Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Missing Abby
by Lee Weatherly.
Emily was best friends with Abby. The two used to play fantasy games and draw dragons and aliens and other worlds, and had a great time. But when a popular bully turned her sights from Abby, who ignored her, to Emily, who was truly tormented, Emily decided to change schools and escape all of it, transforming herself into someone who could fit with the popular girls, someone who would never be into something as freakish as fantasy.
She even had an uncomfortable run-in with Abby on a bus one day, when it became clear that Abby was a little bitter that she had changed and totally cut off their lifelong friendship. Emily was only thinking of leaving it all behind, pretending to be someone else... until the news came on. Abby was missing, and Emily, as it turned out, was the last person to see her.
Emily is torn between trying to keep a good face on for her new friends, to pretend she didn't really know this goth-y girl that well, and feeling really terribly guilty and worried about Abby. She falls in with Abby's "freak" friends, trying to help them find her, and even gets herself into serious trouble with her parents when she brushes off her friends and disappears when she thinks she knows where Abby might have gone.
In the end, she finds herself a hero of sorts, which helps mend fences with her parents, and finds that her new friends are actually real friends, who don't care if she is into fantasy as well as fashion. In fact, they had met that bully from Emily's old school, and thought she was a major bitch. Emily finally finds a place for herself - a blend of the Ems who like trendy clothes and cute boys and the Emily who likes to dream up crazy, magic-filled worlds. It's a nice ending, something I'd wish for for any teen, to discover that they can be who they are and still be accepted.
Emily was best friends with Abby. The two used to play fantasy games and draw dragons and aliens and other worlds, and had a great time. But when a popular bully turned her sights from Abby, who ignored her, to Emily, who was truly tormented, Emily decided to change schools and escape all of it, transforming herself into someone who could fit with the popular girls, someone who would never be into something as freakish as fantasy.
She even had an uncomfortable run-in with Abby on a bus one day, when it became clear that Abby was a little bitter that she had changed and totally cut off their lifelong friendship. Emily was only thinking of leaving it all behind, pretending to be someone else... until the news came on. Abby was missing, and Emily, as it turned out, was the last person to see her.
Emily is torn between trying to keep a good face on for her new friends, to pretend she didn't really know this goth-y girl that well, and feeling really terribly guilty and worried about Abby. She falls in with Abby's "freak" friends, trying to help them find her, and even gets herself into serious trouble with her parents when she brushes off her friends and disappears when she thinks she knows where Abby might have gone.
In the end, she finds herself a hero of sorts, which helps mend fences with her parents, and finds that her new friends are actually real friends, who don't care if she is into fantasy as well as fashion. In fact, they had met that bully from Emily's old school, and thought she was a major bitch. Emily finally finds a place for herself - a blend of the Ems who like trendy clothes and cute boys and the Emily who likes to dream up crazy, magic-filled worlds. It's a nice ending, something I'd wish for for any teen, to discover that they can be who they are and still be accepted.
Labels: 2004, good stuff, growing up, issues, suspense, teen
# posted by kittenpie @ 10:20 AM 
