Invisible Emmie

Invisible Emmie
Terri Libenson
Balzer & Bray/HarperCollins, 2017  185 pages
Grades 4-8
Graphic Novel

Two very different girls recount the same day at school with some interaction, yet very different points of view and experiences. Emmie is shy and awkward. School is torture and she struggles with asserting herself and feels invisible. The only way to cope is by drawing and submersing herself in her artwork to get through the day. In direct contrast is Katie, who is athletic, popular, and confident. We see the different takes on the same school day as related by the two different girls. Katie gets asked out by Emmie's crush. Emmie writes a love letter, partly in jest, to said crush, only to have it fall into enemy hands and lead to exposure and severe humiliation. Help surprisingly comes from Katie, who encourages Emmie to stand up to bullies and to speak-up for herself. Emmie gains the needed confidence, pushes Katie away, and finds the courage to actually talk to the crush herself and to make a new friend. A surprise ending shows the reader that we are all a little Emmie and a little Katie and that no one is completely perfect or hopeless. Emmie pulls through her humiliation with more confidence and strength and she has opened up and made a few new friends in the process.

The latest in the popular trend of semi-autobiographical novels geared primarily towards girls, first made popular by Raina Telegemeirer's Smile, Invisible Emmie is the same, yet different. As typical for this genre, the main character struggles with fitting in with her peers, lacks self-confidence, and is suffering through middle school. The difference lies in the contrasting characters and points of view. The ending is a twist that readers will love and it is executed really well. Libenson pens both characters differently. Emmie has more text with smaller doodle-like illustrations in muted colors. Katie is large splashy cartoons in vibrant colors. It is beautifully and thoughtfully designed and this also sets it apart from the average fair. The book reads quickly, yet has a bit more text than the standard graphic novel, working more as a transitional chapter book to move this audience into reading books with more girth. Readers will relate to Emmie's struggles and suffer right along with her when the love letter is confiscated. It is surprising that Katie proves to be so nice to Emmie, even though she has a crush on Katie's BF. This makes more sense as the twist ending is revealed, yet also shows that all popular kids are not necessarily evil. We all have many sides to our personalities and no one is completely black and white. Invisible Emmie is proving to be a hit with the target audience. In my library consortium thirty-nine libraries have added this title since its May release and only nine copies are currently not checked out to readers. A sure-fire win for older elementary and middle school girls.