Reviews: McKenna & McKenna, Ready to Fly! by Mary Casanova

McKenna. by Mary Casanova. December 28, 2011. American Girl Publishing. 128 pages. ISBN: 9781593699949

McKenna, Ready to Fly! by Mary Casanova. December 28, 2011. American Girl Publishing. 128 pages. ISBN: 9781593699956

American Girl’s Girl of the Year 2012 is McKenna Brooks. In addition to a doll, which can be purchased on the American Girl website, there are also two books about this character: McKenna and McKenna, Ready to Fly! Both books are set in Seattle, Washington, and their storylines revolve around McKenna's struggles balancing her strong interest in gymnastics with the rest of her life, including friendships, family, and school.

In McKenna, McKenna's fourth grade teacher discovers she has trouble with reading comprehension and assigns her a tutor named Josie. Josie uses a wheelchair, a fact which makes McKenna nervous at first, until she realizes that having a disability doesn't mean Josie isn't capable in every other way. McKenna is still embarrassed that she needs a tutor, though, and must face the consequences when she can't tell her friends the truth. In McKenna, Ready to Fly!, McKenna  works on gaining her strength back after an injury, in the hopes of making the competitive gymnastics team. She also helps Josie overcome her fear of horseback riding and begins volunteering at the stables where Josie rides as a means of adding balance to her life.

Both these books have the same wholesome sense of right and wrong as every other book published by American Girl, but as compared with last year's books about Kanani Akina, they come across as preachy. The "people with disabilities are just like everyone else" message is certainly valuable, but the way it's delivered in these stories is so heavy-handed and condescending. I love that the books involve a girl who uses a wheelchair, but why does her role in the story have to be to teach us that people who can't walk are people too? Do kids really not know this? And if they don't, would it not be more effective to show them through a character's actions, rather than have the characters spout forced platitudes? The second book handles the issue a little better than the first, but the tone never completely loses that annoying patronizing quality.

That major criticism aside, though, the books combine two topics beloved by many 9- and 10-year old girls - gymnastics and horseback riding. There are plenty of descriptions related to both sports, so that fans and participants of both will be equally satisfied. There is also a good amount of conflict among girlfriends, but very few boys anywhere in the story. The focus is really on McKenna's decisions and how they affect her immediate circle of friends, and on making a difference to the world, even if it means stepping outside one's comfort zone.

I like Mary Casanova's storytelling style, and I felt like I got to know McKenna's character really well. Parents who seek out books devoid of angst, kissing, and superficial concerns will find the McKenna books a welcome alternative to some of the heavier middle grade books out there, and a nice contemporary read-alike for American Girl's historical novels. I prefer the Kanani books, because I think the characters and setting in those were better-developed, but the McKenna books are solid stories as well. 

I borrowed McKenna and McKenna, Ready to Fly! from my local public library. 

For more about these books, visit Goodreads and Worldcat.