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>