Sunday, December 28, 2014

*Review* GOTY 2015 Meet Grace Thomas

Maria has begun reading Grace's story in Book One. She left a lengthy comment about the story and I don't want it to get buried. I am re-posting her wonderful synopsis. Thanks Maria!!


Hi all! Unfortunately other than the cover, there are no pictures in the book at all. There is a glossary of French words at the end of the book. There is no mention of Book 2 (which I found kind of strange). I've read several chapters so far and it is a cute story. 

Grace has a nice energetic and positive personality which makes you want to follow her. She does live in a fictional town in Massachusetts named "Bentwick". She has a Mom, Dad, and a 14 year old brother who plays the piano, likes to fix bikes, and according to her two friends is really cute. Her Dad is a therapist and her Mom is a school teacher. Her grandparents have owned a bake shop in town for 30 years. 
The story starts in mid-June at the beginning of summer vacation. Grace has a love of baking which she most likely inherited from her grandparents. Her aunt (mother's sister) who lives in Paris also has the baking bug. Her aunt married a pastry chef two years ago and moved to Paris where they run a bakery. Her aunt is pregnant and about to have her baby, but is on bed rest. The Mom feels she needs to go over and help since she is free now due to summer vacation. The Mom asks Grace to go with her. So this is how she ends up in Paris. 

Don't want to reveal anymore or spoil things for anyone. Grace also has a *cousin in Paris who is the step daughter of her aunt and is slightly younger than Grace. This book ends just before her and her Mom leave Paris to head back home. Hope some of you can find this book too. It's fun to know her background story before she comes out! ~ Maria B.

*Sylvie

10 comments:

  1. Ooooh! Hmm....I haven't been reading as many of the central books recently (They feel a bit young to me and I get bored easily)but maybe I will read this.....

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  2. Awesome! I'm so excited about Grace! I think her story plot has a lot more detail/ was better thought out then Isabelle's. Now, don't get me wrong-- I like Isabelle (and have her), but this story seems more creative in my opinion. It's creative, without crossing the line of being unrealistic. I think this is going to be a great year for the GOTY line. :)

    -aginparadise<3

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    1. I thought I was the only one who thought this way! I didn't like Isabelle's story very much because she didn't have too much of a problem and all three of her stories (not counting her ebook) had almost the same exact plot. I have Isabelle as well and I felt kind of bad because I didn't like her story but now I know I'm not the only one! Like you said, it is really creative, but not too unrealistic. She also seems more 'mature' or older, which is nice because older girls can relate to her more, although I wish she was 12 instead of 9. Even I related to her: I'm a huge planner and I usually research before doing something big such as making a business! I'm actually making my own business soon with Sincerely AG: we're planning to make our own doll line and we're going to have for every doll purchased, another doll is donated to a hospital or charity or etc. (sorry for such a long comment, I usually have a lot to say.)

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  3. Something told me she was not going to have illustrations. How sad. Isabelle and her mini doll will probably be fetching high prices on eBay in the next couple of years like Kanani. (Kanani being the 25th anniversary doll) Her mini was the last of the soft bodied gory minis and apparently the last of the illustrated books. I'm glad she will have a movie so we can see what everyone else looks like! lol

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  4. Thanks for pulling my comment out into it's own post Rhonda! Just another quick addition which hopefully doesn't give too much away. Grace's friends at home are Maddy and Ella. Maddy is described as having red curly hair. Ella appears to be African American based on her description. She is apparently super shy and great at math.

    Also, the author appears to give Grace many more "grown up" qualities then you would associate with most girls her age. She says several times that she is a planner. She likes to be prepared and make lists. She really seems motivated to want to start a business with her friends, something bigger than a lemonade stand. She even researches job opportunities on the internet. She bakes on her own at home without help from adults. I don't remember trusting my kids to bake when they were 9 years old. Also, when she goes to Paris, her Mom helps her start a travel blog. So she has more qualities that an adult can relate to which I think makes her story more enjoyable to an adult reader. Hope that makes sense! Anyway, I think everyone will enjoy reading Grace's story. ~ Maria

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    1. YES! I am older then most girls interested in AG and I can totally relate to her more then a few other recent GOTY dolls. :)

      -aginparadise<3

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  5. At first I was really upset about no illustrations, but now I realize that any dark haired AG doll could be Grace because you only have the 2 pictures to go by, this might be nice for parents who just shelled out $115 for a MYAG doll 2 weeks ago. the calender is very cute and the book seems great, I like that she is doing something other than a sport, which is what most GOTY do. All around cute idea, but I may gain 20lbs over the next year if I keep seeing such delicious looking play food.

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  6. That's so sad that the books won't have any illustrations. That was something I really enjoyed about the books. I also wish that the minis still had cloth bodies. I still preordered the Grace mini doll and the books. The first 2 books and the mini are already on their way thanks to the book depository.

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  7. Boston Airport? Don't they mean Logan Airport?

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    1. Not sure why the calendar says Boston Airport, but the book definitely mentions Logan International Airport.

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