What Would Emma Do? [Paperback]

Eileen Cook (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 30, 2008

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.

“Sassy and sly and sweet all at the same time, this book made me laugh out loud.” --Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries and Airhead

“Not since Judy Blume’s Margaret introduced herself to God has there been such a funny, genuine, conflicted, wanna-be-sorta-good-maybe-later girl as Emma. Cook’s tone as she takes on the big ones—life, love, faith, and friendship—is pitch perfect.” --Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Midnight Twins and The Deep End of the Ocean

"Smart and fun and full of heart." --Sarah Mlynowski, author of Bras & Broomsticks and How to Be Bad

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7–10—Emma Proctor is the only person in her small town with big dreams of leaving. Even worse, she slipped up and kissed her best friend's boyfriend, who was also her good friend. And when members of the popular clique begin fabricating stories of drug poisonings and place the blame on the school outcasts, Emma is one of the few people with proof that they are lying. Now she must make some tough decisions: Will she risk her track scholarship and ticket out of town to do the right thing? And will her friendships survive this drama? Cook keeps this book fresh with her smart and sassy protagonist. While some of the plotlines are predictable, Emma's moral struggles and subsequent questioning of her born-again faith are touching and sincere. Fans of chick lit will appreciate this book.—Jessie Spalding, Tempe Public Library, AZ
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Review

"What Would Emma Do? is a smart, witty, and genuinely real take on one girl's struggle to discern what she believes and take on the humongous decisions in her life. From the get-go, Emma's upbeat and self-deprecating attitude ensnares and entertains readers, making it easy for them to relate to her, even if they don't all come from small towns." --The Compulsive Reader

“Sassy and sly and sweet all at the same time, this book made me laugh out loud.” --Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries and Airhead

“Not since Judy Blume’s Margaret introduced herself to God has there been such a funny, genuine, conflicted, wanna-be-sorta-good-maybe-later girl as Emma. Cook’s tone as she takes on the big ones—life, love, faith, and friendship—is pitch perfect.” --Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Midnight Twins and The Deep End of the Ocean

"Smart and fun and full of heart." --Sarah Mlynowski, author of Bras & Broomsticks and How to Be Bad

"Cook keeps this book fresh with her smart and sassy protagonist....Emma’s moral struggles and subsequent questioning of her born-again faith are touching and sincere. Fans of chick lit will appreciate this book." --SLJ

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse; Original edition (December 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9781416974321
• ISBN-13: 978-1416974321
• ASIN: 1416974326
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,044,108 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Eileen Cook is a multi-published author with her novels appearing in six different languages. She 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 husband and two dogs and no longer wishes to be anyone or anywhere else.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars What Would a Hilarious Nonconformist Stuck in a Gossipy, Hypocritical Small Town Do? December 30, 2008

By Rachel Kramer Bussel VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Emma Proctor is one of my favorite YA characters I've encountered in a while. She's independent and willing to speak up, seemingly after a lifetime of going along with the (boring) crowd. She writes letters to Jesus asking about how she should handle certain situations, namely, having gone from having a few close friends to being regarded by even her best friend as a freak. For most of this book, I admired Emma's commitment to what she wants (to get out of Wheaton, Indiana), though Cook lets us see that some of Emma's eagerness may be misguided (she will have to figure that out ultimately for herself).

Emma's the kind of girl who's only applied to one school, so convinced is she she'll go there. She's sassy and opinionated and is willing to take some risks, like befriending Todd, the only Jew most people in her town have ever seen, and openly defying the school's head queen bee/mean girl, to stay true to herself, even going so far as to alienate the people closes to her.

Emma's faith is something that is central to the premise of this book, though it's not ever fully tackled. Is she a believer? It's hard to tell, but she certainly makes her stance clear when facing the hypocrisy of her local church, in a reality TV spectacle that's not all that unlikely. As Emma struggles with how much to reveal about what she knows regarding the popular girls' drugtaking and fainting spells, she quickly finds she has very few people to turn to. Her new crush, her mom, and certainly, the man upstairs she keeps writing to, seem to be letting her down.

This was a fun book with a heroine who's a witty non-conformist, who is constantly searching for answers, and only sometimes getting them. Cook expertly skewers small-town life and small-minded thinking, while also letting the reader in on the fact that, in her own way, Emma has a bit of a chip on her shoulder, too. Definitely the kind of book I'd love to see continued in a sequel, and a welcome book where a girl deals with boys and relationships, but they aren't the only things she's dealing with.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars ABSOLUTELY FIVE STARS! May 8, 2011

By Page Turner

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

It isn't often I enjoy a book as much as I enjoyed this one. High School senior, Emma, is smart, focused on her future and has more problems than she can count. Throughout the book she talks to God, asking some excellent questions of Him and even those talks are laced with her wonderful, witty sense of humor.

I'm not sure if this book is a book for young adults or for an older audience but it certainly worked for this over-the-hill teenager. It was a pleasure to follow Emma as she struggled with the consequences of doing the right thing even when just about everybody turned against her--a great story for both younger and older readers.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars WWED January 21, 2009

By Jill

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

It began when Emma kissed her friend Colin right in front of Santa at the Fort Wayne Mall. Since Colin was Joann's boyfriend and Joann was Emma's bff the kiss violated Girlfriend Rule #1. Senior year at Trinity Evangelical Secondary in very small town Wheaton becomes a difficult journey of self discovery for Emma. Cook's insights into Senior Year life, love, faith and friendship will be familiar to anyone who has ever experienced 'Senioritis'. Emma prays for a miracle cure. She learns that instead or trying to please and pacify those around her she must figure out what she wants for herself and how to feel good about herself as she tries to fulfill those wants.