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American Girl: Gabriela #1
Gabriela
Gabby loves expressing herself — especially in the dance studio — but lately, poetry is becoming her art form of choice, and for good reason: Gabby struggles with stuttering, and spoken word poetry helps her speech flow more freely. Still, compared to how confident she feels on the dance floor, speaking up can be scary. When the city threatens to close her beloved community arts center, Gabby is determined to find a way to help. Can she harness the power of her words and rally her community to save Liberty Arts?
208 pages, Paperback
First published December 27, 2016
70 people are currently reading
232 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
December 31, 2016
The book is okay but not spectacular. The entire plot can be summarized in a few words, with no side stories or surprises. It is a good story about friendship and has a few humorous incidents, but reading the entire thing is like slogging through mud, and I can't imagine a child staying interested long enough to finish it. I read it only because I have read all of the AG books. The stuttering theme is extremely redundant, and there are far too many extra characters which seem to exist only to increase the word count. The main character could be an actual American child doing things that actual children do, unlike the last two Girl of the Year characters who jet around the world. But as a high end brand (or rather a brand that began as high end, historically accurate, and meticulously researched), many AG consumers are girls who are accustomed to wealth and international travel. ABC News gets quite a nice plug, not surprising since GMA traditionally unveils the new dolls. It would have been more appropriate to give the plug to the local affiliate. The book girl wears a lime green tank top for her performance. Someone didn't get that memo and dressed the doll in teal or aqua or whatever color they put under the purple "dream" shirt. It bothered me that she repeatedly "finds her voice". The new historic (or beforever as they seem to call them now) Melody "lifts her voice," and that is Melody's theme. Overall, I give it a solid mediocre rating. The Melody books are far superior and are closer to the original AG books of 30 years ago.
January 10, 2017
Gabriela is an inspiring young lady just like the rest of the American Girl family. Gabriela used her feet to speak for her (through dance) since she struggled with a speach impediment. When her beloved arts center is at risk of closing for good she over comes her fears and finds her voice with the help of spoken word poetry.
I highly recommend the American Girl novels for girls grade 3 to 8. They all demonstrate realistic and relatable girls who step out of their comfort zones to accomplish amazing things.
On thing that I noticed was that Gabriela was described as wearing a lime green shirt under her purple crop top. Both the cover art and the doll has her wearing more of a aqua coloured shirt.
I highly recommend the American Girl novels for girls grade 3 to 8. They all demonstrate realistic and relatable girls who step out of their comfort zones to accomplish amazing things.
On thing that I noticed was that Gabriela was described as wearing a lime green shirt under her purple crop top. Both the cover art and the doll has her wearing more of a aqua coloured shirt.
February 22, 2018
I thought this was a horrible addition to them American Girl "Girl Of The Year" series. Gabriela was a huge brat and on multiple occations, should have gotten into huge trouble for what she said. It was annoying to read as well because of the constant stuttering. I would not want any little girl to look up to Gabriela, she is reall a horrendous role model.
July 30, 2025
It was a good read. Considering I’m an adult reading a kids book, it was okay. Some aspects were repetitive and I can’t say I would’ve been able to read this as a kid as it probably would’ve bored me. I am glad I did get to read it though and learn more about Gabriela’s character through the book. The stutter representation was nice.
January 30, 2024
It was so bad, I want to give you a zero. But that’s not possible, so I give you a one.
Very obviously rushed out after the Tenney controversy. also her meet outfit is so fugly
Very obviously rushed out after the Tenney controversy. also her meet outfit is so fugly
February 8, 2017
This is nice. It was very formulaic and will appeal to a specific audience. It read like a Nickolodean after school movie special and was adequately written for its purpose. There were no real surprises and there are other things out there that are more powerfully written so I wouldn't widely recommend it but I do think it has its niche and will keep it in mind. This is urban fiction, isn't it? I came across the category in a library and was unfamiliar with it.
March 5, 2017
I love American Girl, and it has been awhile since I've read any of their books. But "Gabriela" is a great read! I was impressed with the style of writing, considering it is for younger children. It has a great message and a very nice plot. An easy read for anybody who loves American Girl! :)
April 13, 2017
I read this because I am leading an American Girl Book Discussion group on it next month and I was pleasantly surprised. I wonder how well it will age, but the concept of community and "finding your voice" are just lovely.
January 4, 2017
It was a good book, in my opinion. Hard to understand when you read the first part, but once you ease into the middle it becomes very fun.
February 6, 2021
3.5 stars, rounded up.
This book has a far better premise and plot than many other Girl of the Year books, and when it came out four years ago, I recommended it to my younger sister on that basis. She enjoyed it, still remembers the series, and encouraged me to read it too. I definitely can see why this book would grip a young reader, because it is realistic, suspenseful, and grounded in the kinds of sensory details that make a setting and characters come alive. However, it has mixed messages, and I don't like how the children go behind their parents' backs.
The story is that Gabriela deeply loves Liberty Performing Arts Center, her mother's civic project. She has practically grown up in the building, knows every inch of it, and takes dance lessons there. She has also recently joined a spoken word poetry group, and is trying to overcome her stutter. When the arts center faces a crisis and might have to shut its doors forever, she wants to use her voice to help rally the community to keep it alive.
The stutter is what made this book first seem interesting to me, because, "Oh, no, this town building is going to close!" is a rather over-done plot. This tension within the character's experience made it far more interesting, and almost no children's books deal with stuttering, even though it is a very real issue for lots of kids. I thought that this book handled it well, and even though Gabriela's stutter varied based on who she was around and how anxious she felt, it never disappeared whenever it was convenient for the story.
This is good representation, and I am also aware of its impact in real life. A boy I know heard about the Gabriela story from his mother and sister, who had watched the movie together, and said about this fellow Black person with a stutter, "WOW. She and I would have a lot to talk about." The story makes her seem like a real, relatable person, and even though some of the reviewers here complain that the stuttering aspect is repetitive and annoying, it accurately represents the experiences of kids who have stutters. It's one of the best parts of the book, and is woven in well with the spoken word poetry interest. It's just great.
I personally enjoyed this book a great deal, partly because Gabriela's feelings for the performing arts center made me think of how much I loved my childhood church, and how connected I felt with every aspect of that building. I felt totally connected with her intense emotions, and the story has a lot of great messages about civic engagement, the importance of the arts, the role of churches in providing space for other community organizations, and how people can rally the community together to do something that seemed impossible. However, even though this is all great, my interest dipped off in the second half as the characters started deceiving their parents.
The adults kept saying, "This is for grown-ups," and wouldn't update the children on everything or accept the level of help that they wanted to offer. Because of this, the kids decided to work behind the parents' backs to try to accomplish their own fundraising goals, and even though nothing they did was unsafe or unethical, their deception is a huge issue for me. At the end, the parents gratefully accept the kid's help, and see that they should have let them do more, but this isn't something that would have matched with my family's values when I was a child, and it's not something that I would want to present as a good idea to other children.
More than anything, it is a lost opportunity. Even though lots of parents would turn children's help away, telling them that they want to protect them from everything that is difficult and frustrating about a situation, this book could have modeled a different approach and shown the parents and children working together. The part of the book that I enjoyed the most portrayed that, and I wish that this could have continued throughout the rest of the story, instead of veering off into an ethically suspect stage of the plot. I would still recommend this book, but parents should be aware of this, and could use it as a discussion topic with their kids.
This book has a far better premise and plot than many other Girl of the Year books, and when it came out four years ago, I recommended it to my younger sister on that basis. She enjoyed it, still remembers the series, and encouraged me to read it too. I definitely can see why this book would grip a young reader, because it is realistic, suspenseful, and grounded in the kinds of sensory details that make a setting and characters come alive. However, it has mixed messages, and I don't like how the children go behind their parents' backs.
The story is that Gabriela deeply loves Liberty Performing Arts Center, her mother's civic project. She has practically grown up in the building, knows every inch of it, and takes dance lessons there. She has also recently joined a spoken word poetry group, and is trying to overcome her stutter. When the arts center faces a crisis and might have to shut its doors forever, she wants to use her voice to help rally the community to keep it alive.
The stutter is what made this book first seem interesting to me, because, "Oh, no, this town building is going to close!" is a rather over-done plot. This tension within the character's experience made it far more interesting, and almost no children's books deal with stuttering, even though it is a very real issue for lots of kids. I thought that this book handled it well, and even though Gabriela's stutter varied based on who she was around and how anxious she felt, it never disappeared whenever it was convenient for the story.
This is good representation, and I am also aware of its impact in real life. A boy I know heard about the Gabriela story from his mother and sister, who had watched the movie together, and said about this fellow Black person with a stutter, "WOW. She and I would have a lot to talk about." The story makes her seem like a real, relatable person, and even though some of the reviewers here complain that the stuttering aspect is repetitive and annoying, it accurately represents the experiences of kids who have stutters. It's one of the best parts of the book, and is woven in well with the spoken word poetry interest. It's just great.
I personally enjoyed this book a great deal, partly because Gabriela's feelings for the performing arts center made me think of how much I loved my childhood church, and how connected I felt with every aspect of that building. I felt totally connected with her intense emotions, and the story has a lot of great messages about civic engagement, the importance of the arts, the role of churches in providing space for other community organizations, and how people can rally the community together to do something that seemed impossible. However, even though this is all great, my interest dipped off in the second half as the characters started deceiving their parents.
The adults kept saying, "This is for grown-ups," and wouldn't update the children on everything or accept the level of help that they wanted to offer. Because of this, the kids decided to work behind the parents' backs to try to accomplish their own fundraising goals, and even though nothing they did was unsafe or unethical, their deception is a huge issue for me. At the end, the parents gratefully accept the kid's help, and see that they should have let them do more, but this isn't something that would have matched with my family's values when I was a child, and it's not something that I would want to present as a good idea to other children.
More than anything, it is a lost opportunity. Even though lots of parents would turn children's help away, telling them that they want to protect them from everything that is difficult and frustrating about a situation, this book could have modeled a different approach and shown the parents and children working together. The part of the book that I enjoyed the most portrayed that, and I wish that this could have continued throughout the rest of the story, instead of veering off into an ethically suspect stage of the plot. I would still recommend this book, but parents should be aware of this, and could use it as a discussion topic with their kids.
June 25, 2018
It was interesting but reading this made me wonder if there are some things I’m too old for . . . I think this may be one of them. Some children’s work is for all ages. This one is not. And that’s fine. The overall message and idea was good and I liked the main character, a lot, and her struggle. But I didn’t feel the emotional impact of the book, even though there really should have been one, and the writing wasn’t very strong. But, I did enjoy it, overall.
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August 7, 2019Genre: realistic fiction, kidlit
Disabled character(s): Gabriella, main character
Disability type: stutter
Notes: Gabriella isn’t treated differently by her parents because of her stutter; they encourage her that she can do anything. Her friends, however, learn in this book about micro-aggressions and how to not do them (they aren’t called micro-aggressions in the book though). Gabriella also learns how to feel more confident in herself.
Disabled character(s): Gabriella, main character
Disability type: stutter
Notes: Gabriella isn’t treated differently by her parents because of her stutter; they encourage her that she can do anything. Her friends, however, learn in this book about micro-aggressions and how to not do them (they aren’t called micro-aggressions in the book though). Gabriella also learns how to feel more confident in herself.
March 25, 2022
Absolutely LOVED this book. And I broke down bawling my eyes out multiple times, could barely read through the tears. Love Gabby! Love that she is not letting her stutter hold her back and girl is persevering! The writing was excellent and the story was so emotionally charged and beautifully written. I’ve read a lot of the American Girl books with my daughter and this one might be my favorite yet. Can’t wait to read 2 and 3!
September 7, 2025
I'm pretty sure this is my first American Girl book. If they're all this good, I can definitely see the appeal. No bullies or mean girls, just a whole lot of inspiration from a diverse cast of characters. What great ideas for community fundraising!
Highly recommended for a fun read, and for the lessons in courage & persistence. I would have loved this even more when I was young... and maybe even would have written more poetry.
Highly recommended for a fun read, and for the lessons in courage & persistence. I would have loved this even more when I was young... and maybe even would have written more poetry.
June 27, 2017
I LOVED this book. It was a bit slow to start but as it progressed so much happened and it wasn't the type of so much that is unbelievable. I could easily see this happening in real life and really hope American girl makes this into a movie like they have with so many other girl of the year books because this one was the best by far and would make such a fun and exciting move.
August 9, 2017
I thought Gabriela was a cute little book that's perfect if you want a quick read. I thought her stutter was well written, and I liked all the dancing. It also had a great theme of standing up and using your voice, even if it's hard.
January 21, 2018
I liked the fact that the main character, Gabriela, has a stutter that she has to deal with. It had a very sweet ending, but I wonder how realistic it is for a 10-year-old to do everything Gabriela does. It seemed more like a 12 or 13-year-old.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 4, 2020
You did an awesome job in writing this book. I ordered this to read because of my Multiculture class. I liked it and I'm going to purchase the other 4 books and give them to my great nieces who are in all the grade levels mentioned.
Great job!
Ronita
Great job!
Ronita
March 27, 2025
I just couldn't get into this one, I've read many AG books as an adult and enjoyed them but this one I just couldn't get into. I know it's for kids but the problem she faces in the book just seems so cliche in a way. And the stuttering was a bit over played I think.
October 1, 2017
A fun and inspiring story! Great for kids and teens!
March 26, 2019
AH HA! Finally made it!
Review to come later.
Review to come later.
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March 14, 2020I'm in quarantine and bored and I will read literally anything.
This is a cute book and Gabby is a great main character.
This is a cute book and Gabby is a great main character.
August 18, 2021
Took a while to get into but I started to really enjoy it about halfway through
October 20, 2021
I read this book in one day. I loved it. It is a heartwarming book about Gabriela finding her voice and confidence.
June 7, 2022
I liked this one a lot. It was really exciting and cheerful. I love the characters and the Liberty community! Great story!
July 25, 2022
Cute book for upper elementary age!
February 10, 2017
I really like this book. Its great that American Girl is bringing attention to people who have a stutter and how they lead their lives even if their words get jumbled. Yes Gabriella is a dancer but she's also a gifted poet. I love how she uses both dance and poetry to express how she is feeling One thing I found a little strange was that the description of her outfit she wears at one point in the book which is supposed to be the outfit she is wearing on the cover photo does not match up. Overall I'm looking forward to the next book!
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December 14, 2017Introducing American Girl's 2017 Girl of the Year! Find out how the girl's story began in this first of four novels.
Subject: Stuttering -- Juvenile fiction.
Community centers -- Juvenile fiction.
Poetry -- Juvenile fiction.
Dancers -- Juvenile fiction.
African American girls -- Fiction.
Dancers -- Fiction.
Performance poetry -- Fiction.
Poetry -- Fiction.
Subject: Stuttering -- Juvenile fiction.
Community centers -- Juvenile fiction.
Poetry -- Juvenile fiction.
Dancers -- Juvenile fiction.
African American girls -- Fiction.
Dancers -- Fiction.
Performance poetry -- Fiction.
Poetry -- Fiction.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews