This is Billie Voss with the Sioux City Public Library, and you’re listening to Check It Out.
Today, I am recommending Dear Emmie Blue, a novel by Lia Louis. The story begins with a 16-year-old
girl named Emmie Blue, who releases a balloon with her email address and a big secret into the sky
from Kent, United Kingdom. Weeks later, on a beach in France, a young man named Lucas Moreau
finds the notecard and uses the email to share that he had found her note. He was her age, and had
just moved to France from London. From this email exchange, Emmie becomes known as balloon girl
to Lucas and an endearing friendship is born, spanning many years full of memories. One evening, 14
years later, Lucas tells Emmie he would like to meet her for dinner, telling her he has a very
important question to ask of her. She is sure his question will change her life forever, but she is
devasted to hear that the question was not what she was hoping for.
The story evolves from a hopeful, young woman’s dreams, to that of a young woman’s
struggle to maintain a friendship while living beside the disappointment of an unfulfilling job, issues
with her family, and a love that was never to be.
Emmie’s determination to stay committed to her friend, despite her feelings for him, tugs at your
heartstrings. As life trudges along, so does Emmie, until one day, she notices that a particular
person from her past suddenly begins to matter more than she realized. It is then, that Emmie
understands that she can be valued and loved the way she longed for, and that life really does
work out, even when she thought it never would.
Check out Dear Emmie Blue by Lia Louise from the Sioux City Public Library.
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