Maryellen: Taking Off (American Girl® Historical Characters)

Although it may seem a bit odd for me to be reviewing a book designed for the pre-teen reader (I do have a great granddaughter in that age category, but she lives too far away for me to share reading with her), as it happens “Maryellen: Taking Off” by Valerie Tripp turns out to have been very relevant. This charming story of an “ordinary American girl” is set in Florida at the dawn of the “Space Race”, in the mid 1950’s. I was only a few years older than the protagonist at this point in time, and like her, I was very interested in science, which was a bit of an anomaly for a girl then. Polio and the work of Dr. Jonas Salk to develop a vaccine plays a large part in this story, and I remember the delight when a vaccine was finally developed that removed that anxiety from among the several (including the threat of nuclear attack) which shadowed the era despite the post WWII optimism we experienced.This story is well developed and detailed. The illustrations are either photographs or very fine photo realistic paintings, and the characters are well drawn. The end may come off a bit “preachy”, but in retrospect, that is the way we really thought at that point. We were beginning to realize that cooperation and acceptance of a variety of views would be essential as our culture did in fact open up at the dawn of the era of TV and much more convenient travel as the gasoline rationing and other restrictions experienced during the war were indeed replaced by a very real sense of freedom and new horizons awaiting. For those adults who really are too young to remember “how it was”, as well as for youngsters who actually “haven’t a clue”, this is a worthwhile little book.

MARYELLEN: TAKING OFF is the second book written for the American Girl  Maryellen Larkin doll . Maryellen is one of the historical character dolls (year 1954), so the book is about activities that a 10-year-old girl might have enjoyed in 1954. The first series book,  Maryellen: The One and Only , introduces the character, and is included with a purchase of the doll; it can also be purchased separately.As usual, the “Taking Off” book illustrations show Maryellen dressed in outfits that can be purchased for the doll (e.g.,  Maryellen’s Vacation Playsuit , on the cover of this book). It doesn’t bother me that the AG doll books are such blatant marketing tools, because the stories are entertaining, and they teach kids about the highlighted historical period. The clothing designs are always accurate, too.The books, including this one, are goody-two-shoes in the extreme, expressing family-and-friends-first values. Kids today may find them too treacly-sweet to want to read more than one. The nonfiction historical notes (see “Inside Maryellen’s World” at the back), and the scrapbook illustrations (e.g., a Davy Crockett hat in “Maryellen’s Scrapbook”, at the front) are interesting.The story in this book involves Maryellen’s camping trip, her birthday party planning, her search for a disappeared sister and dog, and her team leadership in building a balloon “flying machine” for a science contest.

The American Girl books are perhaps legitimately called "formulaic," but truth be told, it's a formula that works well, and it's not bad quality. The heroine inhabits a well-researched milieu, has a wish she wants fulfilled, encounters a challenge that requires her to be brave and to trust the right people in her life, and she must triumph both in terms of the obstacle, and in her reaction to the people and/or circumstances that have been unfair to her. I like that the AG books are, in general, positive in terms of the way family relationships are portrayed, and don't rely too heavily on peer confidances at the expense of trusting the right adults. I like that the different historical and cultural circumstances are broadening for the young readers who engage these books, and that they are written with just the right amount of suspense, without being disturbing to sensitive readers. I like that there are people who are complicated, negative, prejudiced and even mean - but that they are rarely reduced to a simple caricature that we're comfortable dismissing without acknowledging their humanity or needs as an individual. All in all, I find this to be a worthy read for a youngster, and a great jumping off point for valuable conversations and mentoring.

My 10 year old daughter loves American Girl dolls and reading, so the American Girl books are great for her. They each have a theme or lesson with a positive message. They give lots of information about the time in history the girl is from. The books have pictures throughout that help illustrate what is happening in the story.My daughter really enjoyed reading Maryellen: Taking off. It gave her a glimpse at life in the 1950's, experiencing it as a child her age would. One key topic that was covered was Polio (and the new vaccine for it). Maryellen had the illness herself, so could describe what it was like. There was also a situation in the book where Maryellen was not taken seriously in her science club because she was a girl. While this book was technically the 2nd Maryellen book, my daughter didn't feel like she was missing anything from not having read the first book.The end of the book includes 6 pages that give a nonfiction overview of Maryellens’s world, giving more insight to the events in the story.This book is educational, but in a way that doesn’t feel like it since you experience it through Maryellen. This is the type of book that I love to see in my daughter’s book collection!