American Girl Doll News

The new items are starting to release - and the first one is the brand new Truly Me Salon Chair! It costs $75 and comes with a hairbrush, spray bottle, clips and a chair.

Hi everyone! I hope you all were able to read Happy Birthday, Samantha so we can discuss it today. If you don't have copies of these books going forward at home, you can check to see if a local library has them, and if no libraries have them, you can make an account at the Library of Congress's Internet Archive and check them out there. Happy, Birthday Samantha is about Samantha's tenth birthday, and how her aunts Agnes and Agatha from New York City come to her birthday party. After pesky Eddie Ryland ruins the party, the twins take Samantha to New York City, and go on an adventure - only to discover their aunt Cornelia at a women's suffrage march. When I was rereading this book, several things came to mind about the themes within, and both their historical context and what it means to be a girl in 2025. I don't want these posts to be too long, so I'll list my thoughts, and let you discuss these topics as well in the comments! Despite being in the same state, there are a lot of differences from the smaller town of Mount Bedford to the sprawling New York City in terms of culture. Why do you think that is? From what I have gathered from the books so far, Mount Bedford is a very sheltered community, at least the wealthy parts. The characters from rich families seem to have more superficial concerns and don't know much about the rest of the world. Nellie and Uncle Gard are how Samantha knows as much as she does about the city, and even she doesn't know what's going on there much until Agnes and Agatha come into the picture. Throughout the book, Grandmary insists on being set in her ways of believing women's suffrage is nonsense and that women shouldn't vote, but by the end of the book, changes her mind. Why do you think she changed her mind? From my personal life experience, I've tended to notice that people don't really care about a huge issue until they or someone they know cared about it. Once she saw that Cornelia really cared about the issue, and that Samantha was listening, I think that really opened Grandmary's eyes. Also, her being forced to listen and not in the sheltered part of New York also must have opened her eyes. A big theme throughout the Samantha series so far is Samantha coming out of her shell of being a wealthy orphan and learning more about the world's injustices. How do you think she's been adapting to her new view of the world so far? It's been a gradual process for sure. There are still tendencies for Samantha to assume things about the world that are more simple than they actually are, as Samantha still comes from a privileged background in a time where access to information, especially for women, is hard to come by. But Samantha at this point in the series is a lot more educated than she was at the beginning, and that is thanks to her friends and the people around her. Thanks to the women's suffrage movement, Samantha is among one of the first American Girl dolls who is able to vote - she is 25 when women get that right. Why do you think it took a long time for women to receive that right, if there are demonstrations for it 15 years before? It always takes a long time for the people in power to be comfortable with things changing. Change takes time, and change is never instant - it's a gradual process, with things happening little by little. But the length of time change takes to happen is always frustrating, no matter what you're fighting for, and especially if it's a basic right like women voting. Next week, we will be reading Samantha Saves The Day!

According to Amazon.ca , a new iteration of Coconut Chip will be releasing next month with the Truly Me release!

Today is Cecile's birthday! She was born this day in 1843, making her 182 today.

Here is the Doll of the Month, Blaire's Collection! Who should be Doll of the Month next month?

Today’s Samantha’s birthday! She was born this day in 1895, making her 130 today.

The new cover art for the WellieWishers books "Ready to be Royal" and "Camille's Mermaid Tale" are now available!

Hi everyone! I hope you all were able to read Samantha Learns A Lesson so we can discuss it today. If you don't have copies of these books going forward at home, you can check to see if a local library has them, and if no libraries have them, you can make an account at the Library of Congress's Internet Archive and check them out there. Samantha's Surprise is about how Samantha is looking forward to Christmas, but her plans are ruined when her Grandmary makes her miss out on all the fun things about Christmas - gingerbread houses, parties, the like - because Uncle Gard's friend Cornelia is coming to visit. However, Cornelia and Samantha are able to bond, and Samantha finds a surprise of her own as she learns more about herself. When I was rereading this book, several things came to mind about the themes within, and both their historical context and what it means to be a girl in 2025. I don't want these posts to be too long, so I'll list my thoughts, and let you discuss these topics as well in the comments! Let's start by addressing the elephant in the room - after writing the first two books with an emphasis on class differences, Susan A. Alder was replaced by Maxine Rose Schur for this book, and Nellie plays a less important role with much less commentary on the historical conditions of the time. What do you think was lost from the book due to this decision, and why would you think Alder was replaced? The biggest thing I think was lost from Samantha's Surprise that was in the other books so far was that there was a lot less to learn about different people in 1904 versus wealthy white people. In the first two books, the main plot had been Samantha waking up and learning more about the working class, as well as the struggles of people of color, but this book painted a much more rosy view of the time period, which is probably what Pleasant Company was looking for when they hired a different author to write this book and let Susan Alder go. Samantha has to lose a lot in this book from her expectations of a perfect Christmas, due to her Grandmary wanting the house perfectly clean for Cornelia's arrival, only for Samantha to learn that Christmas isn't just about things, but about the memories you make with your loved ones. How do you think Christmas was commercialized to people like Samantha in this time period? Christmas had always been a time to spend with family, but as wealth and industry started coming to the United States, retailers and wealthy people alike started using it as a more commerical time. They started making it more about gifts than anything else, ignoring the reason why we celebrate Christmas and the memories shared with others in favor of fancy gifts. At first, Samantha isn't happy with Cornelia, but by the end of the book, accepts her and Uncle Gard's relationship. This is partially due to Cornelia showing Samantha that women can be more than just what her Grandmary thinks they are - what lessons do you think Samantha learned from Cornelia? Samantha learned a lot from Cornelia in this book, but I feel like the biggest thing she learned from her was self-acceptance. She is growing up in a society that tells her to act one way, to not misbehave because she is a wealthy woman in high society. So many times throughout the series, Grandmary has told her "no" or discouraged her, but Cornelia is an adult female presence in Samantha's life that can help her be okay with herself. Throughout the book, Samantha worries that her Grandmary won't get her a new doll because she gave her old one to Nellie. How do you think people deal with feeling unaccepted by their loved ones due to differences in opinion? It's always hard when loved ones don't accept you, whether if it's that you believe different things, love different people, or act different than you expect. There's a lot of self-loathing at first, like what Samantha goes through (even though she did the right thing by giving Nellie her doll!), but once they're able to find acceptance, like Samantha found in Cornelia and Uncle Gard, they're able to become more confident in themselves, stand their ground, and even get what they wanted in the end - like how Cornelia, not Grandmary, got her the doll she wanted. Next week, we will be reading Happy Birthday, Samantha - just in time for Samantha's birthday!

The Truly Me boys have a new meet outfit:

Amazon has listed the new Truly Me dolls - 130, 131 and 132 - up for preorder. The sale date is June 1, 2025. This doll is Truly Me 130. This doll is Truly Me 131. This doll is Truly Me 132.

Today is Isabel and Nicki's birthdays! They were born on this day in 1990, making them 35 years old.

The American Girl Memorial Day sale is ON - and this year, select dolls are included! It's a Buy More, Save More format: 15% off orders $75 or more, 20% off orders $150 or more, 25% off $250 or more. And all Truly Me dolls, Bitty Babies and WellieWishers are included! Not to mention, collector's items are 25% off - these include the Pink Stardust Holiday Dolls, Frozen collector dolls, and Barbie Day to Night Outfit. This sale ends May 26 - make sure to buy before then!