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impybelle's review against another edition
4.0
The Glowing Heart is my favorite of the three mysteries that came out this year. That's probably mostly due to the fact that it reads like a continuation of Josefina's main series and all the warm fuzzies are there.
It's possible to solve all the mysteries, though only one is fairly obvious right off the bat. I mention this because I like my mysteries to be something the reader can solve and I definitely preferred that as a kid.
It's possible to solve all the mysteries, though only one is fairly obvious right off the bat. I mention this because I like my mysteries to be something the reader can solve and I definitely preferred that as a kid.
panda_incognito's review against another edition
2.0
Suitable for the target age, but utterly predictable.
snowdrowsey's review against another edition
2.0
I really like reading about Josefina and would like it if more mysteries were written for this character. This book was okay to read. I saw right through why her aunt, now step-mother Dolores wasn't feeling well and seemed tired all the time. Some characters and the way things were presented seemed rather exaggerated or "over-done," but I think since this book is geared towards kids, I'm rather more worldly and so found this silly. However, perhaps something like that would be good for kids to read. One of the characters who seems like a very nice and polite person actually turns out to be a thief. The fact that "bad" people aren't always scary and mean I think is a good thing for kids to learn. It just would've been better if this plot could've been beefed up a bit more, but oh well.
readingwithrebeccanicole's review against another edition
One of the better American Girl mysteries. I've always had a fondness for Josefina. Some of the secondary characters do seem to have exaggerated personalities, though that is not entirely uncommon in children's books. I had the mystery figured out early on, but I doubt I would have if I was in the target audience. I like how the history and culture was subtly woven into the story. The culture is what really kept me interested in the story.
mrskatiefitz's review against another edition
3.0
In The Glowing Heart, Josefina and her family, including her stepmother, Tia Dolores, are celebrating Three Kings Day. Joining the family are two visitors: Senor Fernando, who wishes to buy a horse from Josefina's father, and Don Javier, a former boyfriend of Tia Dolores, who brings her the ruby ring she has inherited from an aunt. When the ring goes missing, Tia Dolores is devastated and Josefina wonders which of their guests could have stolen it, and whether the family is in danger of losing anything more to the thief. I liked this book a lot for the day-to-day details of living on a ranch, but not as much for the mystery. For a kids' book, this involved a lot of adult characters with more mature problems than most eight-year-olds can relate to. I had never read a Josefina book, so this was interesting for that reason, but otherwise, it was really just okay.
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