American Girls
Felicity Learns a Lesson by Valerie Tripp, 1991.
This is the second book in the Felicity, An American Girl series.
So far, Felicity has mainly been taught at home, learning to read and write and take care of basic household tasks, like cooking and sewing, from her mother. However, Felicity’s parents have decided that it’s time for her to begin furthering her education. Felicity fantasizes about studying Greek, Latin, and geography, like boys do in college, but girls of her time do not receive that kind of education. Some girls take on apprenticeships, learning professions such as seamstress, which Felicity thinks might be exciting, but her father is a wealthy merchant, which means that Felicity will be educated as a gentlewoman, not as a girl preparing herself for a trade. A gentlewoman’s education involves lessons in penmanship, fine stitchery, dancing, manners, and hostess skills. Felicity doesn’t find that prospect as exciting.
Felicity starts taking lessons from Miss Manderly, a respected gentlewoman, in manners and the practical arts that girls from well-off families of her era were expected to know. Two other girls, a pair of sisters who have recently arrived from England, are also taking lessons from Miss Manderly, and at first, Felicity worries that they will know more than she does. However, they are also young and have lessons of their own to learn. The younger of the sisters, Elizabeth, becomes Felicity’s best friend. However, Annabelle, the older girl, is disapproving. She misses her old life in England and doesn’t think that anything in the colonies is good.
Then, Felicity’s father declares that because of the tax on tea, he will no longer carry it in his shop. It leaves Felicity feeling conflicted about Miss Manderly’s lessons, which include the proper way to serve tea. She has started enjoying the lessons and doesn’t want to lose Elizabeth’s friendship, but she wants to support her father, too. Then, Annabelle criticizes Felicity for what her father said at one of the lessons, prompting Felicity to storm out angrily. She is doubly angry and hurt that Elizabeth didn’t try to defend her, making her doubt Elizabeth’s friendship.
At first, Felicity thinks that there is no way she can return to the lessons, but her mother convinces her that if there’s something that she really cares about (the lessons, Elizabeth’s friendship, supporting her father, etc.) she will find a way to work through the conflict rather than give up on it. She also points out that some people aren’t as brave as others and find it more difficult to speak their minds and that Felicity should give Elizabeth another chance at friendship. In the end, Felicity works out a compromise for her lessons using what Miss Manderly has already taught her, and Elizabeth finally finds the courage to tell Annabelle how she really feels about her behavior and the way she treats both herself and Felicity.
Each of the girls in the American Girls stories has her own personality, including strengths and weaknesses. Felicity is a spirited girl, but at first, she has a tendency to be too impatient and impulsive. Part of what she learns is the need take responsibility for her choices and to think things through before she acts. Elizabeth, who is shy and easily intimidated by her older sister, learns that nothing will improve until she makes her true feelings known and that she has as much right as anyone else to be treated with respect. Annabelle is a rather self-centered individual and is genuinely surprised when Elizabeth finally stands up to her. In some ways, Annabelle is unfortunate because she does not find a friend at Miss Manderly’s like her sister does, but readers will recognize that Annabelle’s lack of friends is partly her own fault because she is deliberately antagonistic and does not try to earn Felicity’s friendship.
In the back of the book, there is a section that explains more about how children were educated in the American colonies around the time of the Revolutionary War. Other good books on this topic are Going to School in 1776 and Colonial Crafts.
This book is currently available online through Internet Archive.
Cranberry Autumn by Wende and Harry Devlin, 1993.
School is about to start, and Maggie and her grandmother realize that they’re short of money. Maggie needs new school clothes, and her grandmother needs a new coat. They know that some of their neighbors could also use some more money, so Grandmother suggests that they hold a sale. Some of them have some antiques and other interesting old items that they could sell.
#3 The Candy Corn Contest by Patricia Reilly Giff, 1984.
While Richard is worrying over his mistake, he’s also worrying about the sleep-over party his parents are letting him have over the Thanksgiving break. At first, he was looking forward to it, but some of the other boys in class can’t come and some of those who said they could are concerned because Matthew is coming. Matthew and Richard are friends, and people in class generally like Matthew, but everyone knows that Matthew still wets the bed. Some of the other boys are worried that they’ll have to sleep next to Matthew at the sleep-over. As much as Richard likes Matthew, it feels like his problem is going to ruin the party, and when Matthew is nice to him, it only makes Richard feel worse.
#2 Fish Face by Patricia Reilly Giff, 1984.
The title of the story comes from the fish faces that Emily was making, imitating the classroom pet fish. She shows Dawn her fish face when she’s trying to joke with her, but Dawn just thinks it’s weird. Dawn worries that she’s not making friends, but at the same time, she also seems determined not to like things and people at her new school and stealing Emily’s unicorn and lying about it was a sure way to make her angry.
#1 The Beast in Ms. Rooney’s Room by Patricia Reilly Giff, 1984.
However, even though he’s embarrassed at having to attend special reading classes with Mrs. Paris while most of the rest of his class has normal reading, these special classes really help him, not just to improve his reading skills, but to connect with other kids in his new class who have the same reading difficulties he does and who understand how he feels.
Alissa, Princess of Arcadia by Jillian Ross, 1997.
It turns out that Balin is a wizard. He’s lived in the tower for centuries and hardly ever leaves, so most people have forgotten that he’s there. He offers Alissa lessons in magic and the kind of quests that she’s been craving. He once taught Alissa’s father similar lessons, although he thinks that King Edmund has also forgotten that he exists. Alissa eager accepts the offer of magic lessons.
When Alissa first begins her lessons with Balin, she thinks that studying magic is turning out to be as boring as her other lessons. Balin makes her do little chores, like dusting things in his tower, and he has her read books and memorize words. Alissa is impatient to get on with the exciting magic, but Balin impresses on her that she needs to start out slowly and to recognize that magic is not the solution to all things.
The Mysterious Queen of Magic by Joan Lowery Nixon, 1981.
Mystery on Taboga Island by Patricia Maloney Markun, 1995.
They also introduce Amy to Madame Odelle, who people call The Bird Woman because of all the birds she keeps around her house. She is a widow who lives alone and hardly ever sees people, but she invites the children in and when she learns that Amy is interested in art, she shows them a special painting that her family has had for generations. Madame says that her grandfather bought the painting years ago from a traveling Frenchman who was in need of money. Amy thinks that it looks like one of Paul Gauguin’s paintings, and she knows that some of his work is unaccounted for. However, the initials on the painting are PGO. What could the ‘O’ stand for?
Trapped in Time by Ruth Chew, 1986.
Franz had only joined the army in the first place because his parents were dead, and he didn’t know what else to do. Now, he has to find a new place to live, somewhere where there won’t be other Hessians who would recognize him as a deserter. Andy and Nathan also have problems because they’ve now realized what time they’re in, and they don’t know how to get home. The watch no longer seems to work.
Mary Geddy’s Day: A Colonial Girl in Williamsburg by Kate Waters, 1999.
