Recommended grades 4-6. The
American Girls have gone far out with Julie, a girl living in San Francisco during the groovy 1960's and 70's. In
The Secret Guitar (American Girl Publishing, 2011), part of the
Julie Mystery Series, Julie and her friends must find a stolen guitar that belonged to (fictional) rock star, Danny Kendricks. The guitar is part of a charity auction for a recent oil spill in the San Francisco Bay that is devastating the marine life. Author Kathryn Reiss drew her inspiration from her own childhood, though as a piece of historical fiction, it is unconvincing. Reiss creates fictional versions of people and events (Jimi Hendrix, the Exxon oil spill) instead of using their real life counterparts. This is confusing, and ultimately doesn't achieve what great historical fiction should do- teach readers about actual historical time periods using a combination of fact and fiction. Reiss's words capture
feeling and fiction, and she includes a quick historical afterword connecting the story to history. Ultimately, the story would have been much more valuable to readers had she written within the true 1960s instead of creating a fictional parallel.
Additional Selection, **
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