Emily’s Fortune
by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
ages: 8+
First sentence: “When eight-year-old Emily found herself alone in the world, she didn’t have much: a few dresses, a couple of books, and a small green turtle named Rufus.”
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Emily, who was perfectly happy living with her mother until the day she died in a freak carriage accident, is now an orphan. She has no idea what to do until a letter arrives from her distant Aunt Hilda, who is willing to take her in. However, that means two things: 1) Emily has to get there first. By herself. Which means avoiding the “child catchers”: the people who want to take her and put her in an orphanage. And 2) her mean old Uncle Victor is going to everything he can to stop that from happening. Mostly because, as it turns out, Emily inherited a very large fortune.

It’s a rollicking adventure, somewhat in the style of Lemony Snickett (except with a happy ending). Uncle Victor makes a great bad guy, channeling Snidely Wiplash as he poses and attempts to get Emily (and her fortune). Naylor captures the style of old fashioned serials perfectly, by ending each chapter with a HUGE (literally) question. That particular gimmick drove me bonkers after a bit, but I can see how it would really tickle a beginning chapter book reader.

In all, a fun little book.

Happy Birthday Sophie Hartley
by Stephanie Greene
ages: 9+
First sentence: “On the whole, Sophie felt that the conversation about her birthday present had gone very well.”
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It’s almost Sophie’s double-digit birthday. It’s a very important birthday, because you only go from single to double digits once in your life. And all she wants is a baby gorilla. Really. Shouldn’t be too hard, should it.

Well, except her family is crazy: her two older siblings are in the middle of their own dramas: sixteen-year-old Thad wants a car for his birthday, the week after Sophie; and 14-year-old Nora wants to move out of the room she and Sophie have shared for forever and into the attic. Plus she’s into boys. Ew.

That, and one of Sophie’s BFF is more into lacrosse than anything else, and maybe, just maybe that’s changing their friendship. The more Sophie thinks about it, the less she’s sure about this whole growing up thing.

It’s a sweet little story, one that deals with change and siblings and expectations and friendships, and does it with humor and creativity. Sophie’s a great character: full of life and color and excitement. And the fact that everything works out in the end is just a wonderful bonus. This is the third in the series, and if the other two are as good as this one, then it’s a great little series for early middle grade readers.

(Just for the record: because these are Cybils nominees, I’ve been asked to make sure y’all know this is my opinion only, and not that of the panel.)