American Girl of the Year: Mia

2008's Girl of the Year is Mia, a figure skater. I didn't think I'd be into her books initially, but she comes from a hockey-loving family. She has three older brothers that play and both her parents work two jobs to get by. Mia herself helps out at the ice rink to help pay for her lessons and ice time. I can very easily get behind a close-knit family who knows the value of hard work and loves hockey.

Mia grew up playing hockey with her brothers, so they're all confused as to why she wants to do figure skating when she struggles with it, whereas she was a hockey natural. That's the majority of the conflict in the book, as well as Mia struggling against herself to gain confidence before the rink's Winter Show.

Mia's best friend Anya is adorable and for once, there's no best friend weirdness. The mean girl role is played by Vanessa and her sidekick Gemma, both spoiled wealthy girls.

The storyline moves right into the second book. Mia's coach mentions Regionals at the end of the first book and here we are later on when Regionals are almost here. Mia's big concern is that she's outgrown both her skating boots and her one skating dress. At the same time, the furnace has broken down for the last time and her mother has broken her leg, so their income is vastly diminished. The family uses a traditional coin flip to decide if they can send eldest brother Perry to his big hockey tournament or Mia to Regionals. Perry wins and Mia is upset, but recovers quickly.

Not long after, she's given a practically new pair of used boots by a couple of the rink employees, who consider her part of the family. She's also given the materials to make a new skating dress by a local fabric shop owner who Mia accidentally earned a bit of publicity for at the beginning of the book. Mia's coach helps her sew the outfit, while Mia and her mom put the finishing touches on it.

Then it's off to Regionals, where Mia, Anya and their mothers find themselves rooming with snotty Vanessa after there's some mix-up and she has no hotel room reserved. It's easy to see that Vanessa is the way she is because her parents are always too busy for her and they throw their power and money around to get what they want. But she grows a bit as a character before the end of the book.

Mia comes up against a new rival, a superstar skater named Paige, and has a couple clashes with her, but ends up performing her routine well enough to make her very happy. Paige ends up winning, but Anya earns second place, Mia fourth, and Vanessa fifth.

I really like Mia. Of the six girls we've met so far, Jess is the only one I like better and that's really more because of her character design and the setting of her books. Mia's a more well-rounded, well-written character. I love her family, she has no friend drama, and the stories feel very realistic. I almost got this doll a few times because I liked her books so much, but I never actually ended up with her.