Decided to read some American Girl books for nostalgia purposes. I remember loving Felicity as a young girl. That now makes sense since I had a horse girl phase and I loved learning about this time period. I will have to read more American Girl books to see how they measure up.

the OG horse girl

*2.5

I was never really into American Girl. Felicity's books were my favorite, though.

I've been listening to the American Girls podcast, where two women revisit these books, and in listening I realized I remembered basically nothing about them, so I requested a bunch from the library.

I thought I must have been an exceptionally oblivious child (I know I was) because the podcast talked about how Felicity's family were slave owners and I didn't remember that. But it was so elided in this book I don't think I would have caught it even as an adult. Marcus, the enslaved person in question, is mentioned in passing twice, once as someone who helps Felicity's father in the store, and once saying he cares for their horses. It's only in the Look into the Past section in the end that mentions he's an enslaved person.

Besides for that, I thought the whole Penny plot kind of dumb. Felicity seemed to be the sort of horse girl I was in the mid to late 90s, which is to say someone who likes books about horses but has never actually spent time with them or knows how to interact with them. I would expect an actual colonial girl to have a lot more actual knowledge and experience with horses, the way an actual modern girl would be familiar with cars even though 10 year olds can't drive. Sort of on the same note, no matter how badly the tannery smells or how "city" she is, an actual colonial girl would also be much more used to the process of raising animals for slaughter. But I guess in that sense, Felicity is written more to be relatable for a modern audience than to be historically accurate.

I have been loving rereading the American Girl books. I zoomed through all six of these on this December day. As an adult, I can appreciate the lessons in Felicity's books: lessons about tolerance, friendship and forgiveness. One thing I love about these books is the main character isn't perfect and doesn't always make the right choice--these girls are relatable. I remember the summer book always being my favorite but the last one really got me today. "No change, no loss, no separation, not even death, can end love."

1

This is the first "American Girl" book I've read -- it was good, I can see why the middle-upper elementary girls like them. There are 4 different American Girls, each from a different time period in American history. This was the first book in the Felicity series, which takes place in 1774. Each series of books as the same titles -- I'm assuming that you get the same story from a different historical perspective. I look forward to reading more of these.