Emmy and the Home for Troubled Girls (Emmy and the Rat Series #2)
384
Emmy and the Home for Troubled Girls (Emmy and the Rat Series #2)
384Paperback(First Edition)
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Overview
Emmy Addison is an ordinary girl — almost. If you don't count the fact that her parents are rich (very), her best friend is a boy (and a soccer star), and she can talk to rodents (and they talk back), she's very ordinary indeed. But she hasn't been that way for long . . .
It was only a few weeks ago that Emmy and her friends Ratty and Joe got rid of the evil Miss Barmy, the nanny who had nearly ruined Emmy's life — and the lives of five other girls who went missing. Miss Barmy is now a rat. How much harm can she do?
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780312608736 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Square Fish |
| Publication date: | 06/08/2010 |
| Series: | Emmy and the Rat Series , #2 |
| Edition description: | First Edition |
| Pages: | 384 |
| Product dimensions: | 7.70(w) x 5.36(h) x 1.03(d) |
| Lexile: | 770L (what's this?) |
| Age Range: | 9 - 12 Years |
About the Author
Jonathan Bean has a master's degree in illustration from the School of Visual Arts in New York. He has illustrated several books for young readers, including Mokie and Bik. He lives in New York City.
Read an Excerpt
EMMY AND THE HOME FOR TROUBLED GIRLS
1
EMMY ADDISON was an ordinary girl--almost.
She had straight dark hair, skinny legs with a scrape on one knee, and no particular talent that she knew of. If you didn't count the fact that her parents were rich (very), her best friend was a boy (and a soccer star), and she could talk to rodents (and they talked back), she was very ordinary indeed.
She hadn't been ordinary for long, but even just a few weeks were enough to convince her that she didn't want to be any other way. Since the middle of May, her teacher had actually remembered her name at school. The other kids had played with her at recess. And her parents had eaten supper with her, and asked how her day had been, and reminded her to brush her teeth, in the most normal way possible.
Emmy didn't want it to end.
So she made a list of all the things an ordinary ten-and-a-half-year-old should do during the summer. She posted it beside her bedroom window--theone in the turret--and she'd already managed to cross the first thing off the list. "Build a tree fort," it said, and just yesterday, she and her friend Joe had finished the best tree fort ever.
It was high--too high, her mother had worried, but her father had checked it for sturdiness, added a brace, and pronounced it safe. It was tucked snugly between three branches of the tallest oak in the woods behind Emmy's house, and from its platform she could look out over Grayson Lake and see sailboats skimming on Loon's Bay. Just now, though, she was flat on her stomach with her head hanging over the edge, watching Joe sprint up the path.
"Hiya!" Joe skidded to a stop beneath the big oak, a pale-haired boy in a blue soccer jersey and grass-stained shorts, and grinned up at Emmy, waiting.
"Password?" Emmy demanded.
"Oh, yeah. Um ... Rat Fink?"
"No, that was yesterday's." Emmy propped her chin on her forearms.
Joe scratched his freckled nose. "Hamster Hocks?"
"Last week's."
Joe shot a glance over his shoulder. "Come on,Emmy. I dodged my little brother two blocks ago, but he's faster on his pudgy feet than he used to be."
"It's Mouse Droppings," Emmy said resignedly, throwing down one end of the rope ladder. "You'd think you could remember a password you thought up yourself."
"Sorr-ry," said Joe, grabbing the rope. "I've remembered a message for you, though."
Emmy looked down at him warily. "Who from?"
"Mrs. Bunjee."
Emmy winced inwardly. How many girls, she wondered, got messages from chipmunks?
"She asked," Joe added, swaying as he climbed, "why you haven't come to visit. She has a new recipe for acorn soup, and says you're welcome anytime."
Emmy felt uncomfortable. She didn't want to seem ungrateful to the rodents who had helped her. Without the chipmunks, and the Rat, and all the rest, she would never have been able to get rid of Miss Barmy, the nanny who had nearly ruined her life.
But girls who visited chipmunks were--well, weird. It was okay for Joe; he was popular, he was the best athlete in the school, and everyone had known him since kindergarten; but for Emmy it was different.
She had been new at Grayson Lake Elementary last fall, when her parents had moved to the stone mansion on Loon's Bay. That was hard enough, but then Miss Barmy had used some unusual rodents to make Emmy's classmates, her teacher, and even her own parents forget that she existed. Emmy hadn't understood why her parents had suddenly seemed to stop caring about her or why all her attempts to make friends at school met with a blank stare.
If she hadn't discovered that Raston Rat, their fourth-grade class pet, had unusual powers, too; if she and Joe hadn't become friends, and shrunk to rat size; if they hadn't gone underground to Rodent City, where they joined forces with Professor Capybara and the chipmunks--then Miss Barmy might have succeeded in her plan to get rid of Emmy's parents, steal their money, and lock Emmy up for good in the Home for Troubled Girls.
But all had turned out well. Miss Barmy and her follower, Cheswick Vole, had been changed into rats themselves, Emmy's parents had become loving once more, and the kids at school had been as friendly as could be expected toward a girl they thought they'd just met. Still, though Emmy had had several weeksof being an ordinary kid, she had a lot of catching up to do before fifth grade.
She wanted to do regular ten-year-old things--go to birthday parties, and have sleepovers, and swim and bike and jump off swings in the park. She wanted to start fifth grade with a hundred friends--or, at any rate, more than one or two. She was going to be too busy this summer to spend time with a bunch of rodents, because she absolutely refused to go through another school year feeling lonely and invisible.
And of course there were a few more reasons why she wasn't keen on visiting Rodent City.
The tree house creaked as Joe clambered over the edge. "Free at last!"
"Did you win your game?" Emmy gazed idly at her house through the leaves, and her window in the topmost turret.
"Both games," said Joe gloomily. "So now we have to play two more tomorrow, before the championship." He rolled on his back to toss twigs at the large branch that overhung the platform. "At least I don't have to go to California on Monday. The soccer camp Dad tried to sign me up for was full."
"If you're sick of playing soccer," said Emmy reasonably, "just stop."
"It's not that I don't want to play. I just don't want to play every stupid day all year long, that's all." Joe sat up abruptly, his eye caught by a knothole above him. "It's funny," he said, "but ever since that stuff happened--you know, shrinking and all--"
Emmy nodded impatiently. Of course she knew.
"I like to check out every rat-sized crack I see." He chinned himself on the overhanging branch and pressed his eye to the hole.
Emmy leaned back. "Can you see anything?"
"Too dark. Next time I'll bring a flashlight."
"We should have a box up here for that kind of stuff. Flashlights--"
"And batteries," added Joe, dropping down with a thump.
"Hammer and nails," Emmy said, "and Band-Aids."
"Comic books."
"Regular books, too," said Emmy, "especially ones about sailing--like Swallows and Amazons--"
"An astronomy book, so we can steer by the stars."
"I've got a telescope!" Emmy sat up. "We could use it for a spyglass--"
"And look out for pirates--"
"And buried treasure!"
"We'll make the pirates walk the plank, or"--Joe gripped his throat with both hands--"hang them from the yardarm."
Emmy rolled over to the edge, feeling for the ladder. "I'll get the spyglass."
"Get a bottle of ginger ale--no, grog--," Joe called, "and we can christen the ship!"
Emmy slammed the kitchen door behind her, sprinted up the stairs, and nearly collided with Maggie on the second-floor landing.
"Sorry," said Emmy, edging past the housemaid, who was emptying wastebaskets.
Maggie smiled broadly. "That's all right; I like to see a child run. It's better than watching you sit with your hands folded."
Emmy flushed. "I just did that when Miss Barmy made me act like a lady."
Maggie chuckled, pulling a section of the Grayson Lake News from one of the stacks. "Take a look; I saved this for you. Time enough to act like a lady when you're grown up and can wear these." She pointed to the society-column headline.
Emmy glanced at a picture of her parents, read "Addison Family Sapphires on Display at Grayson Lake Jewelers," and lost interest. She knew she was rich--Mr. and Mrs. Addison had inherited a lot of money a year ago, when her great-great-uncle William had died--but except for living in a house that looked like a castle, which was cool, she found the subject boring. "Maggie, please could I have a bottle of ginger ale? We want to christen the tree fort."
"That's a fine idea," said Maggie comfortably. "I'll check the pantry."
On a blue-painted windowsill in the northeast turret of the Addison mansion, a glossy black rat lay panting. He had never been in the best of shape, even when he was a human. Now that he was a rat, all the tunneling and gnawing and climbing that seemed to be expected of him was a bit much.
"You're getting too old for this, Cheswick," he muttered to himself.
But of course he was doing it for his darling Barmsie, whom he had adored for years. True, she was now quite a bit shorter than she had been--and hairier--with a prominent set of whiskers. And though her piebald blotches were interesting, and her long tailwas certainly nice and pink, she was no longer the beauty queen of former days.
But she was still his precious tulip, and he was glad to do anything she asked. Just now he was on a daring mission into enemy territory. Cheswick grasped the window-blind cord, slid into Emmy's bedroom, and trotted into the playroom. He took a brown rucksack from his shoulders and waded manfully into a pile of doll clothes.
He was stuffing whatever he could reach into his sack--a green-and-gold track suit, a glittery evening gown, a white fluffy thing he couldn't identify--when a vibration in the floor sent a shiver through his claws.
The black rat lifted his head alertly. Someone was pounding up the stairs, someone gigantic. He dropped the rucksack at once. If he had learned one thing in his few weeks as a rat, it was to avoid anyone who was large and thumping. In a moment, all that could be seen of him was his tail, disappearing beneath a toy chest; and in one moment more, the only sign of his presence was a small sack half full of Barbie clothes.
Emmy skidded into the playroom, dropped the newspaper, and rummaged in her toy chest. Notelescope there ... She checked in the science cupboard, and the art cabinet, and behind the carved Austrian dollhouse. It wasn't on any of the shelves lining the room from floor to ceiling; and it wasn't rolling among the balls and hockey sticks. Emmy peered inside all twenty-three Lego bins, and wished (not for the first time) that she didn't have so many toys. It was embarrassing when people came to visit; and when she tried to find something, it took forever.
Emmy turned in a circle. Now, if she were a telescope, where would she hide?
She gazed at her model train set with its miniature town, and then her eyes returned to the toy chest. Might it have rolled under there?
Emmy reached beneath. "Come on, spyglass," she muttered, and gave a cry of triumph as she grasped something long and skinny. She pulled it out, covered in dust, and sneezed.
It was not the telescope after all. It was Miss Barmy's old cane, the cane she had whittled herself. It was carved with little faces, their hair intertwined and their expressions pleading, and Emmy recoiled as she saw it.
Miss Barmy had told her that they were the faces of girls she had taken care of. She had said that she was saving a blank patch for Emmy's face, someday ...
Every grown-up who had seen the cane told Emmy she was lucky to have such a creative nanny. But something about the little faces had always bothered Emmy; and, whatever might have happened to the other girls carved on the cane, Emmy was terribly glad it had not happened to her.
Emmy stalked to her window, lifted the screen, and hurled the cane over the lawn and straight at the trees. She watched with deep satisfaction as the awful thing speared into a bush at the edge of the woods.
Good. Let it stay there and rot.
A small grating sound drew Emmy's eyes back to the playroom as the telescope rolled slowly out from beneath the toy chest.
Emmy looked at it, startled. How--? Oh, it must have been dislodged by the cane that she'd just pulled out. She jammed the spyglass into an old backpack and ran down to the pantry with a light heart.
"Here you go," said Maggie, tucking a plastic bottle in Emmy's backpack. "Now, don't forget, Emmy--come in early tonight. There's company coming."
"Who is it, Maggie?"
"Peter Peebles. You do remember Mr. Peebles, don't you?"
Emmy grimaced. She remembered him, all right. He was the lawyer who had helped Miss Barmy draw up the papers she had tried to get Emmy's parents to sign--papers that would have sent Emmy to the Home for Troubled Girls and given Miss Barmy total control if Emmy's parents died.
"Now, child, don't make a face. You know that Mr. Peebles was tricked right along with your parents."
Emmy nodded politely. But deep down, she couldn't help feeling that anyone who would help a person like Miss Barmy had to have something wrong with him.
"And don't you worry about that horrible Miss Barmy, either," said Maggie. "She's long gone and far away, and she's not likely to bother you ever again."
Two stories up, Cheswick brushed off his paws (the spyglass had been dusty), pattered onto the newspaperEmmy had left behind, and read slowly, swinging his dark furry head from side to side.
He bared his yellow incisors and clipped out the society column with small, neat bites. And a moment later he shouldered the rucksack and was on his way to his beloved Miss Barmy, who was not nearly so far away as Maggie believed.
EMMY AND THE HOME FOR TROUBLED GIRLS. Text copyright © 2008 by Lynne Jonell. Illustrations copyright © 2008 by Jonathan Bean. All rights reserved. Distributed in Canada by H.B. Fenn and Company Ltd. For information, address Square Fish, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Reading Group Guide
Discussion Questions
1. Like many middle school students, Emmy wants to be normal. Have students define "normal." Do they think it is really a bad thing to be viewed as the opposite? Who do students think determines what normal looks like?
2. Although Emmy thinks Joe has it easy, he has a few problems of his own, especially pressure from his father to play soccer all the time. Ask your students why Joe doesn't tell his father how he feels.
3. "Emmy peered inside all twenty-three Lego bins, and wished (not for the first time) that she didn't have so many toys. It was embarrassing when people came to visit;
and when she tried to find something, it took forever"
(page 10). Students should discuss why Emmy would be embarrassed by all the things she had. Can they come up with ideas for what she could do with all of the toys instead of keeping them, unused, in her playroom?
4. Discuss with your class why Miss Barmy's cane makes
Emmy so uncomfortable while others find it very interesting and beautiful. Ask students if an object can be both repulsive and attractive at the same time. Can people appear both ways, depending on who is looking? Have your students ever seen something or known someone like that?
5. In chapter 2, Raston says that he "does not wish to wallow in ignorance." Yet poor Sissy "had spent years stuck in a cage with no opportunity to learn much of anything"
(pg. 57). Have students discuss Raston and Sissy's feelings about their educations. Can they list ways he could help her?
6. Friends are very important. Emmy thinks that she can only be friends with humans and tries to avoid the creatures of Rodent City. How do students feel about this sentiment? Do they agree or disagree – can humans befriend animals? What about pets? Discuss with your class what makes someone a good friend. Does Emmy demonstrate how to be a good friend?
7. Emmy struggles with a feeling of guilt and hopelessness throughout the book. Have students list the situations that caused these feelings. Talk about why she feels so guilty. Could Emmy have avoided these feelings? How?
8. Miss Barmy and Cheswick make an appearance at the party thrown in honor of Professor Capybara.
They seem to have changed and the rodents accept them without hesitation. Mrs. Bunjee even proclaims,
"Everyone deserves a second chance…. But people can't switch from bad to good all at once, without a few false steps along the way. It's our job to help and guide, not to criticize," (p 115-116). Do your students believe that people can change that drastically? Can they think of someone who was terribly nasty and became a better person eventually? Have students come up with ways to help someone trying to change their nasty ways.
9. "Go on. You won't get your wish if you don't take the first step" (p 151). The wishing mouse's encouraging words to Emmy signify that it might take more than making the wish for it to come true. Emmy, Thomas,
Joe, and even Meg have wishes granted (whether they knew it was happening or not). Discuss with your students how the characters' wishes are different.
Have students choose a character and tell what they would have wished to happen.
10. The little girls – Ana, Berit, Lee, Lisa, and Merry,
have had horrible lives. They had Miss Barmy as a nanny, their parents mysteriously died, and they now live in a shoe box in Mr. and Mrs. B's attic. Ask students how they think it would feel to be trapped like the girls are. How do they take care of each other?
Have students create a list of words to describe the girls.
11. Using Professor Capybara's charascope, Emmy and Thomas can see what characteristics make up a person. Miss Barmy is full of hatred, resentment,
and probably a bit of fear. Thomas's blood shows love, happiness, curiosity, wonder, courage, and hope.
Emmy worries how her blood might appear, especially after she let Sissy get injured. Ask students if they think it is reasonable for her to worry. Discuss what characteristics Emmy might see in her own blood.
How do they think Emmy's blood sample would look at the end of the story? How would Emmy feel about the change?
12. Raston and Joe get very mad (and disappointed)
at Emmy when they find out what she allowed to happen to Sissy. They even say some pretty awful things to her. Do students think their response was fair? Have them defend why or why not.
13. Why do your students think Emmy was surprised by Meg's response to her when Emmy was finally honest with her?
14. Emmy finally begins to act like a real friend,
and rather bravely, after her mistakes are discovered by Joe and Raston. She sneaks into Rodent
City to snoop on Miss Barmy, she interferes with
Miss Barmy's plans, and she rescues the little girls. Ask your students whether Emmy redeems herself for her mistakes. Connect their answers to question 7 and discuss whether she proves that she is a good friend.
