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Can a ship carrying Friendship Dolls to Japan be Lexie’s ticket to see her fun-loving mother again? A heartwarming historical novel inspired by a little-known true event.

It’s 1926, and the one thing eleven-year-old Lexie Lewis wants more than anything is to leave Portland, Oregon, where she has been staying with her strict grandparents, and rejoin her mother, a carefree singer in San Francisco’s speakeasies. But Mama’s new husband doesn’t think a little girl should live with parents who work all night and sleep all day. Meanwhile, Lexie’s class has been raising money to ship a doll to the children of Japan in a friendship exchange, and when Lexie learns that the girl who writes the best letter to accompany the doll will be sent to the farewell ceremony in San Francisco, she knows she just has to be the winner. But what if a jealous classmate and Lexie’s own small lies to her grandmother manage to derail her plans? Inspired by a project organized by teacher-missionary Sidney Gulick, in which U.S. children sent more than 12,000 Friendship Dolls to Japan in hopes of avoiding a future war, Shirley Parenteau’s engaging story has sure appeal for young readers who enjoy historical fiction, and for doll lovers of all ages.

272 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2014

16 people are currently reading
646 people want to read

About the author

Shirley Parenteau

31 books49 followers
This is my second time around as a children's book writer. When my own 3 children were young, I had 8 books published. My children grew up and for a time, I wrote women's fiction. Now I have 6 grandchildren, all girls. I'm writing for children again and loving it!

One of my granddaughter's play with stuffed animals in a bookstore children's area led me to write Bears on Chairs, a picture book published by Candlewick Press. The bears have made friends around the world and are especially popular in translation in Japan where David Walker's adorable illustrations have captivated readers.

Bears on Chairs was followed by Bears in Beds and in 2014 by Bears and a Bath. Illustrator David Walker is currently preparing more adorable bear pictures for a fourth book, Bears and a Birthday.

While I hope to keep writing about these whimsical sweet-natured bears, I'm excited about a new project for older children. My oldest granddaughter when three participated in Hinamatsuri, a festival of dolls in Japan. Online research of the festival led me to the 1926 Friendship Doll Project when American children sent more than 12,000 dolls to children in Japan. I wanted to write about that beautiful hope for friendship between children in two countries. My middle-grade novel, Ship of Dolls, the first in a planned series will be published by Candlewick Press in fall of 2014.

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5 stars
128 (28%)
4 stars
186 (40%)
3 stars
117 (25%)
2 stars
24 (5%)
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2 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 99 reviews
Profile Image for Cheryl.
13k reviews483 followers
July 31, 2018
A bit earnest, not surprisingly, but still engaging. I particularly liked the authentically complex characters. They almost fit 'types' but were nuanced, not 'stereotypes.' For example sometimes Grandma got exasperated with herself, and Jake wasn't afraid to admit to Lexie that he liked her haiku and understood her desire to hold the doll. The Wilkins were drawn with a heavier brush, but were still interesting.

And Lexie is short for Electra... what a great name for a ne'er-do-well flapper mama to give her daughter!

I look forward to reading the next two and am grateful to Rolla for buying all three.
Profile Image for Helen Stower.
120 reviews18 followers
April 28, 2015
Eleven-year-old Lexie has been sent to Portland to live with her grandparents. She is homesick for her mother and dreams of being back in San Francisco with her. Lexie’s Mum, however, is a nightclub singer and has a new husband and her lifestyle has become unsuitable for raising a child.

At school in Portland, Lexie’s teacher has involved the class in a nation-wide program that requires them to design an outfit for a doll to be sent to Japan as part of a shipment of 12 000 dolls being sent as a gift of friendship from American children. Along with designing a dress for the doll, Lexie’s class is given the opportunity to submit a letter entry into a competition. The prize is to accompany the doll to its send off in San Francisco. Lexie sees this as her ticket to her mother and is determined to write the best letter.

This historical novel is a wonderful read. It explores the themes of family, friendship, loyalty and honesty. I highly recommend it to Middle School readers.
Profile Image for Mandy Morrow.
17 reviews8 followers
October 28, 2014
I bought this book at my local Books-a-Million, and let me tell you it was worth every penny! I have undiagnosed ADD, abd hardly ever finish a book, but I finished Ship of Dolls in just 5 DAYS! This is definitely, without any doubt, the best book I have ever read! The only bad thing is I have yet to start a book that could even compare to this beautifully written piece of art!
Profile Image for Emily Tyler.
422 reviews4 followers
August 24, 2020
3.5 stars

This is, in essence, everything I loved between the ages of eight and twelve. It's like American Girl books, but for older kids! It's wholesome, it's relatable, and the character development is especially good.

Lexie is eleven years old and eager to please and also strives to be the best–which is extremely like me, even now. She learns about honesty, empathy, and acceptance of reality, even when it's hard for her. Although these themes are sometimes overstated, this is a middle grade, so maybe that's what the author decided the audience needs.

Lexie's grandparents are also delightful characters, especially her grandmother. Both she and Lexie can be snarky and also affectionate in their own ways. Their relationship also developed well over the course of the story. I had a boy neighbor when I was around Lexie's age, so the dynamic between her and her neighbor Jack was familiar and fun to read. I'd honestly read spin-off novels of any of these characters, and for such a short book, I think they're well-written.

There is a niche audience for this kind of book, but I am in that audience, and I grew up with a lot of people in that audience. This is for kids who love historical fiction but have read or outgrown all the popular series, like American Girl, Dear America, and Magic Tree House. I don't remember how I stumbled upon this, but I'm super glad I did.
Profile Image for Mississippi Library Commission.
389 reviews116 followers
June 5, 2015
Ship of Dolls is a superb addition to historical fiction for middle school readers. The actions and reactions between 11-year-old Lexie, short for Electra, and her grandparents were terrific. Parenteau does a great job of describing their growing love for each other and their transition into a family group. Watching Lexie interact with her peers was equally fascinating. You, too, will want to pull out Louise's hair and stick your tongue out at Jack! Learning about the background of the original "ship of dolls" in the 1926 was an added bonus. Reminiscent of authors like Beverly Cleary and L. M. Montgomery. We can't wait to read the next installment, Dolls Of Hope.
Profile Image for Christina Dudley.
Author 28 books266 followers
June 21, 2014
I let my 11YO daughter rate this one, and she gives it 4.5 stars, although "it's not really about dolls." Set in the '20s, the story is about Lexie, who has been sent to live with her paternal grandmother after her flapper mother takes to singing in nightclubs and hanging out with/marrying(?) some new guy. Mom's in San Francisco, and Lexie hopes to get there and be reunited with her by writing the winning essay in a class contest. The subject? The class is sending a doll to accompany a shipment of American dolls to Japan for their Girl Day, and the essay expresses what their doll would say.

There's a friend who's a boy, a mean girl, some rule-breaking, and other features along the way. Thumbs up for your elementary/middle-schooler!
Profile Image for Julie.
1,543 reviews
February 8, 2015
A sweet coming-of-age historical novel, about the exchange of dolls and letters between Japanese and American children in the 1920s in an effort to foster communication and cooperation and prevent war between the countries. Simultaneously, a look at the generational shift between the wars, as Lexie's mother is a "modern" flapper, and her grandmother is more traditional in her expectations and ideas about bringing up her granddaughter. A lot of young readers will see themselves in Lexie and her struggle to find her way with friends, at school, and at home.
Profile Image for Not PJ ⋆ Dead Dove.
13 reviews
July 25, 2022
main character creates a disaster via wanting to fix a disaster. made me want to scream about it in the best way whilst everything unfolded.

but im not too sure since i read this two (three?) years ago. anyways, im not that into historical fiction but if ship of dolls told me to jump the plank id willingly dump myself into the bermuda triangle
Profile Image for Michelle.
921 reviews38 followers
November 23, 2017
Ship of Dolls shed light on an interesting piece of history. There was something nostalgic and calming about the story. But I am not sure this would hold the attention of many young readers. The main character spent a LOT of time analyzing choices and the pacing was really slow.
Profile Image for Hoover Public Library Kids and Teens.
3,225 reviews68 followers
August 25, 2014
Inspired by the Friendship Dolls that were sent to Japan in 1926, in hopes of preventing future war. Focuses on the lives surrounding a single doll, particularly on a young girl named Lexie. She believes the doll has another mission -- to reunite Lexie with her mother.
Profile Image for Pauline .
779 reviews1 follower
January 20, 2015
A really sweet novel for younger audiences in an interesting historical context - perfect for the 9-12 market - deals with themes of loyalty, frienship, consequences, kindness, bullying and family.
12 reviews
April 19, 2018
I listened to this as a book on tape in the car with my children. It truly took their imagination, even my preteen son. I believe this is the first book we've listened to that elicited howls of outrage from /both/ children when we got to our destination and I turned the car off! (There was also that one time we sat in a parked car for 15 minutes because we HAD TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED NEXT.)

The main character veers from impressively mature and highly intelligent to childish and ignorant, much like a real 11-year-old. The tension in the book is high as we, the readers, hear what Lexie thinks, can tell what the reality is, and desperately want to solve her problems for her, or at least reassure her. It was truly gripping and I am grateful to the author and reader for creating something that pleased all of us.

My preteen son had some quibbles, saying that sometimes Lexie is /too/ slow, and pointing out that boys he knows don't really behave the way her friend Jack does. He also pointed out that the dialogue sounded odd in places, with a lack of contractions. This did happen now and again, and I noticed it as well, but can't tell if the full words were deliberately intended to show that the speaker is trying to slow the pace of the conversation. He's also a history buff, and found it depressing that they're putting so much effort into this while US policy was still so anti-Japanese, and with WWII on the horizon.

Both of the children and I found Lexie's mother to be a bit much, especially her manner of speech, which repeated flapper words and speech patterns a bit too often. My younger child still thought she was interesting, whereas my son couldn't stand her.

I was a little disappointed by the end of the book, feeling that it would have been nice to see more of the characters and a bit more resolution of the main issues involved. From an adult standpoint, the book was somewhat predictable and the characters could be frustrating in spots, but this book was not written for adults.
Profile Image for Amy-Jo Conant.
239 reviews10 followers
May 12, 2019
I didn't realize this was part of a trilogy. I am not sure I will go back and read the others but I do think this series will appeal to historical readers. I don't know that it would be a book I would recommend to others who don't normally enjoy historical fiction. It's fairly slow-moving and less patient readers might not be able to stay with it.

What I loved about the book was the way the Japanese culture came alive. I do remember thinking though that a student without much background knowledge on Japanese culture might not know how to image the scenes. I would almost suggest that they look at some pictures of Japanese clothing, houses, and rural towns for that time period.

I think this would be a great book for fans of historical fiction or Japanese culture. It would be interesting to pair this book with Paper Wishes for a very different perspective. I will likely buy the other books in this series for the elementary library.

The story deals with many themes:
Friendship
Culture
Family
Bravery
462 reviews2 followers
September 16, 2023
Refreshing young adult book on a completely unique topic of 12,000 dolls sent to Japan in the early 1900's to try and salvage relationships between the US and Japan. I liked the simple sweet feel good story and after having lived in Japan, I had never known that some goodwill gesture ever took place. I would like to actually visit the dolls that had been exchanged that were left over and put in museums. As intriguing of an idea as it was, unfortunately it didn't work and we had WWII and the atomic bomb since. I think Japan then did a better than "dolls" program when they started JET which I participated in. MITI brought 1000's of young adults to teach English in Japan side by side Japanese instructors. This forged true friendships that 20-30 years later still run strong. It also created love for the country and culture and many of us continuously travel back there to spend tourist dollars and to visit our communities where we lived and were welcomed. What a brilliant publicity and long term friendship plan in my opinion. Little did I know that the dolls went first!
145 reviews
May 18, 2024
Overall, this is a very cute historical fiction about the dolls sent from American schools to Japan as a gesture of peace in between World War I and World War II. There are many wholesome friendships. However, some of the characters start as stereotypical mean girls. One even goes so far as to steal another's work and pose it as her own. She blames all this on her rich parent's expectation that she be perfect. She is definitely a little bit of a whiny baby. She is on the verge of growing up though as we end the story.
Also the main character's mom is a "flapper" who sings and dances at "speakeasies." The girl has to live with her grandparents, because her mom is kind of irresponsible and forgets to spend quality time with her daughter. This is a little sad. Luckily, the girl learns that her grandparents do love her an awful lot, even though they don't easily show their love. The girl thinks no really disparaging thoughts about her mom. She still loves her and understands as mush as possible her mother's personality and situation.
Profile Image for Penny Waring.
156 reviews4 followers
November 19, 2018
Lexie is living in Portland, Oregon with her grandparents, but she is desperate to live with her mother, who has remarried and lives in San Francisco. The problem is, her mother and new stepfather work as nightclub singers all night and sleep all day, and this is not considered an appropriate environment for a child, so for now she’s stuck in Portland. At Lexie’s school, they are raising money to send friendship dolls to Japan, and designing outfits and writing letters to accompany the dolls. Lexie finds out that the writer of the best letter will accompany the dolls to the farewell ceremony in San Francisco. Obviously, Lexie is determined to write the winning letter so that she can finally get to San Francisco and her mother. This historical novel based on the Friendship Doll in 1926 is a great read for middle grades, with themes of friendship, integrity and family.
Profile Image for K.
107 reviews1 follower
March 8, 2024
Loved it! I have a vague recollection of reading about the Friendship Dolls between America and Japan in my American Girl magazine, a favorite of my middle-school years. This children's book centers upon that true and intriguing initiative of a teacher's 1926 campaign to send American dolls to children in Japan with the thought that the children growing up, treasuring the dolls, would not want to enter a war with those who sent them. Alas, such was not the case, but this story does not focus on the war. Instead, it lets us admire plucky 11-year-old Lexie, who is often unsure of herself, yet braves both a classroom bully and a flighty flapper mom to find her footing on solid ground. It's a beautiful story based on a beauty-full initiative. Highly recommend also reading about the true story of the doll exchange (for Japan sent their own dolls in return) and the dolls' current status.
68 reviews1 follower
October 31, 2017

I liked the ethical nature of this book. Lexie knows she's not telling her grandmother the whole truth about the honor of dressing the doll. It seemed extreme to burn the first dress but Lexie learned that not telling the whole truth is the same as lying. When the dressmaker helped her with the second dress she was really worried about what her grandmother would think and told her right away. She had had enough of feeling uncertain and guilty . The story of the dolls is very interesting and this author has written two more stories about dolls I will be reading. Lexie's kindness and forgiveness to Louise is very touching. After seeing how Louise's mother is Lexie now understands Louise's pushy behavior.
Profile Image for Minami Yano.
24 reviews
August 19, 2019
This book is my most recent favorite book because of the story. It also was a fun read since I had always been interested in America's and Japan's history together (by the way I am Japanese-American). The only thing that was not fun about this story was that it was pretty sad, but it was such a good story that I really wanted for it to go on. Another great thing about this story was that the author was really detailed and even explained the whole life of the main character. Because of the details this was definitely not one of those books where you get confused. I am looking forward to the next book because it is about what is going on in Japan (I know this because it tells you about it on the very last page).
Profile Image for Cecilia Rodriguez.
4,434 reviews56 followers
August 23, 2017
Parenteau's plot is inspired by a little known historical event.
Set in 1926, Portland, Oregon.
Eleven year old Lexie Lewis is having a difficult time adjusting to
living with her grandparents; when her class becomes involved
in a doll exchange.
The girls in her class all write letters for the dolls as a competition
in which the winner will get to travel to San Francisco.
Parenteau shows the 1920's through Lexie's eyes, and language.
At the end of the book, Parenteau includes a web site for childern
and educators who want to learn more about the dolls and the
exchange.
www.bill-gordon.net/dolls
Profile Image for Shauna.
309 reviews
February 2, 2020
A good middle grade novel about yet another historical event I was unaware of.

Before WWII, the U.S. sent over 12,000 dolls to Japan, that school children collected money to buy and donate, with the hope to avoid war. The goal was that the Friendship Dolls would create a bond in the children of the two countries and stop any future conflict from happening. Japan also sent dolls back. In the end, WWII did happen and we know what occurred.

This story is a fictional account of one such Friendship Doll and the struggles of the school children who are trying to get her to Japan. It’s a heartwarming story about honesty, morals, love, and family.
2 reviews
January 4, 2024
I picked up this book based off my 9-year-old daughter's recommendation and I really enjoyed it. Lexie is a three-dimensional character whose flaws are relatable. Her grandmother is an imperfect guardian who stokes fear in Lexie (and the reader) but her love still comes through. I was impressed by the author's willingness to sow so much interpersonal family and peer conflict in a YA book. The challenges that Lexie must deal with at home and at school are tense and engaging.

Ultimately, Lexie's story is one of growth. I found her character arc to be very emotional. Several pivotal scenes in Lexie's journey, particularly in the final chapters, will stick with me.
Profile Image for Ev.
112 reviews
July 7, 2017
Appreciate this peek into a little known part of history pre-WWII. Childhood is oftentimes complex and hard, with Lexie experiencing living with her grandparents while her mother works in another city. I especially appreciate 2 key characters: Lexie's grandma (very Marilla-esque from Anne of Green Gables) and her teacher, Miss Thompkins, who both show tough, but kind love towards Lexi. The dolls model a deeper lesson on goodwill towards 'unfamiliar' people, something that is still relevant in 2017.
12 reviews1 follower
January 7, 2018
Lexie is staying with her grandparents in Portland. But she wants to stay with her mum in San Francisco. When Louise told her that whoever write the best letter gets to go to San Francisco to watch the dolls go to Japan. But Louise stole her letter and her letter was chosen to go to San Francisco with Louise. Her teacher told Lexie she can sew the clothes for Emily Grace. She was supposed to tell her grandma the truth but her grandma was busy. When grandma found out the truth she burned the clothes Lexie made for Emily Grace. Could she fix the problem?
Profile Image for Josie Mae.
82 reviews6 followers
March 14, 2018
The book is written a little young for me. I thought Lexi was a little young for her age. I liked the characters, but they seemed a bit flat, even if we did see the characters grow and change throughout the book. The historical aspects were great, and I would recommend this for a 3rd grader or younger.
Profile Image for Linda B.
317 reviews1 follower
July 10, 2018
Interesting coming of age story prior to WwII as a child learns what family means and to be responsible. Dolls from all over the USA are being sent to Japan as a sign of friendship. A young girl's dreams of being united with her mother by winning a trip to San Francisco keep getting waylaid by circumstances.
Profile Image for Autumn.
18 reviews
June 8, 2019
This book was so cute amazing story and I found myself crying at the end and just enjoying each chapter. Lexie was so cute giving Millie her Annie doll that made my heart so happy and when Lexie finally seen her mother at the end just the cutest greeting ever I TOTALLY recommend this true story just unbelievable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Jena.
441 reviews5 followers
June 10, 2019
This is a great story - interesting, thoughtful and caring. Sure - pretty much everything works out the way it "should" but it's for kids. And there is not-so-subtle moralizing but I agreed with it (respect yourself, respect others, realize everyone is fighting their own battles) so while obvious, I appreciated how it was presented.
This was a fun book to read and talk about with my girl
Displaying 1 - 30 of 99 reviews

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