Emma's River

by Alison Hart, Paul Bachem (Illustrator)

Overview

In 1852, Emma and her mama board the Sally May for a steamboat journey filled with danger and adventure.

When concern over her beloved pony, Licorice Twist, lures ten-year-old Emma below the main deck—a place that she has been forbidden to go—she is shocked by what she encounters. Here is a world completely different than the pampered one above with its comfortable stateroom and fine food. Here livestock and poor immigrants huddle together—underfed, unclean, and exhausted.

Soon Emma is making regular trips below, ferrying food to Patrick, an eleven-year-old stowaway who recently emigrated from Ireland. Slowly, Emma and Patrick develop a friendship that spans classes and ship levels.

When the boiler explodes and the steamboat begins to sink, Emma must fight her way through the black smoke to find her friends and family. But is it too late?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781561459285
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	12/08/2015
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	6 MB
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

When Alison Hart was seven years old, she wrote, illustrated, and self-published a book called The Wild Dog. Since then, she's authored more than sixty books for young readers. A former teacher, she lives in Virginia.

After a long career as a freelance illustrator, producing work for books and magazines, Paul Bachem now devotes his time to painting landscapes and seascapes from nature. His paintings are in numerous private collections as well as the permanent collection of the Forbes Gallery in New York City. He lives in New Jersey.

Editorial Reviews

Ten-year-old Emma travels up the Mississippi on the steamboat Sally May in 1852, defending her pony against ruffians, throwing improbable temper tantrums and learning about social injustice. The big river and the boat form an interesting background, but the story doesn't hold water. Emma travels with her about-to-give-birth mother (who transfers from a posh private home to the boat within hours of delivery) and a doctor assigned to her care. They're meeting Emma's father, but why he doesn't travel with them and why they are joining him at the end of Mama's pregnancy is never explained. The doctor spends his time gambling in the men's lounge, without, as he promised, tending to either Emma or her pony (supposedly no one but Emma cares if the animal is given food or water during the four-day trip). The pony becomes a plot device-an excuse for Emma to venture onto the forbidden deck-and a reason to put an attractive animal on the book cover. Worst of all, Emma comes across as inconsistent-one moment she's holding her breath until she gets her way, the next she's volunteering to help impoverished accident victims-and ultimately unlikable. Exclamation points abound! As she has shown in Shadow Horse (1999) and others, Hart can do better. (Historical fiction. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews

"Especially suited to "American Girl" series fans looking for slightly longer books. Emma is a plucky heroine. . . readers will enjoy following her as she learns and grows."—School Library Journal

"Hart well conveys the sights, smells, and sounds of a nineteenth-century steamboat as well as Emma's gradual move away from willfulness and muddled thinking. There's never a dull moment"—Booklist

From the Publisher

Gr 4–6—Emma Wright, 10, is excited to ride the steamboat Sally May up the Missouri River to Kansas City to meet her father. From there the family will travel west to California to make their fortune during the boom time of 1852. However, she loves her pony, Licorice Twist, and as she and her mother are getting settled on the boat she worries about his welfare. During a trip down to the forbidden main deck, Emma meets stowaway Patrick O'Brien, who is about 11 or 12. At first the two don't get along, but they eventually become friends and he takes care of her horse in exchange for food. When the boiler explodes, Emma finds out just how much of a friend Patrick really is. As she schemes and struggles to find a way to see her horse, readers are given a child's-eye view of a steamboat trip in the mid-1800s. True to the time, the word "Negro" is used and there are some stereotypical attitudes about Indians. Though unevenly paced and with some unbelievable aspects—particularly Emma's ignorance about her mother's pregnancy—this novel is a good introduction to the period. It is especially suited to "American Girl" series fans looking for slightly longer books. Emma is a plucky heroine and while not much happens until the very end of her story, readers will enjoy following her as she learns and grows. The ending leaves open the possibility for a sequel.—Necia Blundy, Marlborough Public Library, MA

School Library Journal