Now, now, please don't bash Amy Godlman Koss. PC probably put her up to writing the thing with the characters and everything. She is a really great writer. I love most of her other stuff. I can't agree about Kailey's book without reading it.
Well I just finshed Kailey the book and I have to say by the second chapter I really didn't care if the development company tore up the beach front which is sad since I like ocean life. I did care becuase I just wanted the book to be OVER. I mean even the way the book itself was put togther bad. Even at the end if you remeber good old Lindsey's book they had a couple of stories a real American Girls at the end who helped out and made a differance. Yet for a book clearly about helping make a differance the only thing they could find to write about as far as real American Girl was about some chick who lives in Southern California (yeah can't you smell the plastic)who likes to surf (after one of my friends nearly drowned surfing really makes her someone to look up too [img]graemlins/sure.gif[/img] ) she is 12 in book about 10 year olds and the only thing I got from this is that she writes and draws well. (Not really though) too bad I can't say the same for the author and illustrator. As for the characters themselves absoulty no depth and the story line it doesn't need to be told in 141 pages I can sum it up in four lines.
Girl likes water and tide-pools.
Finds out developmenters are going to distroy it.
Finds a way to save it.
Developmenters because of girl decide not to bulid. (who didn't like see that ending comming a mile away).
Not to mention her friend Tess is the world biggest air head (and not even in a funny way) and both are absouly as shallow as the tide pools there is not one character in the enitre book you want to root for..or like. I mean reading the book I could tell if they were real people they couldn't save postage stamps. Personly I think the author Amy Goldman Koss should put down her pen and take up needlepoint save your money this book is not worth it. Now to cut down the Illustrator Philip Howe although I don't know what else he might have done but someone might have told him this was a book about tide pools and marine life so two very tiny picures one with a starfish barely seen I don't think cuts it. The big pictures that are done are without a doubt the most boreing parts of the book and they are not even really accurate or exciting. Not to mention they look goofy. Kailey and Tess LOOK like a air heads.
Also outfits from the big disappontment athough all were mentioned the only thing she put on was the wetsuit and picked up her boogie board. The dog Sandy doesn't exsit I don't know why they didn't put Mr. Tiny with Lindsey after all he played a way bigger part then the yellow lab (whos name was never mentioned) who was in for about two lines. I am sorry this a little long what did others think?
Now, now, please don't bash Amy Godlman Koss. PC probably put her up to writing the thing with the characters and everything. She is a really great writer. I love most of her other stuff. I can't agree about Kailey's book without reading it.
Have to agree that the book isn't the best- but I am an almost 36 year old reading a book designed for 7-11 year olds. My 10 year old enjoyed it but she too was mad that Sandy was only mentioned in 2 lines and not even by name. Agree that they could have made one of the tide pool characters she loved as her pet.
I liked Kailey's book. While it's no great piece of children's literature, I didn't think it was bad, especially when taken from the perspective that it was written for 7-11 year-old girls. It's also a short book, probably written very quickly, that doesn't have much room for character development.
A few of my friends were interested in Kailey's story so I let them read the book. The reactions were mixed. People seemed to either like it okay or really hate it.
I think the reason I probably took a fancy to the Kailey story is that it reminds me of growing up in the small town where I live... minus the beach. Our shops and restaraunts have artwork by local artists, we have long-haired funny waitresses at some restaraunts that know your name and chat with you, and Kailey's "Draw for the Tide Pools" project reminded me of the project our town's Art Guild did to save the historic theatre downtown.
You can see that ending coming a mile off but I think I prefer it to a more realistic one where the beach is destroyed by corporate America and all of Kailey's work goes to waste.
I think that Kailey taking an active part in helping an environmental group save the tide pools rather than basically doing it all herself would have made for a more realistic and possibly more interesting story.
My biggest problem with the book is Tess. She is an AWFUL character and I don't think there is any way that she and Kailey could have really been best friends.
Melissa, I think American Girl IS creating these just to be dolls and isn't putting much effort into the books at all. The book seems tacked on, and I never gave it a second thought about changing my Kailey doll's name and turning her into someone completely different. The Kailey persona just doesn't stick to her like with the historical dolls and their books.
<font color="#020176" size="1">[ July 30, 2003 04:12 PM: Message edited by: Duchess of Wellington ]</font>
Gee, what a bummer to hear that her book isn't good. I was debating whether to get her since we already had the AGOT12 (blonde hair brown eyes) and everyone had such wonderful things to say about Kailey in a previous post.
Put me back in the "undecided" category.
-Michele
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">And therein lies the distinguishing characteristic between the historical dolls and the one-book wonders. The former require extensive research and the development of a character over a series of books. The latter appear to be, as you say, just dolls with their hastily written books serving only as an excuse to justify carrying the American Girl name.Originally posted by Duchess of Wellington:
Melissa, I think American Girl IS creating these just to be dolls and isn't putting much effort into the books at all. The book seems tacked on, and I never gave it a second thought about changing my Kailey doll's name and turning her into someone completely different. The Kailey persona just doesn't stick to her like with the historical dolls and their books.
I would prefer that, instead of all of the hoopla around the limited edition dolls, they just introduce the new dolls as "book-free" AGoTs or, as MyTwinn does, give people of the option of buying an AGoT from a menu of skin tone, eye color and shape, hair color and style/texture. Then AG could blow off what is obviously an expensive pretense, saving their book writing dollars for the historical dolls for whom the quality and accuracy of the stories is truly important.
This should please both camps: the ones who just want to buy dolls as well as those who want to engage in the full book-driven experience we have come to expect of the historical dolls.
Taffy
Unlike historicals, these books are clearly written just for the sake of being labeled "educational". I sincerely believe that they come up with the doll's appearance and collection, and THEN write a story to go along with it.
Now I have to say, I actually DID enjoy Lindsey's book. I kinda though it was cute. BUT I, too, noticed many things wrong with it. Lindsey's illegal behavior and her annoying nosy-ness, I remember someone saying that Lindsey is the type of girl other kids would be told to stay away from.
I buy the dolls, I love the dolls, I have to have them-
but the actual characters have about the same depth as the kiddie pool in your backyard,
and while the dolls are loveable, the actual characters are simply unlikeable.
Thats my take.
But I guess it doesn't really matter as long as they are making profit from these dolls.
<font color="#020176" size="1">[ July 30, 2003 09:33 PM: Message edited by: BETSYSLITTLESTAR ]</font>
Oh, and just to let you know- and to prove a point- Kailey's dog Sandy was added AFTER the book was written.
AG made her do a re-write because they wanted Kailey to have a pet dog (they had probably already planned one out for her collection).
Thats probably why there is so little about him, because he wasn't even soemthing she included in her book originally.
The Sandy thing doesn't surpise me. They gave Janet Shaw Kaya's name but I am guessing they stood back over that. The historcal writers are paid more money and carry more wieght then the one shot writers. They can say, "I won't write." The one book I enjoyed as a young child written in a child's voice was The Best Chirstmas Pageant Ever. I even enjoyed it was an adult when I re-read it and then read the sequel which I also loved.
I never realized that there was a sequel to The Best Christmas Pagent Ever. I just looked it up on Barnes and Noble. There was a TV movie of Christmas pagent also. It was very funny. It should show up on some cable channel.
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