In this third installment of the adventures of boisterous, soccer-playing Emma, the entire O’Fallon household feels the effects of her scheming. Annie, their fabulously obliging nanny, has returned from her Ireland vacation and is secretly keeping a new kitten and ferret in her apartment. How is Emma going to introduce additional pets to her already stressed-out parents? More importantly, how will she convince Mom that Annie, not Mom, should be the traveling soccer team’s chaperone, on their first away game, in which she needs to prove her skills against ball-hogging rival Katie? When her parents are surprised by the new pets’ escape-chase around the dinner table, Emma’s dilemmas increase. Taking a cue from her father’s impending airline strike, Emma organizes her siblings into a picket line, complete with demands and offers of negotiations. Hermes craftily combines suspense and mild amusement with themes of self-esteem and problem-solving. Emma’s bold planning allows for positive outcomes as she learns about her own strengths while recognizing the differing individual support her mother and nanny provide. Another winner. (Fiction. 9-11)
