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pagesofpins's review against another edition
I never know how to rate Louise Fitzhugh's books.
Emancipation "Emma" Sheridan (what a cool name) dreams of being a lawyer like her father, while her seven year old brother Willie is the best dancer in the neighborhood and dreams of being on Broadway like their famous uncle. Emma's father thinks women lawyers are idiots and dancing is sissy, and her mother insists that her daughter will one day change into the perfect wife and mother, and that Willie will be in a manly and respectable profession once he "grows out of" dancing. Emma has to figure out how to fight for "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" while she is still a child with no rights. How does she change her family so that she and her brother feel loved and respected?
Fitzhugh knows how to write about the rage, isolation, and absolutely atrocious behavior of tweens in a way that is believable and true to life while being comical, but I think much of that is only accessible to adults. When I was a child I was horrified by the rule-breaking and profanity spewing of Fitzhugh's characters, and I can't think of any children to recommend this well-written, emotionally complex book to that wouldn't read three pages and come back with the question, "Why is she calling her brother a faggot? What's a faggot?"
While some of the language and gender attitudes are realllly 1970's (do any eleven year olds even know the phrase "women's lib" anymore?) the feeling of not being understood or respected by your disapproving family are universal. Compulsively readable and not condescending to children, but I'm not entirely sure who it's for in 2017. YA? Nostalgic adults? Hmm.
Emancipation "Emma" Sheridan (what a cool name) dreams of being a lawyer like her father, while her seven year old brother Willie is the best dancer in the neighborhood and dreams of being on Broadway like their famous uncle. Emma's father thinks women lawyers are idiots and dancing is sissy, and her mother insists that her daughter will one day change into the perfect wife and mother, and that Willie will be in a manly and respectable profession once he "grows out of" dancing. Emma has to figure out how to fight for "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" while she is still a child with no rights. How does she change her family so that she and her brother feel loved and respected?
Fitzhugh knows how to write about the rage, isolation, and absolutely atrocious behavior of tweens in a way that is believable and true to life while being comical, but I think much of that is only accessible to adults. When I was a child I was horrified by the rule-breaking and profanity spewing of Fitzhugh's characters, and I can't think of any children to recommend this well-written, emotionally complex book to that wouldn't read three pages and come back with the question, "Why is she calling her brother a faggot? What's a faggot?"
While some of the language and gender attitudes are realllly 1970's (do any eleven year olds even know the phrase "women's lib" anymore?) the feeling of not being understood or respected by your disapproving family are universal. Compulsively readable and not condescending to children, but I'm not entirely sure who it's for in 2017. YA? Nostalgic adults? Hmm.
alisarae's review against another edition
3.0
This book can be described as a feminist theory primer for middle schoolers. It was fine but I didn't really like the plot. I did like this message: In the end, the main character realizes that you cannot change how other people act, you can only change yourself.
foggy_rosamund's review against another edition
4.0
Wow! This intense novel packs a punch. Set in the early 1970s, in New York, this novel focuses on the two children of wealthy and educated Black parents, Emma and Willie. Both are talented, focused children, but both feel intensely frustrated and isolated because their parents do not respect their aspirations. Willie is a talented dancer, and Emma is an intelligent girl who hopes to be a lawyer, but their parents don't want them to achieve either of this dreams. Instead, they have conventional hopes for their children, wanting Willie to become a lawyer like his father, and Emma to be a stay-at-home mother. This novel highlights children's lack of rights, how patriarchy affects both men and women, and how parents may not love or respect their children. It is painful to read because of its emotional honesty: Emma is sure her father does not love her, and narrative gives her no solace for this: instead, she must stop wanting to please her father so she can achieve her own dreams. Some aspects of this novel are clumsy -- Emma's compulsive eating is not fully explored or realised, and Emma's classmates need to be fleshed out further -- but overall I found this novel an uncompromising take on family life, which did not shy away from powerful emotions or difficult subjects.
yetilibrary's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not sure where to begin or what to say here. I picked up this book based on the title alone, and when I realized that Louise Fitzhugh also wrote the inimitable Harriet the Spy, there was no way I'd skip it. But this book is kind of ... unusual.
First: It's told from the perspective of two black kids, but written by a white woman in her 40s. I'm not sure what to make of that here. (I think it's pretty well-done, but I'm a white lady.) Second: While it grapples with issues of sexism and racism, there's homophobia that's only addressed in a sort of glancing way. Third: There are (what I'd consider) physical abuse issues here that are also addressed only in a glancing way. It is troublesome. Fourth: There's not really a resolution to the family drama. In fact, this is the least-comforting YA book dealing with family I've come across. I still don't know if that's refreshing or disturbing. Probably both. I wish I'd read it when I was in middle school.
If your family life was/is "difficult," you'll probably appreciate this book, as I did. If your family life was great and sustaining, you're not the target audience here.
First: It's told from the perspective of two black kids, but written by a white woman in her 40s. I'm not sure what to make of that here. (I think it's pretty well-done, but I'm a white lady.) Second: While it grapples with issues of sexism and racism, there's homophobia that's only addressed in a sort of glancing way. Third: There are (what I'd consider) physical abuse issues here that are also addressed only in a glancing way. It is troublesome. Fourth: There's not really a resolution to the family drama. In fact, this is the least-comforting YA book dealing with family I've come across. I still don't know if that's refreshing or disturbing. Probably both. I wish I'd read it when I was in middle school.
If your family life was/is "difficult," you'll probably appreciate this book, as I did. If your family life was great and sustaining, you're not the target audience here.
olivalejandra's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
me2brett's review against another edition
5.0
I haven't read this since 4th grade (that's the early 90s). But I remember the conclusion that the main characters come to at the end of the book having a profound impact on how I thought about some of the adults in my life - particularly my teachers and grandparents.
jessrock's review against another edition
5.0
Phenomenal! This YA novel tells a story about two siblings growing up in NYC - a girl who wants to be a lawyer and a boy who wants to be a dancer - and their parents, who think boys should be lawyers and girls should be housewives. The characters completely draw you in, and the book comes to a poignant conclusion that manages to be both grim and full of hope. LOVED it.
lory_enterenchanted's review against another edition
Reviews and more on my blog: Entering the Enchanted Castle
A review of the new biography of Louise Fitzhugh inspired me to hunt this one out again. I'd read it a long time ago and remembered being impressed, but no details. It was not one of the two I reread over and over again in my childhood, Harriet the Spy and The Long Secret.
So this was almost like a first read for me. And I was startled by the punch that Fitzhugh packs in this little story. As in the books centered around Harriet and Beth Ellen, the strength is in the main characters, Emma and Willie -- they leap off the page (literally in the case of Willie, the dancer). In intimate details of their inner and outer behavior and thinking, their idiosyncrasies and flaws, they become real to us, we become invested in their dreams and identify with their plight. The adults are more distant and caricatured, almost just props to bring out the theme of the book, which is the powerlessness of abused children and the fight for their rights.
What is most unusual here is that the children themselves are the ones who are fighting. And Emma, in particular, has to go through a difficult process of finding her true goals and her hidden strength, and rejecting "help" that would reduce her power and agency. The story ends just where I rather wish Fitzhugh would have gone on to write a second half. It would have been so interesting to see what developed once Emma made connections with other girls who wanted to create change in their lives. But maybe she couldn't write that part because the history hadn't happened yet. I think it's happening now.
A review of the new biography of Louise Fitzhugh inspired me to hunt this one out again. I'd read it a long time ago and remembered being impressed, but no details. It was not one of the two I reread over and over again in my childhood, Harriet the Spy and The Long Secret.
So this was almost like a first read for me. And I was startled by the punch that Fitzhugh packs in this little story. As in the books centered around Harriet and Beth Ellen, the strength is in the main characters, Emma and Willie -- they leap off the page (literally in the case of Willie, the dancer). In intimate details of their inner and outer behavior and thinking, their idiosyncrasies and flaws, they become real to us, we become invested in their dreams and identify with their plight. The adults are more distant and caricatured, almost just props to bring out the theme of the book, which is the powerlessness of abused children and the fight for their rights.
What is most unusual here is that the children themselves are the ones who are fighting. And Emma, in particular, has to go through a difficult process of finding her true goals and her hidden strength, and rejecting "help" that would reduce her power and agency. The story ends just where I rather wish Fitzhugh would have gone on to write a second half. It would have been so interesting to see what developed once Emma made connections with other girls who wanted to create change in their lives. But maybe she couldn't write that part because the history hadn't happened yet. I think it's happening now.
eitaknnif's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Fitzhugh is amazing. Her characters are so real. I wish we had a hundred more books from her.
sarahjsnider's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
I read the first 24% or so and thought, these people are grotesque. The child characters become more three-dimensional as the plot progresses. This is just a weird one. I’m glad I read it because it’s nice to get out of the standard YA formula from time to time.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism and Racial slurs
Minor: Homophobia