Luciana (American Girl: Girl of the Year Book 1) by Erin Teagan

It's been a while since I've read an American Girl book now that all my Kiddos are too old for them, and I don't think I've ever read a Girl of the Year book. We always stuck to the historical stories. So when I realized that we would be celebrating a big historical event this week - the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20 - I thought this would be a fun book to start the week off.

More than anything, Luciana Vega, 11, wants to be an astronaut and now she's just arrived at Space Camp. Luci has tried for a scholarship to Space Camp three times and finally won thanks to the essay she wrote about planetary geology. But Luci also has something else on her mind besides space - a baby named Isadora. She and her parents are hoping to adopt Isadora, an orphan in Chile, the country where Luci's parents grew up. Naturally, only child Luci worries about whether she will be a good older sister.

At Space Camp, Luci's bunkmates in Habitat 4b are Ella, 11, her younger sister Meg, 9, and cousin Charlotte, 11, as well as Joanna from Germany. There is also a companion boys Habitat. For their week at camp their trainers are Mallory, Alex, and Mallory's robotic dog Orion. Unfortunately, tension between Luci and Ella can be felt immediately, as well as between Ella and James, both highly competitive know-it-alls. But it is Luci who ends up as the team captain for the girls, and James for the boys. Besides space-related activities and exercises, each team will build a robot, complete with daily challenges to win bolts. The idea is accumulate a lot of bolts (which is the point system they use) and the team with the most bolts at the end of the week is the winner.

Unfortunately, Luci didn't read all the material sent to the campers and her impulsiveness causes her team to come in last place in the first challenge. Knowing her teammates are disappointed with her, Luci manages to come up with a plan to build their robot with junk parts that won't cost them any bolts. It's a good idea, and they even find and fix a motor module to build a walking robot. But when the part goes missing, Luci is sure that James took it to set them behind. And the plan she hatches for getting it back leads to disaster for James and his team. Can Luci ever fix the mess she made?

I thought this was a fun, typical American Girl book but I mean that in the best way. Sure, the main character faces challenges, makes mistakes, learns lessons from her mistakes and lands on her feet. Luci's real challenge is to learn how to be a team player and by extension, a good big sister, to think before she acts, and to not ignore preparation materials. Know-it-all Ella is the opposite of Luci and a great foil for her, because she also needs to learn how to be a team player in order to be a good friend. Each girl brings baggage with them and together they help each other become better team players. I actually wish we were given more of Ella's story instead of her merely being a plot device for Luci.

Although this is an introductory story for readers to get to know her, I wish that more of Luci's Chilean background had been included, but that seems to happen in another book. I did love the STEAM aspect of Luci's story and hope it has an influence on girls who might otherwise pass on STEAM-related activities, books, and ideas.

I received this book from Scholastic a while ago and it has been borrowed by three girls already, all of whom said they really enjoyed it, liked Luci as a character, and will read more of her story (and they really, really like the purple streak she has in her hair). I personally never thought much about robotics, other than supporting the kids in my family who are into them, but I did find the robotic element of the story very interesting ( especially Mallory's dog Orion) and I gained a whole new appreciation for robotics.

Although Luciana is 11, I would recommend this book for readers as young as 8 or 9. It's not a complicated story, there's just enough science to ignite curiosity and Luci's challenges and concerns are not specific to Space Camp. And her story is just good summer reading and you don't need to buy the doll to enjoy it.

This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was sent to me by the publisher, Scholastic Press

Blog Tour: To Night Owl From Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer

When Marlow Devlin and Sam Bloom fell in love, they have two problems - it's a bi-coastal relationship and they both have daughters who believe they are number one in the lives of their dads. So while the first blush of romance is still strong, they decide to send their daughters to the same sleepaway camp while they travel through China by motorcycle. Their hope is that the girls will get to know and like each other, maybe even consider themselves sisters someday. Camp was supposed to be a surprise for the girls but Bett Devlin, 12 and living on the West Coast, knows her dad's email password and discovers the plot. Naturally, she emails her counterpart Avery Bloom, also 12, to inform her of the plan.

As the girls begin to exchange emails, it becomes clear that they couldn't be more different. Bett is confident, outgoing, willing to try anything. She loves animals and surfing in the Pacific Ocean. Avery is a New York City girl, quiet, shy, and cautious, really cautious and a little hypochondriacal.  She loves to read and is deathly afraid of water.

At first, Bett and Avery clearly do not like each other, but as they exchange emails, dislike turns to curiosity. Determined not to become friends, they decide not to actually speak to each other once they arrive at camp but they do continue to exchange emails. Gradually, the ice melts and the two girls not only end up as friends, but even begin to bond and think of themselves as sisters.

And just as that happens, the relationship between their dads going downhill. Now what? Can Bett and Avery maintain the closeness they have finally found, and can they teach their dads a thing or two about friendships?

To Night Owl From Dogfish is a lively novel written almost completely in emails exchanged between Avery and Bett, with occasional emails and text messages from other characters relevant to the story. It's an interesting format and in the hands of its two talented authors, one that really works. As Bett and Avery begin their correspondence, readers get an insider's look at how they go from complete strangers determined to split their dad's relationship apart and who each feel their number 1 spot in their dads life is being threatened to close friends looking forward to becoming sisters and determined to bring the dads back together again. Along the way, they both discover that despite their differences, and there are many, they also have enough things in common - they both love their dads and value family.

Using the epistolary format really lets readers see each character's actions and reactions to the different situations they find themselves in and witness their growth as young women. Interestingly, Avery and Bett seem less inhibited about revealing themselves to one another in writing than they might be if they were speaking directly to each other. And it's a great way for readers to learn everything they need to know to appreciate each character.

This is a laugh out loud novel with a cast of great characters. I loved Bett's spirited grandmother called Gaga, and Avery's mother Kristina a famous playwright whom she really doesn't know. I also really liked the fact that although Bett is African American, Avery is Jewish and their dads are gay these things are treated as just part of who they are, rather than points of conflict.

Being a former camper, I love a good camp story and this one really hit the spot. If you like the Parent Trap movies, chances are you will love To Night Owl From Dogfish.

Meet the Authors:

Holly Goldberg Sloan was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan and spent her childhood living in Holland; Istanbul, Turkey; Washington, D.C.; Berkeley, California; and Eugene, Oregon. After graduating from Wellesley College and spending some time as an advertising copywriter, she began writing family feature films, including Angels in the Outfield and Made in America. She is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Counting by 7s and Short, among other novels.  

Meg Wolitzer was born in Brooklyn, New York, grew up in the town of Syosset, on Long Island, and sold her first novel, Sleepwalking, while a senior in college. She is the New York Times-bestselling author of numerous novels for adults, including The Interestings, The Ten-Year Nap, The Wife, and The Female Persuasion; the young adult novel Belzhar; and the middle-grade novel The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman.

Since I live in NYC like Avery, for this blog tour, I was paired with a pen pal in California, Sam at Sam May Be Reading. I sent her some questions to get to know her better, and she sent me some questions for the same reason:

1- I never became friends with anyone I didn't think I could get along with, but at camp I did become friends with people who had very different lives than mine. One example was the daughter of a UN ambassador from a South American country who led a much more exciting and glamorous life than I did. Part of the reason we became friends was because she was facing NYCs Regents Exams and needed help preparing for them. 

2- I did have a pen pal for years starting at age 10. It was really my cousin in Wales, but I didn't know her and it was years later that we finally met. We exchanged actual letters about 3 times a month. I think having a pen pal with modern technology would be very different. My Kiddo had a pen pal in Ohio beginning at age 11 and they still keep in touch by email and text, but still haven't met. I think sure a pen pal today would be so different, just the means of communicating. Kids today have email, texting, and video chat and probably more supervised than when I was young. I certainly supervised my Kiddo. 

3- I did go to camp for year once I outgrew Vacation Bible School. It was a sleepaway camp in Harriman State Park in New York State. Each year the same core group of girls returned with a few new girls. I don't remember not getting along with the other girls, in fact, more often than not we were all partners in crime - raiding the kitchen, taking out canoes when we were supposed to, things like that. There were usually 6 girls in each cabin and out of that, I am still friendly with four of them. Ironically, I sent my Kiddo to the same camp and she hated it.  

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was sent to me by the publisher, Dial Books