Book-It 'o14! Book #24
The Fifty Books Challenge, year five! ( 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013) This was a library request.
Title: Rebecca and Ana by Jacqueline Dembar Greene with illustrations by Robert Hunt
Details: Copyright 2009, American Girl Publishing Inc
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "Rebecca can't wait to meet her cousin Ana. She's sure they'll be just like sisters. It's crowded with two families in one small apartment, but Rebecca is happy to share everything with Ana-- even her clothes! At school, Rebecca is determined to help her cousin learn English, despite the other kids' teasing. But when the teacher tells her to include Ana in a special performance, Rebecca panics. Ana's broken English will ruin the show! Rebecca realizes that the performance is one thing she does not want to share with her cousin. How can she explain this to Ana?"
Why I Wanted to Read It: Remember my remembrances of the American Girl franchise? And my reviews of the the character Kit's six-book series? And my review of the first book about Rebecca? Okay then.
How I Liked It: With the addition of the character Kaya'aton'my in 2002, a Nez Perce girl whose stories are set in 1764 (the problematic aspects of both naming an American Girl before "America" actually existed and also claiming a Native as "American" and therefore part of the European colonialism aside), the previous formula I discussed in Happy Birthday, Kit! could no longer really apply. So even if a book would have been clearly called _____ Learns a Lesson by the old standard, as far as I can see the authors in the characters that have followed have tried to stray from titles following the old format.
This is clearly Rebecca Learns a Lesson, as it takes place and has conflicts mostly in a school environment. Unfortunately, despite this being the second book in the series, it's hardly much better than the first. Rebecca's embarrassment over her cousin's poor English and heavy accent come across as more cruel than relateable, no matter if she does the right thing in the end and risks singing with her cousin (who miraculously pulls off a relatively unaccented performance of "You're a Grand Old Flag").
The illustrations have taken on a stage-y quality ala Kit's books, but also a goodly portion of them depict fashions and hairstyles in a way that's almost humorously "modern." It's true that styles repeat, but too often Rebecca and Ana appear to have stepped out of the late 'eighties/early 'nineties (think the most well-known covers of The Babysitters Club).
The "Looking Back" (the historical non-fiction portions of the book are no longer called "A Peek into the Past") section offers fairly solid information about immigrant children in school during the 1910s and turn of the last century, including assimilation efforts to "enforce" patriotism.
Title: Rebecca and Ana by Jacqueline Dembar Greene with illustrations by Robert Hunt
Details: Copyright 2009, American Girl Publishing Inc
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "Rebecca can't wait to meet her cousin Ana. She's sure they'll be just like sisters. It's crowded with two families in one small apartment, but Rebecca is happy to share everything with Ana-- even her clothes! At school, Rebecca is determined to help her cousin learn English, despite the other kids' teasing. But when the teacher tells her to include Ana in a special performance, Rebecca panics. Ana's broken English will ruin the show! Rebecca realizes that the performance is one thing she does not want to share with her cousin. How can she explain this to Ana?"
Why I Wanted to Read It: Remember my remembrances of the American Girl franchise? And my reviews of the the character Kit's six-book series? And my review of the first book about Rebecca? Okay then.
How I Liked It: With the addition of the character Kaya'aton'my in 2002, a Nez Perce girl whose stories are set in 1764 (the problematic aspects of both naming an American Girl before "America" actually existed and also claiming a Native as "American" and therefore part of the European colonialism aside), the previous formula I discussed in Happy Birthday, Kit! could no longer really apply. So even if a book would have been clearly called _____ Learns a Lesson by the old standard, as far as I can see the authors in the characters that have followed have tried to stray from titles following the old format.
This is clearly Rebecca Learns a Lesson, as it takes place and has conflicts mostly in a school environment. Unfortunately, despite this being the second book in the series, it's hardly much better than the first. Rebecca's embarrassment over her cousin's poor English and heavy accent come across as more cruel than relateable, no matter if she does the right thing in the end and risks singing with her cousin (who miraculously pulls off a relatively unaccented performance of "You're a Grand Old Flag").
The illustrations have taken on a stage-y quality ala Kit's books, but also a goodly portion of them depict fashions and hairstyles in a way that's almost humorously "modern." It's true that styles repeat, but too often Rebecca and Ana appear to have stepped out of the late 'eighties/early 'nineties (think the most well-known covers of The Babysitters Club).
The "Looking Back" (the historical non-fiction portions of the book are no longer called "A Peek into the Past") section offers fairly solid information about immigrant children in school during the 1910s and turn of the last century, including assimilation efforts to "enforce" patriotism.