Kat with a K

Review: Meet Julie

Meet Julie by Megan McDonald
Genre: Juvenile historical fiction
Pages: 93
Rating: 7.9

This is the first in another of the American Girl historical series, if we're calling things set eight years before I was born historical. Which I suppose we are. This is set in 1974, in California, maybe San Francisco? Julie's parents are divorcing, so she and her sister are moving with their mother to an apartment over her mother's shop - I want to call it a hippie gift shop, but I guess it's a little late for that. Anyway, Julie has to leave her best friend and go to a new school, where she has to fight to join the all-boys basketball team.

The book seemed a little heavy on the issues - divorce! Working mothers! Title IX! Vietnam vets! American Girl books are always like that, I guess, but usually the story is strong enough that it's less obvious. This one wasn't quite there, and the quality of the writing wasn't as high as usual. But it was still enjoyable, and much better than many books aimed at this age group. It just didn't quite have the usual American Girl magic.