I, Emma Freke

I, Emma Freke by Elizabeth Atkinson (Minneapolis: Carolrhoda, 2010).

As if her name isn't bad enough, 12-year-old Emma is freakishly tall, red-haired, and brainy. She can't exactly hide with features like that, but she does her best to lie low. Her only friend is her young neighbor, and she spends most of her time doing everything her free-spirited, New Age mom, Donatella, refuses to do--like work in her bead store, cook, clean, and care for Emma's grandfather. Emma longs for information about her father, the long-gone Walter Freke, nearly as much as she longs for a sense of belonging. An invitation to a Freke family reunion in the wilds of Wisconsin takes Emma to a place where she finally feels some sense of home, but even that needs some tweaking.

This is an excellent coming-of-age novel, perfect for tweens who always feel that no one understands what they're going through, especially their parents. Recommended for ages 9 & up.