Josefina's Short Story Collection

American Girl: Short Stories

by Valerie Tripp, Jean-Paul Tibbles (Illustrator)

In this keepsake collection, Josefina Montoya bravely faces each new adventure with faith from the past and hope for the future. Josefina loves the comforting traditions of life on her family's New Mexican rancho. She treasures the memory of her dear Mama, who recently died. But Josefina sometimes struggles to hold onto the old ways her mother taught her as she learns about exciting new ideas from her energetic aunt.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Short Stories, Historical, Childrens, Fiction, Middle Grade

219 pages, Hardcover

First published August 21, 2006

About the author

Valerie Tripp is a children's book author, best known for her work with the American Girl series.

She grew up in Mount Kisco, New York with three sisters and one brother. A member of the first co-educated class at Yale University, Tripp also has a M.Ed. from Harvard. Since 1985 she has lived in Silver Spring, Maryland. Her husband teaches history at Montgomery College.

Right out of college, Tripp started writing songs, stories, and nonfiction for The Superkids Reading Program, working with Pleasant Rowland, the founder of American Girl. For that series, Tripp wrote all the books about Felicity, Josefina, Kit, Molly, and Maryellen and many of the books about Samantha. She also wrote the "Best Friends" character stories to date, plays, mysteries, and short stories about all her characters.. Film dramatizations of the lives of Samantha, Felicity, Molly, and Kit have been based on her stories. Currently, Tripp is writing a STEM series for National Geographic and adapting Greek Myths for Starry Forest Publishing. A frequent speaker at schools and libraries, Tripp has also spoken at the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, The New York Historical Society, and Williamsburg.

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's really such a shame these short story collections were available for such a relatively short time, because this is just a lovely edition - even when, as mine is, the outside is covered in ex-library stickers. The size and shape are just so satisfying to hold in your hand, the illustrations are lovely, there's even a little ribbon bookmark. Just, A+ production.

Josefina's stories lack the variety we get for some of the other girls, symptomatic, perhaps, of Tripp's continued not really knowing what to do with Josefina. More weaving? More gathering? More sheep? Molly gets to go up in a plane and meet a movie star, but Josefina's Song feels like it's copying from a couple chapters of Kirsten's Surprise. Reward and Again feel slight, and Thanks is a retread of Lesson. The best of the bunch is Just Josefina - which initially feels like a repeat of Meet, but winds up finding fresh emotional territory in a really poignant way.


More Josefina babble

Meet Josefina | Josefina Learns a Lesson | Josefina’s Surprise | Happy Birthday, Josefina | Josefina Saves the Day | Changes for Josefina

A Reward for Josefina | Again, Josefina! | Josefina’s Song | Just Josefina | Thanks to Josefina | Josefina’s Short Story Collection

Secrets in the Hills | The Glowing Hearts

[Panda Incognito · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the stories are better than others, but they all have lovely illustrations, and I appreciate how the short stories dip into different parts of the Josefina timeline, building on situations and relationship dynamics that got less attention in the main series.

[Joey Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved reading more stories of Josefina and her family, their life on the Rancho. The way they lived they had to do literally everything themselves which wasn’t always easy as Josefina books show. They were really sweet and informative short stories.

Thanks to Josefina: Josefina helps her family come up with a really good idea to help their Papá buy more sheep after they had a huge flood and lost their herd. But the plan to all create blankets together didn’t go as planned as they didn’t enjoy certain jobs they had to do. When her sisters are mean to her one day she runs outside upset and hurt but Terisità ask for her assistance in gathering produce for dying the wool, this gives her a perfect idea to solve all their issues.

This was a really cute story and I just adored how she was so desperate to want to help her family out and came up with a great plan and then after a short disheartening time while they were all getting stressed with the unpleasant jobs she finds a perfect way to solve it all. (3/5 rating)

Just Josefina: Josefina’s Abuelita, Abuelito and Tía Dolores arrive from Santa Fe to stay with them. On each visit Josefina has the responsibility of assisting and helping her Abuelita to settle in. She sorts her clothes out, sings her to sleep and helps with anything she’s asked to do. Her Abuelita compares her to her dear mamá and it draws Josefina in, but when she is gifted a skirt that once belonged to her but is too tight she is scared to break it, until Tía Dolores plays an unresistable tune she must dance to before everyone, causing a rift between the two.

This was an interesting story, it shows how sweet and giving Josefina is and I loved that her Abuelita adored her as she was much alike her mamá, but it was sad too as Josefina was feeling left out and scared to step out of line and upset her Abuelita. But it all worked out in the end. (3/5 rating)

Again, Josefina: Tía Dolores played her piano for the family all loving listening to her, but it makes Josefina wish she could play too. She starts receiving lessons but things don’t go right at all as she makes mistakes and struggles to find time to practise with all her daily chores to do. Just as she feels like quitting her papà gives her some advice that she takes to heart making her practice no matter what she’s doing. When looking after her nephew who loves her music no matter if she goes wrong she realises she’s not expected to be perfect yet.

This was actually probably my favourite of the stories as it was precious she was trying so hard but didn’t know why she couldn’t do it right at all. And then all of a suddden with sheer determination and focus she started to get it and then with her of family she learnt she’ll get better in time and that’s okay. (4/5 rating)

Josefinas Song: Josefina and her papá go up the mountains to check on the Shepard that lives there with his grandson and their flock of sheep. Her papá is shocked to find his Shepard has gone blind and fears for his safety living there and caring for his sheep. But Josefina speeds out to protect them against her fathers wishes. While on the quiet journey home a huge thunderstorm starts and papá gets hurt. She gets her father back to the Shepard and is looked after dearly by the blind man and the horses and sheep by his grandson. And Josefina sings to him all night long.

I didn’t really care for this story at all honestly. It didn’t have the same feel as the other Josefina books had. I struggled to enjoy it and didn’t like what the story was about either. (1/5 rating)

A Reward for Josefina: Her family have all gone up to the Piñon trees to collect nuts that papá can sell. To make it fun and motivate he shares that whoever collects the most wins a reward. Josefina though gets disheartened when she is told to watch the food and the babies. When her nephew Juan wants to enter too she comes up with a fun way they can both collect nuts, but a thriving squirrel reveals more nuts hidden away and the two of them collect a huge sack full to show papá.

This was a really cute story, I love that even though she had another responsibility she found a way to still participating and making it fun for her nephew. She climbed trees and shook all the nets she could and then by chance found a huge stash hidden in a different tree, and still got the food ready and prepared for her family to eat. It was such a cute story. (4/5 rating)

I also must add that I adored that these books all had little extras like you could bake things that Josefina would have baked and learn and traditional dance and weave your own mini blanket, honestly I loved those small addition to the books.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has five separate short stories from the Josefina: An American Girl series that I’ve been reading for the “American Girls” podcast that I’ve been listening to by Allison Horrocks and Mary Mahoney. I will be reviewing all the stories individually, on their own book pages (because they are individual books... this was just a nice collection I got for cheap). As a collective whole, however, I would say the stories were just overall alright sadly. I really wanted to like them more than I did, but it just did not happen. I seemed to have an issue with each one that I read, which I will talk about more in my own individual analysis of each one. In the end, I found the whole collection to just sort of being boring and drab unlike the “Felicity’s Short Story Collection”, which I did end up liking for the most part. It’s worth mentioning that all five short stories that take place in this collection are really in the middle of Josefina series, mostly in between the 2nd - 5th book. I think this is an important detail to know just because it’s good to know where you’re at when your reading them and certain things in especially the sixth book *cough* with Tía Dolores haven’t happened yet *cough*. Okay, let’s get started with the individual reviews!

[Rubi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviews are on the individual listings of the short stories in this book. Overall good collection 👍👍

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this collection a lot more reading it the second time than I had the first. I think it makes a difference that I read it right after having re-read the entire Josefina series. The short stories all happen over the course of the series, so I could see how they worked together. And I think I appreciate Josefina in general more now than I did last time around.

[Aubrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned that in 1824 there was a lot of storms at that time and every girl had to act like a woman. They had to do a lot of work.

[Amanda Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice set for Josefina. They really build on her personality, but also allow her to become a bit more feisty. Lovely edition.