Emily Climbs is book two in L. M. Montgomery's Emily Starr trilogy. Emily is desperate to attend Queen's Academy to earn her teaching license, but her conservative aunt refuses and instead offers her the chance to go to Shrewsbury High School with her friends. But there are two conditions. Condition one: she must board with her Aunt Ruth whom she disliked. Condition two: Emily must not write a word while in highschool. Initially Emily refuses, unable to even contemplate a life without writing.

Her cousin, Jimmy, manages to get the terms changed slightly, saying that she cannot write anything that is not true, meaning no stories for the duration of her high school education. Emily doesn't think this much of an improvement, but it turns out to be an excellent exercise for her budding writing career. Through a series of adventures, Emily is furnished with materials to write stories and poems, and even sees begins to success. And at the same time she begins to realize romantic possibilities as she and Teddy Kent draw closer.