Kathleen McDonnell

Many other books written much better on this topic. No consistency, very hunky dory and did not go into much detail about the "fight" the family had to go through to get Emily inclusion to a regular classroom.

"EMILY INCLUDED is thoughtfully written; the story is gently but powerfully presented, and the photographs of Emily and her family extend the reading experience. This book is likely to be eye-opening for many readers, and compassionate readers are likely to want to learn more about Emily and even to continue the struggle for inclusion rights."

Complete review appears in RESOURCE LINKS Vol. 17, Issue 3 (Feb 2012), pp. 14–15

A gripping, fascinating story about a little-known, semi-mythical event in history. The author is able to educate the reader without compromising the story, and the message of religious tolerance is strong but not overblown. A short afterword provides more historical details. I learned a lot, and I think young people will really like this book.

UPDATE: The thought just occurred to me: the author never explained how Abel, the Jewish character, was able to hide his circumcision.

There was so much that I liked about this book! It's extremely imaginative and the concept of going back and re-exploring childhood daydreams, in real life this time around, is intriguing. Yet both the daydream world and the real world seemed a little flat. I found myself wishing that Charles deLint or Neil Gaiman had collaborated with the author and made the book everything it could be.