Emma, Paperback

Emma grows up in rural West Virginia during the late Sixties and early Seventies. She is naive and unaware of the cultural divide that exists in her community. She is a sensitive young girl and a deep thinker, however, and begins to observe subtle and sometimes not so subtle differences in how others are treated. She is filled with compassion for the people that live in her community. As Emma realizes the diversity and uniqueness of her classmates and the inequalities that exist in her town, she begins to examine her own actions, inactions and values. While navigating the challenges of adolescence, she finds herself in situations where her values are tested. Emma questions the decisions she makes and begins to doubt her ability to make the right choices. As Emma grows older, she is tormented by bullies, her confidence is knocked, and she is consumed by self-doubt. Weighed down by the unrealistic expectations she has set for herself, Emma begins to understand that no one is perfect, nor should they expect to be. As friends come and go, Emma learns that there is one person in her life that she can always rely on and that perhaps she has made the right decisions after all.