Emiko Superstar - Softcover

Mariko Tamaki

Softcover

ISBN 10: 140121536X ISBN 13: 9781401215361

Publisher: Minx, 2008

Synopsis

Emiko is a teenager on a quest to find herself who goes from suburban babysitter to eclectic urban performance artist.

About this title

About the Author:

Mariko Tamaki is a Toronto-based writer and performer who has appeared on stage with a variety of performance troupes including theatre misfits TOA. Mariko has published two collections of creative non-fiction: True Lies: The Book of Bad Advice and Fake ID, and one novella, Cover Me. She is also a graduate student. Steve Rolston found fame on the acclaimed series Queen and Country, and has since illustrated punk romp Pounded and sci-fi thriller Mek, written by Warren Ellis.

From School Library Journal:

Starred Review. Grade 8 Up—Readers first meet Emiko as a "glammed up" Asian-Canadian teen returning home. Cinderella-like, her fishnet-stocking feet are missing one of her high heels as she tiptoes into the house, flops down on her bed, and texts "How wyrd it is that 1 summer can chg everythg." The story seamlessly transitions into Emily's recollections of the events that changed her from a teen geek to a superstar. While shopping at the mall, she encounters Poppy advertising a "Freak Show" on Friday night. Emily attends, and, mesmerized by the atmosphere and people she meets, makes the decision to try out for a performance. Dressed in her grandmother's 1960s go-go girl dress and using her grandmother's name, Emi decides to "borrow" her act from the woman who employs her as a babysitter. Using a diary, in which this suburban mother records the misery of her life and her desire to leave her husband for a lover in New York City, Emiko takes the stage and is a hit. She enjoys her life in the spotlight, but her guilt at using these purloined and painful confessions for the entertainment of others becomes apparent with the author's skillful use of text strike-outs of Emi's rationalized recollections. These strike-outs decrease as she becomes more honest with herself. When the show is closed by the police, Emi packs up her grandmother's clothing and decides to find her own voice.—Barbara M. Moon, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY
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About this edition

• Publisher: Minx
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 140121536X
• ISBN 13: 9781401215361
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176