The Mouse of Amherst by Elizabeth Spires

Spires, Elizabeth. The Mouse of Amherst. Illus. Claire A. Nivola. New York: Sunburst, 1999.

“I am a mouse, a white mouse. My name is Emmaline. Before I met Emily, the great poet of Amherst, I was nothing more than a crumb gatherer, a cheese nibbler, a mouse-of-little-purpose. There was an emptiness in my life that nothing seemed to fill” (5).

When Emmaline moves into the Dickinson’s house, she discovers something to fill the emptiness—poetry. To find out more about the mouse who writes poetry and her friendship with Emily Dickinson, you’ll have to read The Mouse of Amherst by Elizabeth Spires.