Nostalgia Nook: American Girl

When I was a little girl, my parents took me to a bookstore to find something for me to read. I was already a proud bookworm and was already a few reading levels ahead. My parents explained this to the employee who helped us and also explained how much I love American history. The employee said he knew what was perfect for me. And that’s when he introduced me to the American Girl collection.

This was back in the early 1990s, about 1991 or ‘92 I would say. The collection had just expanded to 5 American Girls and they are who I am going to talk about.

So, history and SPOILERS follow.

Felicity: Set in Williamsburg, VA in 1774 (coincidentally the year Colonial Williamsburg is general frozen in), though it spans into 1776. Felicity is a “spunky” young girl who loves horses, her family and her friends. However, she finds herself torn as battle lines are drawn before the American Revolution. Is she a Loyalist like her grandfather and best friend? Or a Patriot like her father and his apprentice?

Kirsten: Set in the Minnesota wilderness in 1854. Kirsten is an immigrant from Sweden and possibly has the saddest book in the entire series. On the way over from Sweden, her best friend grows ill and dies. But her family continues on, settling with relatives in the wilderness. She befriends a Native American girl, struggles to learn English and tries to balance being American with being Swedish.

Addy: Set in Philadelphia, PA in 1864. Addy starts on a plantation down South where she is a slave. She and her mother escape one night, following the Underground Railroad to Philly. Her mother finds work as a seamstress and Addy gets to go to school. She learns the difference between freedom and being free.

Samantha: Set in New York in 1904. Samantha is an orphan being raised by her wealthy, well-to-do grandmother. She then befriends a serving girl, Nellie, and learns how the other side lives. Samantha is then caught between the old-fashioned world her grandmother still inhabits or the new one her Aunt Cornelia sees as the twentieth century begins.

Molly: Set in Illinois in 1944. The war governs Molly’s life. Her father is away at war and everything is rationed. But Molly doesn’t let this keep her down. She still manages to dream and find ways to help her country on the home front.

Those were the original five I met that fateful day. Each series followed the same sequence:

Meet (Insert Girl): Introductory story
(Girl) Learns a Lesson: School story
(Girl)’s Surprise: Christmas story
Happy Birthday, (Girl): Birthday/spring story
(Girl) Saves the Day: Summer story
Changes for (Girl): Winter story

The first girl I took home was Samantha, as I had a friend with that name. And I loved the books. I started to go through the others in the series eagerly. In third grade, our teacher always tried to get us small meaningful gifts for our birthday. For mine, she asked my mother which girl I hadn’t read yet and got me the first book in that series—Meet Kirsten. She wrote a lovely note in it. Being young and a little too trusting, I leant the book to a friend to read. She lost it. So I’m putting it out there for the internet fates: If anyone finds a Meet Kirsten book with an inscription in it, dated April 1, 1995 and from a Mrs. Caterina, let me know. It might be mine.

These girls represented the ideals of the American dream: Felicity is the idealist, Kirsten the pioneer, Addy is the fighter, Samantha is the activist, and Molly the dreamer. Every girl can find a favorite girl. I personally still adore Felicity. Probably because I adore the Revolutionary period.

The books are your basic coming-of-age story, told over the entire series. Each provides a lesson that girls even in the 20th/21st century need to learn. Lessons such as hard-working, doing what is right, friendship, etc. And it will get any girl interested in history.

So, give it to a young girl. Let her experience the magic.