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A review by llama_lord
Felicity Saves the Day: A Summer Story by Valerie Tripp
5.0
I am continuing my re-read of Felicity's books, one of my favorite series from childhood, while I listen to the American Girls podcast.
I'll start with the most obvious thing which is that this story's plot of Felicity's idyllic summer vacation on her grandfather's plantation has definitely aged like milk for modern readers. It's made even worse by the fact that the book continues the series' tradition of almost completely ignoring slavery, despite being set on a literal plantation. It seems like it's purposefully written in a way that readers can be as blissfully unaware of the reality of slavery as Felicity is if they (or their parents) choose to. The "Looking Back" historical section in the back of the book gives more information on slavery than any of the other books have so far - which still isn't much - and I felt that even that historical information had a rosy retrospection on slavery. It really baffles me that apparently no one in 1992 on the publishing team thought twice about it. I understand that the Pleasant Company/American Girl wanted Felicity to be from Williamsburg because they were receiving so much support and historical resources from the Colonial Williamsburg living-history museum, but I can't help but think that so many aspects of Felicity's story would be improved and hold up better for modern audiences if Felicty's stories had been set in one of the northern American colonies instead of Virginia.
It's a shame that this story is clouded by it's setting, because I think it is one of the best in the Felicity series. It was certainly my favorite of the series when I read these as a child, and it's the story that I remember the most even as an adult re-reading them. In this book, Felicity is on her annual summer vacation to her grandfather's plantation, King's Creek. While there, Felicity is really enjoying her time being outdoors; going on long daily horseback rides with her grandfather, playing games with her little siblings, and foraging for food and plants which her grandfather teaches her to use for food or medicine. Felicity is miraculously reunited with Penny - the horse she tamed and set free in Book 1 - when Penny is coincidentally included in a group of horses Grandfather purchases from his neighbor. However, things go wrong when Felicity learns that Ben, the teenage apprentice who lives with her family, has ran away from Williamsburg to join the Patriot army but has injured himself and is stranded in the woods near King's Creek. Felicity must nurse him back to health all while deciding if she should keep his secret and help him run away to the army, or reveal his secret to Grandfather and her parents and force Ben to return home.
I think that the excellent pacing in the Felicity books in terms of the Revolutionary War really pays off in this story. The war starts during the spring of 1775 which is a few months before this story takes place, but we really get a feel for how it is affecting Felicity's life because we have been there for the steady build up to the war through previous books. Even Ben's decision to break his apprenticeship and run away has been foreshadowed through his behavior in the last two or so books. I really appreciate the thought that has gone into these books as a series; the Revolutionary War progresses and intrudes in Felicity's life a little bit more in each book and Felicity herself matures a little in each book, all in a way that takes advantage of the 6-book American Girl series structure and makes it work really well.
I appreciated the fact that Felicity just gets to be a hero in this story, in the sense that she doesn't have to "save the day" from some situation she herself accidentally created. I thought that the situation with Ben running away and Felicity having to help him worked well in this book, it lends itself to a lot of action and suspense and also to a very difficult moral decision for Felicity. I thought that the plot point of Felicity reuniting with Penny came off as a little too convenient, and, dare I say, a little underwhelming considering how important Penny is to Felicity. Unfortunately it seems that Penny had to become a B plot and take a backseat to Felicity's daring rescue of Ben.
As far as child me was concerned this book was the peak of the Felicity series, and consequently I remember absolutely nothing about any of the books that come after this. So I'm excited to keep reading and see how the Felicity stories end.
I'll start with the most obvious thing which is that this story's plot of Felicity's idyllic summer vacation on her grandfather's plantation has definitely aged like milk for modern readers. It's made even worse by the fact that the book continues the series' tradition of almost completely ignoring slavery, despite being set on a literal plantation. It seems like it's purposefully written in a way that readers can be as blissfully unaware of the reality of slavery as Felicity is if they (or their parents) choose to. The "Looking Back" historical section in the back of the book gives more information on slavery than any of the other books have so far - which still isn't much - and I felt that even that historical information had a rosy retrospection on slavery. It really baffles me that apparently no one in 1992 on the publishing team thought twice about it. I understand that the Pleasant Company/American Girl wanted Felicity to be from Williamsburg because they were receiving so much support and historical resources from the Colonial Williamsburg living-history museum, but I can't help but think that so many aspects of Felicity's story would be improved and hold up better for modern audiences if Felicty's stories had been set in one of the northern American colonies instead of Virginia.
It's a shame that this story is clouded by it's setting, because I think it is one of the best in the Felicity series. It was certainly my favorite of the series when I read these as a child, and it's the story that I remember the most even as an adult re-reading them. In this book, Felicity is on her annual summer vacation to her grandfather's plantation, King's Creek. While there, Felicity is really enjoying her time being outdoors; going on long daily horseback rides with her grandfather, playing games with her little siblings, and foraging for food and plants which her grandfather teaches her to use for food or medicine. Felicity is miraculously reunited with Penny - the horse she tamed and set free in Book 1 - when Penny is coincidentally included in a group of horses Grandfather purchases from his neighbor. However, things go wrong when Felicity learns that Ben, the teenage apprentice who lives with her family, has ran away from Williamsburg to join the Patriot army but has injured himself and is stranded in the woods near King's Creek. Felicity must nurse him back to health all while deciding if she should keep his secret and help him run away to the army, or reveal his secret to Grandfather and her parents and force Ben to return home.
I think that the excellent pacing in the Felicity books in terms of the Revolutionary War really pays off in this story. The war starts during the spring of 1775 which is a few months before this story takes place, but we really get a feel for how it is affecting Felicity's life because we have been there for the steady build up to the war through previous books. Even Ben's decision to break his apprenticeship and run away has been foreshadowed through his behavior in the last two or so books. I really appreciate the thought that has gone into these books as a series; the Revolutionary War progresses and intrudes in Felicity's life a little bit more in each book and Felicity herself matures a little in each book, all in a way that takes advantage of the 6-book American Girl series structure and makes it work really well.
I appreciated the fact that Felicity just gets to be a hero in this story, in the sense that she doesn't have to "save the day" from some situation she herself accidentally created. I thought that the situation with Ben running away and Felicity having to help him worked well in this book, it lends itself to a lot of action and suspense and also to a very difficult moral decision for Felicity. I thought that the plot point of Felicity reuniting with Penny came off as a little too convenient, and, dare I say, a little underwhelming considering how important Penny is to Felicity. Unfortunately it seems that Penny had to become a B plot and take a backseat to Felicity's daring rescue of Ben.
As far as child me was concerned this book was the peak of the Felicity series, and consequently I remember absolutely nothing about any of the books that come after this. So I'm excited to keep reading and see how the Felicity stories end.