Customer Reviews

Mesi: A Girl 'n Grace in Africa (The Girls 'n Grace Collection)

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Mesi: A Girl `n Grace in Africa is the first of the international titles from the Girls `n Grace Collection. We are taken to Africa to meet Mesi - a young, studious African girl and her family.

Mesi and her family endure many struggles and hardships: crop failure, injury, and poverty. Through these difficulties Mesi comes to seek advice from an elderly woman, much respected in her village. Through this woman, Mesi comes to learn of God's personal love, and deep concern for her as an individual. All of us have struggled with thoughts that we are too small, our concerns too trivial for God. As we watch Mesi coming to know God personally, we are reminded that when it comes to His children, no concern is too small for Him.

Young readers will enjoy learning about life in Africa through the well-developed storyline and characters. Life there is certainly different than here in North America, and these differences are portrayed very well. They are never exhibited or obtusely pointed out, but are naturally integrated within the story. Our family has a heart for the African people, and we enjoyed learning more about their way of life.

I did notice some discrepancies between the text and the illustrations. For instance, length of characters' hair, colour of a dress and style of jewelry appeared differently in the illustrations than they were depicted in the text. Younger children likely will not notice, but older children and adults certainly will. Hopefully these simple errors will be corrected in an upcoming revision.

Once again, I read this title aloud to my two daughters, and they found it to be more accessible and understandable than Sydney Clair. The issues were closer to home for them, concepts they could more easily identify with than civil rights. While I recommended a reading age of 10 and over if read without adult commentary for Sydney Clair, I feel that the recommended age of 6 and over is appropriate for this title.

Children love reading and collecting book series from the approximate ages of 8-12 years old. Our family will be gathering in a good supply of the Girls `n Grace titles for the time when our own girl-children hit this stage. In an age when many titles for children and `tweens' are filled with questionable moral examples, the Girls `n Grace books shine as a light for Christ.

When American Girl, Inc. decided to align itself with organizations that support pro-abortion and homosexual agendas, Pam Davis, coordinator for an American Girl style show, was astonished. As a Christian parent with a daughter of her own, Davis understood the powerful influence of playtime on impressionable young girls. The concept for Girls 'n Grace, a line of books and dolls, was born when Davis began to envision characters who could sow seeds of faith, rather than worldly ideas, in young girls' hearts through play.

Davis is uniquely gifted for this project. While a student at Liberty University, Davis studied biblical studies and cross-cultural ministries. She left her home behind to follow God's call to the mission field. During a brief time at home between trips, she met and married Steve Davis, a professional baseball pitcher. During this time, Pam experienced the best that this world has to offer. Still, she knew that God had so much more for her. She developed skills in public speaking, computer programming, and writing. She has drawn from her adventures as an international missionary to create the Girls 'n Grace series. Davis writes, "A Girl 'n Grace is a girl in whom the person of grace, Jesus Christ, lives. You'll notice there's a missing "I" and an apostrophe in its place. The Bible teaches that in order to live in a relationship with God one must surrender her life to Jesus. No longer do I live but rather it is Christ who lives in me as I live by faith in the Son of God (Galatians 2:20). A Girl 'n Grace is a girl who has surrendered her self-centered desires to the desires of Christ. In doing so, she discovers strength, satisfaction, and significance, which elevates her self-esteem and honors God."

In Mesi: A Girl 'n Grace in Africa, Mesi (pronounced Maycee) learns to distinguish the gods of her village from the One True God. Living in an African village isn't easy. Due to drought, her family's cocoa field isn't producing enough of a crop to support them. Though Mesi would love to go to school, her family cannot afford to send her. Miss Ama, an elderly Christian woman in their village, encourages Mesi to pray. After her prayer, Mesi's circumstances take a turn for the worst when a storm ignites a fire in their cocoa field, Mesi's older brother is badly injured trying to save the family milk cow, and Mesi's father returns from a gold-finding expedition empty-handed. How does Mesi know that Miss Ama's God can be trusted? Does He really care about her?

Mesi includes several positive elements. The first one I noticed is that the elderly are honored, considered wise and good to talk to when one doesn't know what to do. Second, rather than tell a little lie when her mother asks her why she's late, Mesi tells the truth. Third, unlike many of the other village men, Mesi's father only has one wife, Mesi's mother. Fourth, Mesi is not afraid of hard work and she obeys her parents. Fifth, Mesi is not perfect; she makes mistakes and takes responsibility for them. Sixth, the concept of grace is grounded in who God is. When Mesi doesn't understand why bad things are happening to her family, Miss Ama comes along to explain that we cannot understand God's ways but He and His ways are always good. In the end, Mesi is able to see how the events that seemed terrible were truly good for her family, and that only the One True God could have known all that. Finally, Mesi learns that Jesus is a treasure, worth much more than gold.

Following the story of Mesi, the book includes several pages of colorful pictures of African villages, people, and landscapes, with short explanations of what village life is like in Africa. Even more interesting is the story of the real "Miss Ama," Bathsheba Mugure Ngugi. Born in Kenya in 1920, she became a Christ follower when Salvation Army cadets brought the gospel to her village. Though she faced beatings and persecution, Bathsheba's faith remained strong throughout her life.

The book ends with a short Bible study so that girls can read and apply God's word to their hearts.

My daughter, who is nine years old and has read several American Girl books, enjoyed Mesi. When asked how she liked it, she said, "It's good and my friends would like it." She even wanted to spend some time on the computer learning more about "Mesi" and life in Africa on the Girls 'n Grace website.

All in all, I think Mesi is a good story -- not too preachy and not too fluffy. I appreciate the discipleship activities in the back of the book. I look forward to reading more books from the Girls 'n Grace series with my daughters.

I was able to read this book and another one called Sydney Clair about a girl in America in the 1960's. In both cases I was impressed by the storylines and the underlying lessons in the books as well. The characters are fun and actually deep. I am very excited about this series that Pam Davis has started and you must go to her website to check out the dolls that go with the books. They are just beautiful. I am hoping to get my girls dolls for Christmas this year. These are designed to be an alternative to the American Girls series and I personally think they surpass that series. So if you have preteen girls, you must check out these books and dolls - they are amazing!