American Girls Series

St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture by Austin Booth

"We give girls chocolate cake with vitamins" explains Pleasant T. Rowland, the creator of the American Girls books, summing up the philosophy behind the bestselling historical fiction series. The 1980s and 1990s have seen a proliferation of series books for girls--the Sweet Valley High series, the Baby-Sitters Club series, the American Girls series--which have sold millions of copies. Pleasant Company's American Girls Collection, a set of 36 books about six girls from different eras in American history, is among the leaders in this popular and profitable field. Preadolescent girls are a powerful demographic in 1990s publishing; girl power, it seems, represents a significant buying power. Series books for girls have frequently been dismissed both because they are popular reading and children's literature and because they are series books, which have historically been disdained by critics. Such books, however, have been an important and influential (as well as lucrative) genre of children's literature since the middle of the nineteenth century, with the publication of Little Women (1868). Recently, there has been more critical attention paid to girls' culture as an area for scholarly inquiry and there is no reason that this inquiry should not be extended to girls' reading habits.

Founded as an alternative to mass market books and toys, The Pleasant Company was launched in 1985 by Pleasant Rowland, a former teacher and textbook author. The company's stated mission is "to celebrate all that is special about American girls--past and present--and in doing so, to create a community of American girls." The company has annual revenues in excess of 300 million dollars from the sale of books, dolls, clothing, accessories, and activity kits from both the American Girls historical collection and the American Girl contemporary products. Since 1986, Pleasant Company has sold 48 million American Girl books, and plans to release an additional 42 titles in 1999. Rowland got the idea for the American Girls books after she went shopping for dolls for her two nieces. All she found were "Barbies that wore spiked heels, drove pink Corvettes, and looked as if they belonged in stripjoints." Rowland wanted to give girls dolls that could teach "American history, family values, and self-reliance." Ironically, in 1998, Rowland sold Pleasant Company to Mattel, the makers of Barbie.

The American Girls book collection is based on the fictional lives of six ethnically diverse nine-year-old girls from different eras in American history: Felicity Merriman, a Williamsburg girl whose life is changed dramatically by the outbreak of the American Revolution; Josephina Montoya, a New Mexican girl of the early 1820s (whose books include a glossary of Spanish words used in the text); Kirsten Larson, an immigrant to the Minnesota frontier in the 1850s; Addy Walker, an African American girl who escapes from slavery in 1864; Samantha Parkington, an orphan who lives with her aunt and uncle in turn-of-the-century New York city; and Molly McIntire, a twentieth century girl whose father serves in England during World War II. Six books have been written about each girl's experiences, including volumes on family and friends, school, birthdays, Christmases, and summer and winter adventures. Each volume includes a "Peek into the Past" section in which photos, illustrations, and narratives are provided for historical background and context. The entire collection consists of the novel series, dolls and dolls' clothing, historically accurate replicas of furniture, girls' clothes, and memorabilia, and craft projects including (for each of the six characters) a cookbook, crafts book, theater kit, and paper dolls and accessories. The 18-inch dolls cost over $80 each. With all the accessories, including $80 dresses for actual girls, each collection costs approximately $1,000.

In 1992 the company launched the American Girl magazine, a bimonthly magazine free of advertisements that treats both historical and contemporary issues, which by 1995 had over 500,000 subscribers. The magazine is phenomenally popular--for each issue, the magazine receives over 10,000 pieces of mail, most asking for advice or directed at the help column. The magazine, aimed at 7-12 year old girls, features fiction and nonfiction articles on arts, sports, entertainment, history snippets about girlhood during various periods of American history, original short fiction, and a regular section called "Grandmother, Mother, and Me" which contains paper dolls and cut-out clothes from both past and present. Pleasant Company also began publishing the American Girl Library, which emerged from the most popular features of American Girl magazine and is completely contemporary. The American Girl Library serves as a counterpart to the American Girls collection, and includes activity books, fiction, biography, and (most significantly) advice books, such as the bestselling Help!: An Absolutely Indispensable Guide to Life for Girls. In recent years, Pleasant Company has also created special events and programs for fans of the series, including The American Girls Fashion Show, Samantha's Ice Cream Social, and Felicity in Williamsburg: An American Girls Experience.

Like most series books for girls, the plots of the American Girls books are somewhat formulaic: the books typically center on moral quandaries, and the heroine is always exceptionally capable and plucky, helpful and brave. Addy Walker's story is the most poignant, and it is her books which have received the most attention. The Addy books are historically accurate, which makes for some painful reading: before her family can flee slavery, for example, Addy's master sells some of her family, and her family is forced to leave her young sister, Esther, in the care of fellow slaves. Addy's parents' experience of prejudice in the north, where they are free, also clearly demonstrates to readers that the social effects of racism go beyond legal statutes.