American Girl The Real Z Book for Girls Contemporary Doll Character NEW

American Girl: Z Yang #1

by Jen Calonita, American Girl (Contributor)

Z knows what she's doing when it comes to making movies. She's an expert at stop-motion video. In this first book about the aspiring filmmaker, Z has to make a whole new kind of movie-a documentary-and it's harder than she thought. Z wants to wow the judges, but she's not sure her ideas are good enough for a film festival. With the help of her friends, Z shoots a lot of footage, but something about it doesn't feel right. Should she start over? As she tries to make a movie she can be proud of, Z discovers that to be a real filmmaker, she'll first have to be her real self. 176 pages. Paperback. Author: Jen Calonita.

Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary, Childrens, Juvenile, Chapter Books, Asian Literature

Paperback

First published April 25, 2017

About the author

Hi Goodreads!
I'm Jen Calonita, a MG and YA author who loves what I do because it lets me connect with all of you (and no, I wasn't intending for that to rhyme!).

I've been writing ever since I can remember, but it was fourth grade when I put my "three wishes" for a genie down on paper. They were:
#1. Buy all the Cabbage Patch Kids in the world and give them away for free (because apparently that was how I rolled).
#2. I wanted a mansion, limo, lake house, pool and speed boat (still sounds quite nice).
#3. I wanted to be an author for young readers, which I am!

I love writing novels for teens (and for savvy grown ups who know that YA rocks at any age). My first series was "Secrets of My Hollywood Life" and it followed a teen star named Kaitlin Burke who struggled with the fame game. I have also written the stand-alone novels Sleepaway Girls, it's companion book, Summer State of Mind and the Belles series.

I've been writing middle grade too and am having so much fun with my series Fairy Tale Reform School! The fourth book in this series about a school run by former villains is called Tricked and will be out March 2018. Ever wonder what it would be like if your parents got a job with someone like Taylpr Swift? My other middle grade series, VIP, follows super fan Mackenzie Lowell as she tours with her favorite band, Perfect Storm.

I promise to give book updates here, and on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or my website. I hope I hear from you!

xo
Jen

Reviews

[Maile Adams]

I thought this book was very well written. It was also very inspiring. It was about a girl named Z, and she is a photographer. She made a movie about her home town in Seattle and she entered it in a film contest. When her movie was still in the making, she was so concentrated on making it the best, that she forgot about what meant most to her; her friends and family. I liked this book a lot and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a great book with an amazing storyline.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whenever I complain about how there are no Asian main characters in American Girl, I remember belatedly that they did write one-off contemporary books about an Asian girl. They don't fit into the historical or Girl of the Year main lines, but were an attempt at writing standalone, average, mainstream fluff that people have turned to American Girl to avoid. I decided that I should give this book a chance, since they did finally have an Asian American girl in the main role, but even though the elements of Korean representation were nice, the story was still exactly what I expected.

This is a shallow, boring wish-fulfillment story about a girl who participates in a documentary contest for young filmmakers. I thought it was delightfully meta and interesting that Z makes stop motion videos with American Girl dolls, since I had originally only known that she did stop motion, but the story primarily revolves around her sharing her competition news with her friends, dealing with petty and predictable friendship conflicts as a result of her over-absorption with her project, a light bulb moment to be ~Authentic~ in her documentary, and a victory scene at the end. This is perfectly inoffensive and fine for the target audience, but it was exceedingly dull for me as an adult reader. My library never got the second book in this series, but I wouldn't want to read it anyway.

[Maggie Carr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this with Cadee. It was cute and included valuable lessons in not leaving people out of team projects, and getting caught up in personal goals leaving others to feel like they don't matter. The main characters are middle school students but their access to technology astounded me. The author makes it clear that the parents are always around and look over stuff being posted online and such but it would be easy for the kids to gloss over that and feel like they are the only kids in the world without access.

[Cadee · Rating 5 out of 5]

"This story reminded me that you don't always have to pretend but to be the real you. You should always spend more time with your family and friends instead of ignoring them instead of only thinking about one thing." -Cadee, age 9

[Chloe Rehmert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still love American Girl! If you ever had a dream to be a filmmaker, this is for you! Great story of friendship and priorities.

[Hayden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite american girl book but not bad. Z shows a lot of character growth over the story which I really liked.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty cute. Good lessons about friendship and I stayed interested in wanting to know what z did for her movie and how it turned out. The ending was predictable but with a small tweak. It was good.

[Patrick Riley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this because my granddaughter wanted me to because I'm a photographer. It's really a preteen book associate with American Doll. It's a good story and I'll be glad to tell my granddaughter that I liked it.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Real Z: didn't work for me. Z as a character first appeared in the Z.Crew webseries, a cleverly meta introduction to stopmotion filmmaking. Here, AG has made her the lead of one of their early-middle-grade novels, and the result isn't as enjoyable.

The plot is weak, and avoids the exploration-of-important-issues that AG usually does well in their historical books. Z comes off as a flat and not-particularly-sympathetic character; when her friends are complaining that all she can think about is her movie project, I was in agreement with them, and even after she claims to have learned her lesson, she doesn't really seem to change. The book also seems like it's uninterested in Z's Korean-American identity, or her friend Becka's disability, or whether it's a good thing for kids to be trying to build a social media following. There's some AG product placement, and a distracting math error, and characters getting oddly excited about ideas that don't feel particularly fresh. There's not a clear message or lesson to be learned.

I suppose the best audience for this book would be elementary-age kids who are interested in getting into filmmaking--or, of course, AG fans who have the Z doll. Readers outside of those groups, though, are unlikely to find The Real Z a very compelling story.

[Faith Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the dog Popcorn to the book being about a modern teen (instead of a historical fiction 9-year-old), this was a fun read!

However, I was irked by American Girl being brought up in the book, several times, like an advertisement. There was also American Girl's cliche subplot of a best-friend crisis. Moreover, the main reason our lovable character Z is successful is her supportive parents and friends, so while she may be an inspiration to readers, readers may be unable to see how they can be as triumphant as Z without an uplifting community. I don't want American Girl's books to become depressing, but I would appreciate it if they showed even more divorced parents, parents that travel all the time, or girls with no best friends, just friends. (On the other hand, this might subconsciously encourage girls not to seek best friends or to have negative relationships with their parents... so maybe not. What do you think? Share your thoughts, but be kind!)

One way or the other, reading this was a fun way to spend my time. I wish there were a couple more books about Z so I could see what happened next, but I also wish American Girl would think a little harder, like Z.

[Laura Alley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not sure I can give Z five stars as this book felt a little rushed, probably because the Z doll was only a last minute addition to the contemporary character line. As much as I enjoyed the Z Crew stopmotion videos, this book was a little lackluster and didn’t hold my attention as much as Tenney and Gabriela’s first books. I felt like there could’ve been more character development. It’s great that Z is Korean, the first American Girl character to be Korean, but honestly had I not known that fact ahead of time, I wouldn’t have known it. There were only a few mentions of eating Korean food. Z could easily have been white. No real emphasis on her culture. I think if her book had been written by an Asian author it might’ve been better. Maybe I shouldn’t have read it on the heels of Jenny Han novels, but this one seemed very…vanilla in comparison. It’s certainly cute enough, and I do love the focus on film-making, a refreshing change from the usual sports/dance/music theme of contemporary American Girl books.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know one of the complaints about the contemporary characters is that their problems are not as weighty as some of the historical characters. Struggling with the vision for your film contest entry isn't quite on the same level as fighting for workers' rights, preparing for revolutionary war, immigrating halfway across the world to live as a pioneer, or escaping slavery. However, I appreciate the portrayal of small challenges alongside the monumental ones in this series. Most kids (and adults) will struggle with interpersonal relationships, and hopefully when war and inequality rear their ugly heads, soft skills will come in handy, too.

Z herself is creative and tech-savvy, a little selfish, but not a bad kid. I enjoyed the story and appreciated the ending.

[Elise · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was ok. Not bad but not great. Definitely different than the original historical stories and I think it lost something with it's modernity. There is just something much more compelling about, say, Kirsten's stories about traveling to a new country or Addy's stories about escaping slavery. Still, this was cute. I love that Z collects American Girl dolls and makes AGSM videos, so meta :-P There is, of course, a little lesson in there about friendship but it was anything particularly original. If anything it was fun to learn more about my doll's character.

[Skylar Newbury · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not going to say that this was one of the better American Girl books, that would be a total, complete lie, in fact, it was probably the worse yet. Back just a few years ago, the characters were alot more likable. The characters in this book have huge mood swings constantly. Not only that, but they are also on their phones constantly. In other words, the other American Girl books are great, but I would never recommend this one.

[Rachel E. Meyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I didn't enjoy Z as much as I did Gabriela, this book was still good and fun. Z is a filmmaker, specifically stopmotion. It was interesting looking at her making her movies. It was also nice to see the stuff about finding your vision and being you. Cute and good for girls, but not my favorite.

[Abigail Eaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

z wants to make movies. to start, z makes videos with her doll, kit, and her friend. so, her videos
have other videos in them! she takes photos, as . maybe z's dog, popcorn, appears in some pics.
(I don't know. hee. hee. hee.) I know that she got all her camera stuff for her birthday.

[Cristi Schwamb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lauren loved that Z shares a lot of her same interests -- vlogging, filming AGSMs, and more. Like a lot of the more recent American Girl books, this one includes lessons about friendships and finding a balance between favorite activities and other commitments.

[Lexi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was definitely cute. The idea of the character making stop motion movies of her American Girl dolls was delightfully meta. Plus, it has a good message about being yourself and admitting your weaknesses to others.

[Charlie - disableddaydreamer | itsbarbieparis (looking for mutuals) · Rating 4 out of 5]

purchased this in a lot of american girl books as i work on reading them all as an adult who wasn’t really able to have these, this was super cute. unexpected and i want to read more about this story because it was all new to me. it’s fun that she makes stop motion agd movies!

[Anno · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked how this book displayed the world of stopmotion and ...

[Arunima · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had stopped reading these kinds of books for a while, but I decided to pick some up from the library just for a fun read. The story was well written and I loved Z as a character.

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

abandoned 1/2 way through, boring

[Bella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. It was average, pretty much what I expected. I only had like 50 pages left, but I don't care to finish it.

[oLiViA fRy:) · Rating 3 out of 5]

eh

[Kendra Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Real Z is exactly what it looks like: an American Girl novel for a middle-grade reader. There are no real surprises and it is a good length, subject matter, and set of themes for its target audience.

I read the book at the request of my daughter, who wanted to share it with me since it matched her doll. I enjoyed it on her behalf, and when she begins reading well enough to confidently read it herself, I know she will enjoy it. I think shat little she has read so far has already inspired her.

If you are looking for a book that will appeal to a modern girl, this is a good choice. There is nothing truly objectionable in the story. The themes and story are wholesome and uplifting all the way through. There is just enough drama to keep it interesting, but the tension is quickly resolved and the character relationships restored.

I really appreciated that the main character is Korean-American. Many times the Asian-American population gets overlooked, and it is good to see this one both embracing that heritage and rolling with how it is reflected in a modern Asian-American family without being stereotyped.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super cute read. I learned a little bit about filmmaking, honestly. Z is kinda bratty through some of the book, but she learns from her mistakes. The group of characters almost feels pointedly diverse, but I appreciate that.

It is kinda weird having Z and her friends do American Girl stop motion videos. Uncomfortably meta. And product placement, anyone?

[mallory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

[Chi Chi]

WOW Helpful for my stopmotions