An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong

In the 1920s, compulsory school attendance ages were raised from 12 to 16. From the two great TV series which were set earlier in North America: Little House on the Prairie (8 plus 1 seasons beginning in 1974) (about rural 1880s in the Midwest) and Road to Avonlea (8 Seasons beginning in 1990 via Sullivan TV in Canada) (about the beginning 1900s on Price Edward Island in Canada), the All American Girl Books explore the 9-10-11 year olds of various periods in the 20th and 21st centuries.How many G rated movies are available for our kids of today? In the 1950s kids no longer were kids when they reached high school in the 9th and 10th grades. In the 1960s kids were still kids until their last year in junior high. Today our kids no longer are kids around the 5th and 6th grades. It is very difficult for parents to keep their kids as kids during or post middle school. Kids are now wearing makeup in the 5th and 6th grades. There is just too much sex and violence on TV and in the movies and parents are letting their kids grow up too fast. My son, who is 41, wishes we live in the 1950s, 60s (although he thinks he has understanding the violence in American from racism and Vietnam War), or the 70s when he was born. He thinks I am Beaver from Leave it to Beaver. He hates TV of today and prefers to watch Box sets of TV from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. He grew up with Little House, while my daughter 34 grew up with Avonlea. They both love the 1991 TV series Eerie Indiana which had only 19-30 minute episodes before the show was cancelled. My son and I (he was 10) watched every Saturday morning the 1982 Voyagers series. It stimulated his fascination with history and he became a middle school history/civics teacher. His students think he is too square or old fashioned (I don't know the current words), but they love him and respect him. He does not have discipline problems like other teachers. He tries to include family values as well as love for your country in teaching. He does have students post current events on the bulletin board every week and there is discussion of what is going on today led by the student supplying the article.So I grew up with Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. My sister had all the Nancy Drew books, but my brother only had a few Hardy Boys which I spent the summers in Texas afternoon siesta time reading both (with 100 plus temperatures outside) before going swimming at 4 pm. We went to movies on the weekends with loads of cowboy movies. My son and daughter also read the books during their summers. My daughter also did the Baby Sitters Club books and DVDs.I have a 12 year old granddaughter and prior to this year grandpa sat down with her and watched an episode or two of Little House or AVONLEA, but she did not have my daughter's interest. She is the Harry Potter child and has read all the books and has all the DVD movies. So I gave her the Books on CDs which she has transferred to her IPOD????I have purchased most of the American Girl DVDs for my granddaughter but she seems to be too old. Grandpa thinks all five he has watched are great. Kit Kittridge and Molly deal with WWII and being a kid. Felicity and Samantha are set an earlier pre WWI era. The 2009 Chrissa (Stands Alone) movie is super. Parents should watch this movie with their kids (tweens and under) and about bullying which existed in Little House and still exists in schools today. There are so many great reviews for this film, I can add very little. However, parents or parent need to watch this movie and see if their child or children are subject to bullying at school and see if they can help their kid(s) with a solution (not a get even).My challenge to you is try some of the series I have suggested, but a must is Chrissa. I have not purchased McKenna yet, but it is next on the list. (The family is expecting a new grandchild, a baby girl in March. So Grandpa will still have all his kids movies from Disney to American Girl to watch with her.)I could cure the current public school crisis by first rolling back the compulsory school age from 16 to 12 and each year after 12 years old or 6th grade, attending a school would be a privilege versus a right. Post sixth Grade Schooling would have four divisions (Academic, Life Skills, Preparatory, and Boot Camp) and moving from division to division would have the attention of parents. Progression would be based on performance versus age and social promotions. Students must be able to read and write at a 12 year old level to live today in our service industries, and high schools do not need classes loaded with non academic kids who can not read or write beyond the sixth grade. I know the majority of the people reading this review disagree and blame our failures on the schools and teachers. In this country we have the community colleges which give those adults a second chance at achieving what education they wasted during their teen age life. Post 12 year olds if they are not interested in school and their parents don't care, would be apprentices in the work force making little wage. Maybe during their teens they may want to go back to school and want to achieve.Oh well, this would not work with today's politics and massive testing. So, just give us more G rated movies like the current American Girl series and parents sit down with you preteens and watchg Chrissa.

Last night on HBO I watched the premiere of this American Girl movie. I enjoyed the Kit movie from last year, they are really on a roll now I have to say!! This movie is a MUST see for students from 3rd or 4th grade and up. The movie is about a 5th grade girl who is new to a school and is soon bullied by a click of 3 girls, one in particular named Tara. This is not a sugar coated movie and you see Chrissa's situation go from bad to worse as she struggles to handle it by herself.I figured this movie would be like every other typical Disney-style movie where Chrissa will eventually get revenge on the "bad guy", you know with some plot where say she makes some elaborate contraption which will embarrass the heck out of Tara and spill green paint on her or whatever and everyone will laugh at Tara and Chrissa will be the hero. That is NOT how this story goes at all, and I am very impressed American Girl (who is in the DOLL business) did not fantasy candy-coat the story. Rather, as you will see, it is shown with much more realism and makes you think about what you would do if you were in Chrissa's (or her parents') situation.I actually have someone who has been bullying my 10 year old daughter over the past few months and ironically I got a few pointers from this movie last night, it made me think a little different about how to approach the situation. It also reinforced some of my beliefs on what makes someone a bully as well as providing some tips on ways to keep Chrissa staying strong.Like other viewers, I bet you will be curious to see what bully Tara's parents look like - in every other movie (e.g. Camp Rock) the snobby/mean girl's mother is usually some self-centered witch who is nasty with her daughter and thus the chain continues....in this movie, you never get to see her parents. I think that is a good thing because it really let me focus on the rest of the story. I am seriously considering buying a copy for my local school and/or library to donate it, it was that good. The acting was fantastic and Chrissa is absolutely charming, I would love to have a friend like her for myself or my daughter!

Hi,I bought this for my daughter for her 9th birthday. It was a really good movie, and so far it has been the favourite pick for her and all her friends for a movie night - even if some of the kids have seen it already.The movie deals with the topic of bullying quite well. It is a topic that is already being discussed in school a lot - and I have had some amazing conversations with my daughters (9, 7) and their friends after watching this movie. I would recommend it for girls of this age.My one negative comment is that the bullying scenarios are very real, and one of the girls found it a bit scary and she cried. As a parent, it breaks my heart to think that kids can be that mean to each other, although I do know it happens and it is better for us to prepare are kids to deal with it.So, lots of heavy converssation came out of watching this movie, but it is definitely something that is on all the girls minds & I am glad that I have had this movie as a starting point for some of the talks we have had recently.I would recommend it.K.

Good movie for young teens. It is worth spending money if you buy it as a gift or want to have a disc at home. Otherwise, it is available on youtube in many languages. Word of caution: I bought two CDs for Christmas gifts and had to return one but decided not to, as the CD cost $11 and the return price was almost $8. Was not worth the return. Many amazon products offer free returns. Not this one.

wonderful story

Very Satisfied with product & delivery.