Skip to main content

Josefina's Story Collection by Valarie Tripp

By
Summary: Josefina is a 9 year old girl living on a Rancho in New Mexico in 1824. She, her three older sisters, and her father are learning how to cope after the death of their mother a year before the first story begins. Josefina has many adventures on the farm and with her family that help her grow into a responsible, nurturing young girl. 

Attention Span/reading level: 8-12, small chapter books (But my 3 year old listens to the stories in the car and enjoys them) 

Good uses for book in teaching: About different cultures/religious celebrations

Favorite part: 
     Mine: All the Religious ceremonies and celebrations, that Josefina is honest and hard working. 
     Child: The baby goat, Sombrita 

Least favorite part: None

Warnings/negative feedback: Josefina and her sister run into town alone and get stopped by a man who is drunk, but they run away before anything happens. 

Review: This has been my favorite of all the American Girl stories we have read so far. Some of the things that I really enjoyed were that it frequently mentioned the family gathering for family prayer at the family alter in the morning, the details of the celebration of Los Posadas (Christmas celebration), and many many instances of the family working together in harmony. Josefina and her sisters are working through the grief over the death of their mother a year before the first story begins. They author doesn't shy away from talking about how hard this is for them and some of the steps that help in the healing process. I also like at Christmas that the only gift that is mentioned whatsoever is the family tradition of passing down a doll made by their mother when the next youngest child turns 10. Each of the girls work hard on the Rancho and are always respectful of their elders.   

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Game by Terry Schott

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers) What if this life is just a simulation? What if our bodies are in another world, plugged into a virtual reality game, and our entire life is just one play in that game? What would our real life be like, if we could experience several full simulated lifespans, in our teen years, and then enter adulthood? That is the premise of this story. Category Sci-Fi Why I chose this book It was either free or discounted on Amazon, and sounded interesting My personal opinion (the review) Too many inconsistencies. For example: The real world is able to view the players in the game in "real time", but time in the game is sped up, so that a week in real life is worth a decade in the virtual world. How do real world people have enough time to experience the virtual world, in real time, while still being accelerated? Danielle enters the game 3 days behind Trew, but she only ends up being 1 year younger. If a week is a decade in the game, then 3 days should have be...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mark of Fire by Richard Phillips

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Two main stories: Carol, the daughter of Lord Rafel, wants to be a magic wielder. As she learns magic and grows in strength, she is unaware that she is being hunted by the greatest wielder in the world. The second story is about a ward of Rafel's, named Blade, who becomes an infamous assassin and works for the king. The king sends Blade to kill Rafel and Carol, but he warns them to flee instead. Blade wanders, to escape the king's justice, but finds himself in his own adventure. Category : Fiction, fantasy, possibly YA Why I chose this book : Kindle First My personal opinion : I really enjoyed the story line, the world the author created, and the depth of the characters. It was easy to lose myself in the story. I also really appreciate that the story is "clean" - no bad language, no sexual situations, etc. I feel comfortable recommending this to my teenage children. Warnings Language: none Violence: fairly frequent fighting "Adult...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Keeper by Suzanne Woods Fisher

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers) Story follows the Lapp family, an Amish family in new England, their challenges, growth, and relationships developed with the new housekeeper and beekeeper who have become part of their household, especially the relationship of Julia with Rome (the beekeeper), a traveling unattached "drifter" that resides in stony ridge part of each spring/summer. Category Christian fiction Why I chose this book It showed up on the suggestions page of my library digital borrow/lend site, and it looked like a love story. Other cultures (like Amish) interest me. I knew it would be a safe read love story. My personal opinion (the review) I really enjoyed the love story. It was also interesting to read about an Amish family. It had a lot of spiritual references in the thoughts of the characters and I liked that.  Warnings (language, violence, "adult" situations, death, etc.) No "bad" stuff, but yes death. (I was grateful for the ...
Post a Comment
Read more