AR: 3.9

Kirsten and her family celebrate their first Christmas in their new home on Uncle Olav's farm in mid-nineteenth-century Minnesota.

I'm not crying, you're crying!! Okay...I am totally crying. When Kirsten and Papa get home and they open up the trunk with all their most precious possessions from Sweden- waterworks. I absolutely adored these books as a kid and rereading them as an adult is so wonderful and nostalgic ( )

Kirsten misses a lot of things from Sweden- especially as the holidays approach. She knows that she will be able to recapture a little bit of the country she misses through getting back her trunks, but Papa can not get the trunks until late in the season. They go to town to get them, but a blizzard springs up on the way back- Kirsten tells Papa about a cave they can hide in that saves their lives, and they arrive back home just in time to celebrate Saint Lucia Day. ( )

Kirsten’s Surprise is one of the most adventurous sequels in this series. The author has done her research on the time period, location, and culture. She includes research pieces in the back of this book for the reader to better understand the culture of the time period and the immigrants from Sweden. One of the reasons that I like the American Girl books is because they offer different perspectives from different culture with an easy to read format.

The plot in this story is centered on preparations for Christmas and the Swedish holiday called St. Lucia. Unfortunately, many of the families are experiencing hardship and the all family members are looking for ways to make Christmas/St. Lucia special. As Kirsten and the children of the town gather thoughts and ideas on how they can make the celebration of St. Lucia a special day! It is shared that the children who lived in Sweden had experienced the St. Lucia holiday because in America, families celebrated Christmas.
Unexpectedly, Kirsten’s father sets out for town the day before Christmas to get boxes of their things that had been left when they had arrived in America. Kirsten pleads with her father to go and he agrees. During their trip (they travel by horse drawn carriage), they
Run into a snow storm on their journey home. Kirsten must find the physical and spiritual strength within herself to lead the way home.

The only thing that I do not like about the Kirsten book(and American Girl books)
Is there is not a lot of “voice” to the books. Then again, I think that these books
Are meant for “right after chapter book readers”. ( )