Emma McGraw’s back! In her eight years on earth, she has not figured out the fine points of dealing with boys and bullies. When Jared (“Jarhead”) Mathews continues to torture EllRay Jakes, Emma steps in to help out. With the delightful first-person narrative Emma’s fans have come to expect from this welcome series, they all know just how Emma feels when all eyes, especially the bully’s, are on her. First hailed as a hero, soon the unexpected happens: EllRay is embarrassed to have been defended by a girl and he, too, turns on Emma. Soon all the kids are sarcastically calling our heroine “Super Emma.” In the end, Emma learns what all children eventually learn: to rely on themselves. The secondary characters round out the story well: Teacher Ms. Sanchez steps in carefully, the principal understands the sticky situation and Emma’s mom is the right balance of concern and wait-and-see. Emma is a character complicated enough to question herself, make mistakes and triumph in the end. (Fiction. 7-10)
