55 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Slow in spots, but smacks you like a ton of bricks, May 8, 2005
Aside from the author occasionally missing the mark with her intreptation of Southern dialogue of poor white folks, this story is told from the point of view of an abused and all but abandoned 8 year old girl named Caroline (Carrie) who is in a desperate family situation.
Emma, the tough-as-nails younger sister, and Richard, the wicked stepfather, join with Carrie's mother, herself a victim of spousal abuse, and together the family moves to a new town, away from their haunting roots, only to set up in an area where the main attraction for the older folks is playing a banjo in the back of a general store and perfecting their shotgun technique on tin cans.
Carrie is in an awful situation at home, constantly bearing witness to the physical and mental cruelties of Richard. She misses her father, who was brutally murdered when she was just a small child, and she finds it difficult to do well in school, make more than one true friend, stay out of trouble at home. Emma is her only salvation, her only guts and defense in a cruel and heartless existence.
I can't say much more for fear of ruining the story. Suffice to say you will be mesmerized by the poignancy of this story, your heart will absolutely break for their suffering, and you will be torn between rooting for a happy ending and just wishing the pain would stop at whatever the cost. There were chapters that left me shaking in sobs, I was so in pieces over the graphic abuse. And reading it from a child's perspective is what made it all the more heart wrenching.
You won't close this book with a smile on your face, rather, with a heavy heart. It is tremendously hard-hitting and will stir your soul.
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You won't soon forget Carrie and her little sister Emma, March 5, 2005
For eight-year-old Carrie Parker, life is divided into before and after. Before her beloved father's death, her family lived a relatively happy life in the small town of Toast, North Carolina. Now she and her sister, Emma, endure daily verbal and physical abuse at the hands of their stepfather, Richard, and the emotional absence of their mother. "A big sister has to look out for a baby sister," says Carrie, and she does her best to protect herself and Emma from Richard's fists.
ME & EMMA is narrated by Carrie, who lays out the details of her life with a child's intuitiveness and touching simplicity. Central to the story is her relationship with Emma, the one constant in a hardscrabble existence. In many ways, Carrie and Emma are opposites. Carrie has a dark complexion and Emma is fair, "like someone got bored painting her and just left her blank for someone else to fill in." Carrie is older by two years, but it's often the fearless Emma who leads the way. Emma is more of a realist, while Carrie, whose most cherished possession is a book of stamps from around the world, dreams of far away places. In particular, Bermuda, where she believes it's "too pretty for anything to be wrong, and I bet they even have a law that would keep people like Richard out altogether."
As the story unfolds, Carrie devises ways to escape the reality of her home life, from an aborted runaway attempt that has dire consequences to hiding behind the living room couch. "Behind-the-couch," she says, "is like another room for me and Emma. It's our fort. Anyway, we usually head there when we've counted ten squeaks from the foot pedal of the metal trash can in the kitchen. The bottles clank so loud I think my head'll split in two."
The narrative alternates scenes from the past --- dominated by Carrie's memories of her father --- with events in the present, making the difference between the two all the more heartbreaking. Throughout, Elizabeth Flock's imagery and phrasing is pitch-perfect with lines such as this one: "I can barely remember Momma the way she used to be, before Richard broke her into pieces."
Flock's deceptively simple prose belies not only a seriousness in subject matter but also clever subtleties in the plot. Carrie relays information that she doesn't always understand, but to the reader these are important points to look out for in the story. They eventually shed light on devastating family secrets in both the past and the present.
ME & EMMA is not purely escapist reading. The injustices suffered by Carrie and Emma --- and their helplessness --- are stark reminders of the cruelty inflicted on children every day by the adults entrusted to care for them. And yet it's this same austerity that drives the narrative. Suffice it to say, you won't soon forget Carrie Parker and her little sister, Emma.
--- Reviewed by Shannon McKenna
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
great read, September 12, 2005
I am so glad that my pleasure of the book was not spoiled by the give-away that many reviewers have shared. If you haven't read the other reviews, don't do it.
This is a touching story told by a child who is the victim of abuse. I will never forget it.
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