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A review by panda_incognito
Very Funny, Elizabeth by Valerie Tripp
1.0
This addition to the Felicity series, which came out after the movie, is over-the-top, farcical, and completely unrealistic. When it came out, my sister and I borrowed the book from some friends, and I was unimpressed and uneasy with it. Now that I have read it again, I see how valid that was. I had very good taste! But then again, this book is so monumentally bad that I'm not sure I get any credit for my discernment.
From the beginning of this book, there are glaring continuity issues, because Elizabeth has a different hair color, a wildly different personality, and a different friendship dynamic with Felicity than in any of the other books. The hair color issue is explained easily enough, since the movie actress for Elizabeth had blond hair, but the rest of the differences are mystifying. Valerie Tripp, the original series author, engaged in random and inexplicable character assassination in this book, turning Elizabeth into an immature, impulsive, and mean-spirited prankster who behaves in ways that no Colonial child could ever imagine getting away with.
Elizabeth also has a completely different friendship dynamic with Felicity than she did in the other books. Previously, Elizabeth was the reserved, level-headed counterpart to Felicity's feisty nature, but in this book, to borrow a phrase from a friend, "they egg each other on to dastardly deeds against humanity." These girls suddenly become pranksters devoted to making Elizabeth's older sister's life miserable, and even though they claim that they have agreed to never do anything truly hurtful to Annabelle, their behavior is excessive and wrong.
Also, for whatever reason, Elizabeth and Felicity have developed a random code where they will hit their feet together under tables to communicate what they are current thinking about regarding Annabelle. This is RIDICULOUS, and it gets even worse. In one scene, when Elizabeth goes to visit Felicity and share some news, the scene ends with them tapping their feet together under the table, and I was jarred and surprised, because I hadn't realized that they had sat down together. I went back to the beginning of the scene and read it again to find what I had missed, but it never even said that they had sat down at a table, and I was right to imagine them standing during this conversation! Also, why tap your feet together if you're in private, and not trying to communicate without Annabelle noticing? The writing is so lazy and terrible that I don't even know what to say about it.
This book is designed to teach about Colonial courtship dynamics, and it does that tolerably well, but the only real value of the book comes from the "peek into the past" section, not the farcical story of a suitor and his sister coming from England to pursue Annabelle's hand in marriage. Elizabeth's behavior during this process is embarrassing to twenty-first century eyes, and it is unimaginable that she would have behaved this way as a well-bred Colonial child from a high-class family. Similarly, it is unimaginable that the suitor's sister would behave in the way that she did.
I cringed and suffered through these scenes, and couldn't even begin to imagine why a successful, talented author like Valerie Tripp would write something this clunky, unrealistic, and farcical. The only way to deal with this book is to pretend that it's someone's horrible fan fiction, or that the author is lampooning history through a ridiculous comedy. It is impossible to believe that any of these characters are real people who take themselves seriously. Also, the book concludes absurdly.
The multi-page historical section in the back is well-written and highly educational, and I appreciate the photo and artwork reproductions, primary source quotations, and explanations of courtship and marriage dynamics from this era. One interesting thing that I learned was that pressures to marry did not only exist for women at this time, but that unmarried men were also considered unsuccessful and lazy, and were rarely elected to public office. Also, in the Colony of Maryland, bachelors were required to pay higher taxes. That's interesting, and the fact that even I learned something from this historical note shows that it's very substantial, not just comparing basic cultural details to the present. This is the one good thing about the book.
Last year, I got a used copy of this book very cheaply when a friend's parents were downsizing, because even though I remembered not liking it, I wanted to complete my set and was curious to read it again. It's fun to have a copy that belonged to my friend, and I'll keep this around to have a complete set and to have access to this out-of-print book, but it is genuinely so much more terrible than I had remembered. It was worth reading again for the entertainment value of hating it, and the historical section is great, but I would never encourage someone to read this unless they're either committed to reading all of the American Girl books or want to pretend that this is a comedy skit making fun of the Felicity series.
From the beginning of this book, there are glaring continuity issues, because Elizabeth has a different hair color, a wildly different personality, and a different friendship dynamic with Felicity than in any of the other books. The hair color issue is explained easily enough, since the movie actress for Elizabeth had blond hair, but the rest of the differences are mystifying. Valerie Tripp, the original series author, engaged in random and inexplicable character assassination in this book, turning Elizabeth into an immature, impulsive, and mean-spirited prankster who behaves in ways that no Colonial child could ever imagine getting away with.
Elizabeth also has a completely different friendship dynamic with Felicity than she did in the other books. Previously, Elizabeth was the reserved, level-headed counterpart to Felicity's feisty nature, but in this book, to borrow a phrase from a friend, "they egg each other on to dastardly deeds against humanity." These girls suddenly become pranksters devoted to making Elizabeth's older sister's life miserable, and even though they claim that they have agreed to never do anything truly hurtful to Annabelle, their behavior is excessive and wrong.
Also, for whatever reason, Elizabeth and Felicity have developed a random code where they will hit their feet together under tables to communicate what they are current thinking about regarding Annabelle. This is RIDICULOUS, and it gets even worse. In one scene, when Elizabeth goes to visit Felicity and share some news, the scene ends with them tapping their feet together under the table, and I was jarred and surprised, because I hadn't realized that they had sat down together. I went back to the beginning of the scene and read it again to find what I had missed, but it never even said that they had sat down at a table, and I was right to imagine them standing during this conversation! Also, why tap your feet together if you're in private, and not trying to communicate without Annabelle noticing? The writing is so lazy and terrible that I don't even know what to say about it.
This book is designed to teach about Colonial courtship dynamics, and it does that tolerably well, but the only real value of the book comes from the "peek into the past" section, not the farcical story of a suitor and his sister coming from England to pursue Annabelle's hand in marriage. Elizabeth's behavior during this process is embarrassing to twenty-first century eyes, and it is unimaginable that she would have behaved this way as a well-bred Colonial child from a high-class family. Similarly, it is unimaginable that the suitor's sister would behave in the way that she did.
I cringed and suffered through these scenes, and couldn't even begin to imagine why a successful, talented author like Valerie Tripp would write something this clunky, unrealistic, and farcical. The only way to deal with this book is to pretend that it's someone's horrible fan fiction, or that the author is lampooning history through a ridiculous comedy. It is impossible to believe that any of these characters are real people who take themselves seriously. Also, the book concludes absurdly.
Spoiler
Annabelle and her suitor call off their engagement, and everything returns to the status quo. Nothing changes; no one experiences character growth. Felicity and Elizabeth decide that there is nothing wrong with going back to where they were at the beginning, and they devise a new plan for tormenting Annabelle. That's it. That's the end of the book.The multi-page historical section in the back is well-written and highly educational, and I appreciate the photo and artwork reproductions, primary source quotations, and explanations of courtship and marriage dynamics from this era. One interesting thing that I learned was that pressures to marry did not only exist for women at this time, but that unmarried men were also considered unsuccessful and lazy, and were rarely elected to public office. Also, in the Colony of Maryland, bachelors were required to pay higher taxes. That's interesting, and the fact that even I learned something from this historical note shows that it's very substantial, not just comparing basic cultural details to the present. This is the one good thing about the book.
Last year, I got a used copy of this book very cheaply when a friend's parents were downsizing, because even though I remembered not liking it, I wanted to complete my set and was curious to read it again. It's fun to have a copy that belonged to my friend, and I'll keep this around to have a complete set and to have access to this out-of-print book, but it is genuinely so much more terrible than I had remembered. It was worth reading again for the entertainment value of hating it, and the historical section is great, but I would never encourage someone to read this unless they're either committed to reading all of the American Girl books or want to pretend that this is a comedy skit making fun of the Felicity series.