the whole HS starts claiming to be poisoned by all the outcasts of the school to cover up one popular girl's mistake of almost dying from taking drugs. It was overly in your face "hey look how backward and religious we are, we think terrorists are trying to kill our babies!", but being so over the top, this book lost it's whole message.
Oh and her best friend? What a joke. What a crappy best friend, why would you even feel bad for kissing her boyfriend. She is so lame I wished only bad things for her.
And the end, ugh...the author says she loves writing because she can control what her characters do in the end and that is interesting Eileen Cook because this book HAS NO END! I kept reading so I could see what happened and we never find out! So frustrating.
I have always hated the Crucible, it made me crazy frustrated as young girls claimed to be victims of witchcraft. This book is a modern day take on it as the whole HS starts claiming to be poisoned by all the outcasts of the school to cover up one popular girl's mistake of almost dying from taking drugs. It was overly in your face "hey look how backward and religious we are, we think terrorists are trying to kill our babies!", but being so over the top, this book lost it's whole message.
Oh and her best friend? What a joke. What a crappy best friend, why would you even feel bad for kissing her boyfriend. She is so lame I wished only bad things for her.
And the end, ugh...the author says she loves writing because she can control what her characters do in the end and that is interesting Eileen Cook because this book HAS NO END! I kept reading so I could see what happened and we never find out! So frustrating.
January 21, 2009
Modern-day Crucible. That about sums this one up. Set in a small-town in Indiana, Emma (Elizabeth) Proctor attends a private school--a Christian school--and church. It seems anyone and everyone is a believer in Wheaton. (At least on the surface.) Even the title is a play on words, What Would Jesus Do. Emma thinks sitting around and discussing WWJD is pretty lame. She thinks everything that goes on in Wheaton is lame. She's counting down the days, weeks, months until she can leave town forever without once looking back. But before Emma can leave, she has to clean up some of her messes.
The kiss. Her best friend's boyfriend. D'oh. What's Emma to do? Her best friend has 'forgiven' her but does she really and truly trust her? What do YOU think? So when Emma asks Colin (the boy in question) to take her to a party at "The Barn" she knows she's bending and stretching the rules. After all, Joann would never be okay with the two of them hanging out together without her. But an impulsive decision on her part starts her down a long road where she doesn't want to be heading...
Emma and Colin witness something. Something with consequences. No one knows they know. The right thing to do, of course, would be to come clean. To stop this witch-hunt before it even begins. But they don't. And they don't. And chaos sets in. Everything becomes topsy-turvy as the mob mentality takes over. Soon it becomes a "crime" to be different in any way... How long will Emma let this go on? How many innocent people have to get hurt before she steps up and does the right thing?
I liked The Crucible-ness of it. What I'm slightly on the fence about is the irreverence of elements of the story. Each chapter begins out with her 'prayer' to God. It's not out-and-out disrespectful. It's casual. Perhaps too casual--her praying for breasts and listing all the 'good things' she'd do in return if he'd grant her wish. It's questioning. In a way, I think it's down-to-earth and authentic-sounding. It feels honest like it is how a person might feel. However, Emma's vision of God isn't the God in the Bible. And if she was versed in the Bible, I think her tone would be different. That maybe just maybe she wouldn't see herself as being smarter than God and better able to manage the world. These sections--I liked some of them, but a few rubbed me the wrong way. Not enough to dislike the novel as a whole. But I could definitely see how some readers might find a few phrases offensive. I've selected one--not as an example of one I dislike in particular--just one that I think represents the essence of what they're like.
God, you know the Bible story about the tower of Babel, where no one can understand anyone else? Sometimes I think I'm living out that story. Everyone around me is speaking English, but we don't understand one another at all. I have to tell you, if I were going to pick a Bible story to live out, this wouldn't be it. I would prefer to be in the garden with a cute Adam (no fig leaf required). No disrespect to Eve, of course. To be honest, I would prefer Noah's ark, even with the catastrophic flood aspect. I like animals. In fact, I like animals more than I like most people I know. Then again, if I have to live out a Bible story, the Babel story is better than most of Revelation. The horsemen of the apocalypse freak me out. (81)
The kiss. Her best friend's boyfriend. D'oh. What's Emma to do? Her best friend has 'forgiven' her but does she really and truly trust her? What do YOU think? So when Emma asks Colin (the boy in question) to take her to a party at "The Barn" she knows she's bending and stretching the rules. After all, Joann would never be okay with the two of them hanging out together without her. But an impulsive decision on her part starts her down a long road where she doesn't want to be heading...
Emma and Colin witness something. Something with consequences. No one knows they know. The right thing to do, of course, would be to come clean. To stop this witch-hunt before it even begins. But they don't. And they don't. And chaos sets in. Everything becomes topsy-turvy as the mob mentality takes over. Soon it becomes a "crime" to be different in any way... How long will Emma let this go on? How many innocent people have to get hurt before she steps up and does the right thing?
I liked The Crucible-ness of it. What I'm slightly on the fence about is the irreverence of elements of the story. Each chapter begins out with her 'prayer' to God. It's not out-and-out disrespectful. It's casual. Perhaps too casual--her praying for breasts and listing all the 'good things' she'd do in return if he'd grant her wish. It's questioning. In a way, I think it's down-to-earth and authentic-sounding. It feels honest like it is how a person might feel. However, Emma's vision of God isn't the God in the Bible. And if she was versed in the Bible, I think her tone would be different. That maybe just maybe she wouldn't see herself as being smarter than God and better able to manage the world. These sections--I liked some of them, but a few rubbed me the wrong way. Not enough to dislike the novel as a whole. But I could definitely see how some readers might find a few phrases offensive. I've selected one--not as an example of one I dislike in particular--just one that I think represents the essence of what they're like.
God, you know the Bible story about the tower of Babel, where no one can understand anyone else? Sometimes I think I'm living out that story. Everyone around me is speaking English, but we don't understand one another at all. I have to tell you, if I were going to pick a Bible story to live out, this wouldn't be it. I would prefer to be in the garden with a cute Adam (no fig leaf required). No disrespect to Eve, of course. To be honest, I would prefer Noah's ark, even with the catastrophic flood aspect. I like animals. In fact, I like animals more than I like most people I know. Then again, if I have to live out a Bible story, the Babel story is better than most of Revelation. The horsemen of the apocalypse freak me out. (81)
October 7, 2010
I absolutely loved this book. I loved Emma, she was innocent and blunt, and I feel like I could relate to her a lot, and that's always a plus.
She kissed her best friends boyfriend. Even though that sounds horrible, it's not like she meant for it to happen. Her & Colin were best friends long before her and Joann were, and HE kissed HER and admitted that he has had feelings for her for a very long time. But even though Emma thinks she does for him, a new guy comes into the picture. Sounds like your typical young adult romance, which I love, except when they sound all the same, but this one doesn't. This book shows you the view of religion and how crazy some religious people really are.
(Don't get me wrong here, I'm a Christian, I'm just not a "really deep" one. I don't goto church all the time or preach to everyone in my path.) But, anyway. This book shows how some schools/religious people really are TOO judgmental, they really can be and we all know it. That's why I love the honesty in this book, it shows you how hard it is for some teenagers to accept the fact of God when people are continually SHOVING religion in their faces. They know someone is up there but they have questions, they are confused. But in this book, as in some places in real life, people view this is being "atheist". Really? Everyone has questions, especially Emma in this novel, and she doesn't get the answers she needs. (Do we all EVER?) She's struggling and no one seems to be listening to her. Yet, Darci, little miss "preacher's daughter" is not being what she claims to be. Typical, right? Most preacher's daughters seem to be that way, but in the novel you can tell that Darci is a hypocrite.
I love this book, I don't care how many super religious people will judge me for that. It's honest, heart-warming & hilarious.
She kissed her best friends boyfriend. Even though that sounds horrible, it's not like she meant for it to happen. Her & Colin were best friends long before her and Joann were, and HE kissed HER and admitted that he has had feelings for her for a very long time. But even though Emma thinks she does for him, a new guy comes into the picture. Sounds like your typical young adult romance, which I love, except when they sound all the same, but this one doesn't. This book shows you the view of religion and how crazy some religious people really are.
(Don't get me wrong here, I'm a Christian, I'm just not a "really deep" one. I don't goto church all the time or preach to everyone in my path.) But, anyway. This book shows how some schools/religious people really are TOO judgmental, they really can be and we all know it. That's why I love the honesty in this book, it shows you how hard it is for some teenagers to accept the fact of God when people are continually SHOVING religion in their faces. They know someone is up there but they have questions, they are confused. But in this book, as in some places in real life, people view this is being "atheist". Really? Everyone has questions, especially Emma in this novel, and she doesn't get the answers she needs. (Do we all EVER?) She's struggling and no one seems to be listening to her. Yet, Darci, little miss "preacher's daughter" is not being what she claims to be. Typical, right? Most preacher's daughters seem to be that way, but in the novel you can tell that Darci is a hypocrite.
I love this book, I don't care how many super religious people will judge me for that. It's honest, heart-warming & hilarious.
August 14, 2009
There’s this one line from the Stepford Wives (the new version with Nicole Kidman) that still sticks with me. “I thought: now where would no one notice a town full of robots? And then it came to me. Connecticut!” Following that same thought process, I think I read the author’s mind: “Now where would a modern-day Miller’s Crucible occur? Of course! A tiny, Bible-thumping town in Indiana!”
Emma lives in Wheaton, where the Church is the law. You can’t do anything without someone not knowing. Incidentally, you can’t drive an HOUR away from Wheaton to the nearest mall and kiss your best friend’s boyfriend without someone from Wheaton seeing you. In this instance, the best friend’s mother.
Oops. “Thou Shalt Not Kiss Thy Best Friend’s boyfriend…” A commandment so obvious God didn’t even bother putting it in there. And now that all the popular girls are falling “sick”, it’s time to ask for some miracles.
So begins Emma’s dialogues with God- they start every funny chapter. Here’s the first one:
“God, I’ve been thinking about our relationship. The way I see it, most people look at you as either (a) a Santa Claus figure they pray to only when they want something, their wishes granted depending on if they are on the naughty or nice list, or (b) a bearded vengeance seeker who gets his immortal jollies from smiting those who annoy him. It occurs to me I’ve been talking to you my whole life and I don’t really know who you are. In fairness, I’ve always relied on formal prayers, which really haven’t given you a chance to get to know me, either. I’m thinking we need a bit more honesty in our relationship- you strike me as the kind to support honesty- so from here on I’m just going to tell you what’s on my mind.”
Cook brings questions of faith, love and friendship with wit, humor, and heart.
Emma lives in Wheaton, where the Church is the law. You can’t do anything without someone not knowing. Incidentally, you can’t drive an HOUR away from Wheaton to the nearest mall and kiss your best friend’s boyfriend without someone from Wheaton seeing you. In this instance, the best friend’s mother.
Oops. “Thou Shalt Not Kiss Thy Best Friend’s boyfriend…” A commandment so obvious God didn’t even bother putting it in there. And now that all the popular girls are falling “sick”, it’s time to ask for some miracles.
So begins Emma’s dialogues with God- they start every funny chapter. Here’s the first one:
“God, I’ve been thinking about our relationship. The way I see it, most people look at you as either (a) a Santa Claus figure they pray to only when they want something, their wishes granted depending on if they are on the naughty or nice list, or (b) a bearded vengeance seeker who gets his immortal jollies from smiting those who annoy him. It occurs to me I’ve been talking to you my whole life and I don’t really know who you are. In fairness, I’ve always relied on formal prayers, which really haven’t given you a chance to get to know me, either. I’m thinking we need a bit more honesty in our relationship- you strike me as the kind to support honesty- so from here on I’m just going to tell you what’s on my mind.”
Cook brings questions of faith, love and friendship with wit, humor, and heart.
January 10, 2009
Eileen Cook has certainly created a great novel. I loved Emma's witty, sarcastic, and teen angst ridden character. She is someone that all girls can relate to in the way she just wants to break out of her small town, has boy trouble, and friend issues. The main two main problems in this book is how Emma kissed her best friend's boyfriend right before Christmas and how suddenly all the popular girls are suddenly dropping like flies because someone is slipping them something. I enjoyed seeing how the first was dealt with. In the start of the book, I thought that Emma would somehow end up with the her best friends boyfriend, but as the book progressed my theory kind of went out the window. The latter problem was interesting too in the way how Eileen revealed in the first couple of chapters who was behind it, but still kept you guessing at how they did it.
One of my favorite parts of What Would Emma Do? was in the beginning of each chapter there would be a paragraph or two where Emma would be talking to God about what was happening to her. They provided for several laugh out loud moments. Also, I enjoyed the lists that Emma would have about different subjects.
Overall, I really enjoyed What Would Emma Do?. Though, I never thought I wouldn't because even Meg Cabot featured this on her holiday wishlist. I certainly hope there is going to be another book with Emma sometime soon, because the ending leaves you wondering about several things.
Grade: A+
One of my favorite parts of What Would Emma Do? was in the beginning of each chapter there would be a paragraph or two where Emma would be talking to God about what was happening to her. They provided for several laugh out loud moments. Also, I enjoyed the lists that Emma would have about different subjects.
Overall, I really enjoyed What Would Emma Do?. Though, I never thought I wouldn't because even Meg Cabot featured this on her holiday wishlist. I certainly hope there is going to be another book with Emma sometime soon, because the ending leaves you wondering about several things.
Grade: A+
August 14, 2010
There was so much more to this book than the summary says. There was a modern day witch-hunt, a church ripe with prejudice (that they preach against), and a lot of sass.
It was actually really funny because this story takes place pretty near where I grew up, so I knew the landmarks and I knew exactly where they were talking about even if they didn't say it by name. It was driving me a little crazy too, because I have no idea where Wheaton is...
Anyway, Emma gets in trouble with her best friend when she kisses her best friend's boyfriend. Things have been going downhill for Emma since then. She witnesses something she wasn't supposed to see and now she has to decide whether she tells or not. There are major consequences to each. What Would Emma Do?
I started off laughing at the book. It was so sassy and cornball I couldn't help it. But the more it went on, the more serious it got, to the point where I was angry at the town for their ignorance. I felt Emma's plight. I didn't grow up in a town that small, so I don't have that to compare to, but I know I wouldn't take half the crap that was getting slung around. Which, granted, probably would have made matters worse for me...
It was actually really funny because this story takes place pretty near where I grew up, so I knew the landmarks and I knew exactly where they were talking about even if they didn't say it by name. It was driving me a little crazy too, because I have no idea where Wheaton is...
Anyway, Emma gets in trouble with her best friend when she kisses her best friend's boyfriend. Things have been going downhill for Emma since then. She witnesses something she wasn't supposed to see and now she has to decide whether she tells or not. There are major consequences to each. What Would Emma Do?
I started off laughing at the book. It was so sassy and cornball I couldn't help it. But the more it went on, the more serious it got, to the point where I was angry at the town for their ignorance. I felt Emma's plight. I didn't grow up in a town that small, so I don't have that to compare to, but I know I wouldn't take half the crap that was getting slung around. Which, granted, probably would have made matters worse for me...
November 8, 2012
Reviewed by Marta Morrison for TeensReadToo.com
Emma was raised by her single mom in a small town in the middle of Illinois. She goes to a private Christian high school which is socially ruled by the local minister's daughter, Darci. She has a damaged relationship with her best friend, Joann, and her boyfriend, Colin.
Everything was going fine until at Christmas Emma and Colin kissed. Even though the kiss was in a mall in a different town, it happened right in front of Joann's mother.
Now Emma runs track and wants to get a full ride scholarship to Northwestern University. She wants out. Then Darci and her BFF, Kimberly, do something outrageous and Emma is the witness.
Should she tell what she knows even if it means that she might lose her scholarship? She keeps trying to figure out what it means to do the right thing.
I enjoyed this book very much. It has a great lesson about what is important, that being a person with a lot of integrity is more important than many other things in life. Emma has to do what is right and it is a scary thought.
Read WHAT WOULD EMMA DO? It is one story that is going to stay with me for a long time.
Emma was raised by her single mom in a small town in the middle of Illinois. She goes to a private Christian high school which is socially ruled by the local minister's daughter, Darci. She has a damaged relationship with her best friend, Joann, and her boyfriend, Colin.
Everything was going fine until at Christmas Emma and Colin kissed. Even though the kiss was in a mall in a different town, it happened right in front of Joann's mother.
Now Emma runs track and wants to get a full ride scholarship to Northwestern University. She wants out. Then Darci and her BFF, Kimberly, do something outrageous and Emma is the witness.
Should she tell what she knows even if it means that she might lose her scholarship? She keeps trying to figure out what it means to do the right thing.
I enjoyed this book very much. It has a great lesson about what is important, that being a person with a lot of integrity is more important than many other things in life. Emma has to do what is right and it is a scary thought.
Read WHAT WOULD EMMA DO? It is one story that is going to stay with me for a long time.
November 1, 2015
This was a pretty good book. It reminded me of the play The Crucible. I liked it though. It was a really interesting spin if you had read the play. I really like Eileen Cooks books because at first you think they're just going to be like a regular teen drama but then it's like nope! Here's se conspiracy and mystery and it just draws you in. I love it! Colin really bothered me and I liked Todd more. He was very mysterious. And Joann was a pretty loser best friend and Emma was basically a normal teenage girl. But those popular girls pissed me off. Like ugh. So mad. But it was a very entertaining read. More like 4.5 than 4.
January 4, 2019
I am so glad that book is over with...
At first I laughed out loud and thought this is going to be a good story during the first couple of pages... but then it became awful. A black hole of judgmental doom.
It’s so judgmental on all characters. The book makes Christians look bad, disliked the “brown people” references (even if it was in sarcasm), and I though Emma was very immature. She was judgmental in her own ways. The whole was ridiculous and felt like a bad teen movie.
Plus it isn’t about what the summery says it’s about.
And the ending wasn’t an ending. A good ending rounds off characters.
At first I laughed out loud and thought this is going to be a good story during the first couple of pages... but then it became awful. A black hole of judgmental doom.
It’s so judgmental on all characters. The book makes Christians look bad, disliked the “brown people” references (even if it was in sarcasm), and I though Emma was very immature. She was judgmental in her own ways. The whole was ridiculous and felt like a bad teen movie.
Plus it isn’t about what the summery says it’s about.
And the ending wasn’t an ending. A good ending rounds off characters.
May 21, 2009
mostly because of the cover. Emma.... I thought the cover and the info on the back was really misleading cause the whole book had nothing to do with kissing your best friends boyfriend. It was all kind of about this "person" who is makeing all the popular kids faint. And she really hates her town and she wants to get out of it and she needs a schalership for track. For personal details about who should end up with who in here consult me privetly.
February 7, 2017
Guess I better explain the one star rating, huh?
Ugh. This book made me irritated and sad. I was expecting something funny, full of drama, and romance. I didn't get any humor or even romance. The drama was there but it wasn't entertaining.
Instead I got hypocritical christians. A whole town full of them :(
The ending wasn't even an ending.
Never gonna read this again.
1/5 stars.
Ugh. This book made me irritated and sad. I was expecting something funny, full of drama, and romance. I didn't get any humor or even romance. The drama was there but it wasn't entertaining.
Instead I got hypocritical christians. A whole town full of them :(
The ending wasn't even an ending.
Never gonna read this again.
1/5 stars.
March 3, 2013
This was so good with a sad horribly good ending that makes me want to read the next book, but sadly there isn't one. I really don't know what happened but I'm going to think for the best. But really good, I really enjoyed it
February 2, 2012
I forgot how much fun it is to read Eileen's books.
Review to come..
Review to come..
September 30, 2018
This is my least favorite Eileen Cook YA book to date. It was a fun quick read but the story just wasn't as entertaining in my view.
June 2, 2019
The cover of the book and the synopsis on the back are so misleading. I'm going through Eileen Cook's backlist and I was apprehensive about picking this book up because I was assuming it was going to be about a love triangle between a girl, her best friend, and her best friend's boyfriend. What I got instead was a much deeper story about religion, hypocrisy, and doing what was right. There wasn't even really a love triangle. Although Colin does flip-flop between his feelings for Emma and Joann, and Emma has a small romance with Todd, the romance wasn't a huge factor in the story.
I even liked how the ending was completely open-ended. You have an idea of what's going to happen in some aspects, but there were things that were left unsaid because life, simply, is unpredictable. The one thing I would improve upon was the fact that Emma was so willing to forgive Joann and Colin for being such selfish friends. I don't understand why Emma was apologizing to Colin for being a bad friend when they never once stood up for her. Colin's motives behind giving Joann a promise ring even though he was after Emma the entire time was also confusing and underdeveloped. Overall, I'd also like to remove all of the low-key fat-shaming and other -isms that appeared in the book. I know the townspeople's fear of Islam and Middle Eastern people was supposed to demonstrate how ignorant they were, but it was still an uncomfortable and unnecessary thing to add to the story, even if these Islamophobic and xenophobic notions were challenged by Emma.
I feel like this is something Margaret (from Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret) would have written if we followed her as a teenager. I liked how all of the characters were flawed because it really does reflect that nobody in life is perfect. Every person in the book is aware of the problems of living in a small, judgemental town and is aware of the hypocrisy, but fully reinforces the town's culture because they don't want to deal with the fallout of being a whistleblower. I liked how everyone, even the main protagonist Emma, was called out on their selfish behaviour at least once and I appreciated how real all of the characters felt.
A pleasant surprise!!
I even liked how the ending was completely open-ended. You have an idea of what's going to happen in some aspects, but there were things that were left unsaid because life, simply, is unpredictable. The one thing I would improve upon was the fact that Emma was so willing to forgive Joann and Colin for being such selfish friends. I don't understand why Emma was apologizing to Colin for being a bad friend when they never once stood up for her. Colin's motives behind giving Joann a promise ring even though he was after Emma the entire time was also confusing and underdeveloped. Overall, I'd also like to remove all of the low-key fat-shaming and other -isms that appeared in the book. I know the townspeople's fear of Islam and Middle Eastern people was supposed to demonstrate how ignorant they were, but it was still an uncomfortable and unnecessary thing to add to the story, even if these Islamophobic and xenophobic notions were challenged by Emma.
I feel like this is something Margaret (from Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret) would have written if we followed her as a teenager. I liked how all of the characters were flawed because it really does reflect that nobody in life is perfect. Every person in the book is aware of the problems of living in a small, judgemental town and is aware of the hypocrisy, but fully reinforces the town's culture because they don't want to deal with the fallout of being a whistleblower. I liked how everyone, even the main protagonist Emma, was called out on their selfish behaviour at least once and I appreciated how real all of the characters felt.
A pleasant surprise!!
October 24, 2018
I had decided to give this one 4 stars because it’s funny and amazing, but then I got to. The non-ending, and that knocked one star (and I’m being generous). Hate when authors do this. I invest all this time reading your story, the least you can do is finish it, for God sake...
Read
June 25, 2021My heart is crying crocodile tears reading author anger on the page instead of the character's story. Sometimes the outlet is not the right one. I hate giving a bad rating with so much bitterness inside. I will read another one with fingers twisted. The talent is real!
November 21, 2017
Boring, no real pay off.
August 31, 2019
This falls hard into the holiday light read category.
December 11, 2013
I’m probably going to say it more than once, but I loved absolutely everything about this book! If it comes down to it, I’ll even admit to wanting to spend a day inside Eileen Cook’s mind, because it seems that it could be a fun place to be for anyone who has ever read any of her books. Admittedly, apart from this book, I’ve only read one of her books so far, but I have another two waiting on my kindle to be read, and because I had such an awesome time reading this book – and finishing it in less than a day – I’m moving those two books up on my to-read list.
What Would Emma Do is exactly the sort of book I would like to read more of. It has the exact mix of all the elements that makes it that perfect read. First of all, it takes place in a little town called Wheaton. It’s not just any small town; it’s one of those small towns that locals describe as “the heartland of America”, and where religion is taken so seriously, it almost reaches cult-like proportions. Nothing much ever happens in Wheaton, but high morals and the church’s rule are the order of the day. Anything or anyone that is considered different, or falls outside of the belief system of the citizens of Wheaton, is rejected and revolted against with a burn-at-the-stakes passion. So imagine the widespread panic incited by the popular crowd when the unpopular kids at school are suspected of being terrorists because apparently they’re trying to poison students one popular girl at a time and...oh yeah, they’re “different”.
That was actually the second thing that attracted my interest in this story. The first would be Emma’s voice. Every chapter opens with Emma having a little monologue with God. Nothing offensive. Just a regular teen sharing her thoughts with the Lord. That right there instantly connected me with Emma, because I’ve had a few similar monologues with God, and I couldn’t help smiling as some of the things she said to Him were like an echo of my own words. Anyhow, I also really liked Emma because she made me laugh. I don’t mean smiling or giggling, I’m talking belly-clutching, tears-rolling-down-my-face laughs. Laughs that made others stare at me as I was trying to get control over my dignity, laughs. Yep, this author nailed it with the humor. Anyone who doesn’t laugh at least once while reading this book would, in my opinion, rank right up there next to sauerkraut. Especially with the locker incident. I read it like three times, and every time it made me laugh. OK, so you get my point about the humor, right?
Darci – the Reverend’s daughter – she’s the antagonist in this story. And trust me, she’s pretty scary. Nothing freaks me out more than a two-faced, scheming, lying, pastor’s daughter with the face of an angel who is the most popular girl in school and who is loved by ninety percent of the townsfolk. In their eyes she can do no wrong. That means, anyone who has the misfortune of landing on Darci’s wrong side, don’t stand a chance. Darci and her posse rule the school, rule the town, and have all the important decision-making adults wrapped around her pinkie. So where does that leave pariahs like Todd and Emma? Emma just wants to do the right thing, but she has so much to lose if she tells the truth. While she makes up her mind about whether she should do the right thing or let a few innocent students take the fall for Darci’s elaborate scheme, she suffers one embarrassment after the other, and have her own issues to deal with such as her relationship with her mom, falling in love with her best friend’s boyfriend and the school’s Jewish outcast. This girl has to make more than one tough decision and lots of times I was happy not to be in her shoes because I had no idea what I would’ve done faced with the same dilemmas.
There’s a tiny smidgen of romance in this book, and I especially love how the author dealt with it at the conclusion. The characters – main and secondary – are all three-dimensional and each of them has a unique voice. The small-town atmosphere, and specifically the entire Faith Forward scene at the end, was done terrifically! I felt the crowd’s anticipation and got caught up in their exuberance. The conclusion was just right, and if I had written this book I wouldn’t have done it any differently. What Would Emma Do subtly presses the reader to contemplate what decisions they would make if they were in Emma’s shoes and how it would affect their faith.
I’m fast becoming a fan of Eileen Cook’s writing and I can’t wait to read more of her books. The two I’ve read thus far has proved to have substance and were refreshing in its approach to the subject matter. I’d recommend What Would Emma Do to fans of Miranda Kenneally’s books. If you have a sense of humor, appreciate sarcasm and irony, and have an open-minded view towards God, I’m positive you’ll love this clean read as much as I have!
What Would Emma Do is exactly the sort of book I would like to read more of. It has the exact mix of all the elements that makes it that perfect read. First of all, it takes place in a little town called Wheaton. It’s not just any small town; it’s one of those small towns that locals describe as “the heartland of America”, and where religion is taken so seriously, it almost reaches cult-like proportions. Nothing much ever happens in Wheaton, but high morals and the church’s rule are the order of the day. Anything or anyone that is considered different, or falls outside of the belief system of the citizens of Wheaton, is rejected and revolted against with a burn-at-the-stakes passion. So imagine the widespread panic incited by the popular crowd when the unpopular kids at school are suspected of being terrorists because apparently they’re trying to poison students one popular girl at a time and...oh yeah, they’re “different”.
That was actually the second thing that attracted my interest in this story. The first would be Emma’s voice. Every chapter opens with Emma having a little monologue with God. Nothing offensive. Just a regular teen sharing her thoughts with the Lord. That right there instantly connected me with Emma, because I’ve had a few similar monologues with God, and I couldn’t help smiling as some of the things she said to Him were like an echo of my own words. Anyhow, I also really liked Emma because she made me laugh. I don’t mean smiling or giggling, I’m talking belly-clutching, tears-rolling-down-my-face laughs. Laughs that made others stare at me as I was trying to get control over my dignity, laughs. Yep, this author nailed it with the humor. Anyone who doesn’t laugh at least once while reading this book would, in my opinion, rank right up there next to sauerkraut. Especially with the locker incident. I read it like three times, and every time it made me laugh. OK, so you get my point about the humor, right?
Darci – the Reverend’s daughter – she’s the antagonist in this story. And trust me, she’s pretty scary. Nothing freaks me out more than a two-faced, scheming, lying, pastor’s daughter with the face of an angel who is the most popular girl in school and who is loved by ninety percent of the townsfolk. In their eyes she can do no wrong. That means, anyone who has the misfortune of landing on Darci’s wrong side, don’t stand a chance. Darci and her posse rule the school, rule the town, and have all the important decision-making adults wrapped around her pinkie. So where does that leave pariahs like Todd and Emma? Emma just wants to do the right thing, but she has so much to lose if she tells the truth. While she makes up her mind about whether she should do the right thing or let a few innocent students take the fall for Darci’s elaborate scheme, she suffers one embarrassment after the other, and have her own issues to deal with such as her relationship with her mom, falling in love with her best friend’s boyfriend and the school’s Jewish outcast. This girl has to make more than one tough decision and lots of times I was happy not to be in her shoes because I had no idea what I would’ve done faced with the same dilemmas.
There’s a tiny smidgen of romance in this book, and I especially love how the author dealt with it at the conclusion. The characters – main and secondary – are all three-dimensional and each of them has a unique voice. The small-town atmosphere, and specifically the entire Faith Forward scene at the end, was done terrifically! I felt the crowd’s anticipation and got caught up in their exuberance. The conclusion was just right, and if I had written this book I wouldn’t have done it any differently. What Would Emma Do subtly presses the reader to contemplate what decisions they would make if they were in Emma’s shoes and how it would affect their faith.
I’m fast becoming a fan of Eileen Cook’s writing and I can’t wait to read more of her books. The two I’ve read thus far has proved to have substance and were refreshing in its approach to the subject matter. I’d recommend What Would Emma Do to fans of Miranda Kenneally’s books. If you have a sense of humor, appreciate sarcasm and irony, and have an open-minded view towards God, I’m positive you’ll love this clean read as much as I have!
August 31, 2009
The story is set in a small town: Wheaton, Indiana, where Emma Proctor attends a private Christian high school. In school, Emma and her classmates are expected to question everything with “What would Jesus do?” Emma thinks that sitting around to discuss WWJD is a waste of time.
Emma is hoping for a sports scholarship to attend a university away from Wheaton. She has only applied to one, Northwestern, hoping beyond hope that she will be accepted on her track scores. She doesn’t like the small town atmosphere where everyone gossips and knows each others’ personal business. If they don’t know what’s going on, stories are fabricated.
Emma has always been comfortable with Colin Stewart, her guy friend, the next door neighbour who grew up with her. She’s never worried about saying the wrong thing, as he always seems to know what to say at the right moment or understand her moods. From an early age it had been suggested that when they grew up they would get married. But Emma’s plans had always been to leave Wheaton, and she had no reservations about Colin dating her best friend, Joann.
But before Emma can leave Wheaton, there is the Christmas kiss with Colin to clear up. The kiss Joann’s mother was witness to. Emma questions Joann’s ‘forgiveness’, knowing Joann would be uncomfortable about Colin hanging out with her. But the real question is why Colin kissed her. It is this question that haunts Emma enough to impulsively ask Colin to take her to a party at “The Barn” located in the countryside.
It is at the Barn where Colin and Emma witness a situation that carries consequences, and those engaged in it were unaware they were present.
When Colin takes Emma home this excerpt from the book sums up the kiss at Christmas where Colin tells Emma it wasn’t a mistake and that he thinks he really likes her:
“I don’t know. I’m not trying to piss you off, but I feel that I have to say something. I’ve liked you for as long as I can remember. I liked you since before I fully understood what it meant, but you were always so clear about wanting to be friends, just friends, that I never said a thing. Heck, I half convinced myself that I didn’t care. That I was fine with that. Besides, even if you liked me, I knew the relationship wouldn’t go anywhere. You’ve talked about leaving since you understood there was a road out of town. But I think I never stopped liking you. I felt like you should know. Then I kissed you, and you kissed me back.” Colin looked over at me. “You did kiss me back.”
When classmates begin passing out at school Emma knows why and who is behind it, and wants to report it. Colin reminds her that being at a party where there was alcohol would get her kicked off the track team, and there goes her scholarship. Also, Joann would find out they had been together.
Emma fears the worst when the town begins a witch hunt to find out who is ‘poisoning’ the high school students. A mob mentality develops when they begin to target students who are considered “loners”. Soon it becomes a “crime” to be different and Emma sees the hypocrisy in the town residents. How long will Emma let this go on? How many innocent people have to get hurt before she steps up and does the right thing?
This book covers the full range of emotions, because those teenage years have many situations packed into them – body changes, boys/girls, dating, social norms, grades, and growing up. When parents or older adults tell teenagers those years are the best of their lives, I think they have really forgotten how anxiety ridden they were. Not everyone has a smooth growth period during the teenage years. For some it was a horror they would prefer to forget.
Emma’s comments and thoughts are hilarious while she tests the waters around her. It’s a normal, healthy attitude toward the challenges of life. She’s smart, insecure, and a non-conformist; but is focused on her goal to leave Wheaton. Emma finds it scary in her search to find integrity in her life with others, while learning it is more important than many other things.
Each chapter starts with a journal entry where Emma talks to God over difficult choices and her faith. These journal entries were very amusing, thought provoking and entertaining. Emma learns a fundamental lesson about asking God for help and receives an answer in a dream.
Eileen Cook has created characters that are believable, and she has teenage angst down pat. What Would Emma Do? is a book that had me laughing out loud. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good read…regardless of one's age.
Emma is hoping for a sports scholarship to attend a university away from Wheaton. She has only applied to one, Northwestern, hoping beyond hope that she will be accepted on her track scores. She doesn’t like the small town atmosphere where everyone gossips and knows each others’ personal business. If they don’t know what’s going on, stories are fabricated.
Emma has always been comfortable with Colin Stewart, her guy friend, the next door neighbour who grew up with her. She’s never worried about saying the wrong thing, as he always seems to know what to say at the right moment or understand her moods. From an early age it had been suggested that when they grew up they would get married. But Emma’s plans had always been to leave Wheaton, and she had no reservations about Colin dating her best friend, Joann.
But before Emma can leave Wheaton, there is the Christmas kiss with Colin to clear up. The kiss Joann’s mother was witness to. Emma questions Joann’s ‘forgiveness’, knowing Joann would be uncomfortable about Colin hanging out with her. But the real question is why Colin kissed her. It is this question that haunts Emma enough to impulsively ask Colin to take her to a party at “The Barn” located in the countryside.
It is at the Barn where Colin and Emma witness a situation that carries consequences, and those engaged in it were unaware they were present.
When Colin takes Emma home this excerpt from the book sums up the kiss at Christmas where Colin tells Emma it wasn’t a mistake and that he thinks he really likes her:
“I don’t know. I’m not trying to piss you off, but I feel that I have to say something. I’ve liked you for as long as I can remember. I liked you since before I fully understood what it meant, but you were always so clear about wanting to be friends, just friends, that I never said a thing. Heck, I half convinced myself that I didn’t care. That I was fine with that. Besides, even if you liked me, I knew the relationship wouldn’t go anywhere. You’ve talked about leaving since you understood there was a road out of town. But I think I never stopped liking you. I felt like you should know. Then I kissed you, and you kissed me back.” Colin looked over at me. “You did kiss me back.”
When classmates begin passing out at school Emma knows why and who is behind it, and wants to report it. Colin reminds her that being at a party where there was alcohol would get her kicked off the track team, and there goes her scholarship. Also, Joann would find out they had been together.
Emma fears the worst when the town begins a witch hunt to find out who is ‘poisoning’ the high school students. A mob mentality develops when they begin to target students who are considered “loners”. Soon it becomes a “crime” to be different and Emma sees the hypocrisy in the town residents. How long will Emma let this go on? How many innocent people have to get hurt before she steps up and does the right thing?
This book covers the full range of emotions, because those teenage years have many situations packed into them – body changes, boys/girls, dating, social norms, grades, and growing up. When parents or older adults tell teenagers those years are the best of their lives, I think they have really forgotten how anxiety ridden they were. Not everyone has a smooth growth period during the teenage years. For some it was a horror they would prefer to forget.
Emma’s comments and thoughts are hilarious while she tests the waters around her. It’s a normal, healthy attitude toward the challenges of life. She’s smart, insecure, and a non-conformist; but is focused on her goal to leave Wheaton. Emma finds it scary in her search to find integrity in her life with others, while learning it is more important than many other things.
Each chapter starts with a journal entry where Emma talks to God over difficult choices and her faith. These journal entries were very amusing, thought provoking and entertaining. Emma learns a fundamental lesson about asking God for help and receives an answer in a dream.
Eileen Cook has created characters that are believable, and she has teenage angst down pat. What Would Emma Do? is a book that had me laughing out loud. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good read…regardless of one's age.
May 31, 2010
I have been reading this book for a while now, so I have had time to really process the different views that the author wants the readers to see. I’ve noticed that she chose to make honesty a really big deal in this book.
There are three main characters in this book; Emma, Joann, and Collin. They are all best friends, but Joann is dating Collin. Collin and Emma are closer than Joann and Collin because they have known each other a little bit longer. So, over spring break, Collin and Emma were hanging out and they accidentally kissed each other. Joann found out and of course she was a little bit mad, but now she doesn’t really want Emma or Collin together alone if she’s not with them. Three months after that accident, there was a party at a barn. Joann couldn’t go, but Collin offered to take Emma there. Long story short, Collin told Emma that he liked her, but they both promised not to tell Joann.
I don’t think that this was the smartest thing to do because Joann will find out, sooner or later, and I think that she would probably be really mad if she didn’t know this earlier. I chose to look at the book in the perspective of Collin. If I were Collin, I would also not know what to do about this. but what I think I would do, is break up with Joann, and say that I have to figure a few things out before we would move on. Then a week later, I would tell Joann that I (not only liked her) but that I also liked Emma. Not I know for a fact that this would most likely bring some tension between Joann and Emma, but what needs to be done, needs to be done.
Since Collin didn’t tell Joann about this, Joann doesn’t know that there is anything going on between Emma and Collin. Now I’m going to jump back into Emma’s shoes for a moment…
~jump~
okay so, to make it even harder on Emma, she gets a ride home from a guy named Todd. So Todd kisses her, and now she’s not sure who she likes; Todd or Collin. Collin doesn’t know about Todd, so Emma is pretty much screwed now. If she had told Joann about Collin, than Joann would be able to keep an eye out over Collin. And if she had told Collin about Todd, then there would have probably been a really big fight out after school…no just kidding. But Collin would be (most likely) happier to know this information.
I think the author wanted to make this book seem like guys are really complicated. For example: Joann is going out with Collin and Collin old Emma that he liked her, and Emma doesn’t know if she likes her best friends boyfriend, or Todd.
There are three main characters in this book; Emma, Joann, and Collin. They are all best friends, but Joann is dating Collin. Collin and Emma are closer than Joann and Collin because they have known each other a little bit longer. So, over spring break, Collin and Emma were hanging out and they accidentally kissed each other. Joann found out and of course she was a little bit mad, but now she doesn’t really want Emma or Collin together alone if she’s not with them. Three months after that accident, there was a party at a barn. Joann couldn’t go, but Collin offered to take Emma there. Long story short, Collin told Emma that he liked her, but they both promised not to tell Joann.
I don’t think that this was the smartest thing to do because Joann will find out, sooner or later, and I think that she would probably be really mad if she didn’t know this earlier. I chose to look at the book in the perspective of Collin. If I were Collin, I would also not know what to do about this. but what I think I would do, is break up with Joann, and say that I have to figure a few things out before we would move on. Then a week later, I would tell Joann that I (not only liked her) but that I also liked Emma. Not I know for a fact that this would most likely bring some tension between Joann and Emma, but what needs to be done, needs to be done.
Since Collin didn’t tell Joann about this, Joann doesn’t know that there is anything going on between Emma and Collin. Now I’m going to jump back into Emma’s shoes for a moment…
~jump~
okay so, to make it even harder on Emma, she gets a ride home from a guy named Todd. So Todd kisses her, and now she’s not sure who she likes; Todd or Collin. Collin doesn’t know about Todd, so Emma is pretty much screwed now. If she had told Joann about Collin, than Joann would be able to keep an eye out over Collin. And if she had told Collin about Todd, then there would have probably been a really big fight out after school…no just kidding. But Collin would be (most likely) happier to know this information.
I think the author wanted to make this book seem like guys are really complicated. For example: Joann is going out with Collin and Collin old Emma that he liked her, and Emma doesn’t know if she likes her best friends boyfriend, or Todd.
October 24, 2012
Read this and other reviews at my blog.
Emma has made the worst mistake you can make, she kissed her best friend's boyfriend, Colin. To make it worse, she lives in a small town, so she runs the risk of everyone knowing about it. Somehow the kiss keeps quiet, but now her best friend doesn't trust her, the boy is ignoring her, and Emma is feeling awful. When scandal breaks out in the town, and only Emma and Colin know the truth, she must decide what is worth giving up to save someone else. With so many people in town asking what Jesus would do, she discovers it's time to start asking what she should do instead, and live her own life.
This book kind of disappointed me. Alright, so it's obvious from the title alone that this was going to have religious themes. That is fine, I set myself up for that. I wasn't expecting, but I certainly didn't miss all the hinted relation to The Crucible. The town Emma lives in, is one of those highly religious small towns that tend to get a little carried away by their faith. They like to bring their faith into everything, even places it doesn't really need to be focused on, and anyone who questions it is singled out and shunned.
The characters were a little lacking. Emma was decently fleshed out, but the other characters didn't feel real enough to me. A few of them, like Colin, I thought was going to have more role to play in the story and then he was hardly around. I guess in a way it make sense, but the whole thing felt off to me. Sure, I flew through the pages to see what happened next, but I wasn't compelled to keep reading.
The plot was off from the summary. There was so little to do with having kissed Colin that it felt like the summary was stretching it. I was really disappointed in the lack of romance. Being a book with religious tones does not mean you have to skip on the love. Aside from a few kisses, there was nothing. Even the crush Emma develops seems silly. This was one of those books that I felt like, the summary was pulled from the things far off on the side. Or maybe it was written before the book was finished and never changed to make up for the fact that the book took a completely different direction.
While I was reading through, I kept flashing back to my youth when I was sitting around reading Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume. I feel like this would be a great book for a younger crowd who is fans of that one. This wasn't a bad book, it just didn't click with me.
Emma has made the worst mistake you can make, she kissed her best friend's boyfriend, Colin. To make it worse, she lives in a small town, so she runs the risk of everyone knowing about it. Somehow the kiss keeps quiet, but now her best friend doesn't trust her, the boy is ignoring her, and Emma is feeling awful. When scandal breaks out in the town, and only Emma and Colin know the truth, she must decide what is worth giving up to save someone else. With so many people in town asking what Jesus would do, she discovers it's time to start asking what she should do instead, and live her own life.
This book kind of disappointed me. Alright, so it's obvious from the title alone that this was going to have religious themes. That is fine, I set myself up for that. I wasn't expecting, but I certainly didn't miss all the hinted relation to The Crucible. The town Emma lives in, is one of those highly religious small towns that tend to get a little carried away by their faith. They like to bring their faith into everything, even places it doesn't really need to be focused on, and anyone who questions it is singled out and shunned.
The characters were a little lacking. Emma was decently fleshed out, but the other characters didn't feel real enough to me. A few of them, like Colin, I thought was going to have more role to play in the story and then he was hardly around. I guess in a way it make sense, but the whole thing felt off to me. Sure, I flew through the pages to see what happened next, but I wasn't compelled to keep reading.
The plot was off from the summary. There was so little to do with having kissed Colin that it felt like the summary was stretching it. I was really disappointed in the lack of romance. Being a book with religious tones does not mean you have to skip on the love. Aside from a few kisses, there was nothing. Even the crush Emma develops seems silly. This was one of those books that I felt like, the summary was pulled from the things far off on the side. Or maybe it was written before the book was finished and never changed to make up for the fact that the book took a completely different direction.
While I was reading through, I kept flashing back to my youth when I was sitting around reading Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume. I feel like this would be a great book for a younger crowd who is fans of that one. This wasn't a bad book, it just didn't click with me.
August 5, 2014
Eileen Cook is a spectacular author. Now, to this day, I've read most of her books, which were all pleasing. This one, not so much compared to the others' spectacularity. In many ways, this will be a more grown-up Margaret from Judy Blume's Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
This is about Emma, who sinned a lot lately. She kissed her best friend's boyfriend, and her bestie's mom saw. That basically ruined a lot, and word gets around fast in a small town that Emma can't wait to get out of. All she can't wait for is to graduate, and to finally be free from everyone, including her strict non-understandable mother, who loves the small-town life. Now, many of the popular girls in her school are getting strange seizures, and it all leads to someone that Emma has come to know pretty well.
This was me for a long period of the book. I was mainly waiting for something to happen, but I found that a lot of the plot and goodness from the book was dragged away. This ended up as a sort of no-plot book, because there really was no point to it. This was a book that took place in a few weeks of a girl's life. She has problems, yes, and she's average, though. Nothing too special about her, and that made her character bland and flat. Not too much for my liking.
The plot was very dominated with Emma's feelings. She wasn't the most likeable character, but she was fine. I found that the author sticked with making Emma be the most important element of getting this book to be amazing, and that took all of the attention away from the rest of the book. Emma was likeable and relatable.
The romance between Emma and Colin was beautiful, so beautiful. I just wish that it stayed...
Too bad it wasn't a movie and I wasn't able to see it. :(
Overall, this book was okay. It had its pros and cons, and although I do recommend it, I wouldn't say to put it at the top or close to the top of your TBR list. If you get to it, great, if not, no biggie. You're not missing out on too much--just an average contemporary with a twisty plot twist in the end.
This is about Emma, who sinned a lot lately. She kissed her best friend's boyfriend, and her bestie's mom saw. That basically ruined a lot, and word gets around fast in a small town that Emma can't wait to get out of. All she can't wait for is to graduate, and to finally be free from everyone, including her strict non-understandable mother, who loves the small-town life. Now, many of the popular girls in her school are getting strange seizures, and it all leads to someone that Emma has come to know pretty well.
This was me for a long period of the book. I was mainly waiting for something to happen, but I found that a lot of the plot and goodness from the book was dragged away. This ended up as a sort of no-plot book, because there really was no point to it. This was a book that took place in a few weeks of a girl's life. She has problems, yes, and she's average, though. Nothing too special about her, and that made her character bland and flat. Not too much for my liking.
The plot was very dominated with Emma's feelings. She wasn't the most likeable character, but she was fine. I found that the author sticked with making Emma be the most important element of getting this book to be amazing, and that took all of the attention away from the rest of the book. Emma was likeable and relatable.
The romance between Emma and Colin was beautiful, so beautiful. I just wish that it stayed...
Too bad it wasn't a movie and I wasn't able to see it. :(
Overall, this book was okay. It had its pros and cons, and although I do recommend it, I wouldn't say to put it at the top or close to the top of your TBR list. If you get to it, great, if not, no biggie. You're not missing out on too much--just an average contemporary with a twisty plot twist in the end.
August 10, 2009
Emma is a high school senior growing up in a small, born-again-Christian town in Indiana. She is fed up with the hypocrisy and narrow-mindedness of her fellow students, and has all her hopes pinned on receiving a track scholarship to Northwestern so that she can escape. There's drama with her two best friends, her mother, and the school, all typical themes in a YA book, but sadly, the way they are explored is quite cliche. The main storyline centers around the drama that ensues when one of Emma's classmates takes drugs at a party. When she becomes violently ill, she claims she was poisoned, and everyone believes her because she's the perfect little Christian girl. A witch hunt ensues to find the perpetrators of the supposed crime. Emma is angry and angsty, she spends a lot of time whining, and the book just doesn't seem to go anywhere for the middle hundred pages or so. Emma was a witness at the party, but selfishly keeps her information to herself so that she doesn't risk losing her place on the track team. When she finally comes clean at the end of the book, there's no great self-discovery or revelation. Emma will likely have her scholarship by that point, so she's no longer at risk when she gives up her secret. Then the book simply ends.
The book is also oddly religious, of which there was no indication on the back cover; Emma's school is a private Christian school, everyone in the town is extremely religious (except for the one token Jewish kid), and each chapter begins with Emma talking to God. These alone wouldn't be issues except for the fact that their only place in the story seems to be in allowing for the ridiculous events of the plot to unfold. I was surprised by the tone of Emma's "prayers" also; to someone who is religious, they would appear quite obnoxious and irreverant.
Emma makes a lot of good points about the problems of living in a small, narrow-minded town, but in general, she also comes across as a selfish brat. I thought the book looked cute when I picked it up, but I was quite disappointed.
The book is also oddly religious, of which there was no indication on the back cover; Emma's school is a private Christian school, everyone in the town is extremely religious (except for the one token Jewish kid), and each chapter begins with Emma talking to God. These alone wouldn't be issues except for the fact that their only place in the story seems to be in allowing for the ridiculous events of the plot to unfold. I was surprised by the tone of Emma's "prayers" also; to someone who is religious, they would appear quite obnoxious and irreverant.
Emma makes a lot of good points about the problems of living in a small, narrow-minded town, but in general, she also comes across as a selfish brat. I thought the book looked cute when I picked it up, but I was quite disappointed.
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