The doll you love comes home on DVD in a full-length, live-action movie. Felicity: An American Girl Adventure has all the joy, excitement and you-are-there history of the best-selling books about Felicity Merriman, a spirited girl growing up in Virginia in the years just before the American Revolution. Nine-year-old Felicity (Shailene Woodley) knows she’s supposed to stay quietly indoors doing “sitting-down kinds of things.” But she yearns for the freedom of the outdoors…and especially for the adventure of riding horses. Then she meets a beautiful, copper-colored mare who’s mistreated by her cruel owner. When Felicity tries to rescue the horse she calls Penny, she learns valuable lessons about loyalty, responsibility and independence.
Starring Shailene Woodley, Kevin Zegers, David Gardner, John Schneider, Marcia Gay Harden.
Parents need to know that this movie is part of the hugely popular American Girls doll/book/entertainment juggernaut. While the content is quite tame overall, a child does sneak out of her house each morning even though her parents have forbidden it. She first steals — then eventually sets free — a mistreated horse without significant repercussions. Another character runs away from a contractual agreement to follow his political beliefs but eventually returns and works out a compromise. A beloved grandfather dies, and his passing is treated with dignity and love. A father is jailed for his political beliefs, and a mother nearly dies in childbirth. Reflecting the Revolutionary War era, African Americans are shown only in roles of silent servitude. – Common Sense Media