Full Speed Ahead: My Journey with Kit (American Girl: Beforever: Kit)

As an adult reader (and collector of AG dolls) and a person fascinated with both historical fiction and non-fiction, I must give 5 stars to the author of this "choose your ending" book. I generally do NOT like "choose your ending". However, the AG historical dolls lend themselves well to this genre, because there ARE so many different ways the stories could go. I chose to read the book straight through (which is somewhat clueless because the stories do not combine well) because I am miserable when I have choices. This way I could discover all the alternatives and I felt it made the stories more real. Once again AG makes a hit! So much for us to learn about the Great Depression at this period of recession in our own times. Every tale of Kit is gripping right to the finish!

Cute book and great intro for a choose your own adventure. Although the book is not as well written as the other Kit books in this series.

Great book I wish that it would go on forever.

a++++

My 8-year old daughter is big fan of American Girl dolls, has a budding interest in history and enjoys stories of adventure. I was both intrigued and excited to see the American Beforever Journey series that allows girls to see/experience how other girls their age lived through certain periods of America’s history. FULL SPEED AHEAD: MY JOURNEY WITH KIT details a current day girl’s journey back to the trying times of the Great Depression where she discovers how someone her age lived. In an age of high-tech gadgetry and the convenience, entertainment and luxury they offer, I felt this book offered a great opportunity for my daughter to see what life might have been like when push-buttons, video screens and car-rides weren’t part of daily life.The book is written form the perspective of a current middle-school-aged girl (Lulu) who stumbles upon a magical camera box and is transported back to 1933 (amid the Great Depression) where she meets Kit, a same-aged girl experiencing a much different life. From the start, it is made clear that Kit does not have the same luxuries that Lulu has … Kit’s family home is small and modestly furnished, much of the family’s food comes from a garden, money concerns impact all family decisions and Kit IS the family’s dishwasher. Regardless, Lulu discovers that despite the financial difficulties, Kit’s behavior and outlook on life really doesn’t differ much from her own.Rather than just writing a straight-forward journey, FULL SPEED AHEAD offers a variety of alternate experiences and outcomes for the reader. Along Lulu’s journey with Kit, they face a myriad of decisions that affect the story and the reader gets to choose which decision to make and follow its resulting path (the choice the reader makes will direct her to the page that continues that particular storyline). This format allows the reader to experience a variety of outcomes which adds an element of excitement and adventure generated by “what if” scenarios. The end of book includes a chapter that provides a brief summary of Kit’s era that gives a general idea of the impact the Great Depression had on American families, giving a historical perspective to Kit’s fictional story.Overall, FULL SPEED AHEAD has a happy, uplifting tone and is full of adventure. My daughter loved being offered the variety of alternate paths which had her flipping back and forth to experience each outcome. While the book touches on the challenges faced by families during the Great Depression, it doesn’t dwell in the misery that so often describes this period of American history. If anything, FULL SPEED AHEAD illustrates how one can find happiness and hope when facing adversity. I really like the historical aspect this series of books provides and my daughter is already asking for the book detailing the journey of the American Girl who grew up in my era (Julie in the 1970s).

My 8-year-old daughter is currently reading another of the Beforever Journey titles, which she likes, but I am wishing I had started her in this one.She isn't a strong reader, and one of the first things I noticed with this book is that everything seems shorter...*the introductory set-up is pretty fast (the unnamed character who "you" are is introduced, finds the device that sends her back in time, and faces the first decision point pages earlier than in some of the other books)*the sections seem to mostly be 1-2 pages, instead of 2-3 pages*you get to points where the story ends much soonerI think this would have been great for my daughter. I also think this title would have made me completely crazy when I was a kid. Seriously, I sat down to read this book for the first time, and "I" was back home having learned to actually help out around the house within eight minutes. I read fast... but finishing a storyline that quickly is a letdown.Yes, you can go back and make different choices, and they even give you a good page to go back to when the story ends. And that aspect would definitely appeal to my daughter. But she reads slower, so even if she made the same choices I did that first time through, it would take her a couple of days to get there.

This adventure deals with going back to 1933 and dealing with the depression and homeless people. I can only imagine what it would have been like to have lived during such hard times.We go back and meet Kit who is a young girl our age and she belongs to a family that lives just up from the train tracks. Kit's father has lost his job and they are just barely making a go of things but the wheel could turn one way or the other any day or time.The journey I chose took us to the train tracks and before we know it we are being pursued by a homeless man who claims Kit stole his shoes. We jump into a boxcar thinking it will only take us around a bit but are really surprised when it leaves the state taking us to a neighboring state. Hopefully we can find our way to Kit's Aunts house and be safe.These books have been fun and light with each containing multiple journeys. You pick your own ending so you can read the book over again and thus create another journey different in one or many ways. I'm sure my granddaughter's are going to enjoy these a lot since they have read some of the previous books and liked them. Great way of getting some historical knowledge and finding yourself floating along for the ride.