Saige. by Jessie Haas. December 27, 2012. American Girl Publishing. 128 pages. ISBN: 9781609581664 The American Girl Doll of the Year 2013 is Saige Copeland, a horse-loving artist living in New Mexico. In her first book, written by
Bramble and Maggie author Jessie Haas, Saige is disappointed to find out that due to budget cuts, she won’t have art in school for a whole year. With the help of her grandmother, Mimi, who also paints and rides horses, Saige decides to organize a parade to raise money for after school art classes. But before she and Mimi can put their plans into action, Mimi gets hurt in an accident. Suddenly, it’s up to Saige to lead the parade and find ways to encourage donations.
Like all American Girl books,
Saige is a wholesome story about a girl taking charge and working to improve her community. Saige is a capable and upbeat girl who takes pride in her work and who doesn’t allow herself to succumb to setbacks or react to the typical girl drama engaged in by her best friend. She’s a good role model for tween girls, but I have to admit that her story didn’t really interest me that much. The last two American Girl Dolls of the Year - McKenna and Kanani - had exceptionally well-written and memorable books that I eagerly devoured.
Saige is a much slower book with a much more generic writing style, and finishing it was a challenge. There were some interesting details, mainly regarding animal training, that made the story a bit more entertaining, but for the most part, I was disappointed.
Saige fulfills a need at my library for middle grade contemporary novels involving horses, so I'm thankful to have it on the shelves even though it's not a personal favorite. I will be sharing it with fans of the American Girl series, and with girls who enjoyed
Fearless from the Summer Camp Secrets series, the Saddle Club books and stories by Marguerite Henry.
I borrowed Saige from my local public library. For more about this book, visit Goodreads and Worldcat.
McKenna. by Mary Casanova. December 28, 2011. American Girl Publishing. 128 pages. ISBN: 9781593699949
McKenna, Ready to Fly! by Mary Casanova. December 28, 2011. American Girl Publishing. 128 pages. ISBN: 9781593699956
American Girl’s Girl of the Year 2012 is McKenna Brooks. In addition to a doll,
which can be purchased on the American Girl website, there are also two books about this character:
McKenna and
McKenna, Ready to Fly! Both books are set in Seattle, Washington, and their storylines revolve around McKenna's struggles balancing her strong interest in gymnastics with the rest of her life, including friendships, family, and school.
In
McKenna, McKenna's fourth grade teacher discovers she has trouble with reading comprehension and assigns her a tutor named Josie. Josie uses a wheelchair, a fact which makes McKenna nervous at first, until she realizes that having a disability doesn't mean Josie isn't capable in every other way. McKenna is still embarrassed that she needs a tutor, though, and must face the consequences when she can't tell her friends the truth. In
McKenna, Ready to Fly!, McKenna works on gaining her strength back after an injury, in the hopes of making the competitive gymnastics team. She also helps Josie overcome her fear of horseback riding and begins volunteering at the stables where Josie rides as a means of adding balance to her life.
Both these books have the same wholesome sense of right and wrong as every other book published by American Girl, but as compared with last year's books about
Kanani Akina, they come across as preachy. The "people with disabilities are just like everyone else" message is certainly valuable, but the way it's delivered in these stories is so heavy-handed and condescending. I love that the books involve a girl who uses a wheelchair, but why does her role in the story have to be to teach us that people who can't walk are people too? Do kids really not know this? And if they don't, would it not be more effective to show them through a character's actions, rather than have the characters spout forced platitudes? The second book handles the issue a little better than the first, but the tone never completely loses that annoying patronizing quality.
That major criticism aside, though, the books combine two topics beloved by many 9- and 10-year old girls - gymnastics and horseback riding. There are plenty of descriptions related to both sports, so that fans and participants of both will be equally satisfied. There is also a good amount of conflict among girlfriends, but very few boys anywhere in the story. The focus is really on McKenna's decisions and how they affect her
