Review: Emily and Jackson Hiding Out by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Emily and Jackson Hiding Out by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. The Companion to Emily's Fortune.

Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 2012
List Price: $14.99
ISBN-13: 9780385740975

Review: Have you ever liked old western fiction? Have you ever wanted to read dialect, action, and suspense at the end of every chapter? Then Emily and Jackson: Hiding Out by Phillis Reynolds is just the right book for you. The main character is a girl named Emily.

It starts out when Emily, who has inherited a big fortune from her mother, escapes the mean clutches of her Uncle Victor who wants to spend it on himself. She goes to her nice Aunt Hilda's house with an orphan boy who helped her get away from Uncle Victor. She gets settled with her Aunt Hilda and one day goes to the bank to take some money out. But there's danger. They encounter the "Catchum Child Catching Services", and are asked if they have seen a boy who's supposed to go to work in a mill. Plus, Emily's mean Uncle Victor is up and about, trying to find a way to get Emily's fortune. There are a lot of exciting events along the way, and questions will be answered. Will Jackson be sent to the mill? Will Uncle Victor get Emily's 10 million dollars? Or will Emily and Jackson be safe? You have to read the book to find out.

I like Emily and Jackson: Hiding Out because there is a lot of suspense; you can feel the excitement, and it ends in a cheerful way. After every chapter, there is a whole sentence of suspenseful words like, "And what in jumping Joseph do you think they saw?" or, "And what in the rooster's rompers do you think happened next?". It makes me think of the movies where it goes, *DUH-DUH-DUH!*, which I think is both humorous and a good way to end a scene. I also liked that it was a fairly easy book to read and it wasn't like those tedious nonfiction textbooks. I can't think of anything that was bad other than it was too short for me. Things happened a little too fast. However, other than that, this book is a good holiday read. I recommend it for anyone ages 7-9.

Review written by Nathan (6th grade student).

We would like to thank Random House for providing a copy of Emily and Jackson Hiding Out for this review.

Have you read Emily and Jackson Hiding Out? How would you rate it?