So Totally Emily Ebers

Yee, Lisa. So Totally Emily Ebers. Arthur A. Levine Books, 2007. Tr. $16.99 ISBN 978-0-439-83847-4

What’s it about?

Emily Ebers has just moved to Rancho Rosetta because of her parent’s divorce and meets a girl named Millicent Min on her volleyball team and a handsome basketball player named Stanford Wong.  These three lives intersect in hilarious and unexpected ways.  

Find out more:

Emily Ebers’ parents recently divorced, and now Emily’s mom has moved her all the way to Rancho Rosetta California. Emily begins writing letters to her father, who is on tour with his band, the Talky Boys, updating him on her new life without him. She is having an interesting summer, including joining a volleyball team and making a new friend, meeting a cute boy that she develops a crush on, and seeing her controlled mom try on a new identity as a free-spirited hippie.  When Emily discovers that many people in her life are not what they appear to be, she is disillusioned. She learns to weather the tough times and to repair the relationships that matter.

This is largely a humorous tale, although there are plenty of more serious moments that occur when Emily realizes some people, including her father, are not being honest with her.  Emily’s disillusionment with her father, Millicent, and her frenemies is something a lot of tweens can relate to. Although this is painful for Emily, she comes out of these struggles stronger. She learns to discern between quality people and people that don’t genuinely care about her. Although she is initially flattered by the attention Julie, the queen bee in volleyball, is giving her, she realizes she is being used and ridiculed and stands up for herself. Emily is such a good-natured character that her anger (though justified!) is surprising. This book can be read as a stand-alone, although readers of Millicent Min, Girl Genius and/or Stanford Wong Flunks Out will gobble up this book, and readers who have started off with So Totally Emily Ebers will be eager to read about these events from the perspectives of Millicent and Stanford.  

Genre: Contemporary Realistic fiction, Humor, Friendship Fiction

Reading level: 4^th grade

Interest level: Grades 5-7

Awards: Louisiana Young Reader’s Choice Awards Nominee, 2010

Read-alikes:

Danziger & Martin’s P.S. Longer Letter Later

Blume’s Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself

Cabot’s Ally Finkle’s Rules for Girl series

Subject: Friendship, family relationships, divorce, popularity

Characters:

Emily: Effervescent protagonist, struggling to accept her parent’s divorce and adjusting to her new life in Rancho Rosetta, CA

Millicent: Emily’ new best friend, a funny girl being tutored by the brilliant Stanford Wong (or is she?)

Stanford: A handsome basketball player, the object of Emily’s affections, Millicent’s tutor (or is he?)

Alice Ebers: Emily’s mother, a journalist, hit hard by the divorce

Julie: A mean girl clique leader who wants to make-over Emily in her image 

David Ebers: Emily’s absentee father, on tour with the Talky Boys (or is he?)

Series information:

Millicent Min, Girl Genius

Stanford Wong Flunks Out