The
Girls ‘N Grace Collection: Sydney Clair’s Season of Change – A
Friendship Story
Pam Davis
Reviewed
by Charity R. Bartley Howard
If girls around ages 6 through 12
are looking for a good book to read they should try, “Sydney Clair’s
Season of
Change: A Friendship Story”. In fact, this is a series of books by Pam
Davis
known as The Girls ‘n Grace Collection. This is not only a story of new
and old
friendship but about how a girl deals with a changing world around her.
The book reads, “Too many changes,
Sydney Clair thought, as she sat on the bench waiting for the bus.
There seemed
to be an awful lot going on in the world – a lot she didn’t understand.
She was
glad that she got to stay home with her parents and play with her
friends in
her playhouse. She snuggled in close to her mother, who put her arm
around her
and gave her a hug.”
This first book in the series
tells the story of 10-year-old Sydney Clair who is a girl living in the
1960s.
Her story intertwines true historic happens as it relates to young
girls. It is
a good story that teaches right and wrong with a history lesson as
well.
Readers won’t be lost when Civil Rights are mentioned or Martin Luther
King,
Jr. because Sydney Clair is learning along with the reader. Besides,
the back
of the book has a list of 1960s culture terms and pictures with brief
history
information for added assistance. The pictures and graphics are
beautiful and
go well with the story as well as the timeframe.
Sydney Clair’s personality comes through to the reader along
with her concerns. She is someone the reader might know at school or
may relate
to personally. Here is how Sydney Clair reacts on her first day of
school, “She
was in the same class as her two best friends. She liked school. She
liked the
smell of new pencils. She liked having lunch with her friends. And she
especially liked all the books. She admired her new lacy socks and
walked
faster. School was only a couple blocks away, and she couldn’t wait to
get there.”
This collection of books, including Sydney Clair and other
characters from around the world through different decades, is also
interactive. There is a free reader’s club and website with games,
quizzes and
even prizes. There are icons throughout the book that indicate when
there is a
quiz section on the website. Character dolls are also available to give
readers
an item to cherish along with the stories of their favorite character,
which
adds to the connection. The dolls have a mini Bible and a secret
address code
that gives access to the Girls ‘n Grace virtual world.
The 80-page Christian children’s
fiction book sells for $7.99 through the website www.girlsngrace.com or
Amazon.com. This collection is described as “connecting girls
throughout time and
place with each life story, the canvas for God’s grace.” Another book
available
in the collection is “Mesi: A Girl ‘n Grace in Africa”,
which is a story about a girl who “finds God despite her hardships”.