Customer Reviews

Emily's Fortune

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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I'll admit it- I flip through the children's books at my part-time job at the bookstore. There's just something incredibly fun in most children's books that seems to stretch across the age boundaries, if that book is well written. Since this book has been written by the author of Shiloh, you can expect it to be an entertaining read.

Emily's mother is a housekeeper for the insanely wealthy Mrs. Nash (emphasis on the insane). When an overturned buggy turns her into an orphan, Emily knows that the only place left for her is with her Aunt Hilda in Redbud. The only other known relative is the dastardly Uncle Victor, an awful man who has never treated Emily or her mother well. With child catchers & an evil uncle to avoid & an unexpected inheritance to claim, Emily is finding that the road to her new home is more difficult to travel than she'd expected, even if she does have her new friend Jackson & her pet turtle Rufus to help her along the way.

Parents, rest assured that this book is appropriate for your children. While there are two deaths at the beginning of the book, there isn't anything objectionable in this book. There's a nice adventure here, but no real threats. You won't have to worry about nightmares or overly gory scenes in this book.

Now for my opinions on the book. Even though I loved the descriptions of Emily's original life, I felt like the book was a little slow to start out. It really isn't until Victor makes his first appearance in the book that I felt that the story really came to life. The characters in this book are really cute & I liked Emily & Jackson's interactions. I also thought that the illustrations were incredibly charming & easily my favorite part of the book. I also enjoyed the cute endings to each chapter, which made the book feel as if it was a tale being read by firelight to a group of children for fun. Basically put, this book just made me smile at how cute it was.

I know that if I'd read this book when I was about 8, I'd have adored it & I'm pretty sure that the average young reader will as well. As it is, I'm certain that my niece will love the plucky Emily & my nephew will like reading about stagecoaches & devious uncles.

This is one of the neatest stories I've ever read!! It's fun, funny, and keeps you reading! And I didn't even fall asleep reading it, which I do so often with other books. I was hooked on this book from the beginning. I am amazed at what variety of books Ms. Naylor has written. As another reviewer wrote, it is a very decent book--other than the two deaths and a swear word here or there--and you won't be able to stop reading it until you reach the last page!!

This is a GREAT story that my 8 year old son and I are enjoying together. We read one chapter every night and we both find that we have to fight ourselves to ONLY read ONE chapter! In fact, last night we cheated and read two. Neither of us can WAIT until we get to the end to find out what happens, but we both agree that we'll be sad at the same time, to see the story end.

Fans of comic Wild West adventures like Betsy Byars' Golly Sisters books should eat up this rip-roaring tale from Newbery winning author Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, who has written over 135 diverse books for young readers. Our heroine, Emily, is a very meek eight-year old who is tragically orphaned when her mother and her very wealthy employer are killed in a carriage accident. Her only friend is a small turtle, Rufus, who lives in a box.

With her only living relative the evil Uncle Victor, Emily is sent off to live with her aunt Hilda in the far-away West. Barely escaping from the "Catchum Child-Catching Services: Orphans, Strays, and Roustabouts Rounded up Quickly," Emily gets on the train where she meets Jackson, a good-for-nothing trouble-making orphan who's also headed out West. But soon there's TROUBLE! It turns out that Emily is an heiress--$10 million worth, and the evil Uncle Victor is hot on their trail...to get his hands on her money! Can Jackson and Emily catch the stagecoach, survive armed robbery, evade Uncle Victor and get to Aunt Hilda in Redbud before it's too late?

The charming black and white illustrations, large type, and relatively simple vocabulary, make this very friendly to readers who are stepping up from series like Magic Treehouse. Each chapter ends with a cliff-hanger in giant old-West style fonts; examples include "and who in creepin' creation do you suppose was in it?" or "And what in blinkin' bloomers do you think she saw?"

Naylor demonstrates a great sense of humor and adventure in this new book, which would be a very fun read-aloud either for classroom or at home, with strong appeal to both girls and boys. It would also be a good book to recommend both to reluctant readers, who will be encouraged to read forward by the cliff-hangers at the end of each chapters and the action-driven plot, as well as avid readers.