Parents' Guide to

A Girl Named Jo

By Joyce Slaton, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 10+

Some stereotypes and bullying in sweet, sincere drama.

TV YouTube Drama 2018
A Girl Named Jo Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

age 13+

Based on 1 parent review

age 13+

Older setting gives anew angle

My daughter is going through the episodes quickly and seems to be enjoying the story. The 60's setting makes it bit different for modern kids, has a historical benefit and is change from a lot of the rubbish she sees on Youtube and TikTok. Good clean entertainment for tweens. The sets are a bit lo-budget, but it does not bother her.

This title has:

Great role models

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (4):

Sincere and well-acted -- if a bit cheap-looking -- this drama has appeal for middle- and elementary-school viewers who will warm to the two charming leads and their budding friendship. Setting a teen show in the 1960s is a little different -- today's tweens haven't heard of The Wonder Years -- and the period setting lends the two-friends-team-up-to-solve-a-mystery framework some extra appeal, even if the showrunners play fast and loose with historical accuracy (Pop Art as the theme for a 1963 high school dance? Really? And To Kill a Mockingbird wasn't even published until a year after the first episode supposedly takes place). Kids who do research using old newspapers, who've never even seen a computer, and who mostly deal with gentle issues like parties and friend groups? What a concept!

On the down side, some of the characters in A Girl Named Jo are a little gratuitously mean, like a cheerleader who calls a character a "skag" and a "four-eyed sweathog" before pushing her down in a mud puddle. Her male counterpart sneers at a brother that his sister will be "in the backseat" of his car before long, and mocks him for working at a diner. Obviously, these over-the-top mean characters are being set up for a comeuppance, but parents may want to make a point about how unacceptable these actions are -- and how much they hurt those on the receiving end.

TV Details

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