Appearing today in stores everywhere, “Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat” is a must for your reading list for ages 9+. I read it in one sitting and came away entertained and enchanted.
Emmy is a very good girl who does everything her nanny, Miss Barmy, tells her. She is a straight A student, she never gets in trouble, and she never talks back. You might think she’s this way because she’s impeccably well-mannered, and she is – but her underlying reason is this – she wants her parents to like her more. If she never gets in trouble, maybe they’ll stop taking long trips and stay home with her.
They weren’t always wealthy enough to afford all the lavish vacations they take. They used to own a bookstore, and they lived above it, not rich with money but with love. Then a relative died and left them his estate, and suddenly, Emmy has all the toys in the world, but never sees her parents. She’d trade it all to go back to the way things used to be.
The only person who really seems to listen to her is the classroom rat, and he’s a grumpy soul. He makes disparaging remarks all through class, he has a foul temper – but he’s Emmy’s only friend. In fact, sometimes it seems like no one else in the whole class even knows she’s there.
Soon Emmy discovers that’s the exact truth – no one else does know she’s there! Miss Barmy has come up with an evil plan to make everyone in Emmy’s life forget she even exists. Teaming up with the rat and with Joe, a boy from her class, Emmy has to figure out Miss Barmy’s plot and how to overthrow it, all before her parents leave on yet another vacation.
This book kept me laughing from beginning to end. The clever dialogue, the interplay between the animals and the people – all of it was fabulous.
In addition, the illustrations are great, and include one feature I’ve never seen before. As you flip the pages, along the right-hand margin you see the rat fall from a tree branch above and land in Emmy’s hand. Very ingenious.
“Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat” is the most delightful intermediate book I’ve read all year. Go ask your favorite bookstore for it today!
(This book was published in 2007 by Henry Holt and Company.)
Related Blogs:
Picture Books by Lynne Jonell and Petra Mathers
Author Interview: Lynne Jonell
Author Interview: Lynne Jonell — a new release