For eight-year-old Carrie Parker, life is divided into before and after. Before her beloved father's death, her family lived a relatively happy life in the small town of Toast, North Carolina. Now she and her sister, Emma, endure daily verbal and physical abuse at the hands of their stepfather, Richard, and the emotional absence of their mother. "A big sister has to look out for a baby sister," says Carrie, and she does her best to protect herself and Emma from Richard's fists.ME & EMMA is narrated by Carrie, who lays out the details of her life with a child's intuitiveness and touching simplicity. Central to the story is her relationship with Emma, the one constant in a hardscrabble existence. In many ways, Carrie and Emma are opposites. Carrie has a dark complexion and Emma is fair, "like someone got bored painting her and just left her blank for someone else to fill in." Carrie is older by two years, but it's often the fearless Emma who leads the way. Emma is more of a realist, while Carrie, whose most cherished possession is a book of stamps from around the world, dreams of far away places. In particular, Bermuda, where she believes it's "too pretty for anything to be wrong, and I bet they even have a law that would keep people like Richard out altogether."As the story unfolds, Carrie devises ways to escape the reality of her home life, from an aborted runaway attempt that has dire consequences to hiding behind the living room couch. "Behind-the-couch," she says, "is like another room for me and Emma. It's our fort. Anyway, we usually head there when we've counted ten squeaks from the foot pedal of the metal trash can in the kitchen. The bottles clank so loud I think my head'll split in two."The narrative alternates scenes from the past --- dominated by Carrie's memories of her father --- with events in the present, making the difference between the two all the more heartbreaking. Throughout, Elizabeth Flock's imagery and phrasing is pitch-perfect with lines such as this one: "I can barely remember Momma the way she used to be, before Richard broke her into pieces."Flock's deceptively simple prose belies not only a seriousness in subject matter but also clever subtleties in the plot. Carrie relays information that she doesn't always understand, but to the reader these are important points to look out for in the story. They eventually shed light on devastating family secrets in both the past and the present.ME & EMMA is not purely escapist reading. The injustices suffered by Carrie and Emma --- and their helplessness --- are stark reminders of the cruelty inflicted on children every day by the adults entrusted to care for them. And yet it's this same austerity that drives the narrative. Suffice it to say, you won't soon forget Carrie Parker and her little sister, Emma.
I found this book to one that I struggled to rate. I ended up with 3 stars, but I would say I would give it 3 and 1/2 stars if I could. There is something likable about Carrie and there is something heartbreaking about Emma. They seem so alike and yet they are so different. Carrie is sweet and liked and Emma is stronger and has seen harder times than her sister even though she is 2 years younger. At the root of the story is abuse. Her mother is abused, Carrie and Emma are abused, and yet there is something off... What is wrong with this family? There was a part of me that wanted to reach into the pages and save them and another part of me that wanted to shake some sense into her mother and the other neighbors who stood by and continued to return her to her family and into the mouth of the wolf. (view spoiler)[I was surprised at the ending, but it did make sense. I always thought there was something off in the way her mother treated Emma. What I did not like about the ending was that I could not tell if her mother knew about the sexual abuse or if the sexual abuse ever was revealed. The end was hopeful, but I had a hard time being hopeful just because she realized that Emma was not real. It did not seem like they address the repercussions of the abuse from Richard... only the fact that she saw her father killed. In the end, the ending felt rushed and unfinished. (hide spoiler)]
Do You like book Me & Emma (2006)?
This was a "2005 Highlights" recommended book from the Independent Bookseller List (I have liked several from this list including The History of Love, Banishing Verona, Any Bitter Thing, and A Complicated Kindness)... I would give it 2 1/2 stars. Several things bothered me. It seemed like a slightly cliched version of a "typical" poverty-stricken little girl getting abused by her stepfather while uttering adorable southern phrases. The only problem is that I feel like I've read a dozen books like this with 2 major differences 1) they were better written (ie Book of Ruth, Bastard out of Carolina) 2) the author was actually southern so knew how to cleverly and consistently use southern lingo. With that said, this one DID have a twist at the end, which saved the book for me.
—Alexis
This book was a fast read and for most of the book, unlike any I'd read in a while. In it, 8 year-old Caroline tries to protect her 6 year-old sister, Emma, and herself from abuse at the hands of their mother and stepfather. The family is clearly very poor and the stepfather brings home what little money there is, which is what drives their mother to remain with him, having lost the girls' father to murder when their home was robbed. Carrie clearly doesn't like her stepfather, who seems to treat Emma the worst, nor does their mom, but mom takes her husband's side most of the time and never comes to the defense of her daughter. Emma seems to have the best idea, often remaining silent or disappearing when times get the worst.The back of the book indicates a big event that changes everything, so I kept reading in anticipation, but it's very late in the book when it occurs, and the last chapter makes readers question the whole rest of the book. It was this last chapter that reminded me of a book I read a little while ago, though to say which one would spoil the ending. This chapter does add a huge degree of realism to the story.Overall, a good book. Not perfect, as I felt that these two girls were truly alone in the world and even people who seem to be able to help them just choose to turn a blind eye, which is sad and hopefully not realistic.
—Kristin
This book is very well-written, though it's terribly sad. As a therapist, I had the end figured out in the first 20 pages, so in that regard, I felt like it was predictable. Having worked so long with abused children, there was nothing surprising about Carrie/Emma killing Richard or the fact that Emma is real to Carrie, even after the murder.
—Martha
