Emily

This is one in a series of teen romances that were published when I was in grade school and junior high. Each one had the heroine's name as the title, each was set in a different historic era (Emily is set in 1899), each featured a 16 year old heroine (or a 15 year old who would turn 16 in the course of the book) who would chose between two disparate suitors (here the "adoring and rich Worthington Bates" and "handsome Dr. Stephan Reed"). The boys were always pictured on the cover behind her, with a smaller picture showing the heroine with ONE of them. (I had a theory there was some kind of formula to whether the boy pictured would be the one chosen, but school eventually became more challenging and that research was abandoned) To be honest, I don't remember who Emily chose, but I remember the historical details including how rich, sheltered Emily had to stay home from anywhere fun to protect her reputation, to people debating whether 1899 or 1900 was the turn of the century. The entire series is fine historical fiction and truly I think these books gave me a much stronger interest in American history than I might have otherwise. I am not the only reader who remembers these books fondly, this site discusses collecting the series.