40 pages • 1 hour read
Invisible Emmie
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Themes
Coping With and Overcoming Anxiety
Emmie has social anxiety, which she believes she developed as her siblings grew up and she had fewer people to relate with. Emmie’s anxiety leads her to feel unable to speak up for herself and, in many cases, to speak at all; instead, she remains silent most of the time, especially at school. Emmie relies heavily on her best friend, Brianna, for support and strength, but now that they are in different classes, Emmie has to learn to rely on herself instead.
When Emmie gets to school in the mornings, she experiences a knotted stomach and has to take deep breaths to ease it. The feeling lingers until the middle of the day, when Emmie gets used to being at school. She must repeat this process every day, and for a long time, it doesn’t seem to be getting any easier. She comes to dread going to school. Her anxiety also causes her to magnify embarrassing social interactions. The first example of this occurs when Emmie enters school and finds that there are two boys standing in front of her locker. She approaches them with her head down and timidly taps one on the shoulder. The boy barely moves, but Emmie counts it as a victory because at least she did something.
Emmie retreats to her illustrations during class, as drawing keeps her calm and keeps her mind free from whatever drama might be going on around her. This works well most of the time, but when Emmie unwillingly becomes the center of attention, she is forced to confront the people who make her the most anxious. Specifically, a bully named Joe becomes the target of her frustration, and she takes a big leap in her journey toward self-acceptance when she finally stands up to him.
Emmie also copes with anxiety through the character she invents, Katie. Katie is Emmie’s opposite—outgoing, popular, good in every subject, and comfortable in her own skin. Emmie wants to be like Katie but lacks the confidence and courage, so she lives vicariously through this character that she created. While it helps her at first, she comes to realize that Katie is holding her back by keeping her from speaking up for real. Emmie decides to discard her drawings of Katie in the end, symbolically rejecting a coping mechanism that no longer serves her. She finally feels able to confront her fears and learn what it means to fully be herself.
Standing Up to Bullies
On this important day in Emmie’s life, she learns to stand up to her bully and speak up for herself. Most of the time, Emmie goes unnoticed at school, and, in some ways, she prefers this because it feels more comfortable than putting herself out there. However, when Emmie accidentally drops a love letter to Tyler that she never intended to give him, she can no longer hide. A mean-spirited classmate named Joe Lungo picks it up and shares it with everyone, including Tyler.
After Joe Lungo finds the poem, Emmie cannot escape his mockery no matter where she goes. Furthermore, the news spreads “faster than wildfire” (126), and everyone in Emmie’s class knows about it before long, joining in on the bullying. Emmie, as a shy person who struggles to speak up at the best of times, is overwhelmed and breaks down, hiding in the bathroom or a stairwell to cry. She uses Katie as a stepping stool to give herself the confidence she needs and can’t directly give herself. Katie offers a sympathetic ear, validates Emmie’s emotions, and defends her against bullies, but gradually her protectiveness starts to grate on Emmie, who says, “Why are you always trying to save me?” (147). Emmie’s newfound resistance to Katie’s intervention suggests that she is ready to stand up for herself.
Finally, her embarrassment gives way to an entirely new emotion: “I start to get really warm, like there’s a fire kindling in my face. But it’s not embarrassment—it’s something else. Then the unexpected happens” (153). After hours of being called “mute” and berating herself for not speaking up, Emmie snaps and yells at Joe to stop bullying her. Doing so inspires Tyler, who was also intimidated by Joe, to do the same. Tyler is not bullied himself but struggles to stand up to his friends when they bully Emmie, showing that Emmie’s social anxiety is not as unusual as she thinks. The moment becomes the unexpected ice breaker that Emmie needs to talk to Tyler, and the two become fast friends as they connect over their shared love of art.
Standing up to her bully shows Emmie that she no longer needs Katie in her life; she realizes that she is capable of standing up for herself and saying what is on her mind. With a renewed sense of self-worth, she is confident enough to take other risks in her life, including reaching out to new people, like Tyler, and opening up to Brianna and her mother.
The Connection Between Friendship and Resilience
For protagonist Emmie, friendship is rare and precious and something she struggles to develop. She befriended Brianna when they were in kindergarten, and Emmie suspects that this was likely because of their opposite personalities: “I think we became friends because I was always nice, and she was always kinda bossy. It was a good match” (37). In the montage that follows, Brianna orders Emmie around as they play together, and Emmie seems perfectly content. Brianna fills in many of the gaps in Emmie’s life and is someone Emmie can relate to despite their differences: “We both have wild imaginations and make up a lot of pretend games. She even likes helping me with math, which I’m hopeless at” (38). Brianna is Emmie’s only friend in middle school, but they aren’t in the same classes, so Emmie spends most of her day alone and socially isolated. Brianna recognizes that Emmie needs friends besides her, but Emmie is afraid to reach out to others.
Brianna makes Emmie uncomfortable sometimes, forcing her to think about the things that hold her back from enjoying middle school: “I wish you could be like this with everybody, Em. You actually talk. With me, anyway. You’re funny. You should loosen up around people” (93). Brianna is perceptive and sees what Emmie is missing out on by not opening up to the world, but she comes across to Emmie as pushy at times. Still, these words plant seeds in Emmie’s mind, influencing her own decision to open up. In the end, she trusts Brianna enough to tell her about Katie and forgive her for their argument. Her friendship with Briana gives her strength, but it also allows her to hide and remain disconnected from others.
Brianna and Emmie’s friendship is tested when Emmie loses her love poem and the whole class finds out about it. Brianna thinks that Emmie is careless for losing it and is worried Emmie lost Brianna’s poem too, threatening never to forgive her if she did. Emmie feels completely alone without her best friend by her side on the most embarrassing day of her life, but ultimately their fight is beneficial, forcing her to draw on her own strength as she navigates bullies and other stressors. Frustrated by how she has contributed to her own social isolation, she comes to realize that her imaginary character, Katie, is holding her back by speaking for her (and frequently saying unkind things to her). She stops leaning on Katie and starts to speak up for herself, confronting Joe in the climax of the story. The experience is empowering, showing her how strong she is and giving her the courage to reach out and make two new friends, Tyler and Sarah. Emmie’s time apart from Brianna helps her develop self-esteem and courage so that when they reconcile at the end of the day, Emmie is able to tell Brianna about Katie, strengthening their bond. In Invisible Emmie, friends play a crucial role in helping Emmie develop resilience, but ultimately Emmie’s most important friend is herself.
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