Meet Kaya: An American Girl (American Girls Collection (Paper))

Rating:
Summary: Meet Kaya
Review: From the days of Pleasent Company, when there were only three dolls Kirsten, Samantha and Molly, lovers of the American Girls collection have longed from a Native American Girl. But, alas we were forced to wait, until now.

The Story of Kaya'aton'my' is one of the most amazing to come out of the American Girl Collection to date. The first story is that of a young girl who is very proud, too proud. Her pride and boasting land her in mess after mess. But in the end she learns from her mistakes.

One of Meet Kaya's greatest assest is the research that was put into making an accurate and unique tell. The difference between Kaya's culture and modren american culture is clear from the onset. However, the book does not attemp to lecture the reader about "Brave Indians" instead it takes great care to explain culture differences with dignity and respect. Also, the learning is expectly woven into the fabric of the tale. We learn about everything from disclipine of the youth to courting rituals to the history of when horse were introduced to Kaya's people.

This is an ubber quick read for adults, and and a fun and challenging one for the age group it was intended from. It does not lag or suffer from "forced plot" as some of the other American Girl stories do. The plot flows evenly and as smoothly as with any quality book. Additionaly because the plot is so well done, it would definitely appeal to those who are put off by other American Girl books.

While the book is largely text there are a number of beatiful high quality illustrations. The style of the arent works well with the text and does a great job of ...well... illustration what is going on. Very stylistic and very well done.

All in all this a great book worthy of any library.

Rating:
Summary: Finally here!
Review: From the days of Pleasent Company, when there were only three dolls Kirsten, Samantha and Molly, lovers of the American Girls collection have longed from a Native American Girl. But, alas we were forced to wait, until now.

The Story of Kaya'aton'my' is one of the most amazing to come out of the American Girl Collection to date. The first story is that of a young girl who is very proud, too proud. Her pride and boasting land her in mess after mess. But in the end she learns from her mistakes.

One of Meet Kaya's greatest assest is the research that was put into making an accurate and unique tell. The difference between Kaya's culture and modren american culture is clear from the onset. However, the book does not attemp to lecture the reader about "Brave Indians" instead it takes great care to explain culture differences with dignity and respect. Also, the learning is expectly woven into the fabric of the tale. We learn about everything from disclipine of the youth to courting rituals to the history of when horse were introduced to Kaya's people.

This is an ubber quick read for adults, and and a fun and challenging one for the age group it was intended from. It does not lag or suffer from "forced plot" as some of the other American Girl stories do. The plot flows evenly and as smoothly as with any quality book. Additionaly because the plot is so well done, it would definitely appeal to those who are put off by other American Girl books.

While the book is largely text there are a number of beatiful high quality illustrations. The style of the arent works well with the text and does a great job of ...well... illustration what is going on. Very stylistic and very well done.

All in all this a great book worthy of any library.

Rating:
Summary: Kaya, a new American Girl!
Review: I have been a fan of the American Girls Collection for nine years. I've seen five characters added to the series since I started to read it, and every one has been good so far.
Kaya seems like a real, honest to goodness person, even though she is fictional. The problem? I put the book down! When Kit came out, I had her first three books read in the course of one day. With Kaya, I bought the one book to start me off, looking a little leary of the rest of her stories.
Kaya is excellent, like the other characters in the AGC. The problem is this: her family and her experiences seem like cardboard. I had to keep going back to see who was who, because I felt that the characters were lacking, except for Kaya. In the other books, the charcters are developed in a way that you don't have to look back and forth between the family pics and the place you're at in the book. There is also a lack of plot.

In Meet Felicity, Felicity saves Penny from Jiggy Nye. In Meet Josefina, Josefina and her sisters get Tia Dolores to help them out. In Meet Kirsten, Kirsten comes to America. In Meet Addy, Addy escapes to freedom. In Meet Samantha, Sam learns about the Victorian class system and gains an unlikely friend in the process. In Meet Kit, Kit's father loses his job and the Kittredges take in boarders. In Meet Molly, Molly and her brother start their own war and learn about Allies and how to deal with the war.
In Meet Kaya, Kaya gets in trouble and, through the cardboardedness of it all, saves someone's life in the last chapeter, two pages before the end, where the book is ended abruptly. The peek into the past was interesting. It looks as though it could have been saved for Changes for Kaya, as it talks about the Nez Perce today.
Mattel could have at least had Bill Farnsworth draw in a pic on the family pages of Cut Cheek, Brown Deer's crush. That would have been nice! I hope that the rest of the books take more time to develop the characters of everybody else in Kaya's stories.
The three stars is for Kaya, who is awesome. The other two are amiss because the book is somewhat dull.

Candace

Rating:
Summary: Meet Kaya book review
Review: I read Meet Kaya, an American girl.
I thought it was a really good book because I think Kaya is a cool character. Kaya is an Indian girl who loves to racehorses. Kaya races a boy named Raven because he makes fun of her horse. Kaya races Raven but her horse tries to buck her off. After the race is over Kaya has to find her brothers because she asked her blind friend Speaking Rain to watch her two brothers Wing feather and Sparrow while she races and then she lost them. Kaya is mad when all the kids call her Magpie. But she gets used to it because her grandmother Aalah tells her that her brother called her finger cakes and her friends still call her that for a joke.I recomend this book to anyone at any age level.

Rating:
Summary: Kaya's Lesson
Review: In "Meet Kaya", Kaya, a 9 year old Nez Perce girl, learns an important lesson that carries through in later books. She learns that in her tribal world, individuals cannot look after themselves first. The needs of others must always be taken into consideration. When she accepts the challenge of a boy to take off in a horse race, she also runs away from her responsibility in caring for her younger twin brothers and ignores her father's command to not race her horse.When she is punished with a whipping, all of the children in the tribe are also whipped to teach that the actions of one affect the lives of many. When the other children tease her repeatedly with an unkind name related to the incident, it stings worse then the whip and is a constant reminder to her of her mistake. In the end, it serves to also remind her to strive for better qualities in herself.

I liked that this book was different from the other books in the American Girl series and other similiar books that I have read. It presents a world that many people may not be familiar with. However, writing that moves too quickly over the unfamiliar setting and lifestyle makes this book difficult to read in places. As an adult, I found myself rereading places that I'd missed. I would not recommend this series for those younger then 8, but having read all of the books, the later books are not as difficult to read as the first two.

The lesson portrayed in this book is one of responsibility, wisdom, and the consequences of poor choices. This book conveys that adults know best for a reason and that it is a good thing to be aware of the needs of others and care for them. Although her punishment for her choice may seem harsh or cruel to modern readers, we see how Kaya learns from it. The reading issue makes this book a bumpy start to the series, but I found this book and the rest of the series to be worth the time I spent reading it.

Rating:
Summary: Meeting Kaya
Review: Kaya is a Nez Perce Native American girl growing up around Oregon. This book introduces you to her, and tells you about the way her people do things. There are also a few pages in the back of the book that tell you about the Nez Perce and show real photographs of Nez Perce people and their things. The best words to describe Kaya would be brave, adventurous, curious, and loving. Kaya is also a little cocky, but is learning to bite her tongue when she feels herself bragging. Actually, it is bragging that gets her into a mess and earns her a bothersome nickname. There isn't very much action in this book, but that's okay, because I love hearing about the Nez Perce people and their ways. The art in the book is very colorful, and the writing is very descriptive and makes Kaya's world easy to imagine.

I would recommend this book to you if you like American Girl, are learning about the Nez Perce, or want a good series to read about a Native American girl. I would not recommend this book to you if you are looking for a book about magic, or the typical school-story type of book.

Rating:
Summary: fully fleshed characters, realistic lives
Review: My daughter has read all of the American Girl books and immerses herself in the realities of the girls. Kaya is no exception.

Kaya's life, although very different than ours, is easy to imagine for children. There is enough detail for them to understand the community and community feeling of Kaya's group of Nez Perce. The characters are firmly developed, and unlike a teen reader, my daughter has no difficulty figuring out the roles each person plays, even though they don't necessarily use familiar terms like "mother" and "grandfather".

Kaya teaches my child that the Native Americans had dignity, a wonderful lifestyle, respect for nature, love for their families, as well as rights to live the lives they saw fit. Too bad that adults who destroyed the culture believed otherwise. Eventually, through the series, these issues are explored in the "Looking Back" section.

Rating:
Summary: fully fleshed characters, realistic lives
Review: My daughter has read all of the American Girl books and immerses herself in the realities of the girls. Kaya is no exception.

Kaya's life, although very different than ours, is easy to imagine for children. There is enough detail for them to understand the community and community feeling of Kaya's group of Nez Perce. The characters are firmly developed, and unlike a teen reader, my daughter has no difficulty figuring out the roles each person plays, even though they don't necessarily use familiar terms like "mother" and "grandfather".

Kaya teaches my child that the Native Americans had dignity, a wonderful lifestyle, respect for nature, love for their families, as well as rights to live the lives they saw fit. Too bad that adults who destroyed the culture believed otherwise. Eventually, through the series, these issues are explored in the "Looking Back" section.

Rating:
Summary: Meet Kaya book review
Review: This is the first book in the American Girls series about Kaya'aton'my', a nine-year-old Native-American girl growing up among the Nez Perce people in 1764. In this book, we meet Kaya, who is so proud of her horse. However, when Kaya leaves her little brothers (whom she is supposed to be watching) to race, she lands all of the children in trouble. And now, having earned the nickname of Magpie (a thoughtless bird), she finds that she has a lot to learn. But, seeking to help those around her, Kaya sets out to be a better person.

My daughter loves Kaya, and really enjoyed this book. The story was good (if a little unfocused), and the illustrations excellent. Unlike most other American Girls, Kaya's religion is alive for her and part of her life, which makes me wonder why they didn't do this for the others. Anyway, my daughter and I bother liked this book, and highly recommend it to you.