More World By Us Story Details

I explored the World By Us site on American Girl's website and learned more about Makena Williams, Evette Peeters, and Maritza Ochoa by watching videos and looking at book images. Here are all the facts I learned:

-The World By Us trio was inspired by a desire to represent a wider range of identities and experiences of American girls.

-To portray each character's world authentically, an advisory board comprised of people with expertise in racial identity, social justice, and the environment was created.

-Each author shares backgrounds with their characters, whether it's growing up in Washington D.C or loving soccer.

-Despite the sensitive topics the stories explore, readers discover positive examples for how to respond to issues like these and how to become "champions for change".

-The "hurtful incident" may be a white woman assuming Makena's friend Najee was hurting a girl named Lexi, when in fact he and Makena were trying to find her parents.

-Maritza dreams of playing on the U.S Women's Soccer Team or maybe coaching it

-Maritza's best friend Violeta's family immigrated to the US from El Salvador.

-Violeta's uncle is detained by immigration officials and her family might be sent to El Salvador.

-Evette's discovery of an old swimsuit from her Gran E sparks her discovery of the racism in the Peeters family. Gran E, who is Black, was wearing the swimsuit and she was told she wasn't welcome in the public pool, so she left and swam in the river.

-Evette upcycles clothes from her family, including platform shoes from her grandmother.

-Evette wanted her platform shoes on Makena's blog, so she posted them and the two became friends. Evette also introduced Makena to Maritza. Makena liked Maritza's "soccer-style", so she took a picture of her sneakers and also posted them to her blog.