Changes for Julie: 1974

The sixth and final book in the Julie series from American Girls considers communication and politics. Now in fifth grade, Julie befriends a hearing-impaired classmate named Joy who loves dogs and has a lot of good ideas. Unfortunately, not all of their peers understand Joy, and Joy can't always lip read fast enough to understand them or their teacher. Some of the other kids make fun of Joy's voice, and both Joy and Julie get in trouble for passing notes when Joy's confused by what the teacher's saying. Though Julie tries to tell her teacher that she was just trying to explain the lesson to Joy, both of the girls get detention. After having to write "I will not pass notes in class" and "I will not talk back to the teacher" one hundred times each, Julie gets a hand cramp - and an idea. Why not get kids to do something more active or beneficial to the school, like picking up litter, instead of writing and rewriting such things? Then it's time for the school election for student body president, and Julie decides to run, even though the position typically goes to a sixth-grader. Joy plans to run alongside Julie for vice president, and they create some groovy posters with the help of Julie's best friend Ivy. Julie's classmate T.J. decides to be their campaign manager, and he has no problem supporting the girls, unlike some intolerant kids who scribble on the posters and say mean things about Joy. Julie almost backs out of the election, but after realizing what - and who - she's really campaigning for, she sticks it out and makes her friends and family proud. Now I'm happily picturing a grown-up Julie working in politics or education, and wishing there were more books in this delightful series. Author Megan McDonald and illustrator Robert Hunt have created a memorable character in Julie Albright, a smart, passionate young girl who is ready to make changes and take changes as they come.

Having moved into an apartment after her parents divorce in the 1970's, this book's young protagonist, Julie Albright, continues effectively confronting several personal challenges. Learning that Joy Jenner, a classmate who is deaf does not get treated fairly at school because of her disability is frustrating. Joy can read lips, but her 'odd' speech patterns frequently get riddiculed by insensitive classmates who do not initially understand-care about people with disabilities being treated fairly. This frequently makes it uncomfortable for her to participate and learn. So, Julie runs for class president. Furthermore, she intentionally picks Joy as her vice presidential running mate! This is another really good fiction offering. Joy's 'difference' from many of their other classmates consequently requires 'campaign trail accommodations' years before the Americans with Disabilities Act would actually mandate it for 'grown up' elections and other parts of society. After having made the selection, Julie also then realizes that she herself had some prejudice against people with disabilities being her equals, and also needed to work through it if Joy really was going to get treated fairly at school. Joy is perfectly capable of speaking for herself! It's a much more realistic plot device than if the protagonist without disabilities automatically came in and was completely supportive of people with disabilities right to public participation. We see Julie learning from past mistakes and growing, but realize that she is not a bad person. Revisiting the 'women's political participation' theme from the 'Samantha' series, it also foreshadows the rapid increase of women who would run for office starting in the 1970's and successfully continuing today. Winning the vote certainly had been important, but running for office is another very important form of political representation which should never be marginalized--irrespective of the party. The only problem area is the back 'past' section. Explaining why special education laws were enacted and how they are supposed to work throughout America, it presumes things are now running smoothly throughout America. The historical information does not provide the same issue progression given to women in politics, which mentions that America has elected a woman Speaker of the House. Since the enforcement of disability non-discrimination laws in public schools very much remains a current issue and book readers do include people with disabilities themselves, readers of this particular series very much are in a position to reenact 'Julie's' adventures to an extent which realistically would not be possible with the other previously introduced American Girl characters