History Fridge / EmmieAndFriends

* Brianna gets her stage fright from her mom, Mrs. Davis/Izzy. Izzy froze on the spot for a solid minute during her own bat mitzvah, which may have been shortly before her own talent show. Which means another reason she may have pushed Brianna into performing is because her taking up theater helped her work past her own performance anxieties, and she thought it'd help Brianna before her own bat mitzvah that summer.

* Tyler and Emmie, after lots of friendship angst, come together in the end to work on an excellent, dual point of view comic they submit to the yearly Student Showcase. They're the protagonists, but it's Emmie's friend Sarah Reyes who wins first place, not them. It's realistic since Sarah's an excellent artist and serious competition. Emmie and Tyler were so caught up in their own story--literally and figuratively--that they forgot she was a challenge.

* Ruby, until this book, has been seen in other books dashing to the toilet exclaiming what upset her stomach. Here, she has the opportunity to explain that she has IBS triggered by stress. Given that her older sister Mia has shunned her ever since Mia started middle school (so Ruby's klutziness doesn't embarrass her and thus jeopardize her perfect appearance and popularity), Ruby is constantly made fun of by other kids when she makes a mistake, and Ruby hasn't had any friends since elementary school, it's no wonder she's constantly darting to the toilet. This happens less and less as Ruby finally starts to make friends.
* Mia, upon seeing Ruby's mother at the thrift shop, darts off before Keya can keep speaking to her. It's easy to assume that Ruby's with her mom and the mere thought of being near her ex-friend upsets Mia, especially after Keya pointed out how bad she's treated Ruby. In the epilogue--now that it's been revealed that Ruby is her sister--the true issue is that their mother would see Mia's not at the library like she'd claimed to be going to.

* Izzy's mother is furious when she arrives with Danielle and Ashley at the talent show and finds Izzy there, demanding an explanation from Izzy for her actions (sneaking out) and so angry she almost drags her back home without letting her perform at all. It seems cruel to preteen Izzy, who practiced hard for the talent show and was grounded for failing just one take-home test. But from her mom's perspective? She went to rest after a long shift--she's a single mother and widower--and woke up to discover ''one of her three children missing''. In a time before cell phones, she likely had no idea where Izzy was or what might have happened to her until Danielle told her what'd happened.

* A RewatchBonus when you might wonder how Katie can be so popular and beloved to the point of near ridiculousness--her intro has her being scouted for a movie, holding a party too big for her house, ''and'' being crowned homecoming queen while in middle school. But it's all fitting when you realize they're all things that a middle schooler like Emmie would over-the-top dream about as what a popular girl would have happen to her in movies and media about popular kids.

* A RewatchBonus when you might wonder how Katie can be so popular and beloved to the point of near ridiculousness--her intro has her being scouted for a movie, holding a party too big for her house, ''and'' being crowned homecoming queen while in middle school. But it's all fitting when you realize they're all things that a middle schooler like Emmie would over-the-top dream about as what a popular girl would have happen to her--things from movies and media that happen around popular kids.

* Joe Lungo, ClassClown, snatches Emmie's sketchbook during first period science and laughs at her drawing of Katie. Emmie, humiliated, ducks her head and covers her notebook while Katie, hearing her name, shoots Joe a dirty look before he gives the notebook back. Given that Katie is just an AuthorAvatar for Emmie, of course Emmie is humiliated. Joe might as well have read her personal daydreams aloud.
* Katie spends time gossiping with the popular-to-Emmie Gossip Girls, Jaime and Maya (not yet named)--subtly revealing that deep down, Emmie might both wish she was popular ''and'' that she was friends with the other two girls. This later comes true when Emmie becomes friends with them both.

* When Jamie apologizes for her gossiping about the others all year, Brianna points out that she's heard what was said about her, Emmie, and Sarah all year. Given that she and/or Maya are seen frequently in the background of both ''Invisible Emmie'' and ''Positively Izzy,'' of course one of them would have heard all the gossipy things Jamie said--especially because Jaime and Maya were in Emmie's homeroom class.
* Tying back to ''Invisible Emmie'': Emmie has her AuthorAvatar Katie be best friends with Jamie and Maya, talking and chatting with them all day about various things. By the end of Field Day, Emmie is friends with Jamie, and by the summer she's friends with Maya too--proving she just had to be herself, rather than what she thought she needed to be popular.

* This is the first mention of Brianna being Jewish in the series--because every other book has had the plot on a single day. Emmie had no reason to bring it up during her own story; for Brianna, it's just part of who she is--so she wouldn't mention it as anything that made her stand out; and for Jamie, until she gets to know Brianna, she doesn't know this.
* Brianna gets her stage fright from her mom, Mrs. Davis/Izzy. Izzy froze on the spot for a solid minute during her own bat mitzvah. Which means another reason she may have pushed Brianna into acting in the talent show is because her taking up theater helped her work past that, and she thought it'd help Brianna before her own bat mitzvah.

* Mia, upon seeing Ruby's mother at the thrift shop, darts off before Keya can keep speaking to her. It's easy to assume that Ruby's with her mom and the mere thought of being near her ex-friend upsets Mia, especially after Keya pointed out how bad she's treated Ruby. In the epilogue--now that it's been revealed that Ruby is her sister--the true issue is that their mother would see Mia's not at the library like she claimed to be.

* Izzy's mother is furious when she arrives with Danielle and Ashley at the talent show and finds Izzy there, demanding an explanation from Izzy for her actions (sneaking out) and almost dragging her back home without letting her perform at all. It seems cruel to preteen Izzy, who practiced hard for the talent show and was grounded for failing just one take-home test. But from her mom's perspective? She went to rest after a long shift--she's a single mother and widower--and woke up to discover ''one of her three children missing''. In a time before cell phones, she likely had no idea where Izzy was or what could have happened to her until Danielle told her what'd happened.

* A RewatchBonus when you might wonder how Katie can be so popular and beloved to the point of near ridiculousness--her intro has her being scouted for a movie, holding a party too big for her house, ''and'' being crowned homecoming queen in middle school. But fitting when you realize they're all things that a middle schooler like Emmie would over-the-top dream about as what a popular girl would have happen to her.
* If Katie is such a perfect talented student who never gets less than an A, why is she never seen in BookSmart Brianna's classes and instead has every class with average student Emmie? Because she's Emmie's DreamSue and so naturally has to be present in every class Emmie has. Emmie doesn't know what goes on in Brianna's classes. This is also why Emmie is in the background of all of Katie's chapters.

* This is the first mention of Brianna being Jewish in the series--because every other book has had the plot on a single day. Emmie had no reason to bring it up; for Brianna, it's just part of who she is--so she wouldn't mention it as a stand out; and for Jamie, until she gets to know Brianna, she doesn't know this.

* Izzy's mother is furious when she arrives with Danielle and Ashley at the talent show, demanding an explanation from Izzy for her actions (sneaking out) and almost dragging her back home without letting her perform at all. It seems cruel to Izzy, who practiced hard for the talent show and was grounded for failing a take-home test. But from her mom's perspective? She went to rest after a long shift--she's a single mother and widower--and woke up to discover ''one of her three children missing''. In a time before cell phones, she likely had no idea where Izzy was or what could have happened to her until Danielle told her what'd happened.

* Izzy's mother is furious when she arrives with Danielle and Ashley at the talent show, demanding an explanation from Izzy for her actions (sneaking out) and almost dragging her back home without letting her perform. It seems mean to Izzy, who practiced hard for the talent show. But from her mom's perspective? She went to rest after a long shift--she's a single mother and widower--and woke up to discover one of her three children is missing. In a time before cell phones, she had no idea where Izzy was or what could have happened to her while she couldn't be found.

* Izzy's teachers constantly tell her mother that she is BrilliantButLazy: she could get better grades if she would focus and pay attention rather than daydreaming in class. This makes sense when it's revealed that Izzy and Brianna's mother Mrs. D are the same person. Izzy was likely in middle school around the early to mid part of TheNineties (given she now has a seventh grade daughter in the 2010s), when a diagnosis for something like ADHD would have been harder to obtain--and was especially rare for girls.

* Mia, upon seeing Ruby's mother at the thrift shop, darts off before Keya can keep speaking to her. It's easy to assume that Ruby's with her mom and the mere thought of being near her ex-friend upsets Mia, especially after Keya pointed out how bad she's treated Ruby. In the epilogue--now that it's been revealed that Ruby is her sister--the true issue is that their mother would see Mia's not at the library like she claimed to be.

* Izzy's teachers constantly tell her mother that she is BrilliantButLazy: she could get better grades if she would focus and pay attention rather than daydreaming in class. This makes sense when it's revealed that Izzy and Brianna's mother Mrs. D are the same person. Izzy was in middle school around the early part of TheNineties, when a diagnosis for something like ADHD would have been harder to obtain--and were especially rare for girls.

* Katie almost borders on a Purity Sue. She's pretty, popular, smart, and athletic, with wonderful parents that work in a candy shop and of course let her taste all their new candy creations. She never truly embarrasses herself in any of their classes and everyone makes room for her all day. She's basically everything Emmie is not. It all makes sense once it's revealed that Emmie made her up to be the exact opposite of her in every way Emmie could probably think of--even down to small things like having straight hair that are nothing like Emmie's curls and constantly reapplying the lip gloss that Emmie's not allowed to wear.
* If Katie is such a perfect talented student who never gets less than an A, why was she never seen in BookSmart Brianna's classes and instead has every class with average student Emmie? Because she's Emmie's DreamSue and so naturally has to be present in every class Emmie has. Emmie doesn't know what goes on in Brianna's classes.
* Katie and Emmie are wearing the exact same outfit all day: long sleeved shirt, leggings, and ankle boots. Because Katie's is based on Emmie's, but implied to be a touch more glamorous--and Emmie's knowledge of fashion at the time is lacking.

* When Jamie apologizes for her gossiping about the others all year, Brianna points out that she heard what was said about her, Emmie, and Sarah. Given that she and/or Maya are seen frequently in the background of both ''Invisible Emmie'' and ''Positively Izzy,'' of course one of them would have heard all the gossipy things Jamie said.

* Joe Lungo, ClassClown, snatches Emmie's sketchbook during first period science and laughs at her drawing of Katie. Emmie, humiliated, ducks her head and covers her notebook while Katie, hearing her name, shoots Joe a dirty look before he gives the notebook back. Given that Katie is just an AuthorAvatar for Emmie, of course she's humiliated. Joe might as well have read her personal daydreams aloud.

* Ruby's mother works during the day in ceramics; Mia's father works during the night and takes classes during the day. This hides that they're both girls' parents, so they're only seen together as their parents in the outtakes.
* Ruby, until this book, has been seen in other books dashing to the toilet exclaiming what upset her stomach. Here, she has the opportunity to explain that she has IBS triggered by stress. Given that her older sister Mia has shunned her ever since Mia started middle school (so Ruby's klutziness doesn't embarrass her and thus jeopardize her perfect appearance and popularity), Ruby is constantly made fun of by other kids when she makes a mistake, and Ruby hasn't had any friends since elementary school, it's no wonder she's constantly darting to the toilet. This happens less and less as Ruby finally starts to make friends.

''Becoming Briana'':

* When Jamie apologizes for her gossiping about the others all year, Brianna points out that she heard what was said about her and Emmie. Given that she and/or Maya are seen frequently in the background of both ''Invisible Emmie'' and ''Positively Izzy,'' of course one of the two of them would have heard all the gossipy things Jamie said.

* Ruby, until this book, has been seen in other books dashing to the toilet exclaiming what upset her stomach. Here, she has the opportunity to explain that she has IBS triggered by stress. Given that her older sister Mia has shunned her ever since Mia started middle school (so Ruby's klutziness doesn't embarrass her and thus jeopardize her perfect appearance and popularity) and Ruby hasn't had any friends since elementary school, it's no wonder she's constantly darting to the toilet. This happens less and less as Ruby finally starts to make friends.

* Katie almost borders on a Purity Sue. She's pretty, popular, smart, and athletic, with wonderful parents that work in a candy shop and of course let her taste all their new candy creations. She never embarrasses herself in any of their classes and everyone makes room for her all day. She's basically everything Emmie is not. That's because Emmie made her up to be the exact opposite of her in every way Emmie could probably think of, down to small things like having straight hair that are nothing like Emmie's curls and constantly reapplying the makeup that Emmie's not allowed to wear.
* If Katie is such a perfect talented student who never gets less than an A, why was she never seen in BookSmart Brianna's classes and instead has every class with Emmie? Because she's Emmie's DreamSue and so naturally has to be present in every class Emmie has. Emmie doesn't know what goes on in Brianna's classes.

* Of course Izzy and Brianna don't actually see each other at school, in rehearsal, or during the talent show performance, even though the performances are being held at the same time and Izzy's stated to be Performer #5 which is right before Brianna and Dev's act. Izzy--Mrs. Davis--did her talent show performance ''decades'' ago.

* Ruby's mother works during the day in ceramics; Mia's father works during the night and takes classes during the day. This hides that they're both girls' parents, so they're only seen together as their parents in the outtakes.

* Why does Mrs. D. want her daughter Brianna to participate in the Talent show? Because she wants to bond with Brianna and find something they can do together--and being in the talent show when she was in middle school helped her find her own niche outside of being the overlooked middle child, much like Brianna is trying to find something outside of being the smart girl.

* If Katie is such a perfect talented student who never gets less than an A, why was she never seen in BookSmart Brianna's classes and instead has every class with Emmie? Because she's Emmie's DreamSue and so naturally has every class Emmie does.

* Of course Izzy and Brianna don't actually see each other at school, in rehearsal, or during the talent show performance, even though the performances are being held at the same time and Izzy's performer #5 right before Brianna and Dev's act. Izzy--Mrs. Davis--did her talent show performance decades ago.

* Of course Izzy and Brianna don't actually see each other at rehearsal or during the performance, even though the performances are being held at the same time. Izzy--Mrs. Davis--did her talent show performance decades ago.

FridgeBrilliance:

* Katie almost borders on a PuritySue. She's pretty, popular, smart, and athletic, with wonderful parents that work in a candy shop and of course let her taste all their new candy creations. She never embarrasses herself in any of their classes and everyone makes room for her all day. She's basically everything Emmie is not. That's because Emmie made her up to be the exact opposite of her in every way Emmie could probably think of, down to small things like having straight hair that are nothing like Emmie's curls and constantly reapplying the makeup that Emmie's not allowed to wear.

* Katie almost borders on a PuritySue. She's pretty, popular, smart, and athletic, with wonderful parents that work in a candy shop and of course let her taste all their new candy creations. She never embarrasses herself in any of their classes and everyone makes room for her all day. She's basically everything Emmie is not. That's because Emmie made her up to be the exact opposite of her in every way Emmie could probably think of, down to small things like having straight hair unlike Emmie's curls and constantly reapplying the makeup that Emmie's not allowed to wear.