Review: The Lilac Tunnel: My Journey with Samantha and The Glow of the Spotlight: My Journey with Rebecca

Click here to read some of my thoughts on this series as a whole.

By Erin Falligant
Available now from American Girl
Review copy

My favorite American Girl was always Kirsten, but I knew so many girls who adored Samantha.  This book takes the reader to 1904, in the persona of a girl dealing with her relationship with her stepmother and stepsister.

The stakes are pretty low in all of the possible Choose Your Own Adventure paths.  There's a pretty simple message about staying true to your beliefs, and I do like how it is exemplified by Samantha's aunt, a suffragette.  I do wish there had been some deeper or more exciting storylines.  Nellie, my favorite character from the Samantha books, only gets a few mentions.

This is a good read for Samantha fans, but not essential, even for fans of the other American Girls.

By Jacqueline Greene
Available now from American Girl
Review copy

This book takes you to 1914, ten years after Samatha's time, to explore life as a Russian Jewish immigrant in New York City.  Rebecca Rubin dreams of becoming part of a vaudeville show, and thinks you're in experienced member of a troupe -- that is, in some of the stories.  In others, you're escaping illness.

The stakes are pretty low in all of these storylines, but I found them high in interest.   I think most of the illness storylines are more interesting, although I can see more kids picking the way that leads to performances.  Either way, every path is so short you can go through several before getting bored.

I recommend THE GLOW OF THE SPOTLIGHT for children who like to dance and perform (aka my niece).  It's got a lot of information for them about a certain type of performance, and offers other bits of history as well.  Because of Rebecca's background, there's also a decent amount of cultural information.

Review: Catch the Wind: My Journey with Caroline

An American Girl Beforever Journey
By Kathleen Ernst
Available now from American Girl
Review copy

I used to get the Pleasant Company catalogs for American Girl and would page through them, wanting each and every one of the dolls.  I never got one, but I could go to the library and check out the American Girl books.  Since Mattel bought American Girl, they've played around with the focus and product offerings.  The latest is a line of choose your own adventure American Girl books.  As a fan of both, I couldn't resist giving them a whirl.

The actual CYOA element could be deployed much better.  You don't get to make many choices.  Most of the time a section tells you to flip to the next page (or to another specific page).  It's maybe one in six sections that you actually get to make a choice.  Some of the storylines end very quickly, and one per book requires you to go online to read the ending.  I really didn't like that element -- I had to stop and boot up my computer to read maybe six pages.  It's a good idea but needs some tweaking.

I do like that each book includes a short introduction to the history of the time at the back.  Caroline's story takes place during the War of 1812, near the Canadian border.  It's a war I wouldn't expect the elementary-school-age audience to be very (if at all) familiar with. 

In this story, you take the place of a young girl with a Navy mom who is about to be deployed and younger twin sisters.  You travel back to Caroline's time using a compass.  There, by Lake Ontario, you meet Caroline, whose father is a prisoner of war.  Caroline is one of the American Girls who was after my time, so her story was new to me, but easy to pick up.  There's lots of exciting storylines, including one involving a naval battle.

I like that CATCH THE WIND was very easy to read.  I think my eight-year-old niece could manage, especially since it is divided it to short sections.  This one is a good choice for a girl who is interested in war history or who has a parent in the military.  Or, perhaps, for a girl who has to stick with the books because a doll is out of le parent's budget.