Emily Climbs

Posted by Jordan
Categories: Fiction, Older Readers, Review
Tags: Animals, Cats, Emily of New Moon, Funny, Good Read Aloud, L. M. Montgomery

Our rating:

Picking up where Emily of New Moon left off, Emily Climbs continues the story of Emily and her ambitions to become a writer. As the book opens we find Emily despairing over the fact that her three best friends (Ilse, Teddy, and Perry) are all going away to Shrewsbury for school, but her aunt Elizabeth will not let her go. Things change, however, when Aunt Elizabeth decides that Emily may go to Shrewsbury, but only if she promises not to write any fiction for the three years she will be there. And so Emily resigns herself to writing only words which are “strictly true,” staying with her nasty aunt Ruth, and trying to get some of her poetry (which is “strictly true”) published.

Alright, one thing must be said before I go any further: Boys, take note. I am about to highly recommend what you may call a book for girls only. Emily Climbs most definitely does not fall into that category. Are we clear? Good. Now you may go on to the rest of the review.

Writers, I don’t know about you, but I found Emily Climbs quite inspiring. Beyond that, however, I found L. M. Montgomery’s style of “biographer” quite to my tastes. I love how she inserts notes from herself at points in the story where she feels that she must comment on Emily’s behavior. Oh, and Montgomery obviously understands cats, so cat lovers will get a kick out of Emily’s cat comments. Don’t think this book is all seriousness, either. Emily and her friends get into many hilarious scrapes, much to the delight of the reader. Overall, this is one to cherish, reread, and pass on to the next generation of bookworms.