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American Girl: Kira
Kira Down Under
In this first book of her series, Kira Bailey is living her dream: Cuddling koalas and bottle-feeding baby kangaroos. Kira and her mom are spending the summer at a wildlife sanctuary in Australia helping her aunt Mamie, a veterinarian, care for the animals. When Kira falls in love with an orphaned koala joey, her joy is complete—until a health emergency pulls Aunt Mamie away. Suddenly Kira can’t seem to do anything right. She’s put the wombats and her beloved koala joey in danger, and now her new friend Alexis won’t talk to her. Can Kira find a way to catch a roving predator—along with a few wayward wombats—and earn back everyone’s trust?
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2021
10 people are currently reading
147 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
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June 4, 2021Ummmm American Girl included LGBTQ+ representation??? I need this in my life
January 9, 2021
While I’m not a fan of the illustrations, the book has nice messages about letting go, about being responsible, and about being both cautious and okay with new things.
People who are mad that Kira’s aunts are same-sex married need to grow up. Same-sex couples exist in the world, so they exist in books, too.
People who are mad that Kira’s aunts are same-sex married need to grow up. Same-sex couples exist in the world, so they exist in books, too.
May 4, 2021
So pleased that American Girl finally has LGBTQ+ representation in one of their books!! This book is very much needed!
January 22, 2021
This was a DUMPSTER FIRE.
I haven't read any of the new Girl of the Year books since 2009, maybe with one or two exceptions, but I wanted to give this a try because I was desperately hoping that 2021's Girl of the Year stories would have references to COVID-19. Well. About that! There are a few random references to masks while Kira and her mother are on the plane, and Kira mentions that their trip was delayed a year because of the coronavirus, but these elements seem thrown in there at the last minute, while a laughably inaccurate storyline about Kira's longing to do school online persists.
Her mother is a MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER, folks, but she is opposed to Kira doing school online, as if she wouldn't have been conducting virtual classes for her own students all throughout 2020. Kira keeps trying to convince her that online school is a valid alternative option, and that other people do this, but her mom is like, "Not in our family." Then they show up at the lesbian aunts' wildlife sanctuary in Australia, and behold, there is a child there who does school online! Kira is like, "SEE?" Somehow, we're supposed to just pretend that the entire past year didn't happen, and it is bizarre.
I know that it's hard to publish a book set in the near future, since you can't predict exactly what world events will have occurred by the time of printing, but because the author threw in the references to masks and coronavirus, the reader cannot pretend that this is set in an alternate timeline. Since this online school subplot is never tied into the story in a significant, inextricable way, it needed to go. If American Girl could add contemporary references to the pandemic, then they desperately needed to take out this outdated and unnecessary plotline.
That completely spoiled my suspension of disbelief from the very beginning, but even aside from that, this was not a good book. It includes educational information about Australia and various wildlife creatures, but the story jumps around with way too many different story lines, various loose threads get dropped and are never resolved, and the girls only take significant action as part of the story near the end, where they are explicitly disobeying safety rules and being incredibly foolish. Also, I don't even like the illustrations. Something about them just seems incomplete.
There are far too many named human and animal characters to keep up with, and the story keeps jumping around from one petty interpersonal conflict or animal sanctuary crisis to another, without a strong character arc or meaningful pacing. Over the course of the story, Kira grows somewhat in dealing with her anxiety and desire to control situations, but the story does not present this in a way that I found compelling at all, despite how much I would have otherwise related to it.
Also, regarding the lesbian aunts, only the most diversity-desperate American Girl fans will be pleased with this aspect of the book. The beginning of the book includes a photo of the aunts at their wedding, and there are a few other references to the marriage, but the aunts rarely appear together as characters, and could have just been sisters or friends without the story changing much at all. We're supposed to believe that they're a couple because we're told that they're married, but that's pretty much it.
There is a scene where one of the aunts kisses the other's hand after a crisis, but this is a rather odd gesture, and it seemed random and out-of-place in their totally undeveloped relationship. The reader learns nothing about their background, how they fell in love, what they see in each other, what their personalities are like alone or together, or how they live their lives. They are completely secondary to the random conflicts and animal shenanigans at the wildlife sanctuary, and add nothing to the story. People who are opposed to normalizing same-sex relationships in children's books will still have an issue with this book, simply because there are married aunts, and people who want LGBTQ representation in American Girl will find this incredibly unsatisfying. Nothing about this will please either demographic.
Also, parents should be aware that this book includes many repeated uses of Australian bad language, including "b*gger." I flinched every time this word came up, because even though I have read it many times in other contexts, I was not prepared for an obscene word to make repeated appearances in an American Girl book, no matter how innocently it is used or how socially accepted it is in some settings. "Crikey," a misuse of Christ's name, also made regular appearances. I think the worst word that has ever appeared in any other American Girl book must be "darn," so even though the language in this book fits with the Australian setting, it was strongly out of step with American Girl's usual content standards.
I haven't read any of the new Girl of the Year books since 2009, maybe with one or two exceptions, but I wanted to give this a try because I was desperately hoping that 2021's Girl of the Year stories would have references to COVID-19. Well. About that! There are a few random references to masks while Kira and her mother are on the plane, and Kira mentions that their trip was delayed a year because of the coronavirus, but these elements seem thrown in there at the last minute, while a laughably inaccurate storyline about Kira's longing to do school online persists.
Her mother is a MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER, folks, but she is opposed to Kira doing school online, as if she wouldn't have been conducting virtual classes for her own students all throughout 2020. Kira keeps trying to convince her that online school is a valid alternative option, and that other people do this, but her mom is like, "Not in our family." Then they show up at the lesbian aunts' wildlife sanctuary in Australia, and behold, there is a child there who does school online! Kira is like, "SEE?" Somehow, we're supposed to just pretend that the entire past year didn't happen, and it is bizarre.
I know that it's hard to publish a book set in the near future, since you can't predict exactly what world events will have occurred by the time of printing, but because the author threw in the references to masks and coronavirus, the reader cannot pretend that this is set in an alternate timeline. Since this online school subplot is never tied into the story in a significant, inextricable way, it needed to go. If American Girl could add contemporary references to the pandemic, then they desperately needed to take out this outdated and unnecessary plotline.
That completely spoiled my suspension of disbelief from the very beginning, but even aside from that, this was not a good book. It includes educational information about Australia and various wildlife creatures, but the story jumps around with way too many different story lines, various loose threads get dropped and are never resolved, and the girls only take significant action as part of the story near the end, where they are explicitly disobeying safety rules and being incredibly foolish. Also, I don't even like the illustrations. Something about them just seems incomplete.
There are far too many named human and animal characters to keep up with, and the story keeps jumping around from one petty interpersonal conflict or animal sanctuary crisis to another, without a strong character arc or meaningful pacing. Over the course of the story, Kira grows somewhat in dealing with her anxiety and desire to control situations, but the story does not present this in a way that I found compelling at all, despite how much I would have otherwise related to it.
Also, regarding the lesbian aunts, only the most diversity-desperate American Girl fans will be pleased with this aspect of the book. The beginning of the book includes a photo of the aunts at their wedding, and there are a few other references to the marriage, but the aunts rarely appear together as characters, and could have just been sisters or friends without the story changing much at all. We're supposed to believe that they're a couple because we're told that they're married, but that's pretty much it.
There is a scene where one of the aunts kisses the other's hand after a crisis, but this is a rather odd gesture, and it seemed random and out-of-place in their totally undeveloped relationship. The reader learns nothing about their background, how they fell in love, what they see in each other, what their personalities are like alone or together, or how they live their lives. They are completely secondary to the random conflicts and animal shenanigans at the wildlife sanctuary, and add nothing to the story. People who are opposed to normalizing same-sex relationships in children's books will still have an issue with this book, simply because there are married aunts, and people who want LGBTQ representation in American Girl will find this incredibly unsatisfying. Nothing about this will please either demographic.
Also, parents should be aware that this book includes many repeated uses of Australian bad language, including "b*gger." I flinched every time this word came up, because even though I have read it many times in other contexts, I was not prepared for an obscene word to make repeated appearances in an American Girl book, no matter how innocently it is used or how socially accepted it is in some settings. "Crikey," a misuse of Christ's name, also made regular appearances. I think the worst word that has ever appeared in any other American Girl book must be "darn," so even though the language in this book fits with the Australian setting, it was strongly out of step with American Girl's usual content standards.
January 20, 2022
read this for the meme and also bc she has the same name as my sister-cute story will be reading the next one too
January 8, 2021
This book needed a final editing, beginning on page one where a statue appears to only hold a book on the first day of summer break. There are far too many characters and too many named animals. There is no story arc, and the only adventure that is child driven lasts for a few pages and happens because the children disobey a safety rule. There are unnecessary references to masks and the coronavirus that seem to have been inserted after the book was complete. I can't imagine any child reading past the first few pages. There is no early hook to interest a child. American Girl books have been hit or miss since the Mattel takeover. This one is definitely a miss. Parents and grandparents need to know that Kira's aunts are married lesbians, something that does nothing to advance the "story," but serves to advance American Girl's political agenda. This is content not suitable for the target audience of 8 year olds, especially in families that do not want homosexuality normalized to their children. Because the American Girl brand is seen as "wholesome," adults are far too likely to give the book to a child or to allow a child to check it out from the library without knowing the content. Also, the illustrations are hideous.
February 2, 2021
Cute book to read with my girls about Australian animals and the struggles Kira has. It made my 10 year old homeschooled kiddo laugh when Kira’s mom wasn’t open to the idea of online school and then she made a new friend who had online school and got to live life at the Bush Camp and learn hands on with all of the animals at the clinic.
January 30, 2021
Having read pretty much all of the Girl of the Year books I have to say while this isn't my favorite one I did really enjoy it. I thought Kira as a character was really interesting and was fun to read the headspace of. I do think the nod to the coronavirus was a bit weird and I would have preferred it was just left out although I understand they want to make the girl of the years as true to the real-time as possible but I think the subject of Australian bush fires and climate change was already a big enough and topical issue that we didn't need to add the coronavirus layer. Personally, I think Kira's aunts were a huge step forward for American Girl. Their relationship was never written as something weird or out of the ordinary, it just was what it was and I liked that. I know American Girl has gotten backlash for sharing stories about people in the LGBTQ community before and so for them to put characters who belong to that community in any capacity into a main doll's story is a huge step forward and I am proud of them for that.
September 3, 2021
Oh this was SO CUTE! I'm so very behind on American Girl books and I most definitely need to fix that.
December 4, 2024
Its amazing!! 1 it looks so pretty and it gave me morals I'm not a
Kid anymore but i love it!!
Kid anymore but i love it!!
March 4, 2021
The storyline is good and fun and the characters acted like believable 10 year old BUT there are
2 words that should not be in a kids book
Crikey euphemism for Christ
euphemism- a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing.
Bugger-the word is used to mean annoyance should have used the word annoying instead of this word. Because one of the meanings has to do with an adult subject
Most kids are taught to look up words they don't know so why this word was okay to be included I have no idea.
Kira's mom doesn't want Kira to do school online she doesn't really give a reason so here are some I came up with
1. Kira's mom wants Kira to have the whole middle school experience; lockers, changing classes, eating lunch in the cafeteria, access to school clubs and other activities like band or orchestra, acting, sports and school dances and seing people face to face
2. Kira's mom doesn't want Kira sitting in front of a screen for hours every day - it's been proven screens are bad for eyes and can cause eye problems.
2 words that should not be in a kids book
Crikey euphemism for Christ
euphemism- a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing.
Bugger-the word is used to mean annoyance should have used the word annoying instead of this word. Because one of the meanings has to do with an adult subject
Most kids are taught to look up words they don't know so why this word was okay to be included I have no idea.
Kira's mom doesn't want Kira to do school online she doesn't really give a reason so here are some I came up with
1. Kira's mom wants Kira to have the whole middle school experience; lockers, changing classes, eating lunch in the cafeteria, access to school clubs and other activities like band or orchestra, acting, sports and school dances and seing people face to face
2. Kira's mom doesn't want Kira sitting in front of a screen for hours every day - it's been proven screens are bad for eyes and can cause eye problems.
April 17, 2021
Kira Down Under is okay but not American Girl's best. The portrayal of a wildlife sanctuary is interesting, but doesn't it seem a bit odd that AG has been making so many of their storylines recently not about America? It's notable that Mamie and Lynette are AG's first queer characters--took them long enough. The really weird thing is the half-hearted attempt at mentioning the pandemic--it's mentioned maybe twice, but there are so many other parts that would make no sense in a world in which the pandemic had occurred/was occurring that it honestly would have worked better just to not acknowledge it. Maybe in twenty years there can be a historical character for 2020 with stories about the pandemic?
March 29, 2023
Quite disappointed - I didn’t realize the content (or lack of) American girl books can have. Aside from the lesbian aunts getting married (which happens in real life, but isn’t content I want my young daughter reading about and normalizing), the characters are underdeveloped, lack strong character, and are not role models I want for my daughter. I will now be checking reviews and screening all the American girl books she’s interested in.
May 11, 2021
There are two things that are keeping me from making this a 5 star. The biggest one is the lesbian relationship, that does not belong in a children's book.
I also did not like the references to cover, the appeared to be added in last minute. They should have made more, or completely left it out.
Other than that I have no complaints, if you are OK with everything above, you should read it.
I also did not like the references to cover, the appeared to be added in last minute. They should have made more, or completely left it out.
Other than that I have no complaints, if you are OK with everything above, you should read it.
June 20, 2021
American Girl does a fantastic job of not only making interesting stories but relating them to real world issues. You can tell the amount of research that goes into it and it is so encouraging to see representation of all kinds in these stories!
November 20, 2021
Loved all the info about Australia and the animals. Some parts were totally unnecessary and others parts felt missing like, what happened to her dad exactly? But maybe they have to leave since of the questions for the next book. Eye catching illustrations, great, fun colors.
January 16, 2023
I love the fact that American Girl dolls have a back story told through books. This one about an Australian wildlife refuge seemed a little complex for my granddaughter, but they do address issues kids deal with.
April 3, 2024
I'm definitely not the target audience for this book but American Girl Doll was my childhood and I still adore them today and found this an easy and enjoyable read. I wish I could half stars on goodreads lol this book is probably somewhere between 3 and 1/2 to 4 stars to me.
February 16, 2021
This book is so good. It was a 4star book for sure!
April 1, 2021
I love this book I was so into it!
April 11, 2021
Its a very cute book😍
July 2, 2021
It was ok. My daughters loved it. They love that the main character loves animals and gets to snuggles koalas, but I thought she was bratty and kind of self centered.
August 26, 2021
This book was super cute and I would have loved it so much when I was a kid.
Can’t wait to save it for my niece once she learns how to read.
Can’t wait to save it for my niece once she learns how to read.
February 14, 2022
Cute story. One I would’ve very much liked and related to as a kid. Any animal loving kid would find value in the lessons learned from this book.
January 11, 2023
Amazing!
August 22, 2023
Man. I did not like this one. It's boring. Kira is annoying. I felt there was no depth in any of the story. It's just not good.
January 1, 2024
Great story about friendship and animals.
January 9, 2025
Read this aloud to my daughter (6 y.o.) and it was very engaging and we both enjoyed it. Cute story with a few illustrations to keep my kid happy. She asked to read more.
February 15, 2025
📖 extra star because queer representation in an AG book! Gay 70-year old great-aunts! 🥳🩷
September 23, 2025
I needed something lighter after the week I had but I expected something different when I turned to American girl for that lightness
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews