Happy Fourth of July!  I’ve been hunting my shelves for a good book to review that’s appropriate to the day.  I usually celebrate with movies–either 1776 or Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.  But I do have one favorite book series set around the Revolutionary War.

I loved American Girl when I was a kid.  I subscribed to the magazine for many years, and read several of the book series.  My favorite was always Felicity.  One of the best Christmas gifts I ever got was a Felicity doll, with her wardrobe of clothes and her four-poster bed, from rather indulgent grandparents.  🙂

Felicity lives in Williamsburg, Pennsylvania, at a time when tensions are beginning to rise between the British and the colonists.  Felicity loves adventure and has trouble being a proper young lady–which is probably what makes her beloved of young girl readers.  The main focus of her story is usually on school or family or friends, but the political situation furnishes a backdrop, and sometimes becomes part of the story.  At one point, Felicity is separated from her best friend, Elisabeth, because Felicity’s family is pro-revolution, while Elisabeth’s father is a Loyalist.  At another point, Felicity’s father’s apprentice considers running away to join the revolutionary army.

The books strike a balance, bringing in history without making it feel dragged in, and without distracting too much from Felicity’s adventures as a girl living her ordinary life in the 1770s.  Not every book achieves such a good balance!

The most appealing part of the Felicity stories, for me, was Penny.  Penny is a horse who Felicity tames and learns to ride, rescuing her from a cruel master.  This was directly responsible for my going through the horse phase that probably every little girl has at some point!

These are sweet books, and a lot of fun–and quite short!  Rereading them many years later, I find it takes about twenty minutes to read one book.  But Felicity and her world are nice to visit–however briefly!