Tag archives for American Girl
Posted by BOOK NAME: Julie Story Collection
AUTHOR: Megan McDonald
In this collection of six stories, Julie Albright, a nine year old girl, must face the difficulties of her new life after her parents’ divorce. She has to move to a new home with her mom, and only gets to see her dad on the weekends. She has to switch schools, and she’s pulled away from living across the street from her BFF, Ivy. And if none of this was bad enough, her parents don’t really seem to understand the pain.
But slowly Julie learns that the best way to deal with change is by making some changes of her own. She makes a petition which convinces the school to let her play on the boys’ basketball team. Her family (yes, both mom and dad!) participates in Ivy’s family’s Chinese new year celebration. She’s even the first fifth grader to run for student government president. It takes some time, but Julie makes some great friends at her new school, and soon gets used to her new life.
Read about Julie’s good times and hard times in the Julie Story Collection.
My favorite character in the book is Julie. She works so hard to make changes, and I think that her persistence is a true example. I also like Ivy, because I love to see all her Chinese customs. They are so different from our customs! I really loved them!
BOOK NAME: Silent Stranger: A Kaya Mystery
AUTHOR:Janet Shaw
A hawk frequently circles above the woman’s head, so Kaya thinks that a hawk may be the woman’s wyakin, or Guardian Spirit. She therefore calls the woman Hawk Woman. Hawk Woman kicks and punches in her sleep, as if she’s having a bad dream. Kaya still doesn’t know what this woman is doing in their tribe.
Hawk Woman has a strange connection to Kaya’s dog, Talto. One day, she disappears with Talto, and Kaya must follow the footsteps to uncover her story. Read The Silent Stranger to find out what Hawk Woman’s story is.
I really enjoyed this book. I loved reading about the Native Americans. Their culture always fascinates me. I also love all the Native American names, which are so different from ours. They name their children according to things in nature. I find that very interesting.
Throughout the book, Kaya’s feelings change towards Hawk Woman. Kaya keeps trying to convince herself not to have bad feelings with Hawk Woman. I think this is a very important lesson. Just because a person may be strange on the outside, we should not have bad feelings towards them, because they most probably are good people.
