"Caroline" series by Kathleen Ernst

I'm not sure how I feel about the Caroline series by Kathleen Ernst.  While it was nice to once again immerse myself in a historical American Girl book, I felt like something was lacking.  Now, it could just be that I am older and more mature as a reader and therefore I need more substance to keep me entertained.  But I really felt like each of the books rambled on a little too much and there wasn't quite enough subject matter to hold my attention.  In some ways, it almost felt like the historical element (this set of books takes place during the war of 1812) wasn't as important as it is in some of the other books (even the ones that don't take place during big events in American history seemed to focus on the era quite a bit).  I felt like the reader doesn't get to see much of Caroline's world and how her life changes when the war begins.  I'm a little sad because I wanted to like these books but they just didn't do it for me. 

The more I look at it, the more I enjoy the older American Girls (Kit and the other girls that were released before her).  I've noticed that I tend to direct young girls to Molly, Kirsten and Addy well before I recommend Rebecca or Kaya.  Maybe I'm just stuck on the books that I read when I was younger, but those truly are my preference.  I wouldn't quite say I don't recommend these books.  If you know a young girl, she will very likely enjoy this series.  And if she doesn't there is (thankfully) a large variety of other books in the AG world.

Happy Reading!
-Melly