On August 23 (a month from today!), American Girl's new 1920's historical character, Claudie Wells's meet book is scheduled to release. Up until now, we had no clue who was going to write or illustrate the books, but now we know!
Brit Bennett is the author! She is an author based in Los Angeles, California who has written two New York Times bestselling novels, The Mothers and The Vanishing Half. Warner Brothers and HBO have bought the film rights to both of her novels, which feature Black protagonists and center themes such as Christianity in the Black church, feelings of shame and discrimination, specifically colorism. The Claudie series will be Brit's first book series for children.
A fun fact about Brit is that she was born in 1990, making her the first American Girl author born after Pleasant Company was founded. She also wrote an article about Addy for The Paris Review in 2015, focusing on Addy's representation of slavery and how at the time, she was the only Black doll.
Laura Freedman will be the illustrator of the books. She is also African-American and illustrates books with Black characters, such as the children's edition of the Hidden Figures book about Black women in NASA during the 1900s.
But that's not all... American Girl has announced that on August 24 from 1 pm to 2 pm, Brit Bennett will be at the American Girl Place in New York City to sign books!
Who's excited for Claudie's debut in one short month? I am!