History Characters / AmericanGirlsCollectionHistoricalCharacters

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Molly is an energetic girl who enjoys camping and has a more dark-toned wardrobe while Linda and Susan but are more fashionable and feminine.

* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: Kit is more tomboyish in comparison to Ruthie, due to her love of baseball and newspaper writing and her dislikes of frilly fashion. However, in the end of Kit’s Surprise, she finally accepts Ruthie’s old Christmas dress and wears it throughout Christmas Day.

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Caroline is feminine and likes to sew, but also enjoys ice skating, fishing, and sailing, which makes her slightly less girly in comparison to her older cousin, Lydia Livingston, who is into hair styling. Caroline is also less girly in comparison to her friend, Rhonda Hathaway, who is not into ice skating and is just as feminine as Lydia.

* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: Nicki is the more tomboyish twin with a love of skateboarding and dislikes of almost all of the "girly" stuff that Isabel likes. However, Nicki's favorite color is purple, which can be considered a more feminine color, and she watches the ''Powerpuff Girls'' as much as Isabel does.

* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Her twin brothers, Wing Feather and Sparrow.
* BadassNative: Swan Circling, and Kaya to an extent.
* BittersweetEnding: A lot of her books end this way, especially following ''Kaya's Escape,'' where she loses her horse and sister. Especially including her mystery, ''The Silent Stranger'' which is set at the end of her story arc, [[spoiler:where she gives up her dog, Tatlo, to a woman who needs him more, and is told she is grown up enough to search for her wyakin.]]
* BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins: The only Native American doll, Kaya, is set in 1764. Guess what she wears.
* BraidsOfAction: Her default hairstyle, considering that she's the [[TokenMinority single Native American]] character in the line. Hair in two braids is the traditional hairstyle of the Nimiipuu.
* CanineCompanion: Tatlo.

* CommonTongue: Completely true and accurate to the time period, the different nations Kaya encounters each have their own language, but those who trade often use a shared sign language. This is how she communicates with Two Hawks (prior to him learning Nimiipuutímt) and Hawk Rising.

* LanguageBarrier: Between Kaya and Two Hawks in the second and third books, and Hawk Rising in ''The Silent Stranger.''

* MeaningfulRename: When her mentor Swan Circling dies, she gifts Kaya her saddle, as well as her name for when she is ready for it. Kaya vows that in the future she will be worthy of her hero's name.
* NewFriendEnvy: In the short story ''Kaya and the River Girl,'' Kaya becomes insanely jealous of Wishram girl Spotted Owl after her sister, Speaking Rain, befriends her.

* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: After Kaya's selfishness gets her and all the other children switched, with Whipwoman saying that a selfish magpie would have taken better care of her brothers that she did, they start calling her Magpie. To make Kaya feel better, her grandmother Aalah shares with her a story from her own childhood about being nicknamed Finger Cakes for stealing finger cakes from her big brother's shoulder bag. She adds that even in her old age, her friends still sometimes teasingly call her Finger Cakes.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Kaya's full name is Kaya'aton'my (Nez Perce for "she who arranges rocks"), but in-story and in the doll line, she is only ever referred to as "Kaya". [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] on a meta level for marketing purposes, as the target audience is young girls who wouldn't be expected to be able to remember and pronounce a five-syllable name all the time.

* ThePlague: Kaya's paternal grandmother ("Aalah") shows Kaya and her sister Brown Deer the scars she has on her face from smallpox, warning them that though they got horses from the white traders, they also got a disease that wiped out half their village.

* RejectedMarriageProposal: Jumps Back to Brown Deer.
* RiteOfPassage: Kaya's MeaningfulRename in her third book.
* ShownTheirWork: Of all the American Girl dolls, Kaya is the only doll with a closed mouth, because showing one's teeth is considered offensive to Nez Perce.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Kaya is prone to boast or brag to seem important.
* TakeAThirdOption: When Kaya finds Speaking Rain again, she's been adopted by White Braids, a member of another tribe whom she vows not to leave. After Kaya gets over being upset about her sister no longer being part of the family after they were captured, she suggests that Speaking Rain spend part of the year with each family. It works.

Has a sereis page at ''Literature/AmericanGirlsFelicity''.

* AbsentAnimalCompanion: She gets a lamb in her birthday book, who proceeds to never show up again.
* ActionGirl: She is a girl who rides Penny, a horse whom she is trying to save from Jiggy Nye.

* AllGirlsLikePonies: Has a special fondness for Penny, a horse who was under the possession of [[GrumpyOldMan Jiggy Nye]].

* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Her sister, Nan, is more proper than her. In the film she has a habit of tattling on Felicity's more unladylike behaviors.
* CheerfulChild: Known as the "merriest girl in Virginia".

* PonyTale: Possibly the most "horse girl" of the American Girl dolls, her first book focuses on her taming a scared horse, who eventually finds her again.
* RebelliousSpirit: She's pretty free-spirited and rebellious for the time period.
* RedheadInGreen: Along with her riding outfit, she has a limited edition Town Fair outfit that has

** The tomboy to Elizabeth's GirlyGirl. Felicity would rather ride a horse, sit on her roof, and take long walks rather than sit still and do embroidery.
** Also in contrast with her little sister Nan, who is a better seamstress already and prefers quiet play such a tea and dolls.

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Samantha is a GirlyGirlWithATomboyStreak that loves dresses, bows, and dolls, but is also very active and energetic, and has a love for climbing trees even though she sometimes ends up messing up her clothes every time, while Nellie is fully a girly girl who enjoys getting dressed up, especially after a long time of being a maid.

** Samantha is not a tomboy specifically, but this trope appiles. She's ''expected'' to be prim and proper befitting her well off status and implied future as a ProperLady of high class, and is being guided towards this by her stern Victorian-era grandmother. However, she frequently fails at being so by the standards of her class and time, and many of the things she has to do she does out of obligation and respect for her grandmother and not her own personal interest. She likes climbing trees (something she's told she's not supposed to be doing at all), isn't afraid to confront her bully neighbor Eddie's insults and even shoves him and puts gum in his hair, and wishes she could fight like boys when conflict comes up rather than be expected to deal with such insults quietly. She wishes she could earn money for herself despite her grandmother's scandal at the very idea of such a thing--only men earn money in Grandmary's eyes--and when Samantha brings up that Cornelia considers it fine, Grandmary says that it's still improper. She ''does'' wear fine dresses as she's expected for the era--girls never wore pants then, and she's rich--and do needlework (which she finds boring but does anyways[[note]]After Nellie is sent back to the city, she is angrily working on her sampler because to her, even ''that's'' preferable to interacting with the adults around her she's upset with.[[/note]] and practice the piano—all things she's ''expected'' to do as a young well off girl being raised "properly". For a brief while, Samantha was promoted as preferring to climb trees and get messy instead of playing piano or doing needlepoint. She also doesn't mind going by a TomoyishNickname, Sam, and has interest in motorcars. In conclusion, while Samantha's not what one would think of as a modern-style tomboy, she does have milder masculine traits according to the standards of her era and a great reluctance for what a proper young lady "should" do.
** This also applies to Agatha Pitt, one of the two twins. She wears dresses as expected, but is much more direct and willing to fight than her twin sister. At Samantha's birthday party, she forcibly tackles Eddie to get back the teddy bear he took from Samantha (to try and force her to let him play with Jip), and earlier balls her fist up as if to punch him when Eddie says "who's going to make [him] leave" when they tell him to go away and let them made their ice cream in peace. (Samantha doesn't tell Grandmary about the tackle when Grandmary spots the party guests all messy from the conflict, because it's against Grandmary's strictest rule that girls shouldn't fight ''ever''.) She may wear dresses, but she doesn't limit herself according to what she should do in them.

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The fairy tale hopes and dreams Girly Girl to Kit's no-nonsense, practical Tomboy.

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Nanea's two friends, Lily and Donna, are complete opposites. Lily is feminine, while Donna is more active. Nanea is not tomboyish like Donna, but unlike the extremely feminine Lily she is more active and wants to help with the war.

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Molly is the energetic tomboy to Emily's sweet and gentle girly girl. Molly is also slightly tomboyish in comparison to Linda and Susan.

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Emily is the sweet and gentle girly girl to Molly's energetic tomboy.

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Despite the feminine outfit the doll comes in and pearl necklace added, Maryellen is tomboyish and doesn't mind getting dirty and plays wildly. She is tomboyish in comparison to many members of her family such as her mother Kaye (who is a housewife now); her older sisters Joan and Carolyn, who are more feminine and into fashion; and her friends Karen King, Karen Stohlman, and Angela Terlizzi, who don't hang out with boys like Maryellen does and don't understand why she doesn't want to be in Girl Scouts as much now. However, Maryellen has a girly side and likes fashion as well--more for how it can help her stand out from the middle of a large family.

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The Tomboy to Ivy's and Tracy's {{Girly Girl}}s.

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The gymnastics loving girly girl to basketball loving Julie's Tomboy.

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Nicki's skateboarding tomboy and Isabel's fashionable girly girl.

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Isabel is the fashionable girly girl to Nicki's skateboarding tomboy.

* RedIsHeroic: Her formal UsefulNotes/{{qipao}} is a bright red, representing the lucky Chinese color.

* {{Qipao}}: Gets to wear one when she attends Ivy's Lunar New Year celebrations.

* {{Qipao}}: Her Lunar New Year dress, also used for her family reunion.

* RedIsHeroic: Her formal qipao is a bright red, representing the lucky Chinese color.

* OffToBoardingSchool: Samantha fears this will happen to her in one of the paths of her My Journey book. [[spoiler: The conversation she overheard was about Agnes and Agatha going to boarding school. She later goes to a boarding school as a teenager in the ''Titanic'' "Real Stories from My Time" series, but she seems much happier going with her new sisters]].

* WiseBeyondHerYears: Nellie, unlike more naive Samantha, is keenly aware that not everything adults do is right or correct such as segregated neighborhoods, child labor, and other ills, and behaves maturely for her age in part because of how she's grown up poor. She is proficient in math from having to know exactly how much food and coal could be bought for the family with their meager money. When Samantha thinks that Jesse stopped working because she's left off for fanciful trips and events, Nellie practically informs her that she likely had a baby and needs to stay home with them. [[Spoiler: which is exactly what happened.]]

* InspirationallyDisadvantaged: Isaac, Courtney's new best friend who is shunned for his HIV.
* IntercontinuityCrossover: Was placed in 1986 in part for this reason. In her second book, she discovers one of the first American Girl catalogues and becomes obsessed with Molly, as she relates to her missing her father. She begs for the doll and while it's expensive, her father gives her Molly for Christmas. Her and her best friend Sarah also pour over the catalogue, with Sarah favoring Kirsten, and the boys draw parody art of the pioneer.
** As a cute little detail in Courtney's collection, her mini-Molly comes with a doll-sized reprint of the first catalogue, with red circles around the items Courtney wants. Most children who got these catalogues can relate.
* NegatedMomentOfAwesome: Maureen ends up losing the election offscreen inbetween books, basically rendering that an AbortedArc.

* OrphansPlotTrinket: Samantha’s locket with her parents’ picture seems like a perfect fit, but since she still has other family, just not parents, and a warm and loving home, and she knows how her parents died, it serves no real plot significance. However, in the fourth book, Samantha finds a sketchbook her mother made of the three of them—three-year-old Samantha and her mother and father—having vacation on Teardrop Island, it inspires her to journey to Teardrop Island in the hope of jogging any lost memories of her parents.
* OutdoorsyGal: The first time we see Samantha, she is falling out of a tree.
* ParentalAbandonment: Her parents died when she was a toddler.

* PinkMeansFeminine: Samantha's room at Grandmary's mansion is decorated in pink, her white nightgown has a pink ribbon trim, and her birthday outfit is a white and pink vertical pin striped dress.

* PrettyInMink: Some of her outfits, most notably the white fur hat with a puffball at the top and white fur muff she wears in ''Changes for Samantha''.

* ShadowArchetype: Edith Eddleton to Samantha. They are both wealthy, upper-class girls, but Samantha befriends Nellie and her sisters while Edith looks down on them for being servants.

* SiblingTeam: [[spoiler:Her and Nellie in the mystery books.]]

** Samantha is not a tomboy specifically, but this trope appiles. She's ''expected'' to be prim and proper befitting her well off status and implied future as a ProperLady, and being guided by her stern grandmother. However, she frequently fails at being so by the standards of her class and time, and many of the things she has to do she does out of obligation and respect for her grandmother, not her own personal interest. She likes climbing trees (something she's told she's not supposed to be doing at all), isn't afraid to confront her bully neighbor Eddie's insults and even shoves him and puts gum in his hair, and wishes she could fight like boys when conflict comes up rather than be expected to deal with insults quietly. She wishes she could earn money for herself despite her grandmother's scandal at the very idea of such a thing--only men earn money in Grandmary's eyes--and when Samantha brings up that Cornelia considers it fine, Grandmary says that it's still improper. She ''does'' wear fine dresses as she's expected for the era--girls never wore pants then, and she's rich--and do needlework (which she finds boring but does anyways[[note]]After Nellie is sent back to the city, she is angrily working on her sampler because to her, even ''that's'' preferable to interacting with the adults around her she's upset with.[[/note]] and practice the piano—all things she's ''expected'' to do as a young well off girl being raised "properly". For a brief while, Samantha was promoted as preferring to climb trees and get messy instead of playing piano or doing needlepoint. She also doesn't mind going by a TomoyishNickname, Sam, and has interest in motorcars. In conclusion, while Samantha's not what one would think of as a modern-style tomboy, she does have milder masculine traits according to the standards of her era and a great reluctance for what a proper young lady "should" do.

* AdaptedOut: Agatha and Agnes, Hawkins the butler, and Elsa the maid. Agatha's name is used for Alice, a minor character from a short story. Admiral Beemis is mentioned by [[TheGhost never seen]]. Nellie's mother suffers DeathByAdaptation; in the books, she was alive until ''Changes for Samantha,'' while in the movie, she's already dead before Nellie and Samantha meet for the first time.
** The abridged 2021 book releases remove the character of Eddie Ryland altogether (the chapters he's present in are removed) and Nellie's parents are never seen as the family doesn't all move to Mount Bedford; they remain in New York City and die there, so the girls move within the city to Uncle Mike's rather than away from Mount Bedford.
* AdaptationalNiceGuy: In ''Changes for Samantha,'' Aunt Cornelia and Uncle Gard's maid is antagonistic with Samantha and is the one who eventually goes snooping to find out about Nellie and her sisters. In Samantha's movie, she is much friendlier, is downright ''indignant'' on Samantha's behalf when Miss Frouchy accuses her of stealing, and is happy for Samantha when her speech is chosen for the school assembly; she also has nothing to do with the discovery of Nellie and her sisters, as in the adaptation this comes about due to unanticipated circumstances (namely Bridget becoming seriously ill to the point where Samantha has to come clean in order to get Bridget medical attention) rather than a deliberate act.

* AlwaysIdenticalTwins: Agnes and Agatha Pitt, who are also TricksterTwins.

* [[BigSisterInstinct]]: When she hides the O'Malleys in her attic, she starts acting sisterly towards Bridget and Jenny.

%% * CoolBigSis: To Bridget and Jenny.

* PromotionToParent: Her parents both fall ill, leaving her to be the adult figure for her sisters.
* SiblingTeam: [[spoiler:Her and Samantha in the mystery books.]]
* SingleSexOffspring: One of three sisters, later [[spoiler:one of four once Samantha adopts her. Later inverted in the Mystery novels when Cornelia gives birth to a son]].
* StrangerInAStrangeSchool: A mundane variant. In ''Nellie's Promise,'' Nellie may be HappilyAdopted by a rich family, but she's completely out of place at a fancy school that doesn't teach anything she feels is practical. She also doesn't fit in when talking about prior birthday celebrations, as she was working in a factory.
* TraumaCongaLine: While dealing with the struggles of being a poor girl in a society xenophobic towards Irishmen, which Nellie obviously is, she mentions she keeps her hair short after seeing a girl get ''scalped'' at work, but she has to perform child labor to provide for her family. She struggles in school to the point of bullying, is moved away from the only friend she's ever made, has her parents die, is adopted by an abusive uncle and has to parent her traumatized sisters, and then the girls are given up to a horrible orphanage that doesn't feed them well and threatens to spit them up. ''Then'' they run away and hide in another girl's attic, and Nellie goes back to hard and exploitative factory work. After [[spoiler:their adoption, Nellie also has to face her abusive uncle once more in order to get custody for the Edwards, deals with her sisters crying at night, and when according to the ''Real Stories from My Time'' series, when she turns sixteen she ends up ''on the sinking Titanic.'']]
* WiseBeyondHerYears: Keenly aware that not everything adults do is right (i.e. segregated neighborhoods, child labor, other Edwardian Era social ills) and behaves maturely for her age compared to the more fanciful Samantha. She is along proficient in math from having to know exactly how much food and coal could be bought for the family with meager money.

Felicity was first released in 1991 and the first new character for the brand. She was depreciated in 2002 to online only, revived in 2005, archived in 2011, then rereleased breifly in 2017. Notably, her creation led to Pleasant Company completely remaking their dolls to have flesh tone bodies, as Felicity's period clothing featured lower necklines than the prior covered eras.

** In ''Addy Studies Freedom,''; the war is over and slaves are (legally) free, but this is [[MoodWhiplash quickly spoiled]] for a breif time after the death of President Lincoln and his funeral, including the procession through Philadelphia.

** Samantha is not a tomboy specifically, but this trope appiles. She's ''expected'' to be prim and proper befitting her well off status and implied future as a ProperLady, and being guided by her stern grandmother. However, she frequently fails at being so by the standards of her class and time, and many of the things she has to do she does out of obligation and respect for her grandmother, not her own personal interest. She likes climbing trees (something she's told she's not supposed to be doing at all), isn't afraid to confront her bully neighbor Eddie's insults and even shoves him and puts gum in his hair, and wishes she could fight like boys when conflict comes up rather than be expected to deal with insults quietly. She wishes she could earn money for herself despite her grandmother's scandal at the very idea of such a thing--only men earn money in Grandmary's eyes--and when Samantha brings up that Cornelia considers it fine, Grandmary says that it's still improper. She ''does'' wear fine dresses as she's expected for the era--girls never wore pants then, and she's rich--and do needlework (which she finds boring but does anyways[[note]]After Nellie is sent back to the city, she is angrily working on her sampler because to her, even ''that's'' preferable to interacting with the adults around her she's upset with.[[/note]] and practice the piano—all things she's ''expected'' to do as a young well off girl being raised "properly". For a breif while, Samantha was promoted as preferring to climb trees and get messy instead of playing piano or doing needlepoint. She also doesn't mind going by a TomoyishNickname, Sam, and has interest in motorcars. In conclusion, while Samantha's not what one would think of as a modern-style tomboy, she does have milder masculine traits according to the standards of her era and a great reluctance for what a proper young lady "should" do.

The daughter of Irish immigrants, Nellie first is introduced as a servant girl to Samantha's neighbors. She was initially planned as constrast to Samantha's well-to-do life, but a retooling of the series had her demoted breifly before being later adopted by Samantha's family along with her younger sisters. She struggles to find a way to be useful and have a meaningful future despite her rise in class background.

** Samantha is ''expected'' to be prim and proper befitting her well off status and implied future as a ProperLady and being guided by her stern grandmother. However, she frequently fails at being so by the standards of her class and time, and many of the things she has to do she does out of obligation, not interest. She likes climbing trees (something she's told she's not supposed to be doing at all), isn't afraid to confront her bully neighbor Eddie's insults and even shoves him and puts gum in his hair, and wishes she could fight like boys when conflict comes up rather than be expected to deal with insults quietly. She wishes she could earn money for herself despite her grandmother's scandal at the very idea of such a thing, and when she brings up that Cornelia considers it fine, Grandmary says that it's still improper. She ''does'' wear fine dresses as she's expected for the era--girls never wore pants then, and she's rich--and do needlework (which she finds boring but does anyways[[note]]After Nellie is sent back to the city, she is angrily working on her sampler because to her, even ''that's'' preferable to interacting with the adults around her she's upset with.[[/note]] and practice the piano—all things she's ''expected'' to do as a young well off girl being raised "properly". For a breif while, Samantha was promoted as preferring to climb trees and get messy instead of playing piano or doing needlepoint.
** This also applies to Agatha Pitt, one of the two twins. At Samantha's birthday party, she forcibly tackles Eddie to get back the teddy bear he took from Samantha (to try and force her to let him play with Jip), and earlier balls her fist up as if to punch him when Eddie says "who's going to make [him] leave" when they tell him to go away and let them made their ice cream in peace. (Samantha doesn't tell Grandmary about the tackle when Grandmary spots the party guests all messy from the conflict, because it's against Grandmary's strictest rule that girls shouldn't fight ''ever''.)

* SweetPollyOliver: Kit is told to pretend to be a boy when the hobos are caught by police, because they will take her away. This also happens in her film [[spoiler:with Countee, played by Willow Smith]].

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Kit and Ruthie. Kit dislikes pink, flouncy things, fairy tales and chores, and prefers baseball and newspaper writing. Ruthie, on the other hand, loves fairy tales, fashion, and baking.

* TomboyishName: Kit, which she says is to avoid her flouncy name,
* TreehouseOfFun: Kit dreams of having a treehouse throughout her series like Robin Hood, decorating her attic room to look like one. She finally gets one in the short story aptly named "Kit's Tree House." In the film adaptation, she's had a treehouse the whole time and uses it for her club meetings.

* UnwillinglyGirlyTomboy: Kit is much more of a tomboy than other characters including her best friend Ruthie. She loves baseball, Robin Hood stories as opposed to fairy tales, and even goes by Kit because her real name, Margaret Mildred, is to "flouncy" for her. When she first hears about Sterling coming to stay, she deliberately makes sure to have her baseball glove and the copy of Robin Hood with her when he arrives so she doesn't get mistaken for being the boring kind of girl. She also dislikes the color pink and fancy, flouncy, girly things. She wears various dresses as she's expected to given the 1930s time period when pants were not acceptable public wear, and has several feminine outfits in the movie and her collection--in part due to her mother's ideas of [[WantedAGenderConformingChild how she should dress as a girl]], but Kit resists as much as she can in the era.

Kit's well off best friend, whose family is not struggling during the Depression/ However she sees the changes in the Kittredege household more intersting than her quiet, boring life. She wants to find ways to help while making sure not to wound her best friend's personal pride.

Ruthie was made into a Best Friend doll in 2008 as part of the movie promotion and retired with the rest of the Best Friends line in 2014.

* TheHeart: Between her friend group.

* PluckyGirl: At age 9, she traveled with Charlie Kittredge, to his Aunt's home in the Appalachian Mountains to get help for Kit's family.

* PurpleIsPowerful: She's a lot stronger than everyone thinks, as Charlie finds out in her book.

* SpoiledSweet: Unlike Kit, Ruthie's family is not financially affected by the Depression as her father keeps his job at the bank. This allows Ruthie to continue going to the movies and engaging in paid hobbies such as dance, tennis, vacations, and horseback riding lessons. Even so, she is generous to the Kittredges and willingly tries to aid them in whichever way she can. In her book she is sweet and friendly to working-class inhabitants of rural Kentucky and doesn't look down her nose. Instead she finds a storybook quality about their village, fascinating in how friendly the folks are, singing along on wagon rides, and being non-show offy about her privilege in general.

* MenLikeDogsWomenLikeCats: While both Isabel and Nicki are girls, the more feminine Isabel loves cats and the more tomboyish Nicki is a dog lover.
* MillenniumBug: A plot point in the series, as Nicki is terrified the Y2K bug will end the world even though her mother is working hard on helping to prevent it.

* ShoutOut: Several have been noted:

* ShownTheirWork: The Seattle Year 2000 Millenial Celebration was in fact cancelled shortly before New Year's Eve; then-mayor Paul Schell cited worries about possible terrorist acts during the event (and in part blamed the 1999 Seattle WTO protests that had occurred in November for the cancellation).

* SimultaneousArcs: While their first book features both [=POVs=], the dolls were originally released with separate journals taking place over the same three weeks before New Year's Day 2000.
* ThisIsMySide: After Isabel's bad makeover of the room, Nicki puts tape down the center of the room in frustration.

* TotallyRadical: As part of the nineties marketing, despite technically being Y2K dolls.
* TwentyMinutesIntoThePast: The closest Historical Character release to their original time period, at ~23 years.
* TwinTelepathy: A minor case, but Isabel insists that her and Nicki know what each other are thinking. Nicki seems more skeptical of the idea of "twintuition", especially as Isabel more thinks it means they should do everything together.

* YoungerThanTheyLook: The dolls' painted eyelashes (which are now standard to all dolls) and fashion styles make them look more like teenagers than nine-year-olds of the time period, with outfits closer to something a teenager would wear; Isabel's meet outfit is similar to Cher's from ''{{Film/Clueless}}.''

* AlphaBitch: The new member of her friend group, Cammy, comes in and takes over. She immediately starts insulting Isabel, calling her a "baby" and turning her friends against her.
* ArtsyBeret: Has one in her meet outfit and likes to draw.
* CheeryPink: An optimistic girl clothed constantly in pink; it's her favorite color.
* DIYDisaster: Decides to cheer herself up after being called babyish by completely redoing her room in pink, which works--until her more tomboyish sister, who she shares a room with, sees what was done without her input. She makes it up later by doing a proper makeover that incorporates both their interests.
* GirlyGirlWithATomboyStreak: Isabel is the more girly twin with a love of pop music, pink, the Powerpuff Girls, and fashion. She gets the toboy aspect when she starts to play tennis.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: This sweet, friendly girl has bright blonde hair.
* KindHeartedCatLover: With her new cat, Buffy.

* RedOniBlueOni: Isabel's red (extrovert) to Nicki's blue (introvert).
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Not only shares the name of 2014's Girl of the Year Isabelle Palmer, she has the same hair and eye color, as well as the same color scheme and interest in fashion and dance. However, Isabel was released almost ten years ago and is no longer available.

* AloofDarkHairedGirl: Introverted and alternative Nicki has dark brown hair.

* BrainyBrunette: Though she dyes her hair later.

* CoolBoard: A passionate skateboarder.

* EmbarrassingMiddleName: She doesn't like her middle name, Pearl, thinking it doesn't fit her tomboyish personality. [[spoiler:She later learns her father--who formerly was in a band--chose it as a ShoutOut to Music/PearlJam and she embraces it after.]]
* GameBreakingInjury: She twists her ankle before the Y2K celebration, where she wanted to prove that "girls could skate, too."
* HeroesLoveDogs: With her new dog, Blossom.

* LikeFatherLikeSon: Nicki and her father are both into the Grunge scene.
* NonconformistDyedHair: Has two bleached streaks. At the end of the journals, Nicki dyes the streaks purple temporarily.
* RedOniBlueOni: Nicki's blue (introvert) to Isabel's red (extrovert).

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: While not as obvious as Saige, this Nicki shares several similarities to the 2007 Girl of the Year Nicki Fleming. They both have the same name, down to the spelling, brown hair, blue eyes, anxiety and a huge love for dogs. They're also both the oldest siblings in their family; bowever, Nicki Fleming has a brother and twin younger sisters, while Nicki Hoffman is the oldest of two by only six minutes. Also Nicki Fleming and her collection hasn't been available since 2005.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Nicki is the skateboarding tomboy to Isabel's fashionable girly girl.

* UnwillinglyGirlyTomboy: Nicki is the opposite of Isabel and doesn't like being roped into playing Spice Girls with Isabel and her friends or their frequent squealing, and she isn't fashionable like they are.

* ChekhovsClassroom: Early in the first book, Addy remembers an incident where she screamed and cried as Sam was being whipped by their master for attempting to escape. Afterward, she was upset and yelled at her parents that they didn't care about Sam because they weren't crying like her while watching him being whipped. Poppa gently tells her that just because they didn't cry, it didn't mean they weren't upset—sometimes, they have to keep their emotions on the inside. Addy remembers this lesson of keeping her emotions inside while she's escaping with her mother; they come across a Confederate soldiers' camp. Because it's nighttime and she's wearing boy's clothing, a soldier notices her but just thinks she's one of their slaves they brought along and tells her to bring water. Despite being terrified, she holds it in and brings him the water while trying not to give away that she's not who he thinks she is. She lays down when told, patiently waits until he falls asleep, and then creeps out of the campknowing she can't run (even though she wants to) or it would look suspicious. When she gets back to her mother, Ruth tells her she saw everything and how proud she is of her keeping her emotions in check.

* NaiveNewcomer: In ''Meet Kirsten'' and ''Kirsten Learns a Lesson''.

* ThePioneer: The story is set during the 1850s during the pioneer era.

* PutOnABus: At the end of ''Kirsten Learns a Lesson,'' Singing Bird and her tribe leave the area because the deer are gone and they have to travel elsewhere to find food. TheBusCameBack in the short story ''Kirsten on the Trail,'' though it's implied to be temporary.
* RepetitiveName: Her older brother, Lars Larson. Justified as while his name would have been the patronymic Lars Andersson (as their father is Anders) in Sweden, the family was all given the last name "Larson" to match Anders's when they immigrated (as America considered a family's last name to be the father's, with everyone sharing the name).

* SettlingtheFrontier: Kirsten's family immigrates to America to settle on a farm in the Minnesota frontier.

* ShrinkingViolet: Not acutely shy, but is pretty quiet.

* SternTeacher: Miss Winston, who at first seems to expect Kirsten to learn English too quickly. She mellows out when, like many pioneer teachers who boarded with students' families, she comes to live with the Larsons and gets to know Kirsten better and understand her interests.

* SurpriseLitterOfPuppies: The barn cat gives birth during Kirsten's birthday book.

* UndyingLoyalty: Toward her loved ones, particularly her family.
* VirtuousBees: Kirsten and her family begin beekeeping in order to sell honey afte Kirsten locates them (and almost damages the hive in her eagerness to capture them alone).
* WeHardlyKnewYe: Marta, Kirsten's close friend on the immigration trip, [[spoiler:who dies in the first book]]. Outside of mentions in the second, she's not spoken of again.

* YouCantGoHomeAgain: To Sweden. Sweden is going through a massive famine and restrictions on farmland, and Kirsten's family are traveling across the ocean to another continent and then going far inland, in 1854. Them going back home is practically impossible and they know it, and Kirsten doesn't expect to see her grandmother or relatives in Sweden ever again. Also implied with Singing Bird's village, who were driven out of their home due to the encroaching white settlers.

Addy is a recently self-freed black girl who has escaped enslavement with her mother from North Carolina to Philadelphia during the last years of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar. Her family was separated through slavery and escaping, and she wants to reunite with them in freedom--but struggles to learn that "free" black people aren't as free as she imagined, even in the North, and there is colorism and prejudice even where she expected liberty.

* BittersweetEnding: ''Changes for Addy.'' Yes, Addy's whole family is reunited once more, but [[spoiler:Uncle Solomon died before he can reunite with the Walkers, and Auntie Lula dies a few days after reuniting Esther with the family]]. Also in ''Addy Studies Freedom,''; the war is over and slaves are free, but this is [[MoodWhiplash quickly spoiled]] for a breif time after the death of President Lincoln.
* BlueIsHeroic: She's brave and heroic, and her [=BeForever=] dress is blue.
* {{Bookworm}}: Once she learns to read, Addy tries to read as much as she can. By the time of ''Shadows on Society Hill'', she is also studying Latin and French.

* BrainyBrunette: Addy is an intelligent child and good in school; she learns to read and write well within months of starting school, catches up to [[AcademicAlphaBitch Harriet's]] level quickly, does well enough to win a spelling bee in her class, and later is invited to take further education at a prestigious upper level school for black children that focuses on them becoming teachers.
* BreakTheCutie: Downplayed. She's already struggling at the start of her first book, being enslaved, and her father laments that she'd starting to break down and hunch over like an old woman. But she's understandably dejected when she realizes that racism, bigotry, and colorism is still very much present even in the supposedly-free North. In one of the short stories, she's quite shaken by the death of Abraham Lincoln and fears that the war will start up again.

* ChekhovsClassroom: Early in the first book, Addy remembers an incident where she screamed and cried as Sam was being whipped by their master. Afterward, she was upset and yelled at her parents that they didn't care about Sam because they weren't crying when it happened. Poppa gently tells her that just because they didn't cry, it didn't mean they weren't upset—sometimes, they have to keep their emotions on the inside. Later, Addy has to do this while she's escaping with her mother and she finds herself in the middle of a Confederate soldiers' camp. Because it's nighttime and she's wearing boy's clothing, a soldier notices her but just thinks she's one of their slaves and tells her to bring water. Despite being terrified, she holds it in and brings him the water while trying not to give away that she's not who he thinks she is. She patiently waits until he falls asleep, and walks toward the edge of the camp, knowing she can't run (even though she wants to) or it would look suspicious. Once she's out of their sight, she makes it back to her mother, who tells her she saw everything and how proud she is of her.

* ToxicFriendInfluence: Harriet is a mean girl to Addy, and discourages her from making friends with NiceGirl Sarah.

* TragicDropout: Sarah, who loves learning but has to drop out due to her family's economic status.

* WaterTriggeredChange: In ''Addy's Summer Place,'' Addy decides she doesn't want to be grown up yet and goes swimming, ruining her hair.
* WhiteSheep: Despite racism and slavery being the norm in 1864, the Walkers can find several white people who treat them kindly or help them, including an old woman who shelters Addy and Momma during their escape, Mrs. Ford the dress shop owner who employs Momma, a shopkeeper in Philadelphia named Mr. Delmonte who is friendly to Addy, and a carpenter willing to hire Poppa despite his skin color.

A plucky rich orphan during the Turn of the 20th Century and America's Progressive Age (though initially marketed as Victorian Era). Samantha lives with her conservative grandmother in New York State after the death of her parents when she was five, and soon become friends with the servant girl Nellie O'Malley when she arrives next door to work as a servant girl, which gives her insight--at least, until the change of authors mid-series.

* AmbiguouslyChristian: No real mention of religion is made in the books, aside from Samantha partaking in Christmas. She and Nellie both attend Church in the film.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Samantha is a very sweet and loving young girl, but knows how to tell a bully off, including Eddie, who teases her a lot, and even teases Nellie at times.
* [[BigBrotherInstinct Big Sister Instinct]]: When she hides the O'Malleys in her attic, she starts acting sisterly towards Bridget and Jenny.
* BirthdayPartyGoesWrong: In ''Happy Birthday, Samantha!'', Eddie Ryland puts salt in her ice cream, ruining her birthday party treats.

* CatchYourDeathOfCold: Samantha gets stuck in long underwear most of the time to prevent this.
* CharacterDevelopment: A product of the Victorian Era, Grandmary believes that a lady’s place is at home or in high society. She is raising her orphaned granddaughter to be ProperLady, with sewing lessons and everything. She doesn’t think women should vote or make their own money. However, in “Happy Birthday, Samantha!”, [[spoiler: Grandmary witnesses her new daughter-in-law advocating for women’s sufferage in the park, and is deeply moved by her speech, changing her mind and supporting votes for women.]]

* CompressedAdaptation: The abridged re-illustrated versions of her books released in 2021 dramamtically change the plots to focus more on her relationships with Nellie and Cornelia (and cut out many of the class issues). Most of ''Meet Samantha'' is removed from ''Samantha: The Gift'' with only the scene of Nellie being sent away kept (and moved closer to the end to be because her mother is ill, rather than having her leave for not being strong enough and then come back with her family. The rest of the O'Malleys never come to Mt. Bedford or work for the van Sicklens; she's the only one, she works for an unstated household, and she thus is the only of her sisters who attends school there.) Chapters and events are also removed from ''Samantha Learns a Lesson.'' Two short stories are integrated to fill out the reduced chapters: "Samantha's Blue Bicycle" (which is still changed to promote Cornelia more, and integrated in along with new scenes) and ''Samantha Saves the Wedding'', which completely replaces ''Samantha's Surprise.'' Additional scenes are added throughout to tie the new order of events together. In ''Samantha: Lost and Found'' her first birthday party doesn't occur--her birthady present is to take the trip to New York City from the start--so Eddie Ryland is never present.
* CoolAunt: Cornelia. Samantha initially doesn't like her, feeling she's getting in the way of her parental relationship with Garnder. This comes to a head during ''Samantha's Surprise'' when she feels the holiday is being ruined by Cornelia coming and everythign centering around her. But after she learns that Cornelia is not a stuffy, uptight woman--and in fact, thinks women should work, be able to vote, and be more free than is expected of their class (and willing to have fun and try new things) she realizes that she and Gardner do love each other and Samantha is happy when they marry and she gets to be a bridesmaid.

* CoolTeacher: Samantha's teacher Miss Stevens assists Samantha when she asks for take home school materials to help teach Nellie, who is struggling under a SternTeacher and being a grade behind in public school.

* FashionHurts: Grandmary's rule for Samantha was to wear long underwear from September to June and is considered passe by Agnes and Agatha.
* ForbiddenFriendship: Samantha is looked at oddly for befriending Nellie, a servant, although no one with the actual authority to forbid it seems to mind, though they warn her not to get too close.
* GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: Samantha's teddy bear, which was originally the "pet" in her birthday collection.
* GoKartingWithBowser: Samantha doesn't get along with Edith, a rude and snobby girl in her class. However, her birthday book--written after authors were switched--book has Edith attending Samantha's birthday party, and the two girls show no animosity towards one another during the party.

* AnimalLover: Owns two horses and a wild dog, which she adopted after befriending the dog's mother. Her collection also includes a bear, deer and rabbit.

* FriendToAllLivingThings: She cares greatly for animals, [[AllGirlsLikePonies especially horses]].

* FriendToAllLivingThings: Despite her mother terrorizing her throughout her childhood, Josefina raises Florecita's infant baby.

* FriendToAllLivingThings: Loves many animals, even raccoons and baby bears--both to her detriment.
* GirlishPigtails: Wears an unusual braided hairstyle and is rarely seen without them hanging loose or unbraided.

* TheEighties: Courtney embodies it. Her favorite game is ''Pac-Man'', is a ValleyGirl, has EightiesHair, and her signature collection is described as "totally rad", "ultimate", and "awesome".
* EightiesHair: Has long, bouncy, curly hair with volume to high heaven. Makes sense, since her time period is the 1980s. Her stepsister Tina also begs for a perm.

* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Happened to Isaac in his previous town, after his HIV was discovered. When it's found out in Orange Valley, he's already in the hospital and then confined at home, so the mobs turn their anger towards Courtney, his one visitor and staunch defender.

* BlendedFamilyDrama: Mainly with her stepsister, Tina, who she now has to share a room with; they come in conflict.
* BrattyTeenageDaughter: Somewhat Tina, who is argumentative, hot-tempered, and into fashion and pop culture.

* CategorismAsAPhobia: Everyone who hates Isaac does so because they're afraid he will infect them; this is portrayed more as a problem of misinformation than the actual bigotry involved in the HIV scare.

* ConspicuousConsumption: Courtney, her stepsister, and her best friends spend most of their time at the mall; however, they don't shop as much as they just hang out, with Courtney most ofter at the arcade while her sister mills around the food court.
* CoolTeacher: Her first teacher, Mr. Garcia, who tries to do the moonwalk to impress the kids. Her second teacher staunchly defends her and Isaac.
* DanceSensation: Tina loves to dance and often pulls Courtney up to dance with her.

* DeathOfAChild: While he doesn't die onscreen, Isaac confides to Courtney that with his diagnosis, he isn't going to live long. On the drive home, Courtney starts crying over how unfair it is that he is likely to die at his young age.

* DisappearedDad: While her Dad is present in her life, he has to move farther away for his new job, which makes their visits less frequent. She is upset over this, and when she first reads Molly's book, she relates to having her father away.
* DoomedByCanon: Doomed by ''Reality.'' The book opens with Courtney excited for the ''Challenger'' launch, those who remember the era and the disaster flinch, dreading what's coming.

* GamerChick: She has one of the highest score on the local ''VideoGame/PacMan'' arcade cabinet. She also gets the idea to create her own video game, ''Crystal Starshooter'' (though she only plans the game and does not do the programming herself).

* IntercontinuityCrossover: Was placed in 1986 solely for this reason. In her second book, she discovers an early American Girl catalogue and becomes obsessed with Molly, as she relates to her missing her father. She begs for the doll, and while it's expensive, her father gives it to her for Christmas. Her and her best friend Sarah also pour over the catalogue, with Sarah favoring Kirsten, and the boys draw parody art of the pioneer.
** As a cute little detail, in Courtney's collection, when buying her mini-Molly, she comes with a doll-sized catalogue, with Courtney having circled all the stuff she wants. Most girls who got these catalogues can relate.

* PullingYourChildAway: A boy is pulled away from Courtney during a protest outside her school.

* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: Kip's Savvy Guy to Courtney's Energetic Girl.
* ShoutOut: Courtney ''adores VideoGame/PacMan'' and is super good at the game. She also knows of ''Mrs. Pac-Man'' but doesn't find her to be adequate female representation, as she's just Pac-Man with a bow. She also goes to her friend Kip's house to play ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros.''

* TotallyRadical: As befitting a character from the 1980s; she is intended to evoke this nostalgia to people who would be near her age.

* SpiritedYoungLady: A younger and 1940s version as opposed to a late 18th Century. Molly is energetic and can be assumed to be tomboyish, given her more toned-down wardrobe compared to characters in eras before her (and the addition of pants and shorts in her more casual outfits, which were starting to be more acceptable but not in more "public" places such as schools where skirts were expected). However, she likes getting dressed up for special occasions, dreams of fancy Halloween costumes such as Cinderella, plays princess (which is more based on the real English princesses at the time, [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethII Elizabeth]] and Margaret) and has a nice birthday pinafore style dress during her birthday party she shares with Emily in ''Happy Birthday, Molly!''. She enjoys tap dancing and wants to be Miss Victory for a city performance in ''Changes for Molly'' and craves the look of more mature "curly" hair since hers is straight and almost always worn in two braids. American Girl classified her as a "schemer and dreamer," and she's content to be in her place in life, but wants to be more "pretty" and less plain.

* {{Tomboy}}: She is one of the most tomboyish American Girl historical characters and is active, adventurous, and outgoing.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The tomboy to Speaking Rain's girly girl.

* FeminineMotherTomboyishDaughter: Her mother is content to accept her lot in life as a woman and focus on domestic affairs. Felicity, not so much.

* TenderTomboyishnessFoulFemininity: Felicity is tomboyish and active, but sweet and caring and tries her best to be ladylike and adhere to the lessons they're being taught during Miss Manderly's gentlewoman lessons. In contrast, Annabelle is more proper and ladylike but more snobby and arrogant, looks down on Felicity as merely a shopkeeper's daughter, and always tries to outdo her--as well as bossing Elizabeth around.
* {{Tomboy}}: Felicity is one of the most tomboyish of the American Girl dolls. In the first book she even steals Ben's breeches to wear them to go train Penny.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The tomboy to Elizabeth's GirlyGirl. Felicity would rather ride a horse, sit on her roof, and take long walks rather than sit still and do embroidery.

* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: She's a hot-headed tomboy who loves the outdoors and horseback riding, and balks at being forced to do most ladylike things. However, she comes to enjoy Miss Manderly's gentlewoman lessons, and is excited to go to the ball at the governor's palace. Plus, she often loves wearing the coral beaded necklace she owns.

* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Once she was re-illustrated to blond, this trope applied; she has always been more sweet and pleasant compared to active and tomboyish Felicity.
* NiceGirl: A sweet-natured and giggly girl.

* PinkMeansFeminine: Her primary outfit is basically all pink. But because Caroline is from a period of time when pink was still considered the more masculine colour, it fits perfectly with her tomboyish personality.

* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: She's outspoken, tomboyish, and adventurous, but also loves embroidery and sewing. Also, she wears pink as her Meet Outfit, she has a lot of of feminine dresses to match with the 1810s time period, and she always keeps her long curly hair down. She sure is a good example of a girl with a girly appearance but a tomboyish personality that still has some feminine traits from time to time.
* TrueBlueFemininity: Wears blue for all her formal outfits.

* AdaptedOut: Her youngest brother, Brad is not cast in the movie, likely because he has a small role in the series and is rarely spoken of other htan in family group events.

* ClothesForChristmasCringe: In ''Molly's Surprise,'' when the McIntire children are talking about Christmas presents, Jill comments that they're probably going to get boring presents like socks and handkerchiefs because, during wartime, nobody has money to spare for fun presents.

* DeathGlare: Molly's family housekeeper Mrs. Gilford gives her one when she complains about having mashed turnips for dinner. Dr. McIntire used to call it the "Gladys Gilford Glacial Glare."

* SpiritedYoungLady: Molly is energetic and can be seen as tomboyish, given her more toned down wardrobe. However, she likes getting dressed up for special occasions, dreams of fancy Halloween costumes such as Cinderella and also plays princess and has a nice birthday dress during her birthday party she shares with Emily in ''Happy Birthday, Molly!'', and wants to be Miss Victory for a city performance in ''Changes for Molly'' and craves curly hair since hers is straight and almost always in two braids, but lets it down on her birthday, and when she tries out for Miss Victory. Molly also loves tap dancing. Really, she's not tomboyish--just an active child in an era where children were sent out to play al lthe time.
* SpellingBee: Added to the film, where Molly's school participates in one every school year. Molly and Emily are the finalists, which upsets Molly as Emily never studies, but before a winner can be declared, the bee is interrupted by news that Ms Campbell's fiance has died.

* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: Molly is usually perky and tomboyish and isn't exactly as girly as Linda, Susan, and Emily. However, she has a love for tap dancing, and she doesn't mind getting dressed up for occasions, like putting on Halloween costumes with Linda and Susan on ''Meet Molly,'' and she even dresses up as a princess with Emily at the birthday party they share together in ''Happy Birthday, Molly!'', and Linda and Susan even help Molly curl her hair and dress up as Miss Victory in ''Changes for Molly.''

* ContrastingReplacementCharacter: In September 2015, American Girl made Maryellen Larkin the historical doll and character that replaces Caroline Abbott, who was sold from September 2012 until May 2015, and Maryellen and Caroline are quite different from one another, nevermind that Maryellen is growing up during the 1950s and Caroline is growing up during the 1810s. They are both female characters with girly appearances and tomboyish personalities that have feminine traits and are both a TomboyWithAGirlyStreak. But while Maryellen is an optimistic girl that has the dream of being an actress or a rocket scientist someday and interested in geometry, science, roller skating, swimming, and drawing cartoons, Caroline is an adventurous sailor that is interested in sailing, fishing, ice skating, sewing, and embroidery.

* DadTheVeteran: her father Stan Larkin fought in World War II.

* DirtyCommunists: Maryellen's school story talks about the Cold War and centers around an allegory for the same.
* DreamingOfAWhiteChristmas: Subverted in her Christmas story, in which she has to travel to grandparents in another state in order to see snow for the first time.

%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

* UnwillinglyGirlyTomboy: Samantha is ''expected'' to be prim and proper befitting her well off status and implied future as a ProperLady and being guided by her stern grandmother. However, she frequently fails at being so by the standards of her class and time, and many of the things she has to do she does out of obligation, not interest. She likes climbing trees (something she's told she's not supposed to be doing at all), isn't afraid to confront her bully neighbor Eddie's insults and even shoves him and puts gum in his hair, and wishes she could fight like boys when conflict comes up rather than be expected to deal with insults quietly. She wishes she could earn money for herself despite her grandmother's scandal at the very idea of such a thing, and when she brings up that Cornelia considers it fine, Grandmary says that it's still improper. She ''does'' wear fine dresses as she's expected for the era--girls never wore pants then, and she's rich--and do needlework (which she finds boring but does anyways[[note]]After Nellie is sent back to the city, she is angrily working on her sampler because to her, even ''that's'' preferable to interacting with the adults around her she's upset with.[[/note]] and practice the piano—all things she's ''expected'' to do as a young well off girl being raised "properly". For a breif while, Samantha was promoted as preferring to climb trees and get messy instead of playing piano or doing needlepoint.

* GirlyGirlWithATomboyStreak: Josefina enjoys sewing and mending and is gentle and patient, but must be active when helping on the ranch as she has many chores.

* GirlyGirlWithATomboyStreak: Loves pink and enjoys baking and quilting, but also enjoys climbing trees and going on adventures with Singing Bird.

* GirlyGirlWithATomboyStreak: Samantha isn't exactly as ladylike as Grandmary expects her to be, but she's definitely not a tomboy. She enjoys wearing fancy and flouncy dresses, and she has a huge love for the activities for the lessons her Grandmary teaches her on stitching and other ladylike activities. However, there are times when she is climbing trees and winds up getting messy and ripping up her clothes.

* ProperLady: Grandmary could be the poster woman for this trope. She also expects Samantha to act like one as well, even though she’s only nine. It’s justified, since Grandmary grew up in the early to mid-Victorian Era, and even by the time she’s caring for Samantha, society is still pretty strict on proper behavior, even for young girls.

* RaisedByGrandparents: Lived with her Grandmother since she was 5 up until prior events to "Changes For Samantha".
* RavenHairIvorySkin: An attractive feature she possibly inherited from her late mother.

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Nellie is calm and loves to dress up, especially after a long time of being a maid, while Samantha is a GirlyGirlWithATomboyStreak who also enjoys dressing up but is more active whenever she climbs trees, and she always winds up getting messy every time.

* FeminineMotherTomboyishDaughter: Kit's mother is more feminine--having come from a well off background--and thinks her daughter should have a more girly, fancy room at her new age, so she redecorates her entire room to be pink and girly. Which Kit ''despises.''

* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: Kit is more tomboyish in comparison to Ruthie with a love of baseball and her huge dislikes of the color pink and fancy, flouncy, girly things. But, at the end of ''Kit's Surprise'', as Ruthie and Kit walk Ruthie home together, Kit happily agrees to their new after-Christmas plans of going window shopping and Kit agress to take Ruthie's old Christmas dress as the gift it is. She also wears various dresses as she's expected to given the 1930s time period when pants were not acceptable public wear, and has several feminine outfits in the movie and her collection--in part due to her mother's ideas of how she should dress as a girl.

* GirlyGirlWithATomboyStreak: Nanea is feminine and graceful as well as active.

* FeminineMotherTomboyishDaughter: Molly is a perky and tomboyish girl that is active, energetic, and spunky, but doesn't mind dressing for special occassions, while her mother is fully fashionable and is a housewife that does everything she can to take care of her family and her whole house.

* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: Molly is energetic and tomboyish. However, she likes getting dressed up for special occasions, dreams of fancy Halloween costumes such as Cinderella and also plays princess and has a nice birthday dress during her birthday party she shares with Emily in ''Happy Birthday, Molly!'', and wants to be Miss Victory for a city performance in ''Changes for Molly'' and craves curly hair since hers is straight and almost always in two braids, but lets it down on her birthday, and when she tries out for Miss Victory. Molly also has a love for tap dancing.

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Despite the feminine Meet Outfit and pearl necklace, Maryellen is a bit of a tomboy who doesn't mind getting dirty and plays wildly. She is tomboyish in comparison to many people, including her mother, who is a housewife, her older sisters, Joan and Carolyn, who are more feminine and are into fashion, and her friends, Karen King, Karen Stohlman, and Angela Terlizzi, who don't hang out with boys like Maryellen does, and they love fashion and dancing. However, Maryellen has a girly side and likes fashion as well and has her bangs in a feminine style, which makes her a TomboyWithAGirlyStreak.

* FeminineMotherTomboyishDaughter: Julie is a sporty girl who plays basketball while her mother is more fashionable woman.

* GirlyGirlWithATomboyStreak: Ivy is more girly in comparison to her sporty and tomboyish best friend Julie, with a love of baking and making bracelets. However, she has a sporty side for gymnastics, and she sometimes enjoys playing baskeball with Julie--even though Julie always beats her at it.

* GirlyGirlWithATomboyStreak: Courtney is into fashion, stuffed animals, discovers an interest in American Girl dolls, and has items in her collection for ''Care Bears'' and ''Strawberry Shortcake.'' However, she also has a gamer girl side and plays videos games such as Pac Man.
* [[GoodStepmother Good Stepfather]]: Mike D'Amico is thoughtful, kind, friendly, and extremely supportive of his family.

* IMissMom: Stepsister Tina's main angst throughout the first book.

* GirlyGirlWithATomboyStreak: Isabel is the more girly twin with a love of pop music, pink, the Powerpuff Girls, and fashion. However, she develops a sporty side when she starts to play tennis.