My sister Sierra is back on this blog with a brand-new challenge: describing the Girl of the Year meet books (book 1) after only seeing the cover.
Lindsey: Lindsey was an awful role model, okay. Didn't she get like expelled or suspended or something? She has an uncle Bernie, and she didn't resolve any of her problems by the end of the book, it just kind of ended. She just laughed with her Uncle Bernie and that was the end. Lindsey was chaotic. Kailey: Kailey was the original Joss. She liked to surf, I don't remember much about her because I was 2 when she came out and she isn't interesting enough for me to remember. She probably lives in California. Her dress was cute. She's like Joss and Kira combined. Marisol: Marisol was in her drama program? If not, she's like at an arts school or something. But that would be exactly like Isabelle. She was probably popular, had friends, learned about friendship and how to get a better fashion sense. To be fair, it was 2005.
Jess: Where did Jess go? She was the original Lea. Where did she go? Ugh... BRAZIL! Nope, wrong! WHERE DID SHE GO? Belize is WHERE? I graduated high school and don't know where Belize is! Should I go back? Nicki: This was the first American Girl of the Year that I had. She has a special place in my heart. She was the Renaissance Man of American Girl. Snowboarding! Boom! She got it. Horseback riding? Boom! She got that! What happened, though? I think she was trying to balance it all. Wait... she wasn't getting bulled, that was Chrissa! What happened? Why don't I remember? Mia: Mia is an ice skater. It correlated with the Olympics. Didn't it correlate with the Summer Olympics? So weird. Mia is like Isabelle on ice. She learned about hard work and friendship. Chrissa: I also had Chrissa! Just like in the movie, she was getting bullied. Sonali was a bully and pulled an Uno reverse card, probably because of the llama that Chrissa had. Gwen was living in a homeless shelter, Karens got angry. Chrissa is still an icon because of three dolls for the price of one! But not really, because you had to buy them all seperately.
Lanie: I also had Lanie! Lanie is a quarantine mood. She wanted to do things but she couldn't, so she just made a garden in her backyard instead of traveling. Literally 10 years before quarantine, Lanie was a quarantine queen. She was all of us in April. Aloha, Kanani: Why didn't they make a Kanani movie? I would have loved that! So, she lived in Hawaii and she was having a grand old time. But then her cousin came and was like "New York is so much different from Hawaii! I can't sleep because it's too quiet!" Like, what? Anyways, they end up becoming friends because ohana means family, and no one gets left behind. (She read this book in 2011.) McKenna: McKenna does gymnastics and then she broke her leg and then her world came crashing down. Wait a minute, didn't she have a loft bed and a broken leg? How did she get up there? That's just mean. I also like to think that her leg got better and she won the Olympics. Saige: Saige wants to save the community arts center. No hot air balloons because this is book one. No pretty sparkle dress because this is book one. I guess book one was just filled with a lot of pain and uncertainty. Wow, I didn't know Saige was so angsty. Isabelle: Tell me why Isabelle looks 14 in the book illustration when she's supposed to be in fourth grade. Oh, Isabelle. Maybe in this book, she's working really hard trying to survive in school and the pirouette crisis starts. I don't feel like her idol showed up, yet. Wow, are American Girl books filled with a lot of issues and problems that only get resolved within the last book? It's like cliffhangers but books. Grace: This is one of the more lighthearted book 1s of American Girl series. She goes to Paris in this one, is having a grand old time. No Ladybug or Chat Noir, so Grace loses points for that. She gains points in the movie, because she's played by Olivia Rodrigo. Lea Dives In: Lea goes to Brazil, and it's not about her brother. The movie is a lot different than the book. She's a photographer, probably taking photos of animals, probably learns about deforestation and gets sad. Gabriela: Gabriela is similar to Isabelle but not exactly because personally, I think Gabriela is cooler. She has an after-school arts center she goes to. She likes to do poetry and dance, but no singing. Gabriela deserved more because all her products were recolorings of Isabelle's. Poor Gabriela. She did have a good collection as far as outfits, though. I also like the fact that American Girl put that she had a stutter because representation is IMPORTANT!
Luciana: This is the first one where they started looking like cartoons as far as illustrations go. She went to Space Camp, she always wanted to be an astronaut. I like this doll because they talked about girls in STEM, the partnership with her and NASA was so cool, but as far as what happened? She went to Space Camp and had a grand old time and met friends.
Blaire: Did you know that there's a viral TikTok about this? So Blaire (oh dear) is lactose intolerant but loves to bake. Oh no. Anyway, she singlehandedly plans a wedding. It probably comes out great, though, because this is American Girl. But personally, I wouldn't let a 9 year old handle every single thing about my wedding. Joss: Queen! Joss is a cheerleader and a surfer. She kind of got tricked into being a cheerleader by her brother, but she likes it now. She learns about stereotypes, probably, because she was like "I don't want to be a cheerleader" and then, she actually liked it. And she also has a hearing aid, which is really cool because representation matters. A common theme in children's books. Kira Down Under: The calm before the wildfire! Kira is a queen because she teaches children about COVID-19 practices like postponing your trip for a year. She also likes photography, and she likes to help rehabilitate animals in Australia, which is awesome. Her aunts also own the wildlife sanctuary, which is so cool. And there's a bunch of fuzzy cute animals that we don't get to see everyday, so 10/10!