Changes for Kirsten - Book Discussion

Hi everyone! I hope you all were able to read Changes for Kirsten so we can discuss it. If you don't have copies of these books going forward at home, you can check to see if a local library has them, and if no libraries have them, you can make an account at the Library of Congress's Internet Archive and check them out there.

Changes for Kirsten, the sixth book in Kirsten's series, is about how Kirsten brings home a raccoon from the woods. The raccoon gets loose and starts a fire, but eventually, in the woods, Kirsten's family finds a surprise of their own.

When I was rereading this book, several things came to mind about the themes within, and both their historical context and what it means to be a girl in 2025. I don't want these posts to be too long, so I'll list my thoughts, and let you discuss these topics as well in the comments!

1. The book begins with Lars's friend, John Stewart, claiming that because she's a girl, Kirsten can't set traps for animals. Lars has to defend his brother - why wouldn't you think John would listen to Kirsten?

   Even though John is a family friend of Kirsten's, all John sees is her gender. Unlike Samantha's series, where female empowerment has already become a movement, women were still expected to do "girly" things like cook and clean, not do things like setting animal traps. Because of this, John had to hear from a man (Lars) that Kirsten was competent.

2. Kirsten witnesses John and Lars killing other animals, but seems to give the little injured raccoon humanity. Why do you think she'd regard the raccoon with life instead of standing up for the other animals killed, and what do you think that has to do with the time this book takes place?

   As I said last week, people were desperate to make any sort of money at this time. Since there weren't much resources for industry or jobs at establishments yet, many people had to resort to exploiting natural resources, such as hunting and logging, in order to make a profit. Kirsten sees that the raccoon is injured, and she is able to empathize with that, but normally, she just sees the raccoon as just a raccoon.

   
   

3. When Kirsten sees her home go up in flames, she gets anxious and feels like she has to start all over again. Why do you think that is?

   By way of moving to America, Kirsten lost her entire livelihood. She lost her best friend, she lost her home, she lost her language, she lost everything that mattered to her. She was starting to build a new life, and as her cabin burns, she feels like everything she has is burning away.

   
   

4. Ultimately, what John criticized as something Kirsten shouldn't do is what gets the Larsons their new home. As we wrap up this series, what do you think the takeaway is from that?

   It's the ultimate tale of American Girl-style empowerment - when Kirsten was told she couldn't do something, she did just that, and was able to create a better life for her family. Kirsten came to America scared and more shy, but she has been able to create a life that still respects her Swedish culture, but embraces American opportunity and change - and has grown a lot along the way.

   
   

Next week, we will start reading Molly's series with Meet Molly!