AR: 4.1

While this was somewhat refreshing after the Felicity books, I feel like there is already a presage of the same important topics being neglected, such as what exactly is the status of these workers ("workers"? I really don't know) on the family's rancho. Why is it that Josefina's family has a rancho and others work on it instead of having their own? While I appreciate the diverse background and a historical story that isn't told so often, I hope this series will be more than just another rich American Girl.

The story itself was a bit boring, but it had a lot of work to do in only ~60 pages. It basically introduces us to Josefina's family, including her multitude of sisters, and their way of life on a rancho outside of Sante Fe when it was still part of Mexico. Their mother died shortly before the book starts, so I feel this has potential to tackle more serious subjects than the Felicity books did.

What's really sad and enlightening for me is that, as a woman in my 30s now rereading these, I am checking out the dads in the illustrations. God help me when I start checking out the grandpas. ( )

Age: 8+ years old

The story of a girl living in 1824.

9-year-old Josephina tries to run the household after her mother dies. Spanish language.

Josefina, 9 years old, is the youngest of 4 sisters living on a rancho in New Mexico in the 1820s. Their mother died a year before and so many of their traditions remind them of her. Their grandfather who drives a caravan from Mexico City to Santa Fe with items to trade arrives with a surprise, Tia Dolores, their mother's sister.
Josefina, who isn't very brave, finds that she can be brave when she needs to be. ( )

Josefina is a girl trying to find bravery and deal with living without her mother. When her aunt comes to visit and the goat she most fears eats all her mother’s flowers, she finds the bravery first to put the goat in its pen and then ask Papa’ for her aunt to stay. ( )

Book 1 ( )

NA