What Would Emma Do?

What Would Emma Do?

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3.44 of 5 stars 3.44  ·  rating details  ·  924 ratings  ·  110 reviews

Thou Shalt Not Kiss Thy Best Friend’s Boyfriend...again...

There is no greater sin than kissing your best friend’s boyfriend. So when Emma breaks that golden rule, she knows she’s messed up big-time...especially since she lives in the smallest town ever, where everyone knows everything about everyone else...and especially since she maybe kinda wants to do it again. Now her

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Paperback, 307 pages
Published December 30th 2008 by Simon Pulse
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Tammara
Having grown up in the bible-thumping South, this story hit home with me. I loved Emma's voice, laughed out loud while reading, and really felt the building confusion she was feeling from the "talking to God" bits in front of each chapter.

This story shows what happens when a person is living a life of faith and faith only, and the blinders fall off.

Emma knows she made a mistake kissing her best friend's guy - who is her other best friend (even if she didn't initiate it). She's doing what she ca...more
Jennifer Wardrip
Reviewed by Marta Morrison for TeensReadToo.com

Emma was raised by her single mom in a small town in the middle of Illinois. She goes to a private Christian high school which is socially ruled by the local minister's daughter, Darci. She has a damaged relationship with her best friend, Joann, and her boyfriend, Colin.

Everything was going fine until at Christmas Emma and Colin kissed. Even though the kiss was in a mall in a different town, it happened right in front of Joann's mother.

Now Emma ru...more
Becky
Modern-day Crucible. That about sums this one up. Set in a small-town in Indiana, Emma (Elizabeth) Proctor attends a private school--a Christian school--and church. It seems anyone and everyone is a believer in Wheaton. (At least on the surface.) Even the title is a play on words, What Would Jesus Do. Emma thinks sitting around and discussing WWJD is pretty lame. She thinks everything that goes on in Wheaton is lame. She's counting down the days, weeks, months until she can leave town forever wi...more
Lauren
Eileen Cook has certainly created a great novel. I loved Emma's witty, sarcastic, and teen angst ridden character. She is someone that all girls can relate to in the way she just wants to break out of her small town, has boy trouble, and friend issues. The main two main problems in this book is how Emma kissed her best friend's boyfriend right before Christmas and how suddenly all the popular girls are suddenly dropping like flies because someone is slipping them something. I enjoyed seeing how...more
Kelly Hager
Emma Proctor is counting down the days til graduation. She plans to get out of her small town and go to Northwestern on a track scholarship. She has friends there (and, obviously, family) but she’s starting to feel incredibly confined in Wheaton.

The back of the book will tell you that Emma’s big problem is that she’s fighting with her best friend after she (Emma) kissed her (Joann’s) boyfriend. It was a one-time thing and basically an accident. AND Emma feels awful about it. It’s not like Someth...more
Kirsty The Book Mogul
I wasn't so sure about this one when I first started reading it, all I could think was that it was to religious for me but once I got into the storyline I learnt that it was far from that. I really liked Emma's voice as she was really telling the story the way it played out in her mind. I really didn't like Colin as he was always trying to be there for Emma, that's why Emma and Joann fell out because of one small mistake that happened between Colin and Emma. I always hate it when something happe...more
Barbara Martin
The story is set in a small town: Wheaton, Indiana, where Emma Proctor attends a private Christian high school. In school, Emma and her classmates are expected to question everything with “What would Jesus do?” Emma thinks that sitting around to discuss WWJD is a waste of time.

Emma is hoping for a sports scholarship to attend a university away from Wheaton. She has only applied to one, Northwestern, hoping beyond hope that she will be accepted on her track scores. She doesn’t like the small tow...more
Adele
This title was everywhere when I decided to enter the blogosphere. Its cover was on every blog, reviewed nearly daily and yet I was so preoccupied with the start up of PSnark that I didn't really absorb the reviews. Thank goodness.

Though the title mimics the question of 'what would Jesus do?' and openly questions Christianity, I didn't feel it was disrespectful or had an ulterior motive. I was dense enough not to realise this would be a book with heavy emphasis on the exploration of religion but...more
Ariel Avalon
Read this and other reviews at my blog.

Emma has made the worst mistake you can make, she kissed her best friend's boyfriend, Colin. To make it worse, she lives in a small town, so she runs the risk of everyone knowing about it. Somehow the kiss keeps quiet, but now her best friend doesn't trust her, the boy is ignoring her, and Emma is feeling awful. When scandal breaks out in the town, and only Emma and Colin know the truth, she must decide what is worth giving up to save someone else. With so...more
Jessica
Well that was disappointing.

I was expecting a nice fluffy book. Instead I got a town full of preachers who made me super angry and zero romance.

Here's the thing, I'm Catholic, I believe, but I also think faith is very personal, it's not something I talk about unless it's already been brought up and I dislike it when anyone shoves their believes (or anti-believes) in someone else's face. Emma herself is not like this, but the rest of the town is. They're also bat-shit crazy, and will believe anyt...more
Maria Gallo
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Eileen
Mar 11, 2009 Eileen rated it 5 of 5 stars  ·  (Review from the author)
Of course I love it- I wrote it. : )
Kelly
Emma is a high school senior growing up in a small, born-again-Christian town in Indiana. She is fed up with the hypocrisy and narrow-mindedness of her fellow students, and has all her hopes pinned on receiving a track scholarship to Northwestern so that she can escape. There's drama with her two best friends, her mother, and the school, all typical themes in a YA book, but sadly, the way they are explored is quite cliche. The main storyline centers around the drama that ensues when one of Emma'...more
Michaela705
I have been reading this book for a while now, so I have had time to really process the different views that the author wants the readers to see. I’ve noticed that she chose to make honesty a really big deal in this book.
There are three main characters in this book; Emma, Joann, and Collin. They are all best friends, but Joann is dating Collin. Collin and Emma are closer than Joann and Collin because they have known each other a little bit longer. So, over spring break, Collin and Emma were han...more
Sara
Cute story about a girl in a small, religious town who's dealing with changing friends, trying to win a track scholarship so she can leave after graduation, and fighting a smattering of popular girls at her school who are mysteriously falling ill and blaming unpopular kids and the devil for their afflictions. It reminded me a lot of the Salem witch trials, and The Crucible in particular.

Emma is a great main character; she's funny, she's questioning of life as a whole, and she's determined to fig...more
Claire
I found this book really interesting for a few different reasons. Firstly, the depiction of the people in the town, all in each others business judging and condemning without facts and hiding behind their religion. Secondly, Emma cracked me up, however is was more her monologue than her interactions with people that were funny. She didn't seem to have too many people skills but at least she was trying and having to deal with these people would have frustrated the hell out of me too! I laughed li...more
Haley
There’s this one line from the Stepford Wives (the new version with Nicole Kidman) that still sticks with me. “I thought: now where would no one notice a town full of robots? And then it came to me. Connecticut!” Following that same thought process, I think I read the author’s mind: “Now where would a modern-day Miller’s Crucible occur? Of course! A tiny, Bible-thumping town in Indiana!”
Emma lives in Wheaton, where the Church is the law. You can’t do anything without someone not knowing. Inciden...more
caroline
I found this book on Jen Lancaster's personal site and being a fan, I decided to add it to my book list for the summer.

Having invested my time reading half of it before realizing this book is not that great, I decided to suck it up and finish it.

Now that I'm done, I can say that it's definitely not worth you time to read this one. I guess if you're stuck on a train for 2 days, then go ahead, but if you have a multitude of other books to choose from then give this the heave-ho.

Basically it's a st...more
Jennifer
I'm not sure where this book came from, but I picked it up out of our collection the other day when looking for something to read while waiting for Insurgent to come out. It's by no means at the level of the YA stuff I usually read, but it was a solid enough book and still way better than the crap that was out for teens when I was that age. It's a pretty straightforward story about morals, and wanting to get out of a small town, and being popular or not and liking boys that aren't popular, and d...more
Doubleid
I thought this book was a bit misleading because it started on one story and I thought it was going to stick with it since the summary seemed focused on that particular conflict or situation but it turns out that a majority of the book is about something else. I can see how the two situations coexist and intertwine with each other but I admit I was disappointed! The majority of the book seemed centered on a story very much like The Crucible! I said this book was okay because even though it was n...more
Rebekah
An interesting story about a teenager learning to think for herself. I'm surprised that this book would fly with today's teenager - it seems too religious. But I suppose there are religious teens out there who would enjoy it. It just doesn't seem mainstream enough to be a big hit. Maybe I just don't know what today's teenagers are into, that's a possibility too. Or maybe being religous is the in thing these days, I don't know. I just don't get it. But either way, the book is well-written and int...more
Hrtnsoul28
Wow I really liked this book. The religion thing was thoughts I have had myself. I love the whole snowball effect of one secret taking a whole town down. Emma had to brave through her whole views to find her own truth.
To the ending I was not real happy but that is because I don't like books that end me questioning. What happened to Darci? Did she end up getting herself out of trouble again? DId Kimberly confess too? What happened to all the kids that were wronged by the community? Did Joann and...more
Amalia
This book was funny.
And cute.
And you could relate to the main character. BUT.
THATS ABOUT IT.
I mean, does she get her scholarship or not? Does she end up with Colin or Todd?
We will never know. AND I KINDA MAYBE WANTED TO.
Uhg. The back of the book made it look like a cute romance comedy story. There was barely any romance and it was all religious. Don't get me wrong, I am a Christian myself, but it was just unexpected, they didn't hint anything on the back of the book.
It had some really funny p...more
Stephanie
Personally I didn't think this book was that bad. I thought it was an amusing, entertaining quick read. Though there were some parts in the book that was kind of confusing, I thought it was a pretty interesting book.

The weird part of this book was the fact that it never said anything about the mystery that was within the book. There was like this whole other plot besides the main one which totally confused me. And also, the whole other plot reminded me of The Scarlet Letter because of the whole...more
Emma
This book was pretty boring. I decided to read it because my names Emma (good reason, right?). Not my greatest plan. A lot of the paragraphs I skimmed over because it was just BORING. This book could have been easily told in half the time.
Emma lives in a small town known as "America's Heartland". Basically the smallest town, ever. They are super religious and all Emma wants is to leave, I don't blame her. At her school, Darci rules. She is supposedly this cute little angel. Emma sees through he...more
Alexa Yupangco
(Review was originally posted on Alexa Loves Books)

What Would Emma Do (WWED) is an interesting book. It was a short, sweet and easy read, which I appreciated since I was feeling quite under the weather when I read it.

I like Emma. I think it's because I identify with her in some ways; the most important of these is her journey into discovering that it's up to you to stand up for what you believe in. When you know something is right in your gut, when you know what you believe in, you become a smar...more
Michelle Sallay
Ok, so I kind of hated this. Emma lives in a small religious town and complains about how hypocritical everyone is when they send Bibles to Africa instead of much needed food, while each new chapter opens with a completely ridiculous (and often religiously offensive) "poor old me" rant to God about her so very horrible disastrous life. And she wonders why God won't step in and make it all better. Oh, and her life isn't so horrible, she isn't a starving kid in Africa that is for sure. I have some...more
Lesleigh
I really enjoyed this book. The whole Are You There God? vibe is what caught me from the very first page. The back of the cover had me thinking that this book might be some kind of love story dealing with the best friend's boyfriend, but it's so much more than that.

I could relate to Emma in many ways. I know the feeling of growing up in a small knit community that is stuck in the middle of the Bible Belt where everyone knows your business. If they don't know it, they make it up. The questioning...more
Sammee (I Want to Read That)
4.5 Stars

I loved this! Emma is such a great character and she completely pulled me into her story. She has the kind of 'attitude' I love - lots of sass and she certainly says what she thinks.

This is definitely a character driven novel. It's mostly about Emma and her desire to leave the small town in which she lives. When she witnesses the truth behind an event she has to decide whether to tell what she knows when doing so will cost her what she thinks she wants the most. We get to see the town u...more
Holly
There was so much more to this book than the summary says. There was a modern day witch-hunt, a church ripe with prejudice (that they preach against), and a lot of sass.

It was actually really funny because this story takes place pretty near where I grew up, so I knew the landmarks and I knew exactly where they were talking about even if they didn't say it by name. It was driving me a little crazy too, because I have no idea where Wheaton is...

Anyway, Emma gets in trouble with her best friend whe...more
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What Would Emma Do? (ebook)
What Would Emma Do? (Kindle Edition)
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Eileen Cook spent most of her teen years wishing she were someone else or somewhere else, which is great training for a writer.

You can read more about Eileen, her books, and the things that strike her as funny at www.eileencook.com. Eileen lives in Vancouver with her husband and two dogs and no longer wishes to be anyone or anywhere else.

More about Eileen Cook...
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