Meet Josefina: An American Girl

While this was somewhat refreshing after the Felicity books, I feel like there is already a presage of the same important topics being neglected, such as what exactly is the status of these workers ("workers"? I really don't know) on the family's rancho. Why is it that Josefina's family has a rancho and others work on it instead of having their own? While I appreciate the diverse background and a historical story that isn't told so often, I hope this series will be more than just another rich American Girl.

The story itself was a bit boring, but it had a lot of work to do in only ~60 pages. It basically introduces us to Josefina's family, including her multitude of sisters, and their way of life on a rancho outside of Sante Fe when it show more was still part of Mexico. Their mother died shortly before the book starts, so I feel this has potential to tackle more serious subjects than the Felicity books did.

What's really sad and enlightening for me is that, as a woman in my 30s now rereading these, I am checking out the dads in the illustrations. God help me when I start checking out the grandpas. show less

Josefina, 9 years old, is the youngest of 4 sisters living on a rancho in New Mexico in the 1820s. Their mother died a year before and so many of their traditions remind them of her. Their grandfather who drives a caravan from Mexico City to Santa Fe with items to trade arrives with a surprise, Tia Dolores, their mother's sister.
Josefina, who isn't very brave, finds that she can be brave when she needs to be.

Overall an enjoyable book. I enjoyed previous American Girls books, and I liked this one too, the character was overall likeable. Granted, it's been a long time since I read this book so I'm fuzzy on the details but I remember enjoying it.

It's really nice. It's the first American girl book I read. It's a nice historical story about family and a little girl's place in her community and growing up in the southwest. Great to work on American history in the classroom from a perspective that isn't normally approached in most schools..

Josefina is a girl trying to find bravery and deal with living without her mother. When her aunt comes to visit and the goat she most fears eats all her mother’s flowers, she finds the bravery first to put the goat in its pen and then ask Papa’ for her aunt to stay.

Josefina Montoya is growing up on a rancho near Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1824. Ever since Mama died a year before, Josefina and her three sisters have been struggling to carry on without her. One bright fall day, happy news arrives--their beloved grandfather is returning home after a long trading trip. Josefina knows that he will bring exciting stories and wonderful treasures from his journey. But this time he brings something more--a great surprise that Josefina and her sisters never even dreamed of!"

The story of a girl living in 1824.