Meet Josefina
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Review by Stephanie Joyce
This fall, nine-year-old Josefina Montoya makes her debut as the newest character of "The American Girl" historical fiction series. Josefina is the sixth American Girl to be launched by the Pleasant Company since the line was introduced in 1986. Her stories bring 7-to-12-year-old readers into the rich culture of the American West, in which European, Indian and Hispanic traditions were intermingled.
"Meet Josefina" and "Josefina Learns a Lesson" are the first of a six-book series which will explore, through Josefina's eyes, the events that shaped the American West. "Josefina's Surprise," Book Three, is a Christmas story coming later.
Josefina is the youngest daughter of a ranchero (farmer) living in northern New Mexico in 1824. In Book One, her beloved mother has recently died, and Josefina and her older sisters Clara, Francisca and married sister Ana have taken over the household chores, washing, cooking and tending the garden Mama planted. But without their mother's cheering, guiding presence, Josefina often feels lost, jarred by the squabbling of her sisters as they struggle to run the household. Josefina finds herself daydreaming and longing for the peace that reigned when Mama was alive, and for the boldness her mother's presence always seemed to give her.
So it is with special anticipation that Josephina and her sisters await their abuelito (grandfather), a trader on the New Mexico trail. Returning from a five-month trip by mule train to Mexico City, he brings with him exotic treasures: foreign spices, European laces, chocolate, as well as stories of adventures on the trail.
And on this trip, he brings a wonderful surprise -- Tia Dolores, sister of Josefina's mother. Among her belongings, Tia Dolores has something even more wonderful -- a piano. Josefina, raised on guitars, harps and the human voice, feels she can almost see the notes as they fill the air. While Tia Dolores visits, the sisters' squabbling ceases, and peace descends on the Montoya household. Josefina suddenly finds the courage that deserted her with her mother's death. She sees what is lacking in the family's life and rallies her sisters to help secure the missing link.
The addition of the Josefina stories brings a new focus on America's Spanish heritage to the popular American Girls collection, whose broad spectrum of characters has included girls from colonial times, the pioneer era, the Civil War and slavery period and World War II. As with the other characters of the series, the publisher is providing a doll of Josefina, dressed in the typical costume of her era: loose blouse and skirt, a rebozo (shawl), and leather moccasins.
The engaging and imaginative Josefina provides a charming guide to the Old West. Skillfully inserted into the fictional life of this character are historically accurate details about how the Montoyas lived, what they ate, what they wore, and what their world looked like.
Author Valerie Tripp, who has written 15 books in the American Girls series, involved her whole family in her research trips, spending several summers in New Mexico. Illustrator Jean-Paul Tibbles also did on-site research. The result is a new series in which text and pictures give an authentic, lived-in look to a long-ago world. They make history visible and, more important, interesting for young readers.
Following the narrative, an illustrated "Peek into the Past" gives a brief account of how people lived in Mexico in 1824, and how the territory came to be part of the United States. A glossary following the history makes it easy to pronounce the Spanish words (gracias, fandango, metate, etc.) in the stories. Each book also comes with a leaflet of Fun Facts. In Book One, it includes pictures and facts about her mother's pine treasure box, her writing desk, the use of yucca root as laundry soap, and the importance of the local church bell.
The series will be completed with three more books to appear in the fall of 1998 in both English and Spanish versions. Josefina's story is a welcome addition to a popular series that celebrates American diversity while bringing its history to vivid life for young girls.
Stephanie Joyce is a children's book reviewer in Arlington, Virginia.
©1997, ProMotion, inc.
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