Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree

... this one is for you. Ever feel like the girls around you live on some other planet? Do you yourself feel like an alien in your own environment? This book may give you hope that one day even you will feel at home in your own skin.

Gummer, the daughter of Meryl Streep, does an absolutely terrific job of bringing to life the various characters (brainy Emma Jean, anxious Colleen, villainous Laura, even wise Vikram!) from this winning debut novel. It's also a plus that this trim book, packed full of plot and humor, is only one-long-car-trip length, clocking in at just over three hours. (I found myself in the rare position of wishing it was longer.) Gummer's reading is so absorbing, this most girly of stories was even enjoyed by a 13-year-old boy, who rolled his eyes at all the seventh-grade dramatics, but nonetheless admitted it was like spying on a conversation he'd never be privy to any other way.

Emma-Jean is the ultimate observer of her middle-school environment. Greatly influenced by her deceased, mathematical father, she tries to approach the strange behavior of her seventh-grade peers in a logical manner - until the day she finds Colleen crying in the girl's restroom. While comforting Collen, Emma-Jean is startled when Collen, not wanting to leave the restroom with swollen eyes, grabs her by the hand and begs, "Emma-Jean, please help me." Extremely intelligent, Emma-Jean decides to help Colleen resolve her problem with the school's hateful "queen bee ." She succeeds in resolving the problem. She then decides she is good at resolving problems and becomes the unofficial, uninvited problem-solver for many of her classmates with hugely unintended consequences for everyone -- including the kind but hapless Colleen. This first novel is full of quirky, understated humor. When Colleen tells Emma-Jean that '"Some people aren't nice.' Emma-Jean knew this was true. People sometimes behaved unkindly toward one another, even at William Gladstone Middle School." Massive understatement. The author knows her milieu. Her story works beautifully on many levels and rounds out happily in the end. Destined for greatness.

First and foremost I want to stop right now the temptation anyone may have to compare this book to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. It ends here. "Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree," is a treat. A delight. An engaging romp, if you will, but it is NOT to be compared to Mark Haddon 's book, no matter how tempting a prospect. Let us consider this book entirely on its own merits and leave speculations regarding the main character's mental state to the readers themselves. Newbie first-time author Lauren Tarshis has written a book with some serious buzz flitting about it. Memorable and supremely interesting, this is a book worth holding on to for a very long time. She's not like other girls, that Emma-Jean Lazarus. She doesn't burst into tears every day in middle school or giggle about boys with her friends. Come to think of it, she doesn't seem to have all that many friends to begin with. That's okay, though. If Emma-Jean is anything, she's comfortable being herself. That's something Colleen Pomerantz would probably pay anything to be. When Emma-Jean finds Colleen sobbing in the girls' bathroom (which is just as illogical as it is out of character) she vows to help Colleen out any way she can. Of course, that may mean some forgery here and there, but Emma-Jean is confident in her abilities. Now, however, she has mixed feelings towards her widowed mother falling for the nice Indian guy boarding with them, while at the same time learning that this whole "friendship" idea may not be as straightforward as all that. People don't always make sense and the world is not always fair, but sometimes change can be good. Even if it's not entirely comfortable. I'll level with you here. I read this book roundabout a month ago. The thoughts that have percolated and popped in my noggin are not first-impressions or sudden flashes of inspiration. So as I picked this book up to review it, something strange occurred to me; I could remember everything in it perfectly. I could remember the plot, and the characters, and teensy tiny little details here and there. When you review a lot of children's books, they all tend to run together after a while into a big old slurry blur. Not this book. Part of Tarshis' strength lies in her characters, of course. Emma-Jean isn't emotional, but at the same time she isn't so cold that the reader doesn't care for her. You warm to her instantly, even as she puzzles through the peculiarities of middle school interactions. I like that from page one you get a sense of Emma-Jean's personality. ". . . crying was not a logical way to express one's opposition to the seventh-grade science curriculum," she thinks after two girls cry at having to dissect a sheep's eyeball. As for Colleen, she was exactly the kind of person I could understand. ". . . Colleen was always thinking and worrying and obsessing about things." Been there. Most of us have. It's just rare to see that feeling fleshed out s

This book is truly amazing. I loved every page of it. I was able to connect with the character, feeling as if she was close to me. Excellent book.