Invisible Emmie is proving to be a hit with the target audience. We all have many sides to our personalities and no one is completely black and white. This makes more sense as the twist ending is revealed, yet also shows that all popular kids are not necessarily evil. It is surprising that Katie proves to be so nice to Emmie, even though she has a crush on Katie's BF. Readers will relate to Emmie's struggles and suffer right along with her when the love letter is confiscated. The book reads quickly, yet has a bit more text than the standard graphic novel, working more as a transitional chapter book to move this audience into reading books with more girth. It is beautifully and thoughtfully designed and this also sets it apart from the average fair. Katie is large splashy cartoons in vibrant colors. Emmie has more text with smaller doodle-like illustrations in muted colors. Libenson pens both characters differently. The ending is a twist that readers will love and it is executed really well. The difference lies in the contrasting characters and points of view. As typical for this genre, the main character struggles with fitting in with her peers, lacks self-confidence, and is suffering through middle school. The latest in the popular trend of semi-autobiographical novels geared primarily towards girls, first made popular by Raina Telegemeirer's Smile, Invisible Emmie is the same, yet different. Emmie pulls through her humiliation with more confidence and strength and she has opened up and made a few new friends in the process. A surprise ending shows the reader that we are all a little Emmie and a little Katie and that no one is completely perfect or hopeless. Emmie gains the needed confidence, pushes Katie away, and finds the courage to actually talk to the crush herself and to make a new friend. Help surprisingly comes from Katie, who encourages Emmie to stand up to bullies and to speak-up for herself. Emmie writes a love letter, partly in jest, to said crush, only to have it fall into enemy hands and lead to exposure and severe humiliation. We see the different takes on the same school day as related by the two different girls. In direct contrast is Katie, who is athletic, popular, and confident. The only way to cope is by drawing and submersing herself in her artwork to get through the day. ![]() School is torture and she struggles with asserting herself and feels invisible. Two very different girls recount the same day at school with some interaction, yet very different points of view and experiences. They really made the story a more enjoyable read.Balzer & Bray/HarperCollins, 2017 185 pages The illustrations were fantastic, funny, and so expressive. The book was so creative and witty, although a too adult for middle graders in a few places. Terri Libenson is a wonderful storyteller. And then…BAM! The ending came and it all finally started to make sense and I loved the book even more. I kept wondering when the two characters would meet or when would their stories align. However, I found them completely unrelated at times, which made for a confusing reading experience at times. The two narratives could be their own separate books but they flowed naturally together. Their middle school experience is very relatable as they try to be more than the label others have perceived them as. I loved both Izzy and Brianna as main characters. Positively Izzy is a really great, entertaining story. The girls’ lives converge in unexpected ways on the day of a school talent show, which turns out to be even more dramatic than either Bri or Izzy could have imagined. At the same time, she wishes her mom would accept her the way she is and stop bugging her to “break out of her shell” and join drama club. But she wants people to see there’s more to her than just a report card full of As. The downside? She can never quite focus enough to get her schoolwork done.īri is the brain. ![]() There’s nothing Izzy loves more than acting in skits and making up funny stories. Favorite Quote: (from Author’s Dedication Page) “To all you readers, who should never be branded as anything except ‘awesome.'”
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