Surprisingly Sarah by Terri Libenson

Sarah tells us a bit about herself in the Prologue, she has some good friends and is loyal to them and to her neighbour and BBF (best boy friend, definitely not boyfriend) Leo. They are both in seventh grade but go to different schools. Sarah loves to design clothes, especially referencing her Mexican heritage. When Leo leaves his earbuds at his friend Ben’s he asks Sarah to get them for him as Ben goes to Sarah’s school. Sarah agrees but what Leo doesn’t know is that she has a crush on Ben and finds it difficult to approach him. When she does, she thinks she could take the opportunity to invite Ben to the spring dance with her. From this point on we have two scenarios and different points of view. The first, in text with illustration style, is that Sarah plucks up the courage to ask Ben and he agrees, followed by the outcomes, her confidence boost, telling her friends, planning her outfit, telling her mum and family and telling Leo. But there is the problem, she is worried about telling Leo, feeling disloyal as she hadn’t told him about her crush on his best friend. In the second scenario, told from Leo’s point of view in a more graphic style, she loses her nerve and doesn’t ask him. She loses confidence in herself, tells Leo about her crush and that she wanted to ask Ben to the dance but failed and makes alternative arrangements for the dance. Leo is concerned for her but doesn’t know what to say and feels awkward, caught between two friends. It took me a second reading to realise there were two threads to the story but it never hurts to go back and do a closer reading. As each narrative works out the characters grow and their worlds fill out. They learn more about each other and gain understanding, merging the two scenarios in the end. This is the seventh in the series Emmie and Friends which focus on upper primary to middle school age groups with their changing friendships and emotional challenges. Like others in the series there is a positive outcome, the characters feel authentic and their stories contain life lessons for all. There is a lot of supporting material for the series on author, Terri Libenson's website.

Themes: Friendship, relationships, middle school.

Sue Speck