Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree

Table of Contents

 

 

Can You Fall Into Social Acceptance?

“I can’t believe you did this, Emma-Jean! Why did you have to butt in? I didn’t ask you to!”

“Yes you did,” Emma-Jean said. “You said you wanted help.”

“I didn’t mean it! Why would I want help from YOU? Why are you even here?”

Emma-Jean didn’t know what to do. Colleen was telling her to leave, and yet she was obviously in deep distress. Emma-Jean wanted to assist her, but Colleen didn’t seem to want her help.

Colleen was crying loudly now, sobbing, sputtering, and gasping. The sound made Emma-Jean’s head ache. It was the worst sound Emma-Jean had ever heard. It was worse than slamming lockers or the screeching of car tires. This was the sound of misery. Of grief. Of things you couldn’t control. Emma-Jean had heard a sound like this once before in her life. When her father died, Emma-Jean herself had made this sound.

Emma-Jean rushed toward the window, away from Colleen and her sobs.

“Emma-Jean!” Colleen called.

Emma-Jean stepped up to the windowsill and climbed out onto the magnolia tree.

“Emma-Jean, no!” Colleen shouted.

Emma-Jean started climbing down, but in her haste her foot slipped. She fell back into the cold air—down, down, down. And then she was lying in the cold dirt, staring up at the bright winter sky.

AN INTERVIEW WITH LAUREN TARSHIS

I was like Colleen in many ways. Like Colleen, I wished I could be “Super Not-Care Girl,” because I cared about everything. I was always sure my breath smelled like egg salad and that something was stuck between my teeth and that my best friend was going to pick someone else (she never did, by the way; we’re still best friends). My clay mug exploded in the kiln and I couldn’t finish the mile in gym (though I didn’t cry). Like Colleen, I had a small group of best friends who got me through. I was a little like Emma-Jean too, though, in that I was always observing everyone around me. I was—and still am—fascinated by how people behave, and sometimes confused about why people aren’t kinder to each other.

Strange, in the best sense of the word.

Nice, in every possible way, even when she shouldn’t be!

Laura Gilroy: selfish. Laura doesn’t just think she is the most important person in the world. She thinks she is the
only
person in the world. People like Laura don’t actually mean to be so awful and hurtful. It’s just that she never stops to wonder how anyone else is feeling.

Will Keeler: himself. Will is comfortable with who he is. He knows what’s right and wrong. This is what the other kids admire about Will, not just that he is cute and a great basketball player, but that he is strong within himself.

Poincare wasn’t just a brilliant mathematician. He was a man with a big heart and spirit. This is what I admired about him, and why I chose him to be Eugene Lazarus’s hero and Emma-Jean’s, too. (But to be honest with you, I don’t really understand his theories. I’ve tried, but he’s just way too smart for me.)

My good friends Gloria and Larry had a parakeet named Zimmerman. They loved this bird so much and let him fly around the house. He would perch on their shoulders and always seemed to be keeping an eye on everything and everyone. Gloria and Larry are from the Bronx, in New York City, and they both have very thick New York accents. And so did Zimmy.

There are three books that I read over and over again while I was trying to learn how to write a novel for kids. They were:

Everything about writing is challenging to me, especially figuring out how to keep the plot moving, and how to get the characters to grow in the ways they need to. But I love these challenges, which is why I keep writing, why I wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote for about ten years, finishing two pretty horrible novels before I started on
Emma-Jean
. If I hadn’t written those bad novels, I wouldn’t have written
Emma-Jean
. And so the biggest challenge was—and is—to keep going, even when I don’t like what appears on the page.

My favorite scene is when Emma-Jean discovers that Vikram and his mother have repaired her quilt, when she is sitting on her bed. That scene took a very long time to write, and it was only in the very last draft of the book.

I have gotten so many amazing letters from readers from around the country. I’ve also gotten letters from parents and teachers. I am surprised by how many people, boys and girls, young people and older people, completely relate to both Emma-Jean and Colleen. I always write back that minute because I am so touched to think of someone reading my book, liking my book, and taking the time to write to me. I’ve also visited many, many schools since the book came out, and met thousands of kids, which has been an incredible experience. The most common question is: Will there be any more Emma-Jean books? And I’m happy to say there will be one more.

Write and write and write, like I did. And don’t worry if what you write at first isn’t any good. Think about the first time you tried to do a cartwheel, or the first time you shot a basketball, or the first time you made cookies. Were you instantly a great gymnast or basketball player or chef? Probably not. But the more you practice, the better you get, and that’s how it is with writing. Another bit of advice: Read your favorite books over and over again. Ask yourself: What is so great about this? Keep a notebook handy and write down the sentences that made you laugh or cry or think. Study those sentences. Learn from them.

I have a busy life, so busy that I have to literally hide myself away to write. I sneak off to the public library and sit in a secret room near a window where nobody can find me. When I’m not hiding in my secret sunny library corner, I’m working at my job, which is the best job in the world. I’m the editor of Scholastic’s
Storyworks
magazine, which is a language arts magazine for kids in the fourth to sixth grades. I get to write exciting stories about man-eating lions and avalanches and think of fun ways to get kids to learn grammar and writing. And when I’m not working, I am with my husband and four children, which is my favorite thing of all.

I’m working on a sequel to
Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree
. It’s called (I hope you like the title)
Emma-Jean
Lazarus Fell in Love
. It picks up where the last book leaves off, six weeks later. Emma-Jean is trying to unlock the mysteries of friendship . . . and love. And she’s still trying to help her peers solve their messy problems, with surprising results for everyone.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

by Lauren Tarshis