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American Girl: Short Stories #13
Felicity Takes a Dare
In Felicity Takes a Dare, it's the day of Williamsburg's town fair. Felicity has waited all winter to enjoy the music and dancing, to watch the races and contests, and, most of all, to see the racehorses. Felicity is sure it will be a day that she will never forget. Unfortunately, she's right.
After you read Felicity's story, learn how to play quoits, a game Felicity might have played at the town fair.
After you read Felicity's story, learn how to play quoits, a game Felicity might have played at the town fair.
39 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2001
About the author
Valerie Tripp
275 books457 followersValerie 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
May 13, 2026
"You must learn the difference between being brave and being foolhardy, or someday you will do yourself or someone else real harm."The spring fair is upon the Merriman family and Felicity could not be more excited! There's the horses, the races, the fireworks ...and the embroidery stitchery display from London.
While her mother spends her time perusing the fiber arts, Felicity manages to swindle a visit to the pastures with her younger siblings. When some out-of-towners dare Felicity to go into the horse pen, she obliges with dire consequences.
This book holds similar themes to other published books in the Felicity-verse - she goes off and does something dangerous, just because she can, and she attempts to do something way beyond her ten-year-old skillset.
"She tried to pick herself up, but another horse thundered past and kicked her arm so hard Felicity heard a crack."
The difference being...she actually saw consequences for her actions for once - and it's in the form of a broken arm.
To be honest, I was quite shocked that Felicity was actually injured in this one - she's my fifth American Girl that I've read about and this is the first time we've actually seen such a strong injury - the scene alone with the leeches? Yeeesh.
I did like how the consequences felt a bit 'realer' for her actions - I mean, what was she expecting? Going into a pen full of horses she doesn't know on a dare from a random boy?!
But at the same time, I do think her mother went a bit soft on her at the end. I know if I had done the same, my ears would've been RINGING - with or without the broken arm!
A Peek into the Past
Like all of the main and mini Felicity Merriman books, this one has a mini historical section at the back called a Peek into the Past.
In this Peek into the Past, we learn about Publick Times (fairs) in the 1770s. There's all sorts of fun information - like how people gathered in taverns or shops, to gossip and trade news. We learn what sort of pieces were crafted and shown off along with what was sold to the crowds. Performances, dancing, games, and events were all talked about as well!
And finally, there's an activity at the back for a game called Quoits, where you throw hoops onto stakes placed in the ground.
April 21, 2024
To the adult (re)reader, the structure of this is familiar and unsurprising: Mother cautions her about taking risks, Felicity brushes it off. Felicity does something dangerous that costs her something she was looking forward to, but there’s a sweet ending to lessen the sting.
But the window dressing on this is a fun story about a fair, and we see Felicity being peak Felicity: bold, impetuous, horse-crazy – and strong enough to get through anything.
The ending also provides a lovely example of something I love about the Felicity stories. Throughout the series, there are three constants: Mother wants Felicity to be more ladylike. Felicity doesn't want to. But Felicity and her mother also share a close bond: Despite their differences, Felicity clearly respects and adores her mother. Dolls of Our Lives famously said in an early episode that Felicity's father is a shopkeeper and her mother is a buzzkill, but there's a lot more to the relationship than that.
AG wiki places this one before Meet Felicity, and it works there. There are no flags that place the story else-when. Originally published in American Girl Magazine, March/April 1993.
More Felicity babble
Meet Felicity | Felicity Learns a Lesson | Felicity’s Surprise | Happy Birthday, Felicity | Felicity Saves the Day | Changes for Felicity
Very Funny, Elizabeth
Felicity’s New Sister | Felicity’s Dancing Shoes | Felicity Takes a Dare | Felicity Discovers a Secret | Felicity’s Short Story Collection
Peril at King’s Creek | Traitor in Williamsburg | Lady Margaret’s Ghost
But the window dressing on this is a fun story about a fair, and we see Felicity being peak Felicity: bold, impetuous, horse-crazy – and strong enough to get through anything.
The ending also provides a lovely example of something I love about the Felicity stories. Throughout the series, there are three constants: Mother wants Felicity to be more ladylike. Felicity doesn't want to. But Felicity and her mother also share a close bond: Despite their differences, Felicity clearly respects and adores her mother. Dolls of Our Lives famously said in an early episode that Felicity's father is a shopkeeper and her mother is a buzzkill, but there's a lot more to the relationship than that.
AG wiki places this one before Meet Felicity, and it works there. There are no flags that place the story else-when. Originally published in American Girl Magazine, March/April 1993.
More Felicity babble
Meet Felicity | Felicity Learns a Lesson | Felicity’s Surprise | Happy Birthday, Felicity | Felicity Saves the Day | Changes for Felicity
Very Funny, Elizabeth
Felicity’s New Sister | Felicity’s Dancing Shoes | Felicity Takes a Dare | Felicity Discovers a Secret | Felicity’s Short Story Collection
Peril at King’s Creek | Traitor in Williamsburg | Lady Margaret’s Ghost
February 22, 2022
3.5 , this was really enjoyable and a great story
September 21, 2022
Just FYI, according to the American Girl Wiki, this short story takes place before the events of Meet Felicity.
Felicity was my favorite American Girl character as a kid, but I never read these short stories so it is a treat to read them now as I re-read Felicity's series. In this story, Felicity and her mother and siblings attend Publick Times, a large fair event that is held in Williamsburg every year. At the fair, Felicity accepts a dare from some boys to climb into a pasture of high-strung racehorses and feed them out of her hand.
I really enjoyed this short story. I love that the short stories contain the same high quality illustrations that the central series contains. It was nice to expand a little bit on and get another glimpse of Felicity's love for horses and her rash, daredevil personality. I enjoyed seeing a little bit more of Felicity's mother and younger siblings. I also thought it was interesting that Felicity faces a real consequence for her daredevil actions (a broken arm) and enjoyed learning about the colonial method for treating broken arms. However just like in Meet Felicity, just as Felicity is about to learn her lesson (which in this story is that her bravery often crosses the line into foolhardiness) her mother backtracks and tells Felicity she IS brave and she's perfectly fine how she is. Personally I think Felicity clearly toes the line between bravery and foolhardiness and she should have at least been able to make that connection by the end of the story.
Lastly, I enjoyed the setting of the fair and the historical information about Publick Times at the end of the story. I really like the idea of these short stories exploring a very specific but small aspect of the characters lives, such as a day at the fair. I'm excited to read more of these.
Felicity was my favorite American Girl character as a kid, but I never read these short stories so it is a treat to read them now as I re-read Felicity's series. In this story, Felicity and her mother and siblings attend Publick Times, a large fair event that is held in Williamsburg every year. At the fair, Felicity accepts a dare from some boys to climb into a pasture of high-strung racehorses and feed them out of her hand.
I really enjoyed this short story. I love that the short stories contain the same high quality illustrations that the central series contains. It was nice to expand a little bit on and get another glimpse of Felicity's love for horses and her rash, daredevil personality. I enjoyed seeing a little bit more of Felicity's mother and younger siblings. I also thought it was interesting that Felicity faces a real consequence for her daredevil actions (a broken arm) and enjoyed learning about the colonial method for treating broken arms. However just like in Meet Felicity, just as Felicity is about to learn her lesson (which in this story is that her bravery often crosses the line into foolhardiness) her mother backtracks and tells Felicity she IS brave and she's perfectly fine how she is. Personally I think Felicity clearly toes the line between bravery and foolhardiness and she should have at least been able to make that connection by the end of the story.
Lastly, I enjoyed the setting of the fair and the historical information about Publick Times at the end of the story. I really like the idea of these short stories exploring a very specific but small aspect of the characters lives, such as a day at the fair. I'm excited to read more of these.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 28, 2020
This story out of the short story collection was my third favorite. What I really liked about this story was the setting of Publick Times and the fair that was taking place within the town. I also liked Nan, William, and Felicity bonding with Mrs. Merriman during the fair. However, what I did not like was Felicity’s regression back into her regular ways of being too reckless. Crawling into a horse pen because of a dare???? Why???? Of course, Felicity did face a consequence of it, but I felt like her mom was a little too easy on her for something pretty series (as she could have gotten killed) and, after Felicity’s injury, everything was chalked up to watching the fireworks and her mom saying she didn’t have to worry about Felicity being more reckless for at least another six weeks because of her broken arm... HA HA!... I guess?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 14, 2021
Leeches for a broken arm?!? Yikes.
January 10, 2025
It's an exciting day in Williamsburg because it's time for the town fair. Felicity can't wait to see the music, dancing, races, and contests, and is particularly excited to see the racehorses. However, the day becomes memorable in a different way than Felicity had imagined.
This was a great lesson for young readers about the dangers in taking risks, not listening to guidance from parents, and the way sometimes things just don't go the way you had hoped and planned. Felicity is the biggest risk taker of all the American Girls and usually I just feel frustrated at her foolishness but I really did feel sorry for her in this book. She is so disappointed and sad after the unfortunate dare and accident. Her mother is exceedingly kind to her under the circumstances.
I particularly liked that this book highlighted entertainment and special events that would have taken place during the time period. My daughters had a lot of questions about the different types of exhibits and races that would have taken place. As always, the final section of the book, the "peek into the past" chapter, gives a great historical overview of what inspired the fictional story.
This was a great lesson for young readers about the dangers in taking risks, not listening to guidance from parents, and the way sometimes things just don't go the way you had hoped and planned. Felicity is the biggest risk taker of all the American Girls and usually I just feel frustrated at her foolishness but I really did feel sorry for her in this book. She is so disappointed and sad after the unfortunate dare and accident. Her mother is exceedingly kind to her under the circumstances.
I particularly liked that this book highlighted entertainment and special events that would have taken place during the time period. My daughters had a lot of questions about the different types of exhibits and races that would have taken place. As always, the final section of the book, the "peek into the past" chapter, gives a great historical overview of what inspired the fictional story.
February 22, 2024
This wasn’t the most exciting with the fair in town Felicity starts showing off to her siblings that she can walk the fence like a tightrope walker but her mother gives her a harsh warning of how dangerous it can be. Then at the fair whilst admiring the horses a group of rude young boys dare her to go in and feed one which results in her getting injured.
Felicity wasn’t really thinking much in this story at all, she took weeks getting Penny to trust her but then forced these strange horses to approach her instantly all to prove a point to these mean boys. It didn’t really seem like Felicity’s logic to me within this one.
Felicity wasn’t really thinking much in this story at all, she took weeks getting Penny to trust her but then forced these strange horses to approach her instantly all to prove a point to these mean boys. It didn’t really seem like Felicity’s logic to me within this one.
October 3, 2023
Felicity and her siblings are excited about the fair! In her excitement, Felicity does some reckless things, including taking a dare.
Felicity KNOWS about horses so she figured she was safe but....things go wrong, brining the festivities to an end for her.
I love that even though her mom had lectured her earlier, she didn't when her daughter got hurt. She could see Felicity had ready learned her lesson and just made sure to make her daughter happy and understanding her. It was such a sweet mother daughter moment, loved it ☺️
Felicity KNOWS about horses so she figured she was safe but....things go wrong, brining the festivities to an end for her.
I love that even though her mom had lectured her earlier, she didn't when her daughter got hurt. She could see Felicity had ready learned her lesson and just made sure to make her daughter happy and understanding her. It was such a sweet mother daughter moment, loved it ☺️
May 1, 2025
This story could fit in many places in the the series, but probably more towards the beginning of the series. It also clearly demonstrates the dynamics in the Felicity stories. Felicity is obsessed with horses. Her mother tells her to be careful. She makes a split second decision that puts her in danger. It is a good story and fits well with the series.
Read
November 19, 2022Damn, I'm so glad for modern medicine!
January 7, 2024
Bummer that Felicity gets hurt in this one, however, I think she learned an important lesson about bravery vs foolishness. I liked learning about how a broken bone is treated during Colonial Times.
February 20, 2021
Felicity, a spunky Colonial girl, is so excited about attending the spring fair at Williamsburg! She can’t wait to see the horse races! While visiting the horses, she observes some unpleasant boys abusing the horses and she intervenes. Then Felicity gets involved in some risky behavior. Read her exciting story!
September 30, 2024
This was always my favorite AG short story, and it might be the nostalgia talking, but it probably still is. The story opens in true Felicity fashion, with her walking on a fence like a tightrope. Every subsequent scene in the book is equally thrilling, as she attends the fair, is goaded into doing something dangerous, gets caught in the middle of stampeding horses, and leeches suck the blood out of her broken arm. One of my favorite illustrations is the horse towering over a startled Felicity as she drops her cakes, and the reader realizes things are about to get real.
Felicity gets majorly humbled in this story. She prides herself on being good with horses, but because she's overconfident with a horse she doesn't know, she gets kicked and breaks her arm. This was a good follow-up to her story arc with Penny, whom she managed to tame somewhat unrealistically. Furthermore, Felicity thought of herself as grown up enough to see the fireworks with her father alone, but through her own fault, now must watch them through the window. The story explores an important flaw of Felicity's that's been addressed (but never truly came to fruition) in the main series - her tendency to be an adrenaline junkie - and gives her a much-needed ego check. And it's all set in the exciting Publick Times of colonial Virginia.
Felicity gets majorly humbled in this story. She prides herself on being good with horses, but because she's overconfident with a horse she doesn't know, she gets kicked and breaks her arm. This was a good follow-up to her story arc with Penny, whom she managed to tame somewhat unrealistically. Furthermore, Felicity thought of herself as grown up enough to see the fireworks with her father alone, but through her own fault, now must watch them through the window. The story explores an important flaw of Felicity's that's been addressed (but never truly came to fruition) in the main series - her tendency to be an adrenaline junkie - and gives her a much-needed ego check. And it's all set in the exciting Publick Times of colonial Virginia.
May 27, 2009
This book did a good job of portraying the difference between bravery and foolishness. The consequences were drastic for Felicity when she decided to ignore her mother's advice, but in the end she learned her lesson. I would recommend to fans of other Felicity books.
*Taken from my book reviews blog: http://reviewsatmse.blogspot.com/2009...
*Taken from my book reviews blog: http://reviewsatmse.blogspot.com/2009...
June 30, 2008
This was cute and episodic. It fit the character of the original series, but wasn't quite as fleshed out and full.
July 24, 2014
Felicity is head strong and often acts before she thinks and sometimes this gets her into big trouble, when Felicity takes a dare from some boys, it puts her in danger.
January 22, 2015
Horses in the real world are very big, very heavy, and can be very dangerous. Take THAT My Little Pony!
June 12, 2016
Very, very simple story. But I like that it shows her faults and lessons learned.
October 10, 2021
This girl lol SMH
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews