Emily's Strange To-Do List: 1. Lose (and regain) mind 2. Reprogram golem 3. Locate secret book vault 4. Commune with Dead Dark Aunts 5. Rescue Cousin Jakey 6. Redecorate souvenir kiosk 7. Thwart Thought Thief 8. Endure hero worship 9. Grant ancestral enemy's deepest wish 10. Save cat-napped kitty 11. Summon black rock 12. Defeat Shady Uncles 13. Guard family legacy & claim inheritance!

Emily is . . . 1. A mad scientist 2. A cat lover 3. A mural painter 4. A golem builder 5. A virtuo-spastic guitarist 6. A wicked skater 7. A wily troublemaker 8. A poltergeist tamer 9. A mystery solver 10. A master prankster 11. An eXtreme procrastinator 12. A happy loner 13. A unique individual . . . and now there are two of her.

13 Elements you will find in the first Emily the Strange novel: 1. Mystery 2. A beautiful golem 3. Souped-up slingshots 4. Four black cats 5. Amnesia 6. Calamity Poker 7. Angry ponies 8. A shady truant officer 9. Top-13 lists 10. A sandstorm generator 11. Doppelgängers 12. A secret mission 13. Earwigs Emily the Strange: 13 years old. Able to leap tall buildings, probably, if she felt like it. More likely to be napping with her four black cats; or cobbling together a particle accelerator out of lint, lentils, and safety pins; or rocking out on drums/ guitar/saxophone/zither; or painting a swirling feral sewer mural; or forcing someone to say "swirling feral sewer mural" 13 times fast . . . and pointing and laughing.

Emily survives the last week of school at Rock and Roll High, summons the ghost of her favorite guitar god, hits Rock Bottom, and sits through a day of traffic school with a very cool rocker.

Emily shows how she sees the world and how deceptive sight can be, in this book of illusions and surprises.

The arts.