Meet Josefina

Author: Valerie Tripp

Josefina’s personally

Josefina is the youngest of four sisters, yet we see she is the peacemaker between her sisters.

According to birth order personality theory, it is rare for the youngest to be the peacemaker. So it’s interesting that Josafina has taken this role on, apparently since the death of her mother.

Josefina seams to struggle with anxiety about the goats. I’ve never had goats myself, but I’ve heard they can be bullies.

Symbolism

There are some great symbols in this book. The primrose has a number of meanings, I think the most relevant are childhood innocents, healing, and material love. That almost summarizes the whole book!

Josafina is afraid of goats… but is she really? I’m no mental health professional,  but I do know that anxiety and hypervigilance are common reactions to trama. I think that Josafina is projecting her fears about the world onto the goats. The world is everywhere, an unmeasurable danger, but Josefina can know where the goats are, and while she can’t avoid the world, she can avoid some goats.

We have reached the end of the American Girls I knew as a kid. Next we read the first girl released after I aged out of the series: Kit