Little Women and Me

Gr 7—9—High school freshman Emily March is sick of being constantly passed over as the middle sister. It was bad enough when it was just her family, but now that her crush is fawning over her sisters, it's too much. When she is assigned to pick a book and write about the one thing she would change in it, she chooses Little Women and she is literally sucked into the story. For the duration of the tale, she is part of the March family as the fifth and, of course, middle sister. Certainly fans of Alcott's work will enjoy the familiar scenes from a modern point of view, not to mention the adventures of an additional sister and the great twist at the end, and they're likely to want to go back and reread the original. Many readers will also applaud Emily's desperate attempts to save Beth from her fate and change Jo's and Laurie's marriage choices. However, for those who have not read the classic, this book gives away far too much and yet doesn't make kids realize how much they're missing. Still, there are definitely lessons to take away from Baratz-Logsted's message about finding your own voice. Overall, this is a well-done companion book for fans of the novel.—Kerry Roeder, Corlears School, New York City