"Saige" by Jessie Haas

I was pretty excited when I found out about the 2013 American Girl of the Year, Saige, is from my home state of New Mexico.  She lives in Albuquerque, loves to paint and ride horses, and spends much of her time at her grandmother, Mimi's ranch.  But when the she realizes that her school alternates art and music classes because the budget isn't enough to give each student both classes every year, she gets the help of her friends to make a difference and raise the funds to change this.  But then Mimi gets hurt, will Saige be able to be there for Mimi and accomplish her goal?

For the most part, I really enjoyed Jessie Haas' book.  However, there was one thing that bugged me, and it took me awhile to figure out what it was.  I realized  that the book didn't feel like it was set in New Mexico.  Sure, the descriptions of the scenery were pretty accurate.  But I felt like it was missing the influence of the area's culture.  While I don't live in the Albuquerque area, I have spent a decent amount of time there.  Because of this, I was expecting this book to be similar to the Josefina series and include a good mix of Spanish words. Maybe it's because there has been quite a bit of hype because the book is set in my state and so that was very much in my mind as I was reading, but it felt like the book could have been set just about anywhere.  Overall, this is a small thing.  The book doesn't focus much on location (other than physical description) so this shouldn't detour you from wanting to read the book.  This book fits with the rest of the Girl of the Year books quite well.  Saige is strong, passionate, and energetic.  She is certainly a great role model for young girls.

Happy Reading!
-Melly