Emily Good as Gold

Stephanie Zvirin

To her loving parents, Emily has always been Emily Gold, "good as gold," their developmentally disabled child, who would never grow up. But at 13, Emily has, indeed, begun to grow up. She is still petulant, stubborn, sweet-natured, and fearful, sometimes all at once, but now she longs to have pierced ears and dress like the teenage girls she sees pictured in "Seventeen" magazine and at school. She even wants to have a baby, though she's shocked and disgusted when her "saavy" camp friend Molly tells her, "Fun is when you kiss naked and everything," and gives her a cryptic lesson about sex using Emily's brother, Tom, and his new wife as examples: "Phyllis is going to be taking her top off . . . And your brother's going to take his pants off . . . and pretty soon they'll have a baby." It's pleasant, friendly Phyllis who begins to lead Emily out of the narrow, protected world her loving, fearful parents have made for her and to prepare her for what she will face as she grows older. But there are some things no one, not even Phyllis can teach, like how to tell the difference between boys like Patrick (who lures Emily to the basement with promises of seeing his new bike and then attacks her) and boys like Donny from her class at school (who talks with her nicely, gives her sweet presents, and pays her a visit on her birthday). In a tense encounter with two teenage boys who try to play on her innocence to get her into their car, Emily discovers she's figured out the difference--by herself. Sexuality as an issue for the developmentally disabled is a relatively new theme in books for this age group, and Rubin handles the subject with sensitivity and taste. She relates Emily's story in a tender, totally believable manner that captures all of the girl's confusion, frustration, and anger--at her parents for protecting her too much and at herself for being unable to understand and accomplish everything she wants. With good characters and a strong, tight plot, the story opens our eyes to what it's like to be a young woman and a little girl at the same time. Unfortunately, the dust jacket makes Emily look more like a grade-school kid than a teenager.