Without Pleasant Rowland's passion for reading and history education, American Girl wouldn't even exist. The Historical Characters may have changed and evolved throughout the years, but one thing's the same: they are designed to be complex characters who both represent their time period and can be relatable to present-day readers. Today on AGDN, I decided to rank my top 10 AG historical characters and best friends!
10. Emily Bennett. I really like dolls with red hair, but Emily's story brought a new perspective to the more superficial nature of Molly's. She was only in Happy Birthday Molly, the movie, and her own book, Brave Emily, but Emily's struggles and strengths make her a compelling character. I particularly enjoyed the movie because of how they expanded on Emily, and I can't wait to watch that again once my own movie is 100% done.
9. Rebecca Rubin. Followed her own dreams despite literally everyone wanting her to go another path? Check. Tackled poverty and discrimination head on? Check. Has the Josefina mold, my favorite common mold of all time*? Check. CLIMBED A FERRIS WHEEL? Check. She's legendary.
8. Nellie O'Malley. I could write an essay on how amazing and cool Nellie is. She's fun-loving, a great sister, and faced one of AG's toughest storylines for a doll. Granted, she's a best friend doll, but I find her a bit cooler than Samantha.
7. Melody Ellison. Talented, pretty and strong. Her books were amazing, the movie was too, and her collection is awesome as well. But can we talk about how she literally restored an entire park, and how she withdrew her money from the bank when her sister couldn't get a job, and how she sang in front of her entire church? She's cool. also i love the little flip in her hair
6. Kit Kittredge. She's so legendary that her movie was released in theaters. My sister didn't really like her because her hair was short, but alas, my sister didn't read the books. And in the books, she is an amazing character. I really related to her desire to become a reporter, because writing is pretty fun and I want to write my own movies as well as direct them someday. Kit's an awesome doll.
5. Julie Albright. Queen of petition gathering, basketball, divorces, disabled advocacy, saving the eagles and getting rid of detention. Also, can we talk about how cute her meet braid is? And the fact that she had a Volkswagen beetle in her collection once?
4. Addy Walker. To be 100% honest, Addy's books are the darkest in the AG canon. They didn't sugarcoat anything, but they did it so well and made Addy such a cool character. Not only did she escape slavery, but she's so resilient and smart too. I'll never forget how iconic it was when she beat Harriet in the spelling bee.
3. Felicity Merriman. A lot of AG dolls are into horses, but Felicity is the best Horse Girl of them all. Her hair? Gorgeous. Her eyes? Stunning and unique. The time she rescued Ben from the forest and alerted the soldiers in the middle of the night? Awesome.
2. Maryellen Larkin. I could go on for days about how much I adore this doll and her story, but there's one thing I want to mention- she survived polio. So she was AG's first disabled character. Also, she was the first one that ever made a rocket. She beat Luci by a few years.
1. Nanea Mitchell. Of course she'd be number one. There's only one word that would describe her- phenomenal. You know you love a doll too much when you start planning an AGSM movie and think 'Nanea has to be the lead' hours before you cast your other dolls.
Ta-da! Who's your favorite historical character?
*My favorite mold is the Joss mold, but it's only used on Joss.