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5 reviews for:
Full Speed Ahead: My Journey with Kit
Juliana Kolesova, Valerie Tripp, Michael Dworkin
3.1 AVERAGE
5 reviews for:
Full Speed Ahead: My Journey with Kit
Juliana Kolesova, Valerie Tripp, Michael Dworkin
3.1 AVERAGE
adventurous
Even though I wasn't sure what to expect from it, this choose-your-own-adventure novel is a lot of fun. It is inherently gimmicky because of the format, but the writing style is great, the characters are completely authentic to the canonical stories, and it made me incredibly happy to read new content about imaginary people I love so much.
The story endings mostly seem pat and moralistic, with the modern POV character taking home some lesson about being grateful for her privileges or reaching out to other people more. However, that just comes with the territory of the type of story that this is, and there are a lot of fun pathways that you can take. I read all of the different variants, and they are all internally coherent, with consistent characterization and complete story arcs.
One of my favorite parts involves Kit, Charlie, and the POV character getting a ride in Uncle Hendrick's car. He starts ranting about politics, and. That's how to do gimmicky time travel right! Also, we learn that Charlie wants to study English literature at college. He's the ultimate fictional crush, guys.
I really enjoyed this, and I'm glad that I read it. Valerie Tripp is one of my all-time favorite authors, and it was delightful to read something about Kit that was new to me. I'm glad that I gave this a chance, and even though the format isn't my favorite, this has inspired me to read the other "my journey" American Girl books published during the Beforever reboot.
The story endings mostly seem pat and moralistic, with the modern POV character taking home some lesson about being grateful for her privileges or reaching out to other people more. However, that just comes with the territory of the type of story that this is, and there are a lot of fun pathways that you can take. I read all of the different variants, and they are all internally coherent, with consistent characterization and complete story arcs.
One of my favorite parts involves Kit, Charlie, and the POV character getting a ride in Uncle Hendrick's car. He starts ranting about politics, and
Spoiler
the POV character gets him to agree to a bet that he'll pay for Charlie's and Kit's college educations if FDR gets reelected three timesI really enjoyed this, and I'm glad that I read it. Valerie Tripp is one of my all-time favorite authors, and it was delightful to read something about Kit that was new to me. I'm glad that I gave this a chance, and even though the format isn't my favorite, this has inspired me to read the other "my journey" American Girl books published during the Beforever reboot.
As always, if anyone has access to the online endings, I'd appreciate it!
I have mixed feelings on this book. On the one hand, I enjoy Kit and even liked the protagonist to this story. On the other hand, there was some weird choices I felt that they did.
The first weird choice was often the protagonist did NOT say goodbye to Kit half the time with words. She would often write. Which I guess is fine, and relates to Kit's love of writing, but it was pretty strange compared to the other CYOA books.
The other weird choice was having Kit jump on a train a literal month after she WENT TO JAIL FOR DOING THE SAME THING. Kit didn't seemed bothered?!? This isn't just me guessing that it was a month either, Kit actually says that she met Will a month or so ago.
On top of that, the protagonist seemed to go between being older with some of the terms she used to being a lot younger as she called her hobby "not useful" when it was LITERALLY SEWING. I don't understand.
I have mixed feelings on this book. On the one hand, I enjoy Kit and even liked the protagonist to this story. On the other hand, there was some weird choices I felt that they did.
The first weird choice was often the protagonist did NOT say goodbye to Kit half the time with words. She would often write. Which I guess is fine, and relates to Kit's love of writing, but it was pretty strange compared to the other CYOA books.
The other weird choice was having Kit jump on a train a literal month after she WENT TO JAIL FOR DOING THE SAME THING. Kit didn't seemed bothered?!? This isn't just me guessing that it was a month either, Kit actually says that she met Will a month or so ago.
On top of that, the protagonist seemed to go between being older with some of the terms she used to being a lot younger as she called her hobby "not useful" when it was LITERALLY SEWING. I don't understand.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, Grief, Abandonment, Classism
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
adventurous
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No