American Girl’s Girl of the Year line has previously included
three stories for that year’s doll. Lately, it’s been two. If they happen to
start up the third story again, I will add it to this post, but sadly, I don’t
see that happening.
I don’t think there’s any question,
but I am in no way associated with American Girl or Mattel. I am simply a
long-time fan of the American Girl brand. I purchased these books myself.
Joss (Dec. 26, 2019) by Erin Falligant.
Living in
Huntington Beach, California, it’s no surprise that Jocelyn Elizabeth (Joss)
Kendrick is a surfer girl, and she’s all in like her surfing idol Tina Hart.
When the waves are good, Joss pops out her hearing aid (she’s completely deaf
in her left ear and uses a hearing aid in her right), grabs her hand-me-down
board once belonging to her 14-year-old brother Dylan and paddles into the
waves with her Surf Sister Sofia Goto. Her oldest brother, 18-year-old Liam,
can often be spotted surfing, and even the family dog, Murph, rides the waves
in down at Dog Beach. Joss and Sofia are super stoked to enter a surfing video
contest to win a chance to meet Tina Hart. Sofia is all-in with her recycled
beach art (using shells, kelp, discarded trash left haphazardly on the sand),
knowing Tina will appreciate it, but Joss thinks the only way to capture Tina’s
attention and win the contest is by mastering a killer move like the frontside
air, which her idol first achieved when she was 10 years old like Joss. Now
they need Dylan’s masterful video-recording skills, but he tells her he won’t
record them unless she makes the cheer team. What? No way. Joss is 100% surfer
girl, and there’s no way she’s wearing a ginormous hair bow. But if it’ll help
her win the video contest, then it’s worth it. Right?
I was impressed with this latest
from American Girl’s Girl of the Year
(2020) line. It isn’t only a story marketed for 8-12-year-olds to enjoy with an
active, athletic girl working to routinely balance fun, friends,
responsibilities and trying new things. It’s also a story with a wealth of
jargon – surfing, cheer and skateboarding – and features a character who cannot
readily hear like so many can, even with the invaluable assistance of a hearing
aid. “Joss” is lively and fun and as dramatic as the concerns of many a 10-year-old
can be.
Talk about a
balancing act. Joss has discovered how to be all in 100% in more than surfing.
She enjoys being on the Team Shine cheer team, and her athleticism courtesy of
surfing and skateboarding helps her athleticism in cheer and vice versa. When
the opportunity arises to become one of the team’s new flyers, Joss is excited.
Move over thigh stands; bring on the elevators! The elevator combined with
Mila’s lib is sure to give some stiff competition to Team Fury, the rival
competitive cheer team in Huntington Beach. But when the act that Joss, Sofia,
Brooklyn Tillman (Joss’ cheer teammate) and Murph perform for the talent show
is a “dogtastrophe” and a scary wipeout occurs at Shadow Rock, Joss loses
confidence. Now she doesn’t trust her teammates not to drop her, but that stems
from the trust she’s lost in herself to perform the skill. If she can’t perform
the stunt out of fear, will Coach Kara boot her from her position as a flyer?
The second installment in 2020’s Girl of the Year line from American Girl
is as sound as the first. Joss has accepted that she can do more than one
thing, giving her all to whatever she’s working on at the time, be it surfing,
cheer, skateboarding, etc., and know she isn’t any less by having multiple
interests. But in this story, Joss shows us how debilitating a fear can be and
how it can affect us, not only how we may lose trust in ourselves, but others
around us that we’ve before trusted implicitly. This story is not only
entertainment geared for middle-grade readers and fans of the American Girl
brand, but a learning tool in story form. Believe in yourself. Trust yourself.
Trust your team. Work hard. Be confident. Be you and be all in. 100%!
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