Historical Characters (and companions) from the American Girls Collection, listed in chronological order. Companion Characters ("Best Friends") are listed with the main character.
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Kaya'aton'my (1764)
Kaya'aton'my (Kaya)
Kaya was released in 2002 and is billed as the First American Girl. Has a series page at American Girls: Kaya.
- Action Girl: Kaya is an active young girl, fitting with an outdoor lifestyle.
- All Girls Like Ponies: Kaya loves her horse, Steps High, to the point of endangering her own life to save her. She ends the series with both Steps High and the Appaloosa's colt, Sparks Flying.
- Animal Lover: 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. She's shown to care greatly for animals, especially horses.
- Bittersweet Ending: A lot of her books end this way, especially following Kaya's Escape, where she loses her horse and sister. In her mystery, The Silent Stranger (which is set at the end of her story arc) she gives up her dog Tatlo to a woman who needs him more, and is told she is grown up enough to start the ceremony to find her wyakin.
- Braids, Beads and Buckskins: The only Native American, she has her hair in two braids and wears deerskin dresses, and her accessories include a bead-and-quill necklace. While accurate to the clothing that Nimiipuu would wear in the era, she is the only Native ever released.
- Character Development: Kaya learns to be less impulsive and more responsible. At the same time, Two Hawks learns to be more respectful and careful.
- Common Tongue: 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.
- Cool Horse: Kaya owns Steps High, an Apaloosa horse. Later, Steps High returns with a foal that Kaya names Sparks Flying.
- Damsel out of Distress: When captured by enemy raiders, she manages to escape and make her way back home with another prisoner.
- Dead Guy Junior: After her mentor Swan Circling dies, Kaya is given her name—the greatest gift a Nez Perce can give. She makes it her goal to grow into the name (she's called Kaya throughout the rest of the series).
- Embarrassing Nickname: Her rash decision-making in Meet Kaya earn her the nickname "Magpie" among the villagers.
- Heroes Love Dogs: Kaya befriends a wild dog enough that the wild dog trusts her with her puppies, and eventually leaves them with Kaya's tribe. One of them, named Tatlo, becomes Kaya's close companion.
- Horseback Heroism: Rides her horse and horse's colt out of a forest fire.
- Hot-Blooded: Kaya often acts before she thinks, which gets her into trouble several times through the series.
- I Choose to Stay: Speaking Rain chooses to remain with White Braids's village, but will return to visit her family.
- Language Barrier: Between Kaya and Two Hawks in the second and third books, and Kaya and Hawk Rising in The Silent Stranger. As the characters belong to different tribes and Native Americans spoke a variety of languages (even though they live in close proximity). Instead Kaya uses some form of sign language with Two Hawks.
- Limited Wardrobe: Both In-Universe and as a collection. Unlike characters released before her (who had an outfit released for every book even if it wasn't logically plausible for their era, pajamas, and additional clothing) Kaya, being from a culture and time where the Nimiipuutímt didn't have huge wardrobes, only has a few dresses. In her stories, she's only ever in her daily deerskin dress with some accessories added, and once seen in her fancier dress when she's considered mature enough to dig and harvest with the women. In the collection, she initially only had her everyday deerskin meet dress and a fancier adorned deerskin dress which was in the same style but with more decoration. However, she was also given many several modern pan-Native outfits such as a jingle dress, and later has one more outfit added to her set. Still, this is much less than rural Kirsten, who has at least eight outfits.
- Made a Slave: After being kidnapped in a horse raid, Kaya and Speaking Rain are enslaved by their captors and forced to do work. Speaking Rain mostly tends a baby, since she is blind.
- Meaningful Name: Kaya'aton'my means "She who arranges rocks." Her mother named her that after seeing a woman doing such while Kaya was being born, and she wished that Kaya would have the same patience and quiet strength as that woman.
- Meaningful Rename: Her mentor Swan Circling dies and 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.
- New Friend Envy: In the short story Kaya and the River Girl, Kaya becomes insanely jealous of the Wishram girl Spotted Owl after her sister, Speaking Rain, befriends her.
- Obnoxious In-Laws: Kay's older sister Brown Deer is constantly anxious about what Cut Cheek's aunt thinks of her, and believes that she isn't good enough to impress her.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: 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 younger brothers than 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.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: 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. Justified on a meta level for marketing purposes, as the target audience of young girls might struggle to remember and pronounce an apostrophed first name all the time.
- Outdoorsy Gal: Loves exploring the wilderness, providing the illustrations with Scenery Porn.
- The Plague: 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.
- Puppy Love: Implied in Kaya Shows the Way.Speaking Rain leaned close. "He said that when he was a young, he could play love songs well because he got so much practice!" she whispered with a smile. "He says that Two Hawks will be old enough to serenade the girls as he once did."Kaya studied her friend. He was no longer the angry, stubborn, skinny boy who'd crossed the Buffalo Trail with her. He was taller, his shoulders were broader, and his dark eyes were clear and bright. She realized with surprise that someday he would be a handsome young man. She wanted to tell him that she liked the tune he played, but suddenly she was shy.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Kaya (an outgoing, hot-blooded OutdoorsyGal) and her sister Blue Oni Speaking Rain (a quiet, reserved and blind girl who initially depends on Kaya for protection).
- Shown Their Work: Kaya is the only doll whose mold was designed with a closed mouth, because showing one's teeth is considered offensive in the Nez Perce culture.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Kaya is prone to boasting or bragging about her talents to seem more skilled or important.
- Take a Third Option: When Kaya finds Speaking Rain again after having to leave her behind in the enemy camp, she's been adopted by a woman named White Braids, a member of another tribe whom Speaking Rain vows not to leave after she saved her life during an illness. After Kaya gets over being upset about her sister no longer being part of the family like before, she suggests that Speaking Rain spend part of the year with each family. It works.
Felicity Merriman and Elizabeth Cole (1774)
Felicity Merriman
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 briefly 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.
Has a series page at American Girls: Felicity.
- Absent Animal Companion: She gets a lamb in her birthday book, Posie, who proceeds to never show up again.
- Action Girl: She is a girl who prefers to ride horses and be active outdoors as opposed to inside domestic chores, and bonds with Penny, a horse whom she wants to save from Jiggy Nye's abuse.
- Affectionate Nickname: Her family call her "Lissie".
- All Girls Like Ponies: Has a special fondness for Penny, a horse who was under the possession of Jiggy Nye.
- All-Loving Hero: Felicity starts her story desperate to save an abused horse, and quickly becomes friends with people outside of her political sphere. She even eventually helps redeem Jiggy Nye.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Her sister, Nan, is more proper than her. In the film Nan has a habit of tattling on Felicity's more unladylike behaviors.
- Cheerful Child: Known by her father as the "merriest girl in Virginia".
- Childish Older Sibling: The oldest of three (later four) and the most impulsive and rebellious. e.g. In Felicity's New Sister she in part persuades her mom to take them out to Grandfather's plantation because the "help"note there will take on watching her siblings, and she can spend time with Penny rather than taking care of her siblings or helping her pregnant mother. But she steps up when the carriage breaks and knows she has to be brave to comfort Nan and William.
- Conflicting Loyalty: With her grandfather as a Loyalist and her father as a Patriot. This also becomes an issue after her best friend, Elizabeth's, father is jailed for being a Loyalist.
- Daddy's Girl: She's slightly closer to her father, or at least more "her father's daughter". However, the series goes out of its way to make it clear how much Felicity loves her mother, and to detail the important lessons her mother has to teach her about the domestic sphere.
- Dances and Balls: Felicity gets an invite to a Christmas ball (in the books it's a dance lesson being hosted as part of the ball), and is extremely excited to go.
- The Defroster: To Elizabeth—who is shy and meek when they meet—and to Jiggy Nye in the last book.
- Fatal Flaw: Her impulsiveness and stubborness; Felicity often does not think before she acts, or take her time with her tasks. in Felicity Takes a Dare her impulsiveness leads her to climb into a horse pen on a dare from a boy and results in her arm getting broken.
- Feminine Mother, Tomboyish Daughter: Her mother is content to accept her lot in life as a housewife and focus on domestic affairs. Felicity, not so much, who finds cooking and sewing boring.
- Fiery Redhead: Feisty, headstrong, patriotic and cheerful—while impatient and foolhardy when she shouldn't be.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The foolish to Nan's responsible.
- Friendship Song: In Circle of Friends, with "Is There Room In The Heart For Two?"
- Genki Girl: Spunky and energetic.
- The Heart: Always the one to do what is right, no matter the cost.
- Horseback Heroism: Learns to ride Penny in order to free her from Jiggy Nye. When she later finds Penny again, she rides her in order to rescue Ben and convince him to return home rather than run off to join the army.
- Hot-Blooded: Not that she flies into a rage, but has a rather pronounced fire in her belly.
- Invaded States of America: Accurate to the time period, as America was a colony that was stirring revolt away from British rule.
- Like Brother and Sister: Ben often acts as a mentor-figure to Felicity, though they do have their arguments.
- Live-Action Adaptation: Felicity: An American Girl Adventure (2005)
- Meaningful Name: Known as the Merriest Girl in Virginia by her father, Felicity's first name means "happiness" and derives from the Latin word for "good luck." "Merriman" literally means "merry man."
- Nice Girl: Felicity is sweet, giggly, and kind.
- Only the Chosen May Ride: Felicity works hard to earn Penny's trust, and soon becomes the only person who the horse will let ride her other than her father.
- The Paragon: Shown clearly in her first book when she frees an abused horse despite knowing that, if caught, she would be punished and even hanged. She does anything to stand up for what she believes in, whether that be sneaking out at night, giving Ben a stern talking-to, or fighting to regain her friendship with Elizabeth.
- Pet Positive Identification: She knows she's found Penny when the horse comes to her and nuzzles her from a pack found by one of Grandfather's friends.
- Plucky Girl: A fiesty and warm-hearted heroine.
- Pony Tale: Known as the "horse girl" of the American Girl dolls by most people. Her first book has the plot of her taming a scared horse whom she frees and who eventually finds her again.
- Rebellious Spirit: She's free-spirited and rebellious for the time period, frequently rejecting expectations of her gender; examples include wearing breaches to train Penny and riding astride Penny initially rather than sidesaddle, which a woman in her time would be expected to do.
- Redhead In Green: Along with her riding outfit, she has a limited edition Town Fair outfit that has a green dress.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The outspoken red oni to Elizabeth's reserved blue.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Ben's savvy personality and Felicity's tomboyish and energetic personality.
- Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: She has red hair and green eyes, is the main character of the series, and was the first character released with this combination in the Historical line. She is still the only Historical with this combination; the only other named character with red hair and green eyes is the Girl of the Year Blaire.
- Symbolically Broken Object: When she damages the guitar given to her by Grandfather, a former item of her later grandmother's (by taking it out to show off to Annabelle), her parents and grandfather say she's immature and it might have been too early to gift it to her. After she helps alert the town about the taking of gunpowder from its storage by Lord Dunmore's orders, it's returned to her with a new ribbon and her Grandfather says she's more mature than he thought.
- Tender Tomboyishness, Foul Femininity: Felicity is tomboyish compared to what's expected of her in the era, 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, Elizabeth's older sister Annabelle believes herself more proper and ladylike but is more snobby and arrogant. She 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 initially one of the most tomboyish of the American Girl dolls. In the first book she takes Ben's breeches to wear them to go train Penny, since it was easier than her skirts, and she doesn't enjoy the domistic tasks she's expected to enjoy like her little sister.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl:
- The tomboy to Elizabeth's Girly Girl. Felicity would rather ride a horse, climb on the roof or a fence, and take long walks instead of sitting still still and do embroidery.
- Also in contrast with her little sister Nan, who at age six is a better seamstress and dancer already and prefers quiet play such as tea and dolls.
- Tomboyish Ponytail: Her default hairstyle has her hair pulled back into a ponytail.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: 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 (and finds interest in wearing a dress for it). She loves wearing the coral beaded necklace she owns.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Felicity's favorite food is apples.
- Unusual Pets for Unusual People: She (along with her siblings) is given a pet lamb by her grandfather to care for. Posie is only seen in the one book and never again, quite possibly because at the time Penny wasn't present and every character was for many releases given a pet or animal symbol for their birthday collection.
- Values Dissonance: Rose and Marcus are the Merriman's slaves, and Felicity's grandfather owns a plantation where many people are enslaved. Felicity not only is not bothered by this, but in her short story Felicity's Little Sister, part of why she wants to go to the plantation (despite her mothers' advanced pregnancy) is because then she thinks the slaves can take over caring for her brother and sister for her and she'll be free to play around and ride Penny without facing responsibility. Addressed In-Universe in her Game Book Gunpowder and Tea Cakes; if the time-traveling protagonist goes to King's Creek Plantation and they go horse riding, she will be disturbed that Felicity doesn't think anything's wrong with slavery when they interact with slaves from the plantation and Felicity speaks to them harshly (and they defer to her). When the protagonist returns to her own time, she questions her black friend about if her ancestors were enslaved and asks to learn more in a respectful manner.
- Youthful Freckles: She's stated to have them in her books (her mother tries to fade them with lemon juice before her first gentlewoman's lesson); her doll, however, does not.
Elizabeth Cole
The quiet, timid, British immigrant and best friend of Felicity. In 2005 she was made into a Best Friend doll as part of the release of Felicity: An American Girl Adventure.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Elizabeth was originally dark-haired with brown eyes. When Felicity's movie debuted, she was changed to a blonde, including in all illustrations. The company stated this was to make contrast between her and Felciity. The actor cast as Elizabeth was also blonde and blue-eyed.
- All Girls Like Ponies: While Felicity is known as "the horse girl", Elizabeth likes horses as much as she does. Unlike Felicity, she doesn't ride them.
- Ambiguously Gay: In the short story, Felicity's Valentine, she writes a rather interesting secret valentine to Felicity, that the fandom can interpret as romantic given the holiday. Felicity reads it and then nods slowly in acknowledgement, which makes Elizabeth giggle."I cannot speak aloud, F.M., though you are next to me. / I must attend unto my work very carefully. / But if my heart could sing, it would, and to the tune you play / for you are dear to me (E.C.) on this and every day. [...] If your heart cannot care for me, then please do not reply. / But oh! my dear, if you do care, then hurry, hurry, fly! / And let me know by note or nod that I am dear to you. / And then what happiness there'll be, one heart made of two."
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Becomes this to Annabelle, after Felicity breaks her out of her shell. Annabelle thinks she's learning poor habits from being in the colonies.
- Best Friend: To Felicity. While their families support opposing sides of the brewing Revolutuion, the two remain good friends, with the only major conflict between them being due to Elizabeth's father being unjustly jailed.
- Beware the Nice Ones: She's much less direct than Felicity, and initially doesn't speak up for herself or others (or against her sister.) But as she becomes more sure of herself, she speaks up against her sister's treatment—and later her sister's prospective fiancee's sister, Lady Priscilla Lacey and a grown man that was about to assault Felicity.
- Conflicting Loyalty: She struggles with her friendship with Felicity, as the Merrimans are Patriots and her family are Loyalists to the British crown. After her father is jailed merely for being a Loyalist, she is not able to speak to Felicity. They're able to reunite after Mr. Cole is freed.
- Embarrassing Nickname: "Bitsy", by Annabelle. She eventually speaks up and says she hates being called that.
- Extreme Doormat: To Annabelle at first. She eventually learns to stand up to her.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: While she is more responsible when compared to Felicity, she's more "wild" than her older, stuffier sister Annabelle. In Very Funny, Elizabeth, she manages to convince Lord and Lady Lacey that she is the responsible one and Annabelle the fool.
- Forbidden Friendship: Annabelle initially forbids her from being friends with Felicity because Felicity's family are Patriots and her father no longer sells tea in his shop. Elizabeth stands up to her and says they're friends anyways. When her father is jailed, they're also separated by Mrs. Cole, but this is alleviated when he's freed.
- Hair-Contrast Duo: The alleged reason her hair color was changed in 2005, to contrast Felicity's better than brown and red would.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: After she was re-illustrated to blond, this trope applied; she is more sweet and pleasant-natured compared to active and tomboyish Felicity.
- Pink Means Feminine: Her meet out sport a pink Pimped-Out Dress, possibly as a contrast to tomboyish Felicity.
- Proper Lady: Not only is she learning to be a proper English gentlewoman, she likes playing with lambs, playing music, and dolls. She's also better at sitting still and concentrating on lessons than Felicity.
- The Quiet One: She's more soft-spoken and demure compared with feisty, sprightly Felicity.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Elizabeth's reserved blue to Felicity's outspoken red.
- Shrinking Violet: Initially, Elisabeth never speaks up and lets Annabelle speak over her about what she thinks and where her loyalties should lie.
- Textile Work Is Feminine: As Felicity's girlier counterpart, Elizabeth has greater interest in textile work—to the extent of helping sew Felicity's blue ball gown. (despite the inaccuracy of such a task.)
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The more proper and ladylike girly girl to Felicity's active and spunky tomboy. Even though Felicity is a Tomboy with a Girly Streak, Elizabeth enjoys ladylike activities more than she does—such as sewing and tea.
Caroline Abbott (1812)
Caroline Abbott
- Action Girl: While not in combat much, Caroline is a talented sailor on both a ship and a skiff, manages to save her father while lost in the wilderness, and nearly set her father's shipyard on fire to protect the war effort.
- Action Mom: Caroline's mother during the war, especially when her husband has been captured by the British. She carries a pistol to protect her husband's shipyard and is willing to burn it down to keep the British from using the supplies and boats inside.
- Bold Explorer: She dreams of being her own captain of a ship someday; her BeForever first volume is called Captain of the Ship in a reference to it.
- Call to Agriculture: A variation; Caroline is sent to her cousins' farm to escape the dangerous warfront and to help them with their struggles. She's not too pleased about it.
- Cheery Pink: She is a bright and good-natured young girl who dresses frequently in pink.
- Country Cousin: Lydia, technically. She and her family move to a secluded farm after fleeing Canada.
- Daddy's Girl: Big time; Caroline idolizes her father and dreams of following in his footsteps as a captain and shipmaker.
- Damsel in Distress: She's an independent and strong minded girl for her age and not a damsel at all. However, she was in need of rescue in A Surprise for Caroline, when she is trapped surrounded by icy cold water and a thick piece of ice, and when Rhonda and Lydia help her get back to safety.
- Damsel out of Distress: In A Surprise for Caroline, when Lydia and Rhonda help her get back to safety while giving her encouragement that she can make it to the other side, which she did! Phew!
- Danger — Thin Ice: In A Surprise for Caroline; she and her friends are stuck on thin ice and have to escape.
- Death Glare: In the first book, when the British sailors drop her off home. It's even illustrated.
- Determinator: This girl's age, inexperience, her father's capture, nor her gender stand in the way of her achieving her dreams.
- Dissension Remorse: In Caroline's Secret Message, Caroline and Rhonda have an argument in the shipyard, leading Caroline to snap at Rhonda, saying that she wishes that she stayed in Albany, leading Rhonda to walk away. Pretty soon, however, the two girls learn how to get along, and after Rhonda styles Caroline's hair, Caroline apologizes for the argument in the shipyard, and Rhonda apologizes too. Also, in A Surprise for Caroline, when Caroline loses a hoop while playing a game with Lydia and Rhonda, Caroline offers to try to get it back while on the ice, while Lydia tries to warn her not to. Pretty soon, Caroline snaps at the two girls and offers to get it back herself if they don't come with her. Pretty soon, Caroline gets herself trapped on a block of ice, but Lydia and Rhonda are there to help her. After they save her, she thanks both of them and soon admits that she feels that she gets treated like a little child and often left out by them. After Rhonda tells her that they don't leave her out and they feel that she acts like they are silly whenever they invite her to do things with them, the three girls work things out and apologize to one another before heading home.
- Down on the Farm: In her sixth book, Changes for Caroline.
- Elemental Motifs: Water, constantly. All of her interests lie in the ocean (shipbuilding, sailing, ice skating, swimming), and like the sea, she is wild and free.
- Feminine Mother, Tomboyish Daughter: Caroline is tomboyish and sails, getting involved in the knowledge of boats and her father's shipyard, while her mother keeps the home and is concerned with the domestic sphere. However, Caroline's mother is brave and during the war carries a pistol to protect her husband's shipyard.
- Feud Episode: Caroline gets into feuds with Rhonda twice.
- In Caroline's Secret Message, Caroline and Rhonda have an argument on the shipyard, but then they make up after Rhonda styles Caroline's hair.
- In A Surprise for Caroline, Caroline gets frustrated with Rhonda and Lydia, assuming that they are leaving her out of things and prefer spending time together without her. She later learns from them that the try to invite her to do things with them, but she acts as if they're foolish. They make up.
- Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Caroline's Holiday Gown, despite Caroline being an adventurous and not-so-girly type.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Quite often, particularly when her cousin Lydia becomes friends with Rhonda, a girl staying with the Abbotts, leading her to believe that they're excluding her from their activities.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She has pale blonde curls and a bright, loving heart.
- Hot-Blooded: She is prone to making rash decisions, often times bordering between brave and foolish.
- Iconic Item: Her skiff.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: The heroine and a Nice Girl with eyes as blue as her heart is pure.
- Kind Hearted Cat Lover: Affectionate and sweet, with a black cat named Inkpot.
- Lethal Chef: Her least favorite chore is baking which she isn't particularly good at.
- Meaningful Name: Of the Named After Someone Famous variant; Caroline Abbott dreams of sailing and being a navigator, and Caroline Herschel was a brilliant astronomer who lived in the 1810s.
- New Friend Envy: In A Surprise for Caroline, Caroline gets jealous when Lydia and Rhonda start spending time together.
- Nice Girl: She can have a bad temper and be stubborn and sensitive sometimes,but she is still a sweet girl.
- Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Caroline doesn't feel the same without her father, and is trying to stay steady and make good decisions until the day he finally comes home.
- Outdoorsy Gal: Loves going outside to sail, ice skate, sled, and knows her way around the wilderness.
- Pink Means Feminine: Her primary outfit is mostly pink. But Caroline is from a period of time when pink was still considered the more masculine colour, so it fits perfectly with her tomboyish personality.
- Quirky Curls: Wavy, curly blond hair to match her tomboyish personality.
- Sentimental Sacrifice: Her beloved skiff, while her father is still missing, to prevent the British from invading. Also nearly happens to her family shipyard.
- The Smart Girl: She enjoys being the leader and knows a lot about the ocean and ice. She is an intelligent girl for her age, and she has strong leadership skills.
- Textile Work Is Feminine: Her mother is quick to say that Caroline knows how to embroider and tie knots better than most girls her age.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: She's outspoken and adventurous—involving herself in sailing, not a common interest for girls of the era—but also loves embroidery and sewing and is skilled at them.
- True Blue Femininity: All her formal outfits are blue colored.
Josefina Montoya (1824)
Josefina Montoya
Josefina is the quiet youngest daughter living on a rancho in New Mexico (when it was still part of Mexico). Her mother died about a year before the stories leaving her, her three older sister, and their grieving father somewhat lost until her mothers's sister Dolores moves in from Mexico City and helps everyone work through their greif and changes coming with the arrival of Americans to the area. Josefina was released in 1998 and was the last historical character distributed under the Pleasant Company brand.
Not related to Inigo Montoya. Has a series page at American Girls: Josefina.
- Animal Lover: She cares for most animals—as part of ranch life, yes, but also—despite her mother Florecita terrorizing her throughout her childhood—Josefina raises Florecita's infant baby.
- The Baby of the Bunch: Josefina is the youngest of her four sisters; her older sister Ana sometimes mothers her, now that their mother has passed away.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Florecita in particular often managed to trigger Josefina's hidden temper.
- Brainy Brunette: Has long dark hair, is clever, and is an expert curandera (healer) in training.
- Cool Aunt:
- Her Tía Dolores comes up from Mexico City after living there ten years, and immediately endears herself to the whole family. She's enlivening, active, positive woman who encourages her nieces to take new risks and grow as people, even encouraging them to learn how to read and write.
- Tía Magdalena, Josefina's paternal aunt, is a traditional healer and single, who has lived by herself. She dispenses wisdom and comfort, encouraging Josefina to do work that stands apart from that of other girls and learn how to be a healer herself. She even takes the time to joke with Josefina about how stubborn Josefina's father was in his youth and Josefina confides her desire to follow her in the healing arts.
- Josefina is an example herself, even while close in age to her nephews. The short stories show her having a close kinship with them; she and her oldest nephew Juan work together to find as many pinon nuts as possible, and in Again, Josefina! infant Antonio's delight in her piano playing helps her stick to practicing. The last book in the main series had her share her holiday candy with Antonio, who ate his too fast (with this being the first Three Kings Day he's old enough to truly get).
- Dance of Romance: Josefina first realizes that her father and Tia Dolores are in love when she sees them dance a waltz together at a fiesta.
- Death by Childbirth: The goat she fears, Florecita, in Happy Birthday, Josefina!, dies giving birth to a kid goat. Josefina then proceeds to raise the baby.
- Down on the Farm: Down on the rancho—she and her family live a day's trip away from the nearest city, Santa Fe.
- Establishing Character Moment: In the first book, Josefina asks her sisters what they hope Abuelito's caravan will bring when he comes. Ana hopes for shoes for her two little boys; she's the oldest and already a mother, and concerned with domestic and family issues. Clara hopes he brings the plow Papa needs; she is practical-minded. Francisca hopes for some new lace; she's vain and loves beautiful things.
- Family Theme Naming: Josefina and her sisters all have the first name "Maria"—as does her aunt, grandmother, and likely her late mother. Accurate as historically in Catholic families, girls were frequently named Mary (or a variation such as Maria) after the Virgin Mary, with their middle names being the names they were referred to by.
- Fear of Thunder: As revealed in Josefina Learns a Lesson; her mother used to use her rebozo to shield her daughter from it.
- First Love: Alluded to in Josefina's stories; her mother has died before the series began. A poem about first love was a favorite of hers (even though she could not read, she recited it often). Her literate aunt wrote the poem down in her personal book (and uses it to encourage Josefina to keep learning to read—Josefina then uses it to convince Fransicsa that learning to won't make them forget Mama and may even help them remember her more by writing things down instead of relying on memory).
- Fluffy the Terrible: Florecita the mean, biting goat has a name that means "little flower" in Spanish.
- Four-Girl Ensemble: The Montoya sisters: Ana, the oldest and the Team Mom (almost literally, since their mother is dead and she's already married with two kids); Francisca, the beautiful, fashionable, rebellious one; Clara, the diligent, prudent, preachy one; and Josefina, the youngest and the main character, who's chirpy and cheerful and tries to keep the peace between Francisca and Clara when Ana's not around.
- Gruesome Goat: Florecita is a mean goat who belongs to Josefina's family, and Josefina is terrified of her. Subverted later with Florecita's daughter, Sombrita.
- Head-Turning Beauty: Josefina's sister Francisca. Josefina Saves the Day has Patrick O'Toole, an Americano guest of Josefina's grandfather who is fluent in Spanish and an all-around Nice Guy, forget to say "Gracias" when Francisca serves drinks. Josefina thinks that Francisca's looks provoke that reaction often, even in men who speak perfect Spanish.
- Iconic Item: Her gold cross/garnet necklace, as well as her and Clara's doll, Nina.
- I Miss Mom: Most of the series focuses on the sisters trying to find happiness and adjust to a new routine after the death of their mother. Tia Dolores helps bring life and energy back to their lives.
- Lovable Coward: Josefina does not think of herself as brave; she is scared of snakes, lightning, and guns to name some things. She is also afraid of confrontation and tries to avoid any conflict or disagreement.
- Loyal Animal Companion: Her baby goat, Sombrita, is named "shadow" due to her shadowing Josefina everywhere.
- The Medic: Josefina is often regarded as being a natural healer, and this trait particularly surfaces once she saves her friend Mariana from a venomous snake bite in Happy Birthday, Josefina.
- Memento MacGuffin: A handmade doll named Niña fulfills this purpose in Josefina's Surprise. She is both a valuable part of a family tradition and a keepsake from the sisters' mother. The tradition is to for the sister with the doll to hand it down to the next youngest sister when she turns eight years old, but Clara breaks the pattern by hanging onto Niña after their mother dies to have something to hold on to from her mother. She completes her Character Development when she realizes she has Mama's skill at colcha embroidery and finally gives the doll to Josefina.
- Middle Name Basis: Her full name is María Josefina Montoya.
- Missing Mom: Her mother passed away a few years before the start of her series.
- Motherly Side Plait: Used perhaps to highlight her nurturing, maternal personality among her siblings.
- Never Learned to Read: Josefina’s mother was illiterate and so are Josefina and her sisters. Josefina Learns a Lesson revolves around the girls learning to read and write.
- Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Josefina is still greiving the loss of her mother, and is later angered over the fact that Florecita ate flowers her mother planted. In Meet Josefina, she explains to Tia Dolores that she wanted to thank Tia Dolores for the piano music by giving her a bouquet with some of the flowers that her mother tended and that Josefina has been watering even ever since her mother passed away—and now there are no flowers left and that they will not grow anymore. Tia Dolores cheers her up and shows her how the roots and stems still persist, so new flowers will grow back eventually.
- The Quiet One: Not as quiet as her older sister Ana, but she is an observant and calm child.
- Rage Breaking Point: In Meet Josefina, Josefina is too timid to stand up to Florecita. But when she sees that Florecita has eaten the bouquet she meant to give to Tía Dolores and the flowers Mamá planted, she's so furious that she forgets to be afraid. She yanks the flowers straight out of Florecita's mouth, grabs her by the horns, drags her into the pen and slams the door.
- Rite of Passage: Each Montoya girl gets the family doll the Christmas turns nine. Josefina missed this due to her Mama dying that year, and is later given the doll by Clara.
- Sentimental Homemade Toy: Josefina's family has a doll named Niña that was made by her deceased mother and is passed down to each daughter at Christmas the year she turns eight, along with a new doll dress. When Christmas comes and Josefina is old enough to receive Niña, her older sister Clara says she can't find the doll, but it turns out Clara is secretly keeping Niña for comfort because she misses their mother so much. Josefina is upset, but Tía Dolores convinces her to let the matter go for the time being and keeps the sisters busy teaching them colcha embroidery to fix the damaged Christmas altar cloth. Finally, on Christmas Eve, Clara feels she is ready to give Niña to Josefina, and even continues the tradition by making her a new doll dress that matches Josefina's. She explains that she thought Niña was all she had left of their mother, but repairing the altar cloth helped her realize she has their mother's gift for embroidery.
- Shrinking Violet: A painfully shy, timid girl who only fully opens up to her family members and closest friends.
- Single Sex Offspring: Josefina is one of four daughters.
- Spicy Latina: Averted; Josefina is a calm, natural mediator and the most patient among her sisters. Played straight with her hot-headed sister, Fransicsa.
- Stay in the Kitchen: Played with. Josefina and her sisters are shocked when Tia Dolores (politely) makes business suggestions to Papa on how to replace the sheep the family lost in a recent flood; Josefina muses on how their father never discussed business with his wife and Tia Dolores's sister and while she admits the idea was good, she isn't sure it was proper of Dolores to interject. Francisca later accuses Dolores of acting like "the patrona" (Spanish for a woman boss/head of household).
- Textile Work Is Feminine: A major plot point in Josefina's Christmas book is the Montoya sisters, with their aunt's help, repairing the Las Posadas altar cloth that their mother made using colcha embroidery (that was damaged in the flood). Josefina sees that Clara is especially good at it. Clara then sews a new dress for Niña, family doll, when she's ready to hand her down to Josefina at last after realizing that what she still has from their late mother is her needlework skills. She sisters learn to make dresses of their own and weave blankets from sheep's wool to sell.
- Token Minority: The only Latina girl among the historical characters in the series.
- Toy-Based Characterization: Josefina's family has a doll named Niña that was made by her deceased mother and is passed down to each daughter at Christmas the year she turns eight, along with a new doll dress. When Christmas comes and Josefina is old enough to receive Niña, her older sister Clara says she can't find the doll, but it turns out Clara is secretly keeping Niña for comfort because she misses their mother so much. Josefina is upset, but Tía Dolores convinces her to let the matter go for the time being and keeps the sisters busy teaching them colcha embroidery to fix the damaged Christmas altar cloth. Finally, on Christmas Eve, Clara feels she is ready to give Niña to Josefina, and even continues the tradition by making her a new doll dress that matches Josefina's. She explains that she thought Niña was all she had left of their mother, but repairing the altar cloth helped her realize she has their mother's gift for embroidery.
- Translation Train Wreck: Related. Instead of being illegible because it was badly written, the now out-of-print official Spanish editions of Josefina's books were illegible to kids because they were a little too good. The entire story was translated into 1820's Spanish, which may have been accurate and fascinating, but it was the equivalent of printing both dialogue and prose of Felicity's books in 1770s English. There's a reason AG didn't do that. Kids got confused and the translation didn't last long on shelves.
- True Blue Femininity: Favors blue skirts and is gentle.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: She'a hopeful and optimistic and is The Determinator and Plucky Girl amongst her sisters
- "You find the sweet in the sour," said Clara. "The warm in the cold.""The soft in the hard," added Francisca. "And the light in the dark."
Cécile Rey and Marie-Grace Gardener (1853)
Cécile Rey and Marie-Grace Gardener
For Both Characters:
- Beautiful Singing Voice: Cécile is insecure that her singing voice isn't as good as Marie-Grace, but both girls are talented performers.
- Evil Orphanage Lady: Subverted, with all of the nuns at the Holy Trinity Orphanage caring for the children being kind and thoughtful.
- Friend to All Children: The two of them become extremely close with the children at the orphanage, to the point where they become the favorite caretakers.
- Heartwarming Orphan: A lot of the kids at the orphanages the girls volunteer at.
- Iconic Outfit: Their shared Mardi-Gras dress.
- Interclass Friendship: Cécile is from a respected, rich family, while Marie-Grace and her father are more middle class.
- It's Always Mardi Gras in New Orleans: The first two books take place over Mardi Gras.
- Masquerade Ball: Both girls' first stories feature their attending race-segregated Masquerade balls, where they utilize the masks and low lighting to switch and see what each other's dance is like. Cécile doesn't see what difference there is.
- Opposites Attract: Shy Marie-Grace with bold Cécile.
- Orphanage of Love: Both orphanages that Cécile and Marie-Grace volunteer at.
- The Plague: Their story takes place over the 1850s New Orleans Yellow Fever epidemic.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Somewhat subverted, while Marie-Grace is more prepared to get dirty than Cécile, she is extremely shy. Cécile is more feminine and proper than her, but is also more extroverted and impulsive. Still, both are colored mainly in pink and blue.
- Thinking the Same Thought: Both Cécile and Marie-Grace think that Lavinia's outfit looks more like a crocodile than a mermaid, though only Cécile says this out loud.
- True Companions: The girls become close friends by the end of their sixth book, after surviving the crisis of the 1853 yellow fever outbreak and the challenges with it."And don't worry– I'll save some adventures just for you, because you're such a good friend. Maman says true friends are forever. We are, aren't we?"
Marie-Grace Gardner
- Affectionate Nickname: The kids at the orphanage call her "Marie-the-Great."
- Amazing Freaking Grace: Sings "Amazing Grace" for her uncle and teacher's wedding.
- Canine Companion: Her dog, Argos.
- Does Not Speak Common: Has trouble learning French, which many residents of New Orleans speak.
- Doorstop Baby: An infant is left on her doorstep, inspiring her to become involved with the local orphanage.
- Extreme Doormat: Marie-Grace is quite shy and often struggles to come up with the will to stand up for herself.
- Good with Numbers: Shopping for the household alone have made her excellent in mathematics.
- Girly Girl: She and Cécile are two of the more girly historicals, both with fancy dresses and feminine pursuits. Furthermore they are more urban (living in a large port city) compared to their contemporary Kirsten, who lived a more rural life with suitable clothing.
- Hidden Depths: From Cécile's observations, Marie-Grace hides an adventurous spirit behind a shy demeanor.
- I Choose to Stay: When given the opportunity to leave the city and escape the Yellow Fever plague.
- Interracial Adoption Struggles: Marie-Grace is desperate to get the baby left on her doorstep, Phillip, into the White Orphanage to prevent his mother's master from finding him. She desperately wants her father to adopt the baby, which he can't due to the lack of time he can be at home.
- Language Barrier: Marie-Grace is not as good at French, which is unusual among her New Orleans school; she forgot it while living in Boston.
- The Medic: Marie-Grace often helps her father, who is a doctor, and has shown herself to be good at healing others.
- Missing Mom: Her mother has been dead for four years by the start of her first book.
- Moving-Away Ending: Narrowly avoids being sent away from New Orleans; eventually does leave for a temporary time.
- Naïve Newcomer: Marie-Grace, who'd recently moved to New Orleans.
- Parental Abandonment: Marie-Grace's father is still alive, but he gets so busy with his doctor work that she only sees him in the evenings. At one point he tries to send Marie-Grace to live with her relatives due to the yellow fever epidemic keeping him away from home so often.
- Pink Means Feminine: Her dress is pink, though this would have been considered more masculine in her time period.
- Opposites Attract: With the bold and theatric Cécile.
- The Quiet One: Marie is a rather quiet and shy girl.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Marie-Grace's blue to Cécile's red. (Despite that Cécile is wearing blue.) Marie-Grace is shy and timid while Cécile is more talkative and outgoing.
- Replacement Sibling: She hoped Phillip could be one for her deceased brother.
- Shrinking Violet: She's quiet, modest, and rather shy compared to Cécile, claiming that years of moving and not having a stable home has changed her.
- Stay in the Kitchen: The Gardner family's cook Mrs. Curtis makes it known to her employer, Marie-Grace's father, that girls learn all they need to know at home and that schooling fills a girl's head with "useless nonsense".
- Stranger in a Familiar Land: Marie-Grace lived in New Orleans as a younger kid, but doesn't remember it well and feels out-of-place at first.
Cécile Rey
- Affectionate Nickname: Her family calles her CéCé, a diminutive of her full first name.
- Apathetic Student: Dislikes her academic lessons—especially writing, despite her talent for it.
- The Beautiful Elite: A lovely, high-class free girl of color.
- Big Brother Mentor: She looks up a lot to her elder brother, Armand.
- Big Sister Instinct: Towards Perrine.
- Blue Is Calm: While more impulsive than Marie-Grace, she has a better handle on her emotions.
- Cool Big Sis: Armand is her cool big brother, and she becomes a big-sister figure to young orphan Perrine.
- Death Is a Sad Thing: Is suddenly hit by the permanance of death when her maid dies from the Yellow Fever, and her brother gets sick from the same illness.
- Don't Think, Feel: When she realizes she wants to write her own poem rather than recite a famous one.
- A Friend in Need: Works to keep Marie-Grace in New Orleans, and to help her when their music teacher falls ill.
- Gorgeous Period Dress: As she's a higher class than Marie-Grace, she tends to get the fancier outfits.
- Homeschooled Kids: Has a tutor, opposed to Marie-Grace who goes to an actual academy.
- Kindly Housekeeper: Both Mathilde and Ellen, the family servants.
- Little Miss Snarker: While normally polite, she has some fun snide remarks. Particularly when switching to Marie-Grace's ball, where she calls out Lavinia's poor costume.
- Most Writers Are Writers: Cécile realizes her true passion lies in writing.
- Opposites Attract: With Marie-Grace. She is more bold and assertive than her
- Performance Artist: Budding singer and ambitious actress.
- Proper Lady: Though she has her moments of quiet rebellion, Cécile is mainly happy to be a caring, feminine rich girl.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Cécile's red to Marie-Grace's blue. (Despite that Cécile is wearing blue.) Cécile is more talkative and outgoing while Marie Grace is shy and timid.
- Regal Ringlets: Meticulously curled hair to match her background.
- Spirited Young Lady: A proper lady who also has bold ideas, a desire to travel, and a creative streak. She is outspoken, and will directly call out the racist white Americans around her (who, coming from the West and Slave-heavy South, assume every black person must be a slave).
- Spoiled Sweet: She comes from a well-off background and is shown to be a sweet and caring girl. She even volunteers at an orphanage.
- The Storyteller: Cécile wishes to become a stage actress, and shows a talent for storytelling, recitation, and poetry when she volunteers her time at the Holy Trinity Orphanage.
- Take a Third Option: Comes up with a way for Marie-Grace to stay in New Orleans without having to stay home alone.
- Throwing Out the Script: Cécile abandons the classic poem she was supposed to recite in favor of her own poem, in order for her words to resonate better with the children she is there to support.
-
Values Dissonance: One of the girls in Cécile's social circle is from a slaveowner family, which makes Cécile uncomfortable. In one of the mysteries, she and her brother have to carry around papers to prove that they are free. She and Marie-Grace switch segregated balls at the Masquerade in order to see what's different about them, only to realize that they are exactly the same and there's no real reason for them to be separate. - Wise Beyond Her Years: Enough that her older brother and her friend can confide in her.
Kirsten Larson (1854)
Kirsten Larson
A Swedish immigrant who moves with her family to Minnesota during the expansion of the US in the mid-19th century. Kirsten is brave but initially confused and unsure of her place as an immigrante to a new country, with the series showing her growth into feeling like a true American citizen.
Kirsten was released in 1986 at the launch of the company and archived in 2010; unlike Samantha and Molly, she has not had a rereleased outside of the 35th aniversary.
Has a series page at American Girls: Kirsten.
- Absent Animal Companion: At the end of Happy Birthday, Kirsten!, Kirsten adopts a kitten that Missy the barn cat abandoned, intending to hand-raise it. However, it never appears in further books.
- Animal Lover: Loves many animals, even raccoons and baby bears—both to her detriment.
- Bears Are Bad News: Kirsten and Peter have to face a black bear cub and its mother when they try to collect honey from a wild beehive in Kirsten Saves the Day.
- Beary Friendly: At first, when Kirsten and her brother find a bear cub. Quickly inverted when the mother arrives.
- Bittersweet Ending:
- Meet Kirsten. The final chapter shows Kirsten arriving in Minnesota and becoming friends with her cousins that she'd heard so much about; the previous chapter has Kirsten dealing with the death of her best friend Marta, who died just before their families arrived in Minnesota.
- Her next book, Kirsten Learns a Lesson does the same, as she's learning English and beginning to settle in to the point of choosing to stay with her family rather than run away, and succesfully recites a part of a poem in English. But her new friend Singing Bird has to leave with her people because the settlers have caused a food shortage for the native population. (If a reader is familiar with the genocide against Native Americans that would occur in Minnesota the following decade, it may be less sad and more just averting Inferred Holocaust, at least in sparing a named character).
- Braving the Blizzard:
- In Kirsten's Surprise, she and her father walk through a blizzard to try and return home, but after her father turns his knee and Kristen can't lead them home, they stay in a cave until it passes.
- Another blizzard occurs in Kirsten Snowbound!; this time Kirsten is at home with her cousins and younger siblings, and they are unexpectedly left alone overnight when the storm hits and must bundle together for warmth.
- Break the Cutie: Kirsten is devastated when her friend Marta, who had taken nearly the whole journey with them to Minnesota, passes away from cholera on the second to last leg.
- Caged Bird Metaphor: An inverted example in Changes for Kirsten: After a long, difficult winter during which the Larson cabin burned down with most of their belongings, Kirsten's family saves up enough money to purchase the Stewarts' old house. Kirsten is sad that her friends Mary and John Stewart are leaving to immigrate to Oregon, but she's comforted by a good-bye letter from Mary and a bird-in-a-cage optical illusion toy left for her.Kirsten looked carefully at the little toy. On one side was a picture of a bird cage. On the other side, a bluebird. When Kirsten spun the toy, the bird seemed to fly into the cage. There it was, safe an happy, like Kirsten in her new home. The secret good-bye from Mary and John made her heart even lighter, like a bird fluttering under her ribs.
- Canine Companion: The family dog, Caro; he's often by Kirsten's side.
- The Chief's Daughter: Singing Bird's father, Brave Elk, is the chief of her village.
- Country Cousin: Kirsten hadn't met her uncle's new family prior to their immigration as they lived on a separate continent—she knew him, but not his wife Inger or Inger's two daughters Lisbeth and Anna. For obvious reasons, they're more suited to farm life.
- Cute Kitten: Missy's unnamed kitten that Kirsten adopts; who is only seen for one book.
- Darker and Edgier: The pioneer life in the 1850s is not all picnics, barn raisings, and swims in the river. Deaths of children and adults both are discussed; Marta dies of cholera on the way to Minnesota, Mary's aunt died giving birth to twins (only one survived) and in Kirsten's Promise a little boy, Ezra, is traveling with his mother and describes how he saw his own mother be crushed under a trunk that fell on her and slowly die in front of him.
- Death of a Child: Kirsten’s best friend Marta, who is the same age as her as and immigrates with her family from Sweden, dies from cholera on the second to last leg of their journey to the frontier.
- Death by Childbirth: Kirsten is afraid of losing her mother this way when one of her schoolmates, Mary Steward, tells her how her own aunt died giving birth and took one of her two twins with her. Luckily, Kirsten's mother survives the birth and her sister is fine.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: In Kirsten Learns a Lesson, when Kirsten learns that the nearby Dakota tribe are normal people like her, and then learns about how terrible their life has become because of the encroachment of white settlers. She begins to question everyone's fear of them and the treatement they are receiving; her father, dismisses this concern by saying that the settlers need the land too, and it's not brought up again. The fact that older readers likely know that Singing Bird and her people are doomed to a Downer Ending doesn't make this better.
- Determined Homesteader: Like her brothers and cousins, Kirsten is steadfast when problems come up in the series, even braving a blizzard to try and return home and eventually seeking shelter in a cave with her father to wait it out.
- Fish out of Water: When she and family first migrate to America, Kirsten feels like she will always be a foreigner. The theme of her stories is her assimilation into American life.
- Forbidden Friendship: With Singing Bird, a Native American Girl. While Singing Bird's father doesn't care, Kirsten is terrified of what her family will think; in a short story, Kirsten's proven to be right, as her mother bans her from seeing her friend and only relents when Singing Bird saves one of her children.
- Foregone Conclusion: Poor Singing Bird; the books avoid discussing this directly by having her and her nation leave to search for food before Kirsten can find out what'll happen to them, and have her return shortly in the short story Kirsten on the Trail. Only the year after the series take place, the Dakota nations were forcibly relocated towards the Mississippi River as their land was stolen further. Many indigenous people did not survive the journey.
- Girlish Pigtails: Wears a looped braided hairstyle and is rarely seen without them up such as hanging loose or unbraided.
- Going Native: Kirsten imagines herself as leaving with Singing Bird's tribe and becoming her sister "Yellow Braids" when American school is hard for her, and that things would be easier if she were Native. She ultimately stays with her family.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Kirsten is kind and caring with blonde hair; she looks out for her brothers, cousins, and even Singing Bird.
- Heroes Love Dogs: Her family owns both a dog, Caro, and a cat, Missy.
- Hollywood Costuming: Bangs were an unpopular style for girls in the 1850s; Kirsten likely has them as the other dolls first released with her, Molly and Samantha, had banged wigs and it was easier to make similar wigs.
- House Fire: In Changes for Kirsten; Kirsten brings in a baby raccoon who, while running around inside, knocks over a oil lantern. Their cabin burns down, taking almost all their belongings.
- An Immigrant's Tale: The series focuses on Kirsten adjusting to life in America after emigrating from her homeland of Sweden.
- In-Series Nickname: Kirsten's Indian friend, Singing Bird, calls her "Yellow Hair." Technically, "Singing Bird" is also a nickname, as neither girl can pronounce the other's name.
- Introverted Cat Person: A shy and culture-shocked girl with several barn kittens, though they're not hers specifically.
- Kind Hearted Cat Lover: Ends up adopting one of the barn cat's kittens, and is pictured ion the cover of her birthday book holding the baby cats.
- Language Barrier: Initially between her and her classmates, as she only speaks broken English. She eventually becomes more fluent. She and Singing Bird also have a language barrier, but start learning words in each others' languages as they become friends.
- Minnesota Nice: A loose example, given that the modern culture of Minnesota hadn't been established—but she lives in Minnesota with her family and is a very caring girl who treats her family, friends, and pets with kindness.
- Naïve Animal Lover: In Changes for Kirsten Kirsten insists on rescuing a trapped baby raccoon and bringing it into their cabin, despite her brother Lars saying that it's wild and can't be controlled. It ends up running around after waking up, knocking over an oil lamp, and the Larsons have their entire cabin burn down. No one dies and things are rescued, but they lose a lot of goods and clothing they've gotten over the year and a half in America.
- Nice Girl: Loving and kind to others, even animals.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Kirsten brings a raccoon kit into the house rather than letting it go as her brother suggested. The raccoon ends up setting their cabin on fire.
- Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Kirsten ends her first book living in a new country, befriending her cousins, and mourning her close friend, and she ends her last book in a new house again after the previous one burned down.
- Odd Friendship: With Singing Bird, a Native American girl from a neighboring tribe.
- Pet Baby Wild Animal: Tries to take care of an injured raccoon. It doesn't end well.
- Phenotype Stereotype: She (and nearly everyone in her family) has blonde hair to indicate Swedish heritage, and Kirsten has blue eyes.
- Pink Means Feminine: Wears a pink (well, red gingham) bonnet in her default outfit, and has a pink gingham dress for her birthday. She also states that pink is her favorite color.
- The Pioneer: The story is set during the 1850s during the pioneer era, specifically on the Minnesota prairie.
- Playing House: Her and her cousins play dolls both in the barn and in their secret fort.
- Plucky Girl: She's spirited, optimistic, and determined.
- Put on a Bus: 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. She returns in the short story Kirsten on the Trail, though it's implied to be temporary, as the Dakota must keep searchng for food now that land is being taken by settlers.
- Repetitive Name: Her older brother, Lars Larson. Justified as while his name would have been the patronymic Lars Andersson (as their father's name 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).
- Replacement Goldfish: Since Kirsten's doll Sari is in the family's trunk and far away for the first months after their arrival, Kirsten makes a sock doll from an old stocking stuffed with milkweed floss and calls it Little Sari. She keeps her until she and her father get the trunks in Kirsten's Surprise.
- Settlingthe Frontier: Kirsten's family immigrates to America to settle on her uncle's farm in the Minnesota frontier.
- Shout-Out: Kirsten's first poem recitation for school is a set of verses from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
- Stay in the Kitchen: Lars's friend John doesn't want Kirsten following them on their trapping trip, expecting her to stay home with the "women and children". Lars argues that Kirsten has keen sense for animals and knows her way around a forest along with possessing extra hands to carry the pelts. Kirsten is puzzled by John's objections.
- Stern Teacher: Miss Winston, who at first seems to expect Kirsten to learn English too quickly (at least, Kirsten feels that way). She mellows in Kirsten's eyes 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. She still must remain stern in school, given some of her students are old as she is.
- Stock Animal Name: Kirsten's family horse is named Blackie.
- Surprise Litter of Puppies: The barn cat Missy gives birth during Kirsten's birthday book.
- Textile Work Is Feminine: Kirsten becomes interested in quiltmaking after seeing her teachers Miss Winston's quilt, as quilting is not something Swedish women did (blankets were instead woven). She helps make a quilt as a present for her teacher not knowing that her and her friends are actually working on her birthday present.
- Toy-Based Characterization: When Kirsten's family has to store their things in a warehouse in town for a few months, one of the things that has to be put away is her doll Sari. When Kirsten misses Sari, she creates a makeshift doll from an old stocking filled with milkweed floss and calls it Little Sari. Besides the dolls, Kirsten and her cousins also have toys made from things in nature, like doll cakes made from dried mud and doll beds made from woven twigs.
- Virtuous Bees: 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, to prove she's mature).
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Marta, Kirsten's close friend on the immigration trip, dies in the first book before they arrive at Minnesota. Outside of mentions in the second, she's not spoken of again, nor are her parents.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: At the end of Happy Birthday, Kirsten!, Kirsten adopts a kitten that Missy the barn cat abandoned, intending to hand-raise it. However, it never appears in further books.
- You Can't Go Home Again: 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 all but impossible and they know it, and Kirsten doesn't expect to see her grandmother or any of her 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 Walker (1864)
Addy Walker
The first doll of color and first Black Character, Addy was released in 1993. Has a series page at American Girls: Addy.
- Ancestral Name: Addy is named after her great-grandmother, Aduke.
- Arc Words: "Freedom's got a cost," the last words said by Uncle Solomon to Addy and her mother before they escape the plantation and escape to freedom in the North. Every step toward making a new life is hard for the Walker family—finding a job, learning to read, searching for their missing family members, and dealing with prejudice from white Philadelphians—but as long as they have each other, they can overcome anything.
- Big Brother Mentor: Her brother, Sam, who she idolizes.
- Bittersweet Ending:
- Changes for Addy. Yes, Addy's whole family is reunited once more, but Uncle Solomon died before he can reunite with the Walkers—though he died free—and Auntie Lula dies a few days after reuniting Esther with the family.
- In Addy Studies Freedom; the war is over and slaves are (legally) free, but this is quickly spoiled for a brief time after the death of President Lincoln and his funeral, including the procession through Philadelphia.
- 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 at the Institute for Colored youth in her preparations to become a teacher.
- A Boy, a Girl, and a Baby Family: Her older brother Sam, Addy and her younger sister Esther.
- Brainy Brunette: Addy is an intelligent child and good in school; she learns to read and write well within months of starting school, catches up to Harriet's level quickly, does well enough to win a spelling bee in her class, and is invited to take further education at a prestigious upper level school for black children that focuses on teaching children to become teachers.
- Break the Cutie: 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 and is at the age where she's starting to learn what it means to be enslaved. But she's understandably dejected more 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 without him as President.
- Cheery Pink: While gaining her freedom, Addy is given a dress from Miss Caroline; prior to the BeForever revamp, said dress was pink and used in promotional materials.
- Chekhov's Classroom: 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 camp knowing 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.
- Constantly Curious: Addy is questioning of the status quo and also tends to leap before she looks with a curious outlook on things and wanting to surge ahead.
- Cool Teacher: Addy's teacher Miss Dunn is one. She's a black female teacher, unusual for her time, even in the North. What makes her cooler is that she's quite perceptive and progressive for her time. For example, she's understanding when it comes to the negative impact slavery has had on educational opportunities for the black community, she never shames Addy for poor reading skills as some teachers would, and she catches on to Harriet Davis' mean girl agenda quickly.
- Darker and Edgier: Her first book is much darker than other American Girl books, even as other ones don't shy away from history. Justified, due to the subject matter of enslavement.
- Dead Guy Junior: Named after her paternal great-grandmother, Aduke, who was stolen from Africa.“My great-grandma must have been brave to come across the water all alone. I’m gonna be brave just like she was,” Addy said.“She was brave, Addy,” Momma answered, “and you brave, too. But there’s one thing different about you and your great-grandma. Her journey ended in slavery. Yours, girl, is taking you to freedom.”
- Death Is a Sad Thing: In Changes for Addy, with her aunt and uncle.
- Doesn't Know Their Own Birthday: Due to being born enslaved, Addy doesn't know her real birthday; she's suggested to pick a day, and wants to find the perfect one. She later picks April 9, after the early morning news the Civil War is over—it's not the most perfect day shecan have since her family isn't united, but it's the closest she feels in the moment.
- Don't Split Us Up: Addy is devastated when she's separated from both of her siblings within a short period of time. There's nothing she can do about it, though; she's helpless to prevent her brother from being sold to another master, and she and her mother can't realistically take Addy's baby sister with them when they run away because her crying would get them caught and Ruth has to believe that their enslaver won't sell a baby.
- Emotions vs. Stoicism: Before the events of Meet Addy, Sam had run away and was caught and was whipped in front of his family. Addy was bawling while her parents looked on with barely a trace of emotion. She tells them how upsetting it was to see they didn't look sad, and her father told her that it's only because they aren't free to express their emotions, and it's only on the inside that they're free.
- Fluffy Fashion Feathers: Addy's snood from her birthday outfit has some.
- Force Feeding: In the first book, Addy is worming tobacco plants, gets distracted, and misses a tobacco worm; an overseer finds it and makes Addy eat it.
- A Friend in Need: When Sarah is unable to go to school, Addy volunteers to help teach her.
- Girlish Pigtails: Has her hair in two braids at the beginning of Addy Saves the Day.
- Honorary Uncle: Uncle Solomon and Auntie Lula, older folks on Master Stevens' plantation who are said to have helped parents Ben and Ruth Walker even before Sam, Addy, and Esther were born. Ruth leaves Esther in their care, and they take it upon themselves to follow her and Addy to freedom and reunite Esther with her family.
- Iconic Item: Her cowrie shell, a family keepsake passed down from her great-grandmother. It's strung on one of her brother's old shoelaces and worn as a necklace to remind her of her family.
- I Die Free: Upon hearing that the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, Solomon strutted around his and Lula's cabin, then got down on his knees and thanked God. He helped Lula bring Esther to freedom and died after they reached the last freedman camp on their way to Philadelphia.
- I Just Want to Be Free: When she was a slave, she dreamed of a life where her family lived in a big house while she wore different pretty dresses and did her schooling.
- Innocence Lost: Happens to Addy, being born enslaved. Her father points out as a reason to escape his greif at seeing Addy reach the age she knows she's enslaved and how she's starting to stoop over like an old woman while working the fields; she also loses more innocence when her father and brother are sold away from mer.
- Inspiring Sermon: In Addy's Surprise, Reverend Drake gives a sermon about how the freedmen escaping slavery and coming to the North need help, and how their fellow free people can help them by donating money or welcoming them to the pier. Addy has a half-dime that she considers using to buy a scarf as a Christmas present for Momma as she saves up for, but ultimately donates it to a freedmen's fund.
- It Was a Gift: Before Addy and her mother escape, Uncle Solomon gives her a half dime along with the words, "Freedom's got a cost." Later, she considers using it to buy a scarf as a Christmas present for her mother, but ultimately she ends up donating it to a freedmen's fund to help newly freed slaves.
- Kid Hero: Shows remarkable bravery when escaping slavery, even saving her mother when they need to swim and sneak past Confederate soldiers. She also later saves heer church's fundraising box from a thief.
- Meaningful Echo: In the first book, Addy's brother Sam teaches her a riddle, so in Saves the Day, when she repeats it and he responds, she knows she's found him.
- Meaningful Name: Her actual first name, Aduke."“Your great-grandma’s name was Aduke. That name got a meaning where she come from. It means ‘much loved.’ I saved her name for you, Addy.”
- Morton's Fork: When Addy is asleep, she hears her parents talking about the possibility of fleeing the plantation and escaping to the North. There's no easy choice—if they get caught, they'll likely be sold to different plantations, but if they wait too long, they might be sold and separated anyway. When Poppa and Sam are unexpectedly sold, Momma decides to run and take Addy with her, but they have no choice but to leave baby Esther behind with Auntie Lula and Uncle Solomon because her crying might get them caught by slave catchers. Her only consolation is that their master is unlikely to sell Esther because he can't make any money selling a baby, but even that doesn't guarantee Esther's safety.
- Never Learned to Read:Initially, due to her enslavement. She learns quickly once she's able to attend school, and swiftly becomes one of the best students in her class.
- Nice Girl: Sweet, friendly, and good hearted.
- Night Swim Equals Death: Subverted, as though they are terrified, her and Momma have to cross a river in order to escape slavecatchers at night.
- Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Addy misses her father and her brother, Sam, and is looking forward to being back with them like a real family.
- Pass Fail: Is behind Addy's family's troubles in "Shadows on Society Hill"; Uncle Solomon's niece was passing as white and feared Addy and her family would expose her. Addy ultimately does do this but in defending her family rather than any malice and a part of her understands why the woman did it; the "Looking Back" section discusses this phenomenon and its aftereffects.
- Pink Means Feminine: Her first dress in freedom is a cinnamon pink calico with white pinstripes, gifted to her by Miss Caroline who helps her and her mother escape.
- Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: Addy Learns a Lesson has Sarah drift away from Addy when the latter is taken in by Harriet's tricks. They patch things up, though.
- Plucky Girl: Addy is a brave and loving child, willing to risk her safety for the safety of others. When her mother nearly drowns i na river, Addy dives under and rescues her.
- Saintly Church: Trinity A.M.E. Church, whose members are active in helping newly freed slaves like Addy and her mother build lives in Philadelphia.
- Significant Birth Date: Addy chooses April 9, the end of the Civil War, for her birthday, as it's the end of the Civil War.
- So Proud of You: In Addy's Surprise, Poppa starts to shed Tears of Joy when he finds out that Addy has learned to read.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: A more harrowing version. Ruth and Addy dress in boys' and mens' clothing during their escape, both to keep the dogs off their scent by wearing unfamiliar clothing and to not appear as women as they travel. Addy tucks her braids up under her felt hat to make herself appear as a boy as well. When they get to the safe house at Mrs. Caroline's, she nearly sends them off (thinking the two are servants to the nearby camping Confederates) until Addy takes her hat off to show she's a girl.
- Textile Work Is Feminine: Addy's mother works as a seamstress in a dress shop. Addy herself learns how to sew hems and ends up making a scarf to give to her mother as a Christmas present.
- Token Black: Among the original American Girl dolls; she was the first one released and outside of the unnamed modern line, it would take over ten years before another Black historical character Cécile, would be introduced.
- Toxic Friend Influence: From Harriet, who treats Addy poorly and as a flunky, which Addy initially misses in her desire to be closer to Harriet (as Harriet appears like what Addy thought her life in freedom would be).
- Toy-Based Characterization: Addy has owned two rag dolls, both made by her mother. The first, Janie, was made when she and her family lived in slavery. When she's forced to leave her baby sister Esther behind as she escapes, she gives her Janie to hold on to until they're together again. Later, when she and her mother are living in freedom, her mother makes her another doll for Christmas, this one wearing a beautiful purple dress and little hoop earrings, and stuffed with beans. Addy happily calls her Ida Bean. Her love for both dolls is a reflection of her love for her family.
- Also used with baby Esther; when they reunite and Addy cries, Esther gives her the doll to cheer her up, echoing how Addy gave it to her first.
- Tragic Dropout: Sarah, who loves learning but has to drop out due to her family's economic status and her need to help with the laundry.
- True Blue Femininity: Her blue school dress that Momma made for her; also used for her BeForever meet outfit.
- Water Is Womanly: In the first book, she knows how to swim and is able to use this to save her and Momma; as such, the water is associated with her freedom.
- Water-Triggered Change: In Addy's Summer Place, Addy decides she doesn't want to be "grown up" yet and goes swimming, ruining her hair.
- White Sheep: Despite racism and slavery being the norm in 1864, the Walkers encounter several white people who treat them kindly or help them. This includes Miss Caorine who helps them escape; Mrs. Ford the dress shop owner who employs Momma; a shopkeeper in Philadelphia named Mr. Delmonte who is friendly to Addy and other freed men; and a carpenter willing to hire Poppa despite his skin color.
Samantha Parkington and Nellie O'Malley (1904)
Samantha Parkington
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 more conservative grandmother in New York State and has after the death of her parents when she was five. She 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 into classism—at least, until the change of authors mid-series, when things swerve and eventually result in happy endings for all.
Samantha was released in 1986 at the launch of the company and the first character to be archived in 2009; she was then rereleased in 2014 as part of the BeForever rebranding. Has a series page at American Girls: Samantha.
- Adapted Out:
- In the movie, this is Agatha and Agnes; Hawkins the butler; and Elsa, the maid. Agatha's name is used for Alice, a minor character from a short story (who is Agatha and Agnes's little sister). Admiral Beemis is mentioned by Grandmary but never seen. Nellie's mother suffers Death by Adaptation; 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 off page, so the girls move within the city to Uncle Mike's rather than away from Mount Bedford and back there.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: In Changes for Samantha, Aunt Cornelia and Uncle Gard's maid Gertrude 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).
- Affectionate Nickname: Samantha's Uncle Gard calls her "Sam."
- All-Loving Hero: A compassionate and kind girl who speaks up for the impoverished and willingly takes Nellie under her wing as she befriends her and teaches her how to read.
- Always Identical Twins: Agnes and Agatha Pitt are idential twins with red hair and freckles who always dress alike.
- Ambiguously Christian: No real mention of attending church is made in the books, aside from Samantha partaking in Christmas and threatening to put Eddie's beetle collection in the tithing plate if he doesn't leave her alone. She and Nellie both attend the same church in the film, which is a unstated branch of Protestanism.
- Beware the Nice Ones: 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 gets in her way.
- Big Sister Instinct: When she hides the O'Malleys in her attic, she starts acting sisterly towards Bridget and Jenny.
- Birthday Party Goes Wrong: In Happy Birthday, Samantha!, Eddie Ryland—who has been barred from the all girls' party—is left unsupervised with the ice cream by Hawkins and puts salt in her ice cream, ruining her birthday party treats.
- Brainy Brunette: She is a sweet and smart girl.
- The Bully: Eddie Ryland, Samantha’s aggressive next door neighbor; he merely exists to be a source of annoyance to Sam. The abbreviated books remove him completely.
- Call-Forward:Samantha's My Journey book, The Lilac Tunnel, which is set the summer before her Meet book, has Uncle Gard tell her Grandmary would never send her away if she finally married the Admiral, and if she did, Gard would have to go with Samantha. In the series itself, Grandmary finally does accept the Admiral's latest proposal and Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornelia take Samantha in.
- Canine Companion: Jip is Aunt Cornelia's dog, but he is included in Samantha's set as her pet.
- Character Development: 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 a Proper Lady, with embroidery and piano lessons that Samantha endures. She doesn’t think women should vote or make their own money. But in “Happy Birthday, Samantha!”, Grandmary witnesses her daughter-in-law Cornelia advocating for women's sufferage in the park, and is deeply moved, changing her mind and supporting votes for women.
- Companion Cube: Her beloved doll Lydia, named after her deceased mother; later her pink-clad Nutcracker doll, Clara.
- Compressed Adaptation: The abridged re-illustrated versions of her books released in 2021 dramamtically change the plot of the stories 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 and changed to be because her mother is ill, rather than having her leave for not being strong enough to service the Rylands and then coming 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, focusing more on Samantha teaching Nellie and her speech contest with almost no scenes with Samantha's other classmates or friends. (Her teacher also doesn't help; Samanthat does the teaching on her own.) Two short stories are integrated to fill out the severely reduced chapters: "Samantha's Blue Bicycle" (which is still changed to promote Cornelia more and keep Grandmary stern) and Samantha Saves the Wedding, which completely replaces the holiday book Samantha's Surprise. Additional scenes are added throughout with the editors of American Girl 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.
- Cool Aunt: 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 everything centering around her visit. 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 announce they'll marry and she gets to be a bridesmaid.
- Cool Big Sis: To Bridget and Jenny, her adopted sisters, once they're all living together. The girls look up to her more than Nellie, who had to serve as their parent after their parents died. Nellie breifly becomes worried her sisters like Samantha more when Samantha becomes closer to them and dotes on them, but Samantha later explains that it's after seeing the poor conditions other children were in both at the orphanage and the settlement house, she wants to be able to do all for Bridget and Jenny since she can't take care of everyone.
- Cool Teacher: Samantha's teacher Miss Stevens assists Samantha when she asks for take home school materials to help teach Nellie, who is struggling under a Stern Teacher and being a grade behind in public school (this being her first time attending).
- Cool Toy: Samantha wants a special Christmas doll that looks a lot like Lydia, the doll she received as a gift in the first book but gave to Nellie as a sign of friendship. While the doll doesn't move or do anything cool, she has a beautiful dress and comes with a tiny wooden nutcracker. Cornelia, Uncle Gard's then-fiancée, gives Samantha the doll, thinking that since she liked those kinds of dolls when younger, Samantha might too.
- Cool Uncle: Views her Uncle Gardner as one; he's the major father figure in her life.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: Since it's the early 1900s, women aren’t permitted to vote politically (at least, not nationwide or in New York State, which wouldn't be won til 1917). Aunt Cornelia is fighting to change that. Grandmary thinks that a woman's place is at home and not at the ballot box, and thinks the suffragettes are making “spectacles of themselves”. She has a change of heart when she accidentally comes across the rally and hears Cornelia making a speech for women's suffrage in the park.
- Determinator: Once Sam gets it into her head to do something from sneaking out of the house to find out where Jessie went to starting a school to help Nellie's poor education, it's hard to stop her.
- The Edwardian Era: The time period in which her story takes place, from 1904 to 1907 (not including the Real Stories From My Time book set during the Titanic sinking, when she'd be a teenager). Initial promotions in the 1980s stated she was of the Victorian Era but this more accurately applies to the mindset of Grandmary who grew up then and is very conservative (but comes around over the stories.) Besides, Queen Victoria died in 1902, two years before the start of the book series. If American eras were to be considered, it's The Progressive Era (which is how it's often promoted now).
- Every Proper Lady Should Curtsey: Since this is the Edwardian Era, Samantha is expected to curtsey before her elders.
- Fashion Hurts: Grandmary's rule for Samantha is to wear long underwear from September to June and is considered passe by Agnes and Agatha.
- Forbidden Friendship: Samantha is looked at oddly for befriending Nellie, a servant. Edith Eddleton mocks her for being friends with her neighbor's Irish servants, her grandmother is very clear that she's helping Nellie and not playing with her when it comes to the them spending time together, and Mrs. Ryland and Mrs. Eddleton come over to complain to Grandmary about letting her granddaughter interact with the servants.
- Girls Love Stuffed Animals: Samantha's teddy bear, which was originally the "pet" in her birthday collection. Agnes and Agatha gift it to her for her birthday as it's the latest in new toys (having very recently been popularized). All the girls ooh and ahh over it.
- Go-Karting with Bowser: Samantha doesn't get along with Edith Eddelton, a rude and snobby girl in her school who was originally likely to be the Alpha Bitch of the series. However Edith is present in her birthday book—written after authors were switched—and attending Samantha's birthday party, and the two girls show no animosity towards one another during the party. At most, Edith brings a boring birthday gift of a book of piano exercises.
- Hair-Contrast Duo: Her dark brown hair with Nellie's light strawberry blonde.
- Happily Adopted: By her grandmother prior to the series, then her Uncle Gardner and Aunt Cornelia as of Changes for Samantha.
- Heartwarming Orphan: For her grandmother and uncle. Pleasant Rowland made her an orphan because her young neice said that orphaned characters were more interesting.
- Hereditary Wedding Dress: The short story book "Samantha Saves the Wedding" has Samantha mention her late mother's wedding veil as one she might wear someday; it's stored in the attic of her grandmother's house. When her Aunt Cornelia's veil is destroyed by her little sister Alice chopping it up, Samantha goes to get her mother's for Cornelia to use in her marriage to Sam's Uncle Gard. (This subplot is also carried into the movie, though with different circumstances on the original veil's destruction—it catches fire on a curling iron flame.)
- Heroes Love Dogs: Her, Agnes and Agatha immediately love Aunt Cornelia's puppy Jip.
- Iconic Item: Her heart-locket broach, though her Lydia doll could count for both her and Nellie.
- Interclass Friendship: Samantha, an upper-class girl, and Nellie, a poor immigrant girl. Some of Samantha's peers sneer at her for being friends with a servant girl, but she couldn't care less.
- Kid Hero: She breaks Nellie and her sisters out of an abusive orphanage and hides them in her attic.
- Live-Action Adaptation: Samantha: An American Girl Holiday (2003).
- Lonely Rich Kid: Possibly implied in the main series - Samantha is not frequently shown hanging out/playing with girls of her social class outside of school, even when Nellie enters her life. It seems the guests invited to Samantha's birthday party (not counting Agnes and Agatha) was done out of social obligation (and possibly the switch in authorship that downplayed the class issues in the first two books). Outright stated so in Samantha's My Journey book (which is set during summer), where Samantha tells the reader insert she feels Grandmary's large house has too much space and it makes her feel lonely, especially when school's out.
- Ludd Was Right: Samantha's grandmother believes this as an appeal to tradition. She says during Samantha Learns a Lesson that it's a mistake to assume that change means progress, and the world was doing fine before a lot of new inventions that she thinks are more trouble than they're worth. She's not a fan of her son's automobile and refuses to ride in it, and she thinks that women have no need to vote until she comes around due to Cornelia. Notably, she reluctantly says the telephone is useful—but makes sure to say that it will never take the place of sending a proper and courteous letter.
- Nephewism: First raised by her grandmother, then moves in and is later adopted by her uncle and aunt, where she lives afterwards in the expanded mystery books and any post-series books.
- Nice Girl: A sweet and generous girl who possesses a strong sense of justice.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Hawkins, the family butler, is the one that tells Samantha about how factories are the most important sign of progess in America because of how quickly and cheaply they can make products. This leads to Samantha's first essay praising factories—which she recites to Nellie proudly. Nellie gets tense and tells Samantha the real truth of what goes on in factory work, having been there herself and seen the dangers firsthand, including severe injuries—and that it's the many risks to children and workers and the low pay they get that makes things so cheap for others. Samantha is mortified and changes her essay at the last minute.
- No Communities Were Harmed: Mount Bedford is a fusion of Bedford and Mount Kisco, New York.
- Off to Boarding School: Samantha fears this will happen to her in one of the paths of her My Journey book. 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.
- Old-Timey Bathing Suit: Invoked in her collection; she has her Edwardian bathing suit which includes a navy dress-style bathing suit with an overskirt, black tights (either used from the collection or included), and swimming slippers. (The first edition also includes a large straw hat, while the rerelease has a bathing cap to cover her hair). Notably, Samantha never actually goes swimming in her books or movie. The first outfit was part of a limited edition set focusing on outdoor activities for historical characters, while the second release was part of a set of swimsuits for early 20th century characters and included Kit and Molly to show how swim wear had changed over the eras.
- Orphan's Plot Trinket:
- Averted with Samantha’s locket; it has her parents’ photographs inside, and she wears it often. However she still has other family and a warm and loving (and-well-off) home, and she knows how her parents died, it serves no real plot significance other than to have her carry an image of her parents.
- In Samantha Saves The Day Samantha finds a sketchbook her mother made of watercolor scenes, when she (around three) and her parents visited Teardrop Island. This inspires her to journey to Teardrop Island in the hope of jogging any faint memories of time with her parents.
- Outdoorsy Gal: The first time Samantha is seen she is falling out of a tree—which she shouldn't have been climbing.
- Parental Abandonment: Her parents died when she was five years old in a boating accident.
- Parental Substitute: Samantha is raised first by her grandmother and then her aunt and uncle, since her parents died when she was five. Uncle Gard serves as a father figure to her even before she goes to live with him and Aunt Cornelia.
- Pink Means Feminine: 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. Her BeForever meet dress is a pink dress.
- Plucky Girl: A sweet girl who nevertheless is quick-thinking, intensely curious, and The Heart of her family.
- Practically Different Generations: Between Samantha's Aunt Cornelia and her younger sisters—the twins Agnes and Agatha and younger Alice. Cornelia is old enough to court and get married, while Alice is just three—theoretically young enough to be Cornelia's child. Meanwhile the twins are the same age as Samantha and they relate more like cousins than aunts and a niece.
- Pretty in Mink: The white fur hat with matching fur muff from Changes for Samantha.
- Prized Possession Giveaway: In Meet Samantha, Samantha asks Grandmary to buy her an expensive doll she saw in town and offers to work to earn money (which Grandmary shoots down—women of their class don't work). She pleads in part by bringing up her late mother, and agrees to commit to her various practices to earn the doll, which she does. She even names the doll after her mother Lydia, who died when she was five in a boating accident. When her impoverished new friend Nellie has to go back to the city and is scared she will have to work in a Nightmarish Factory again, Samantha gives Nellie the doll, knowing Nellie loves it and it will comfort her while she's away. Extra heartwarming considering that this is the first fancy doll Nellie would've had due her family's poverty (she's not stated to have a rag doll).
- Proper Lady: 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 for young girls of Samantha's class.
- Pursuing Parental Perils: "My parents died in a boat accident returning from an isolated island in a storm? Guess what I'm going to do!"
- Raised by Grandparents: Lived with her Grandmother since she was 5 after the death of her parents, up until just before the events of Changes For Samantha.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: She has dark brown hair and pale skin, features she possibly inherited from her late mother.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The passionate red to Nellie's practical, calmer blue.
- Rousing Speech: When she's meant to give a speech on progress, Samantha instead throws out the script and gives the entire room of upper-class people a scalding lecture on child labor.
- Series Mascot: Samantha used to be it — she was even in the company logo!
- Servile Snarker: Elsa, Samantha's maid, is harsh (though she loves her family, for whose sake she's working) and is fed up with Samantha's antics.
- Shadow Archetype: Edith Eddleton to Samantha. They are both wealthy, upper-class girls, but Samantha is kind and befriends Nellie and her sisters while Edith looks down on them for being servants and Irish.
- Shout-Out: Samantha's favorite book is The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
- Spirited Young Lady: Samantha seeks the approval of Grandmary and does not want to disappoint her or worry her. She loves to paint and someday wishes that she could be as good of an artist as her mother Lydia Parkington. She has a rough side such as climbing trees and feels it is hard to be a young lady and commit to all the expectations of her class.
- The Suffragette: Her Aunt Cornelia. She speaks up for women to be given the right to vote, notably during a rally in Happy Birthday, Samantha! Grandmary, who previously considered voting to not be a proper woman's business, comes across the rally and the speech changes her mind.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: In Happy Birthday, Samantha!, Eddie ruins the molded ice cream at Samantha's birthday party by pouring extra rock salt in it when he's left alone unsupervised.
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Technology Marches On: Inventions like bicycles, motorcars, and electricity are gaining widespread use. This gets a bit of a Lampshade Hanging in Samantha Learns a Lesson when she's considering what new piece of progress to write her essay on and asks around adults in her life to get ideas. - Textile Work Is Feminine: She has to learn how to sew samplers, befitting her position as a Proper Lady.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Samantha loves peppermint ice cream.
- Unwillingly Girly Tomboy:
- 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 Proper Lady 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 and she's not allowed. 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 anywaysnote 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 Tomboyish Name, 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 traits that according to the standards of her era make her a "tomboy", paired with a great reluctance for what a proper young lady "should" do.
- This also applies to Agatha Pitt, one of Cornelia's twin sisters. She wears dresses as expected, but is much more direct and willing to fight than her twin sister or Samantha. 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.
Nellie O'Malley
Nellie was the first best friend character to be released in 2004 to coincide with the release of Samantha's movie; she retired with Samantha's first archival.
- Beware the Nice Ones: A sweet, quiet, good-natured young girl; she however can stand up to intimidating, strange men, her uncle, and even kicked a crooked butler when he was threatening hers and Samantha's own safety along with calling out some adult's behavior.
- Big Sister Instinct: She'd do anything for Bridget and Jenny.
- The Bus Came Back: Nellie was written out after Samantha Learns a Lesson when Samantha's head writer was replaced (twice), only to be brought back right at the end.
- Calling the Old Man Out: In Nellie's Promise, she finally calls her Uncle Mike out on how terribly he treated her and her sisters and demands he sign away his guardianship before she reports him to the police. Mike, who is a
- Death by Adaptation: Her mother, who was alive in the books until the sixth one, is dead prior to Nellie and Sam meeting.
- Demoted to Extra: Samantha's first two books focused on her relationship with Nellie (a poorer Irish daughter of immigrants) and had an antagonist in Edith Eddleton, a well-to-do girl with a snobbish attitude. However, the plotlines and focus on class issues proved controversial; the first author, Susan S. Adler, was replaced for the third book which barely included Nellie, and by the fourth book now being written by Valerie Tripp, all the class issues were downplayed and Edith switched from an antagonist to a minor acquaintance, likely due to Ms. Rowland disliking the class focus. Nellie is not present or even mentioned in Happy Birthday, Samantha and is entirely absent from Samantha Saves The Day, (with Samantha instead being paired with her twin aunts, Agnes and Agatha) before coming back in Changes for Samantha where her parents have died and, after several struggles, she and her younger sisters Bridget and Jenny are adopted by Samantha's aunt and uncle. The retooled abridged books focus more on their connection before Nellie's adoption and have Samantha thinking of her often.
- Denied Food as Punishment: In Changes For Samantha, she is regularly punished by the cold headmistress and given little to no food during her stay at Coldrock House.
- Don't Split Us Up: Nellie is chosen to go on the orphan train, but her sisters must stay behind at the orphanage because they’re too young to be sent. Samantha helps Nellie and her sisters escape before they are separated.
- The Dutiful Daughter: Much of what she does is focused on the well-being of her family, especially her younger sisters.
- The Edwardian Era: The time period in which her story takes place.
- Friendless Background: Samantha is her first true friend.
- Gadgeteer Genius: She's handy with machinery and repairing things, having done it befor at the settlement house. Her Affectionate Nickname from Miss Brennan is "Nellie-O'Malley-All-Mended," because she can break things down and put them back together with ease.
- Good with Numbers: Despite having no formal education at the start of the series, she can do math problems in her head in seconds. This is because she used to have to purchase food for her family, and had to be able to determine the cost of things they needed quickly and to get the most for their meager funds.
- Hair-Contrast Duo: Her strawberry blonde hair with Samantha's dark brown.
- Happily Adopted: By Samantha's Uncle Gardner and Aunt Cornelia as of Changes for Samantha.
- Heartwarming Orphan: Samantha's beloved friend who is orphaned and later adopted as her sister.
- Hidden Depths: She's surprisingly adept at math for a girl who was her own teacher.
- Hollywood History: Although it makes a lovely story, it's unlikely that a society as class-driven as Samantha's would have seen a rich couple adopting immigrant street orphans. However, considering how liberal Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornelia are for the Edwardian era, it's not exactly out of character for them to say, "Screw Society, we're taking the kids."
- Interclass Friendship: Samantha, an upper-class girl, and Nellie, a poor immigrant girl. Some of Samantha's peers sneer at her for being friends with a servant girl, but she couldn't care less.
- Late-Arrival Spoiler: Nellie's collection looked way too nice for a poor servant when her doll was out, serving to spoil the ending of Changes for Samantha, where Samantha's aunt and uncle adopt her and her sisters.
- Ms. Fixit: Little Miss Nellie-O'Malley-All-Mended is noted to be incredibly handy within the Edwards household.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Although Nellie and her sisters had no choice in the matter, the name Coldrock House, run by a Miss Frouchy, implies anything going on there won't be good for them.
- Nice Girl: Nice and hard-working and protective of her younger sisters.
- Nightmarish Factory: Unfortunately accurate to the time period. Nellie has to work in a factory in order to help provide for her family, where she works long hours for little pay, and could be replaced if she made a single mistake. She mentions she keeps her hair short because she once saw a girl get scalped by a machine, but had to keep working.
- Orphanage of Fear: Downplayed. The Coldrock House For Homeless Girls isn’t terrifying or haunted, but the girls are abused. Any small gifts or luxuries, like sweets or gloves, are withheld and/or confiscated. The girls are trained to become servants and “know their place”, and punished for small offenses. Little Bridget is sickly and cannot do her chores, but the matron, Miss Frouchy, accuses her of laziness, and gets mad if her sisters try to help her.
- Orphan's Ordeal: Goes through quite the Trauma Conga Line as being a poor immigrant orphan in the early 1900s.
- Parental Abandonment: The O'Malley parents die shortly before Changes For Samantha, leaving Nellie and her sisters at the mercy of a greedy uncle and an Orphanage of Fear. After being adopted by the Edwards, Nellie still struggles with fears of being abandoned again, getting distressed that she will be left behind by her new family.
- Practically Different Generations: Nellie's adoptive brother, William, is born when she's about 11-12.
- Promotion to Parent: Her parents both die in the winter of 1905, leaving her to be the parent figure for her sisters until they're adopted by Gardner and Cornelia. Even so, one of Nellie's last promises to her dying mother was that she'd always take care of her sisters; even after they're elevated in class, Nellie wants to make sure she and her sisters are taken care of.
- Single Sex Offspring: One of three sisters, later, one of four once Samantha's aunt and uncle adopt her as well as taking in Samantha. This changes later in the Mystery novels when Cornelia gives birth to a son, William.
- Stranger in a Strange School: A mundane variant. In Nellie's Promise, Nellie has been Happily Adopted by the rich Edwards, but she's still from a poor background and it affects her. Her first school she attends with Samantha has her feeling completely out of place; not only does it not teach anything she feels is practical, but the other girls of higher class often aren't sure if she's Samantha's sister or maid. this is seen when the girls speak about their eight year old birthday parties and she states she was working in a factory, making the conversation awkward. She later transfers to a school that is more in alignment with her hopes to have a more practical adult life.
- Trauma Conga Line: First, there's the struggles of being a poor girl in a society xenophobic towards Irishmen (as the Irish were not considered as "white" as WASPs). She keeps her hair short because long hair in a factory is a safety risk; she saw a girl get scalped at work. She has to perform child labor to provide for her family and initially is sent away from them alone to work in Mt. Bedford. When she does start school for the first time, she is treated like she's stupid and put in a grade lower than her age, in the back, and insulted for being ignorant to the point she doesn't want to return. Then, while Samantha is living in New York City, both her parents die and she's first sent to live with her abusive uncle Mike who takes all their things to sell them while trying to parent her younger sisters. After Mike abandons them, the girls go to a horrible orphanage that doesn't feed them well and threatens to spit them up by sending Nellie away on an orphan train out west. They run away and hide in Samantha's attic, and Nellie spends the time trying to find a job again (in the movie, she ends up working in a clothing factory and Samantha sees this). After their adoption, she deals with her sisters crying at night missing their parents, even though they're in a good home. Nellie once again has to face her abusive uncle who threatens to take her away again after he finds her, sending her into worry that she has to leave town altogether to stop him until the Edwards force him to fully sign away any rights. Finally, according to the not-fully-canon Real Stories from My Time series, when she turns sixteen she ends up traveling on the Titanic.
- Wise Beyond Her Years: Nellie, unlike more naive Samantha, is keenly aware that the world is unfair and 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 her five-person 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 to take care of them. Which is exactly what happened.
Rebecca Rubin (1914)
Rebecca Rubin
Rebecca was released in 2009 shortly after Samantha's first retirement.
- Alliterative Name: Her full name: Rebecca Rubin.
- All Jews Are Ashkenazi: Rebecca and her family are all Russian Ashkenazi Jews. The only other Jewish characters (Lindsey and the Hoffman twins) are also Ashkenazi.
- Always Identical Twins: Her sisters, Sadie and Sophie.
- An Immigrant's Tale: Her cousin, Ana. Also touched on with her parents and grandparents.
- Brainy Brunette: She thinks fast, helps her cousin learn English, secretly sold her doilies, and saves her cousin.
- Cannot Spit It Out: Her secret about appearing in a silent film, for the last two books.
- Classically-Trained Extra: One of the women Rebecca meets in the movie studio seems to be gunning for a higher role than she was hired for.
- The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes: Discussed in Meet Rebecca where a poor woman comes with her son to get his ill-fitting shoes adjusted. She comments that one would think her son would have more shoes since his father works in a shoe factory, Rebecca's father (a shoemaker and shop owner) comments he used to work in one and had to use cardboard to walk about.
- Crisis Makes Perfect: In The Crystal Ball, after watching Harry Houdini perform, Rebecca spends the whole book trying to figure out how to escape from having her hands tied behind her back like he could. She struggles with barely a hint given to her by Sadie and Sophie, but when the culprits have her Bound and Gagged and are going to skip town if she doesn't escape and expose them, she finally figures it out in time to get free.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: A complete aversion to "Everyone Is Christian at Christmas," in her winter book, her entire class is required to do a Christmas project. When her friend objects, stating that her family is Jewish, her Stern Teacher sharply tells her that Christmas is an American holiday and so they all must celebrate. Rebecca feels pressured to go along with the crowd when her teacher announces that her class will be making a Christmas decoration to take home, and the other Jewish girls in class just go along with it or risk being publicly shamed. On the other hand, Rebecca is concerned that her family will be angry and ashamed of her for coming home to them with a Christmas decoration, especially after her mother scolds her sisters for singing carols and wearing festive red and green ribbons. Ultimately, their grandmother is pleased that she obeyed her teacher and created something beautiful in the process.
- Drama Queen: Rebecca is often described as having "a flair for the dramatic".
- Good with Numbers: Her favorite subject in school is arithmetic, so much that her grandfather often calls her a "math wiz".
- Gorgeous Period Dress: Her movie dress is deliberately glamorous.
- Greedy Jew: Averted—Rebecca is thoughtful and generous—and for good cause to avoid ugly implications. She was the first Jewish Historical and only one for years (and, while the Hoffman Twins are, they have little emphasis of it in their books and collection.)
- Hanukkah Episode: Her third book, Candelight for Rebecca. It's a contrast to the other characters' Christmas books as she's Jewish, but Christmas issues comes up and cause her conflict.
- Have a Gay Old Time: In the Rebecca mystery The Crystal Ball, one paragraph mentions "the gay crowds". Since this story takes place in the 1910's, the language is accurate for describing a cheerful group of people. On the other hand, the story was published in 2012 - and today's average tween and young teen reading this book is likelier to be much more familiar with a different meaning for the word "gay". This also pops up in the main Rebecca series.
- Immigrant Parents: Her family emigrated from Russia when they were young; she was born in America.
- Immigrant Patriotism: She's not an immigrant, but as the child of them is proud of being a citizen of the United States and tries to get Ana to embody this when they perform "You're a Grand Old Flag" for school.
- Instant Messenger Pigeon: Rebecca and Ana help care for the messenger pigeons on the roof of the apartment.
- Jewish and Nerdy: She's a math wiz.
- Kid Hero: Climbs a ferris wheel to save her cousin. Also in her amped-up mystery novels.
- Kind Hearted Cat Lover: While she doesn't own the cat, she helps care for her neighbor's cat after she gives birth to two kittens. The kittens are sold as hers in the collection.
- Matryoshka Object: In the introductory BeForever commercial, Rebecca, being Russian, plays with a matryoshka doll and hands it off to the modern girl. She also has a set of the dolls mentioned in her stories and included in an accessory set.
- Middle Child Syndrome: Rebecca Rubin suffers shades of this. Her older twin sisters Sadie and Sophie always leave her out. Victor gets more attention than she does because he's at bar mitzvah age, and little brother Benny is coddled as the baby of the family. Ana's arrival helps somewhat but Rebecca maintains the struggle to get her share of attention.
- The Movie Buff: An early example, as films were a new and quickly growing medium. She's obsessed with silent films and loves to go see them, and dreams of being an actress.
- Naturalized Name: Rebecca's school friend, Rifka, is renamed to "Rose" by her teacher, who wants her to sound more American. Her aunt also changes her name, saying she's now Fannie instead of Fanya.
- Nightmarish Factory: Rebecca finds out her cousins' family works at one, and this leads to a strike.
- Oh God, with the Verbing!: Somewhat from her grandparents. Sometimes the verb is a noun.
- Performance Artist: Desperately wants to be a silent film actor, despite her family's disapproval. She tries to earn money for her cousins' immigration through street performance, only to get reprimanded by her Bubbie. She gets her first shot at her dreams when visiting a movie studio with her cousin.
- Plucky Girl: Our dramatic and kindhearted young protagonist.
- Police Brutality: Rebecca is shocked when she attends a protest for workers' rights and sees the police beating the protestors. She is informed this always happens.
- Quirky Curls: Has fashionable curly hair.
- Rousing Speech: She almost gives one at a strike, before being knocked out by a police officer.
- Run for the Border: Rebecca's cousins are forced to flee Russia due to a rise in anti-Semitism and the threat of Ana's older brother being drafted into the military.
- Shout-Out: Rebecca's favorite book, which shares her name, is Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.
- Strike Episode: Changes for Rebecca has a strike against the poor conditons in factories.
- The Storyteller: One of the first things she does is tell a shadow-puppet story with her actor cousin.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Rebecca was released around the time of Samantha's retirement and is set in 1914, shortly after Samantha's time. While she herself isn't exactly a substitute for Samantha her cousin Ana, who is a shy and sickly immigrant who is forced to work at a Nightmarish Factory to provide for her family, rings similar to Nellie (who was retired with Sam).
- Uncredited Role: In-Universe. Rebecca's told that she won't be listed in the credits of the film she performs in, as actors rarely were at this time. She's fine with this because it makes it less likely her immediate family will find out she performed at all.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: She's fanciful and romantic and often fantasizes about following in her cousin Max's footsteps and become an actress.
- Yiddish as a Second Language: Often, as the Rubins are Russian-Jewish immigrants.
- You Are the Translated Foreign Word: It's not always clear in the text whether Rebecca or her family are speaking Yiddish or not. Sometimes Rebecca and her family are explicitly said to be speaking in Yiddish, but Ana and her immediate family in particular are said to be learning English and there's no indication in the text.
Claudie Wells (1922)
Claudie Wells
- Big Sister Instinct: Claudie, to her little brother, Jody.
- Canine Companion: The boarding house dog, Dizzy Dot.
- Cliffhanger: Unlike most of the American Girl dolls, Claudie was only released with her first book, which ends on a cliffhanger as she packs to visit Georgia. Her next book wouldn't be released for half a year.
- Close-Knit Community: Everyone in Claudie's neighborhood does their best to help each other.
- Cool Uncle: Cousin Sidney is mentioned to always bring Claudie and Jody new toys when he comes to visit.
- Cope by Creating: Implied or stated that a lot of the artists in Claudie's life deal with their stress through the arts. Though they all love what they do, too.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: Not very coordinated and adorable.
- Cynic–Idealist Duo: With Gwen in the first book. Gwen starkly points out that they may not sell enough tickets to make rent, and Claudie simply responds that they at least have to try.
- Daddy's Girl: While close with both of her parents, she adores her father.
- Dad the Veteran: Her father served in World War I and suffers from PTSD.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Claudie is trying to figure out what her hidden talent is.
- Heroes Love Dogs: Spends a lot of time playing with Dizzy Dot.
- Hey, Let's Put on a Show: To save her boarding house.
- I Can't Dance: Claudie feels insecure because she's not as good at dancing as her best friend, Nina.
- Iconic Item: Her notebook.
- I Just Want to Be Special: Claudie is desperate to find her own "special thing."
- Intrepid Reporter: Her Mama.
- Lethal Chef: Only a bit; she can put things together fine, but often gets too distracted daydreaming to do things on time or remember to do certain steps, and she's a bit too shaky to do good icing art.
- Limited Wardrobe: Claudie only released with her main outfit, a jazz performance outfit, and her pajamas, leaving her with only one casual dress—the one she came in! Three other outfits were released but were "inspired by", not accurate to, her era. Summer 2023 released two more outfits but one is a coat and hat, leaving her with only two total dresses in her collection.
- Performance Anxiety: Claudie stresses that she gets scared when reciting a book report for class, let alone performing on her own.
- Reclusive Artist: Gwen, who lives in Claudie's bording house, mostly spends her time holed up in her room. Claudie is told she doesn't like children.
- The Roaring '20s: Claudie lives in 1922 Harlem.
- Saving the Orphanage: Her arc is focused on saving her boarding house from eviction.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Claudie's father deals with insomnia and nightmares due to his service in The Great War.
- Shout-Out: Claudie reads through The Brownies' Book, (a magazine aimed at Negro children), gets a Baby Ruth bar when she takes her little brother to see Joe Williams in the Lincoln Giants baseball game, and then goes to visit her mother at work at the Amsterdam News. She also learns "When the Saints Go Marching In" on cornet.
- Shrinking Violet: Claudie is incredibly shy and has trouble speaking to people.
- Small Town Boredom: Claudie's Mama says she came up north because she didn't want to be a farmer for the rest of her life.
- The Storyteller: Seems to be Claudie's "special thing," as she is often daydreaming and making up stories, which she tells to her brother through a puppet theatre.
- Sweet Baker: Her father works in a bakery decorating cakes.
- Starving Artist: Claudie's boarding house of artists all struggle to keep up rent.
- This Is My Story: Claudie begs her mother to take her to Georgia so she can understand where she came from, and therefore understand her own story.
- Toy-Based Characterization: Claudie doesn't realize how good of a storyteller she is, as she considers her puppet theatre "just a thing" she does for Jody.
Kit Kittredge and Ruthie Smithens (1934)
Kit Kittredge
A kid reporter in Cinncinnatti, Ohio, whose family and home dynamics change during their financial struggles during the worst part of The Great Depression. She learns to make do with what she has and accept the changes in her life, rather than wishing for the return of the way things were.
Kit was released in 2000 and was the first character to be released once Mattel fully owned the company. Has a series page at American Girls: Kit.
- Abandoned Pet in a Box: How she finds Grace, her basset hound.
- Action Girl: In her main series, she jumps a train and escapes the police. In her mysteries, she pulls quite a few more stunts.
- Actionized Adaptation: The film adaptation of Kit's series of novels added some relatively mild chase and action scenes in the film's climax, where Kit and her friends chase after and confront Mr. Berk, along with his assistant Frederich and Miss Bond, who turned out to be the ones responsible for the robberies involving hobos.
- Adapted Out: In Kit's movie, Charlie and Aunt Millie both function as The Ghost; they're referred to, but you only see Charlie in a photograph in the background. Other characters have their significance cut down (Uncle Hendrick and Roger each only have a scene or two) but remain in the story. However, she's the only one whose movie doesn't adapt out her pet.
- Affectionate Nickname: "Kit" is not her real name. It's Margaret Mildred Kittredge. Dad used to sing her a song with the lyrics "Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile," and she loved the song so much the nickname stuck.
- Alliterative Name: Both "Kit Kittredge" and "Margaret Mildred."
- Bathroom Break-Out: Kit pulls this off with a window in Kit Saves the Day.
- Boyish Short Hair: Kit has her hair cut into a bob. Accurate to the era, but this gives her the shortest hair among the historicals.
- Canine Companion: Grace the basset hound.
- Chekhov's Gun: In Danger at the Zoo, Kit's friend Stirling is leading a Zoo Guide tour and introduces the crowd to Rascal the baboon, who, despite his scary looks, is so fond of children that he throws things when he sees children being roughly handled. Later in the story, one of the zoo policemen grabs Kit, who he thinks is up to no good, preventing her from chasing the thieves who have been breaking into the zoo; as luck would have it, he does this in front of Rascal's cage and the baboon beans him in the head with a thrown ball, causing him to release Kit.
- Cool Big Bro: Kit's older brother Charlie is open and honest with his sister about what their family is going through.
- Daddy's Girl: She is close to her Dad and writes newspapers for him to read after work.
- Dad the Veteran: Her father was in World War I (then called the Great War). The song he sang for her from the war earned her her tomyboyish nickname, as well as her last name.
- Dissension Remorse: In Kit's Surprise, Kit and Ruthie have an argument over Ruthie trying to keep their holiday traditions while Kit is worried about their light bill and the possibility of the bank repossessing their house and evicting them. Kit cries about everything she's lost during the Great Depression. She soon realizes that Ruthie is likely jealous of Kit's new life—while she has more responsibilities and a more adult concerns, Ruthie has had no changes and her home life is much quieter and boring. Furthermore, she's trying to stay connected to Kit the only way she can find without being too overt and hurting Kit's pride. Kit immediately feels bad about their fight, and while she tries to work things out with Ruthie once she does, she gets the cold shoulder. It's on Christmas Eve, when Kit calls Ruthie while stuck at Uncle Hendrick's house due to the ice storm, that Ruthie and her father come to her rescue the next morning (as well as transporting Uncle Hendrick over for the holiday). They exchange gifts—Kit wrote a book about Princess Ruthie, while Ruthie made Kit an Amelia Earhart doll—and Kit escorts Ruthie home, where they have the time to finally talk about their issues and what they'll do for ther traditional outing that won't be as expensive.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": Finds her full name, Margaret Mildred, to be too "flouncy" for her.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: She dislikes feeling dependent on charity from others, or being seen or feeling like a "moocher", as she has called it.
- Embarrassing First Name: Her full name is Margaret Mildred, after her mother and fictive kin great aunt. She goes by Kit both as a more tomboyish abbeviation of her last name and because she often asked her dad, a former vet, to sing the "Kit song" ("Pack Up Your Troubles in your Old Kit Bag") from his war days.
- Feminine Mother, Tomboyish Daughter: Kit's mother is much more feminine—having come from a well off background—and dresses well for events such as garden parties. She 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.
- Feud Episode: Kit's Surprise, with Ruthie; they come into conflict as Ruthie want to keep their post-Christmas traditions and Kit, worried about their home and finances, doesn't want to bother and wants to focus on keeping their home. Ruthie offends Kit by offering her her old dress to wear and that she and her mother will pay for everything. However, in the end, Ruthie "rescues" Kit from Uncle Hendrick's house, and as Kit thanks her, Ruthie happily replies that that's what friends are for. Then, the two girls walk home and chat and give each other gifts before saying goodbye for the night and wishing each other a Merry Christmas.
- Genre Shift: Kit's movie is mostly a historical drama, but detours into a kid-power mystery adventure with villains not present in the books.
- Girliness Upgrade: In the BeForever revamp, most of her outfits are fancy and pink, stuff she is noted to hate in the books. One of these outfits can even be spotted on Ruthie, the more Girly Girl of the two, in the film adaptation.
- Go-Getter Girl: Absolutely determined to be a reporter.
- Going for the Big Scoop: She is interested in everything and fancies herself a reporter and factual writer.
- The Great Depression: The setting of her story (1932-1934).
- Hair-Contrast Duo: Bright blonde Kit and dark brunette Ruthie.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She is idealistic, good-hearted, compassionate, devoted to her family, and has light wheat hair.
- Heroes Love Dogs: Sees poor abandoned Grace on the street and instantly decides to keep her.
- Iconic Item: Her typewriter, which she writes newspapers on for her father. It's iconic enough to be included in her charms.
- Intrepid Reporter: Her main personality trait. She wants to be a reporter desperately, is always diving in for a "scoop," looking for writing tips, and typing her own personalized newspaper in the attic.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Kit can be mean and bad tempered sometimes, but she has a big heart. She feels worried about her father's job (in the movie, this includes him being away from home) and she truly cares about people and doesn't like hearing about other people suffer. Kit is going through a lot during the changes in her life due to the Great Depression, so readers can forgive her actions and have sympathy for her.
- Kid Detective: Has the most mystery books of any American Girl at seven. A lot of her Intrepid Reporter snooping leads to her adventures.
- Kiddy Coveralls: Kit wears these often. She's a Tomboy who dislikes wearing dresses, lace and ruffles, and other "flouncy" things, and while her family is located in the city, her father Jack grew up in rural Kentucky. When her family starts raising vegetables and chickens in their backyard for extra money, she starts wears overalls to work in the backyard — but isn't allowed to wear them in public, as her Uptown Girl mother doesn't want people thinking they're "country" or lower class. (As it is, Margaret is embarrassed by the family selling eggs and farming in the backyard). Kit's collection included a set of overalls three separate times, she's wearing them on the older stand-alone covers of Kit Saves the Day and during much of the action, and she wears them freely when she's visiting Aunt Millie in Kentucky and isn't obligated to look "nice."
- Kids Hate Chores: Kit dislikes doing the many new chores that come with having boarders in the house, such as dusting and gathering laundry. She makes some of them a game, much to her mother's consternation.
- Live-Action Adaptation: Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008)
- Maiden Aunt: Kit's Aunt Millie, who makes her first appearance in Happy Birthday, Kit!, whose husband had passed away, is now staying with Kit's family, and helps them pay their mortgage.
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: To an extent with Stirling. He's gentle, quiet and artsy, but the two of them can bond over a love of baseball.
- Meaningful Name: Kit's middle name is "Mildred" meaning "gentle strength" and she is as big-hearted as she's strong and determined, something she has inherited from her namesake aunt.
- Not the Intended Use: In-universe with Kit's Aunt Millie who used fabric from feed sacks to make Kit's birthday outfit. Truth in Television as housewives repurposed flour sack fabric into articles of clothing since the early 20th century. This led George P. Plant Milling Company and other firms to sell flour and feed packaged in dress-quality sacks especially during the Great Depression and World War II when fabric was in short supply.
- Nothing Is the Same Anymore: She hates being known as a poor girl and that her father is struggling during the Great Depression, but she still tries to make the best out of their changes after she realizes that things can't go back to how they were as easiy as she'd hoped.
- Opposites Attract: Tough, practical Kit is friends with frail, sensitive Stirling and Girly Girl dreamer Ruthie.
- Outdoorsy Gal: She loves country life, the great outdoors, and adventures, often mentioning that she feels "stuck" with endless chores since her home became a boarding house.
- Passionate Sports Girl: Kit is into baseball, especially her home team the Cincinnatti Reds.
- Pet the Dog: Uncle Hendrick gets a mild one in Kit's Surprise, when he tells Kit to keep the money he was going to pay for a shoe shine after she did it herself (because the store was out of business), and allows her to earn more money in this fashion going forward. It's not exactly a massive expression of generosity (if he were truly generous, he'd help the family out more substantially and without expecting anything in return — God knows he has the money to do so), but despite his miserly ways, he chooses to be what he would consider fair to Kit (paying her the same as he would pay a professional for the same task) rather than take advantage of her by taking the money back, even though it's to his own (admittedly slight) detriment.
- Pink Means Feminine: Averted and enforced in-universe. Her post-2008 clothes often come in pinks, not to her taste but to the taste of her more traditionally feminine mother.
- Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: In Kit's Surprise, Kit and Ruthie fight because Ruthie's attempt to cheer Kit up and save their Christmas tradition by giving her a hand-me-down dress makes things worse, with Kit finding the gesture short-sighted and patronizing.
- Practically Different Generations: Kit's older brother, Charlie, is already in college, while she's only nine.
- Prejudice Aesop: In learning that homeless and poor people are still people, and not lazy or criminal by default. A main focus of the film.
- Quirky Household: Due to the amount of borders, there tend to be a lot of interesting characters running around.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red Oni Kit and Blue Oni Ruthie.
- Saving the Orphanage: A lot of what Kit and her mother do is in order to pay rent and save the house. This is the main plot in the film adaptation.
- Shout-Out: Kit's favorite book is Robin Hood, but she also reads Literature/Heidi, A Little Princess and Literature.AliceInWonderland.
- Slobs vs. Snobs: Given how the series focuses on The Great Depression and on a family acclimating from an upper-middle class lifestyle to one where they open their home up to borders, it's bound to come up:
- Margaret's elderly Uncle Hendrick's response to his nephew-in-law losing his car dealership and paying his workers with his savings was to lament how he always knew how foolish he was, rub their faces in it, and talk about how he "won't throw good money after bad" and believes hobos and other poor people are lazy and don't deserve help.
- A less hostile situation between Margaret and Aunt Millie, not that they are snobby or slobby but Margaret came from a wealthy background and while she did acclimate quickly to her new lifestyle and accepted people to room and board at her home, she is not pleased about Millie (a former schoolteacher from a rural town in the Appalachian Mountains) bringing her thrifty but "country" ways like keeping chickens and maintaining a vegetable garden in broad sunlight.
- Snooping Little Kid: What can we say, she's Constantly Curious.
- Stealth Mentor: In Changes for Kit, Uncle Hendrick makes Kit type down his letters to Mr. Gibson, the newspaper editor. He emphasizes to her many times that a letter to the newspaper must begin with "To the Editor," make one point using simple and direct language, use less than 250 words, be signed at the bottom, and spell every word correctly. Kit is eventually inspired by his advice to write a letter of her own about the plight of hobo children affected by the Depression, which gets published in the newspaper and inspires many more people to donate clothing to the soup kitchen.
- Sweet Polly Oliver:
- Kit is told to pretend to be a boy when she, Will, and Sterling are caught by railroad bulls while riding the rails, because they will take her away and put her in a separate cell. She's eventually uncovered.
- In the film, Countee, played by Willow Smith, dresses as a boy so that she is safer with Will as a hobo child.
- Tomboy: Kit is one of the most tomboyish characters in the line. She doesn't like pink or ruffles, and cares little for baking, dusting, flouncy dresses, and dance class. Her favorite sport is baseball, and she likes Robin hood instead of fairy tales.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Kit and Ruthie. Kit dislikes pink, flouncy things, and fairy tales, and prefers baseball and newspaper writing. Ruthie, on the other hand, loves fairy tales, dressing up, dance classes, and baking.
- Tomboyish Baseball Cap: She has a baseball cap as part of her Reds fan outfit.
- Tomboyish Name: Nickname, but yes. Her first name is Margaret, and being called "Kit" means avoiding her "flouncy" first name.
- Treehouse of Fun: Kit dreams of having a treehouse throughout her series like Robin Hood, decorating the sleeping space of 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.
- Tropey, Come Home: In Missing Grace. Subverted in that it turns out Grace was kidnapped, not lost.
- Truth in Television: Kit's dream of being a journalist is child's play compared to Hilde Lysiak
, an American child author whose exploits have gained national attention such as when she covered a grisly murder of all things at nine years old. - Unwillingly Girly Tomboy: Kit is tomboyish and dislikes frilly fashion and anything with the color pink on it.
- Uptown Girl: Kit's mother Margaret came from wealth, but went down in class when she married Jack who is an orphaned man raised by his aunt and unclenote in rural Appalachia. Her uncle and only living relative, Hendrick, constantly says that her mother—his sister—would have a broken heart to see her living as "poor" as she does.
- Wham Line: When Kit goes to the soup kitchen and serves bread to a man, he says thank you. She recognizes his voice, as it's her father.
- Unwillingly Girly Tomboy: Kit is much more of a tomboy than other historical characters, including her best friend Ruthie. She loves baseball, Robin Hood and action stories as opposed to fairy tales, and even goes by Kit because her real name, Margaret Mildred, is too "flouncy" for her. When she first hears about Sterling coming to stay (without knowing he's Delicate and Sickly), 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 (especially given her mother) 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, but Kit resists as much as she can for her era.
- Youthful Freckles: The first character to have freckles; they're dusted across her nose and cheeks.
Ruthie Smithens
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.
- Bookworm: Both she and Kit read a lot, though Ruthie prefers fantasy stories more often. Kit sees her as a creative writer.
- Cheerful Child: It's hard to get her upset.
- The Cutie: Sweet, Innocent, Dreamy, Loving, and a bit naive.
- Feud Episode: Kit's Surprise, with Kit. They become friends again at the end though.
- Girl Next Door: Lives close to her best friend, Kit, just across the street. Their other close friend Stirling is boarding at Kit's house with his mom.
- Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Her meet dress is a deep purple.
- Hair-Contrast Duo: Bright blonde Kit and dark brunette Ruthie.
- Hidden Depths: She tells Charlie that she is aware that people aren't always so good and of how bad things are in the Depression (even sympathizing with how Charlie lost his chance to go to college because of his family finances) but tells him fairy tales motivate her to be a good, kind, loving person and to think positively about others.
- Interclass Friendship: While Ruthie and Kit are initially both considered middle-class, Ruthie's father has a financially stable job at the bank during the Depression and thus she can afford more than her friend can and has less worries and responsibilities. This causes tension that comes to a head in Kit's Surprise.
- Invisible Parents: Despite living next door to Kit, and her parents being mentioned a few times to explain her economic situation, they don't make any direct appearance and aren't even named. Ruthie doesn't even have portraits of them in her book, unlike the other American Girl dolls.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Meet Kit has a doozy of an example which encapsulates the entire historical line. After Ruthie learns from Kit that Kit’s dad has lost his job, they try to think of ways Kit can help her family. Ruthie says she’s read books about what people do when they have no money, but the girls are concerned, as the characters in those books live in “olden times”, and reading their stories doesn’t help Kit and Ruthie figure out what they can do to improve their situation in the then-present. It's an example that works on a couple of levels, as it speaks to both the impact people made before Kit's time which made it what it was and the impact people have made since then which has shaped the present in America and throughout the rest of the world.
- Long Hair Is Feminine: Has longer and curlier hair than her Tomboy best friend.
- Longing for Fictionland: She is slightly jealous of Kit, seeing Kit's new lifestyle with boarders as being busy, interesting, and exciting, compared to the quietness of her own household as an only child without anyone else there.
- Naïve Everygirl: She loves romance, princesses and movie stars and is depicted as an avid reader of fairy tales.
- Nice Guy: Sweet and caring, if a little insensitive at times.
- Only-Child Syndrome: Ruthie isn't vindictive but she is the only child of a family that isn't struggling during the Depression, and thus lives in a bit of a bubble.
- Opposites Attract: Tough, practical Kit is friends with frail, sensitive Stirling and Girly Girl dreamer Ruthie.
- Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: In Kit's Surprise, Kit and Ruthie fight because Ruthie's attempt to cheer Kit up and save their Christmas tradition by giving her a hand-me-down dress makes things worse, with Kit finding the gesture short-sighted and patronizing to her when she's concerned about her home possibly being repossessed by the bank.
- Plucky Girl: She traveled with Charlie Kittredge to Aunt Millie's home in the Appalachian Mountains to get help for Kit's family.
- Princess Phase: Loves princesses, fairy tales, and glamorous movie stars.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red Oni Kit and Blue Oni Ruthie.
- Regal Ringlets: Her default hairstyle throughout the stories.
- Spoiled Sweet: 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 to afford 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 the 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.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The fairy tale hopes and dreams fancy girl to Kit's no-nonsense, practical tomboy.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Ruthie has an idealized worldview and believes in fairy-tale endings. She sometimes offends Kit by trying to help in not-so-tactful ways.
- Yellow/Purple Contrast: She is illustrated with a dress of pale yellow and purple; the doll's dress was solid purple.
Nanea Mitchell (1941)
Nanea Mitchell
Nanea was introduced in 2017 under the BeForever rebranding and offered a different angle to the representation shown by Molly; her era is slightly prior to Molly's which comes near the end of the war.—-
- Aborted Arc: After Pearl Harbor happens, Nanea completely abandons about her quest to win a bike. This is done intentionally to show how fast she had to grow up; in Growing Up With Aloha she offhandedly mentions to her mother that she forgot all about it.
- Adaptational Hairstyle Change: In the original unillustrated books, Lily was described as having bangs. When the illustrations were added, she doesn't have them.
- Affectionate Nickname: She, Lily, and Donna are called The Kittens when they are together.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Nanea gets peeved that her beloved teacher Miss Smith gave her usual classroom role of "right-hand girl" to the new girl Dixie, "Someone who didn't even know everyone's names? Someone who liked tap dancing?" All of this is treated like Serious Business.
- Awakening the Sleeping Giant: The trope-namer occurs in Nanea's story when Pearl Harbor is bombed and America enters the war.
- Baby Of The Bunch: The youngest of her family, she starts the series upset at being treated like a baby, and wanting to be more grown-up. With the arrival of the war, she soon reverses this wish.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Nanea is an extremely nice person, but can sometimes be stubborn whenever things don't go her way.
- Brainy Brunette: A good student (her teacher considers her a big help), loves school, and has dark hair.
- Canine Companion: She is close with her dog Mele, and dances with her. When Mele goes missing, she's distraught, and she's worried when she thinks that the army is scouting her dog.
- Character Development: The events of the series cause her to grow up much faster than she wanted.
- Charity Ball: Nanea and her class do shows for the soldiers stationed on their island.
- Cheerful Child: A friendly, sweet, and well-meaning girl who enjoys even some mundane bits of her life on the island; this trait of hers gets tested after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
- Choreography Porn: Detailed descriptions of her beautiful hula dances.
- Daddy's Girl: Close to her father and goes fishing with him.
- Dad's Off Fighting in the War: While not fighting, her father serves as a doctor at the army base. Her brother David eventually goes off to fight as well.
- Dogs Love Being Praised: With Mele, who dances with Nanea for the troops and later goes and greets the soldiers watching.
- Doting Grandparent: Her Tutu, who teaches her hula and consoles her in times of crisis.
- Foil: A Doylist foil to Molly; while Molly lived in an area relatively unaffected by the war in a time where the war was coming to its conclusion, Nanea witnesses the bombing that resulted in America's entry into the war on her home turf and is more affected by the changes.
- Foregone Conclusion: At the beginning of her story, Nanea's family hopefully discusses if the war might end soon. Later we see her write the date on the school chalkboard December 6, 1941. Sorry, guys, this won't end well.
- Friend to All Children: Helps her mother babysit at meetings.
- Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Nanea wears a long purple holoku dress with a pink floral pattern for more formal hula performances; it's also used as her "holiday" dress by American Girl marketing.
- Heroes Love Dogs: Not just Nanea; the soldiers she meet later all fawn over the little pup.
- Innocently Insensitive: Accidentally alienates Lily for a time after failing to recognize the seriousness of Lily's father being jailed for no other reason than being Japanese after the Pearl Harbor bombing.
- Middle Name Basis: Her full name is Alice Nanea Mitchell. She has an English first name as she was born after the law passed in 1860 decreeing that Hawaiian royal subjects had to take their father's name as their surname and have Christian (i.e. English) first names.
- Moving-Away Ending: Her first book ends with one of her best friends Donna (along with her mother) having to leave Hawai'i as non-essential and sent to Oregon.
- Naïve Everygirl: She doesn't understand her friend Lily's stress about her father's imprisonment until Lily snaps at her. She also thinks that perhaps collecting bottles can keep Donna in Hawai'i.
- New Friend Envy: With Dixie after she arrives; The fact her other best friend Donna has been sent away and Dixie seems to be replacing her isn't helping.
- Nice Girl: Nanea is a sweet and caring girl with a big heart and an aloha spirit.
- Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Nanea feels as if her entire world has changed since the Pearl Harbor attack, as symbolized by her seeing her burnt school and the damage to her grandparents' store.
- Relatively Flimsy Excuse: Nanea's mother pretends to be Mr. Suda's sister in order to get a meeting with him.
- Shout-Out: Her favorite books are Nancy Drew.
- Sweet and Sour Grapes: She starts out yearning to be seen as more mature and prove herself as less impulsive. When the island is attacked and the war comes to Hawaii, it forces her to take on more responsibilities and she ends up lauded as more grown-up. But she has to face the prospect of being separated from Donna who's sent away as non-essential for her protection and her brother, when he joins the military.
- Teacher's Pet: She gets upset when her teacher gives the new girl, Dixie, accolades.
- Textile Work Is Feminine: Sews her own pouch for her ID badge, and shows the kids she babysits how to do the same.
- Tender Tomboyishness, Foul Femininity: Lily and Donna are both nice girls that hang out with Nanea, but while Miss tomboyish Donna is sweet and caring, Lily is more able to snap whenever Nanea doesn't understand her stress. However, her stress is understandable as it isn't easy being Japanese during the war when her family is being seen as suspicious.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Both Donna and Dixie. Donna is more tomboyish in comparison to Lily and Nanea, but she wears a pink dress and a bow in her hair in the illustrations of Nanea's books, and she does luau dances with Nanea and Lily in an illustration in Nanea's first book. Dixie is tomboyish and has a short hair cut, but enjoys tap dancing.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Her and her "kittens" always order the same flavors of shave ice when they go to the beach– strawberry for Nanea, lemon for Lily, and orange for Donna. Dixie also likes shave ice; her favorite flavor is grape.
- Trauma Button: After seeing the attacking planes fly overhead that lead to the Pearl Harbor bombing, Nanea becomes jumpy around loud noises. Her mystery book opens with her terrified that someone is attacking again, only to settle when she finds out it's just her sister and friend dancing downstairs. After the attack, her best friend Lily also hates the sound of sirens.
- Tropey, Come Home: Mele goes missing the night the Pearl Harbor attack happens, which stresses Nanea out a lot. She later finds Mele in a pit and brings her back home.
- Town Girls: Neutral-Nanea is one of the "three kittens" with feminine Lily and Tomboy Donna. After Donna leaves, they end up befriending another tomboy, Dixie.
- Youngest Child Wins: She is the main character and the youngest of three; the first half of her story focuses on her trying to get her parents to see her as not a baby anymore.
Molly McIntire and Emily Bennett (1944)
Molly McIntire
A schemer and dreamer living in Illinois who misses her father during the latter half of World War II while he's serving in England as a doctor. Molly wishes to be glamourous and interesting, but also misses her father and wants things to go back to how they were before the war affected her life.
Molly was released at the launch of the company in 1986, archived in 2013, and rereleased both as a small Costco bundle in the Fall of 2018 and again in her classic version in 2022.
- Absent Animal Companion: Her dog Bennett is never mentioned again in the main series following Happy Birthday, Molly!. He is present in the short story Molly's Puppy Tale.
- Adapted Out: 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 than in family group events.
- Adaptational Jerkass: In Molly's books, Allison Hargate was mostly Spoiled Sweet and occasionally a little bossy. In the movie, she's more snobbish and condescending towards others.
- Affectionate Nickname: Her dad calls her "Olly-Molly."
- Alliterative Name: Molly McIntire.
- America Won World War II:
- In Happy Birthday, Molly! the radio mentioning that it's up to the Yanks (American Troops) to save England (and the world) from Hitler's threat upsets Emily—who says it's not true and she's tired of hearing how America is "winning the war" when England's been involved longer. Molly says that England can't win without America because their soldiers are stronger, and the fight the two are having (that started over birthday plans) becomes more intense.
- In American Girls Revue, Molly's song begins with "Hurray for the USA! We won the war!"
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Molly's considered one by Aloof Big Sister Jill. Inverted with Ricky in the first book, who's older than her but constantly gives her a bad time. Five-year-old Brad is described in his mini-bio as "a little pest" but is barely characterized or interacts with his sister or older siblings, making this an Informed Attribute.
- Big Damn Reunion: In the books, she ends up being the only one home to welcome her father back due to her illness, making her missing out on Miss Victory a blessing in disguise. In the film, her Dad comes home just in time to see her dance as Miss Victory; she doesn't realize until she goes backstage and puts on her glasses.
- Blind Without 'Em: Molly hates swimming because it fogs up her glasses, and she's terrified of putting her head underwater. In the film, we see through her eyes without glasses, only seeing blurry shapes.
- Brainy Brunette: In the film, she's one of the finalists in her schoolwide spelling bee.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: Molly's older sister, Jill, who can be mean and judgemental sometimes in her efforts to be seen as more mature at fourteen. She shoots down the idea of fancy or exciting Christmas gifts in Molly's Surprise, saying they'll probably just get underwear and socks instead of anything nice like dolls and toy planes with rationing going on.
- Capture the Flag: Molly's color war in Molly Saves the Day, which amps up to ridiculous degrees due to the captain acting out of place.
- Catch Your Death of Cold: Molly sleeps with wet hair to set it in pin curls for the miss Victory performance, but catches a cold and can't be in the show at all.
- Character Development: She starts out as naïve and unaware of things, mostly worried that the war means her dad is away and her mom is working outside the home. She gradually becomes more perceptive as the stories goes on.
- Cheerful Child: An optimistic and imaginative young girl given to flights of fancy.
- Clothes for Christmas Cringe: 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.
- Color Motif: Almost all of her outfits are specifically red, white and blue, the American colors to represent the patriotic atmosphere of World War II.
- Companion Cube: Her doll, a gift from her dad.
- Cool Teacher: Ms Charlotte Campbell, Molly's idolized teacher.
- Cool Toy: Molly does not want a specific doll, but makes the distinction that she wants one she can "have adventures with" instead of a baby doll, which is presumably what she had been given for Christmas before. She gets her wish, thanks to Dad, who sends Christmas presents for the whole family. Molly's present is Katherine, a doll representing a WWII nurse.
- Dad's Off Fighting in the War: Literal, for her whole six-book series.
- Dad the Veteran: Her father serves as an army medic for most of the series.
- Daddy's Girl: She's incredibly close to her father and heavily impacted once he is sent to work at the Army's medical branch overseas.
- Dancing with Myself: In the film, while practicing for her Miss Victory audition.
- Death Glare: 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."
- Discreet Dining Disposal: When Molly complains about her vegetables, her mom confesses to having done this as a child.
- Dissension Remorse: In Happy Birthday, Molly, Molly and Emily have an argument over tea party birthday plans (Molly wants a traditional American party, while Emily wants one more like her British traditions), leading Molly to get angry and say many hurtful things before bed, such as how Emily is ruining her party plans and she doesn't want her at the party anymore. The next day, after talking with her mother and learining how hard Emily has had it (as the war has been affecting London since the late 30s, not the early 40s like Molly—who is not affected in the midwest directly) Molly feels bad about what she said and works things out with her, saying that Emily was right about the war not being as real or affecting her like for Molly—but Emily understand how much Molly misses her father and that the war is hard for her too in a different way.
- Dreaming of a White Christmas: In Molly's Christmas story, it doesn't snow until around the middle of the story; Molly upon seeing the snow, excitedly goes out to play in it with her older sister Jill.
- Et Tu, Brute?: In the Color War, Linda blows the whistle on Molly and Susan sneaking around, as she's on a different team than them. Molly responds by later exploiting Linda's biggest fear and dumping bugs on her head, which leaves her crying.
- Everyone Hates Mathematics: Math is not Molly's best subject. In Molly Learns a Lesson, she guesses the wrong answer when Mrs. Campbell asks her what eight times seven is. When she learns the right answer, she writes down in her notebook that eight times seven is fifty six.
- Fake Brit: Molly and her friends fake British accents while anticipating the arrival of Emily.
- Fashion Hurts: In Changes for Molly, she becomes obsessed with curling her hair so she'll be more likely to get picked for the lead role in a patriotic dance for her tap class. After trying various increasingly uncomfortable methods, she resorts to one that involves sleeping with soaking-wet hair, which causes her to catch a cold and not be able to perform at all.
- Feminine Mother, Tomboyish Daughter: Molly is a perky and active young girl but doesn't mind dressing for special occassions. Her mother used to be a fashionable housewife, but with her war efforts and volunteering (a nurse in the books, and factory work in the movie,) Molly wishes her mother were more like her old at-home housewife self.
- Feud Episode: Molly gets in many feuds. In Meet Molly, she is constantly arguing and getting teased by Ricky, even when he pulls a prank on her, Linda, and Susan, so the three girls get revenge on him. The two siblings eventually make up at the end though. In Happy Birthday, Molly Molly gets in a huge feud with Emily over birthday party plans when they keep disagreeing on what kind of food and clothes they should have. They do make up at the end though. In Molly Saves the Day, she and Susan have to compete against Linda, who is on the opponent team, but they all apologize to each other at the end after they take the Color War too far.
- Genki Girl: She's perky, talkative, and excitable.
- Girlish Pigtails: Her trademark hairstyle throughout the line.
- Halloween Episode: Her first book, Meet Molly.
- Heartfelt Apology: Her and Linda when they realize they took Color War too far.
- Heroes Love Dogs: Pretends to have a dog until she gets a puppy for her birthday.
- I Can't Dance: In the books, Molly dances just fine, but in the films, she is a poor dancer until she gets her practice in.
- Iconic Item: Her heart locket.
- Imaginary Friend: She and Emily pretend to have dogs until they get real ones.
- Informed Flaw: Brad is described as a 'little pest' to Molly, but he never does anything in the books to antagonize or even annoy Molly.
- Innocently Insensitive: She and her friends, all white, dress up as hula dancers for Halloween. She also doesn't understand why the blitz evacuee staying with her might not want to play bomb shelter, or why she's so quiet and upset all the time.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Molly can be mean, stubborn, sulky about things, and have jealousy issues and she can be whiny. But she truly misses her father, learns to cooperate instead of going her own way when her ideas aren't chosen, and becomes more mature (or tries to be) starting from around Happy Birthday, Molly.
- Kids Hate Vegetables: Molly is disgusted by the sight of the orange colored blob of mashed turnips that the family's housekeeper Mrs. Gilford had made for dinner and refuses to eat it. Mrs. Gilford tries to shame Molly for being wasteful and unpatriotic, as this is taking place during World War II and the turnips came from their own "victory garden".
- Live-Action Adaptation: Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front in 2006.
- Middle Child Syndrome: In Changes for Molly, her father's letter describes the changes he expects to see in the other three, but seems to have tacked her on almost as an afterthought, mentioning her "in the same sentence as pot roast".
- No Communities Were Harmed: Jefferson, Illinois isn't real, but is based on Jefferson County.
- Palette Swap: Molly and Emily's pet dogs Bennett and Yank in the collection are merely palette swaps of each other, bearing the same coat pattern with the colors inverted.
- Pets as a Present: She gets her dog, Bennett, for her birthday.
- Pragmatic Adaptation: Molly's movie is primarily focused around Changes for Molly and an expansion of the Emily storyline from Happy Birthday, Molly! It also includes Aunt Eleanor's scene from "Molly Takes Flight," and occasional brief scenes or mentions from the other books.
- Princess Phase: Her and her friends fantasize about the English princesses and wish to be like them. In the first book, they consider dressing as Cinderella for Halloween.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red impulsive oni to Emily's calmer blue.
- Regal Ringlets: Wants curls like ShirleyTemple's instead of her own straight hair.
- Shout-Out: Her and her friends are huge movie fans, so they reference a lot of 1940s films, specifically Shirley Temple in Changes for Molly. In the film they have an argument about Series/Lassie.
- Spanner in the Works: In the game of Color War played in Molly Saves the Day, the Red Team captures every member of the Blue Team except for Molly and Susan, who didn't get caught with the group because Susan's bad canoeing leads to the two girls falling into the lake on the way to the beach. Molly is ultimately the player who devises a plan to free her entire team, capture the flag, and return to the camp victorious.
- Spirited Young Lady: A younger and 1940s version as opposed to a late 19th 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, 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.
- Spelling Bee: In the film, Molly's school participates in one every school year. Molly and Emily are the finalists (Emily almost was ejected until it was confirmed she had spelled her word in the British way) which upsets Molly as Emily never studies. Before a winner can be declared, the bee is interrupted by news that their teacher Ms. Campbell's fiance has died in battle and so they are considered co-winners.
- Spoiled Sweet: In Happy Birthday, Molly. She behaves in a spoiled manner when she is angry about her birthday plans being ruined and constantly disagreeing with Emily with how their party plans should be like, but then she feels bad for how she acted last night, and she and Emily work things out after they receive puppies, and Molly becomes more sweet and mature starting from the end of that story.
- Stay in the Kitchen: Molly's series is set in World War II and features many women working outside the home (Mom as a nurse) and even in traditionally male jobs (her Aunt Eleanor). But when the books get to the ending of the war, she witnesses propaganda telling women to give the men "their jobs back" and her friend's Mom is upset about how the factory she's working at is laying off women who've been devoted to the job and loved it.
- Molly's brother Ricky expresses this attitude in the movie (when he mocks his mother for going to work in a factory) and in the mystery The Light in the Cellar for why he and a friend will take credit for solving a mystery that Molly and her friends spent more time gathering clues for (and noticing there was something wrong in their town). Even to the point where he outright disrespects his older sister Jill for exerting authority (given their mother put her in charge).
- Stock "Yuck!": Molly's first book begins with her refusing to eat the mashed turnips that Mrs. Gilford, her family's housekeeper, has prepared for dinner. Mrs. Gilford is unsympathetic, scolding her for wasting food during wartime and forbidding her to leave the table until they're finished. Her mother, when she arrives home, uses some sugar and spices to make the turnips more palatable. She also tells Molly about her own childhood experience with refusing to eat sardines on toast.
- Tender Tomboyishness, Foul Femininity: Molly is an energetic and optimistic girl that does have rough moments at times, but tries to make the best out of the World War Two time period, but her older sister, Jill, probably takes things more hard and can be pretty judgemental about Molly and her maturity, such as when she assumes that she and her other siblings are going to get childish gifts in Molly's Surprise.
- Textile Work Is Feminine: The girls have a hard time knitting for the war effort.
- Tomboy Angst: Molly is considered tomboyish and dull compared to others around her (especially her older sister Jill), but she want to be seen as more feminine and constantly seeking glamour and to be "fancy". For example, she wants to be Cinderella initially for Halloween (even though it's impractical due to rationing); has strong interests in tap dancing, the English princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose, and movie stars; and has no issues wearing fancy dresses or nice clothes. To try out for Miss Victory, she initially lets Susan try to talk her into a home permanent before her older sister Jill intervenes and sets Molly's hair with pin curls instead. She also complains about having to wear her brother's old clonky "boy" rainboots and wants her own nicer ones (which she eventually gets).
- Town Girls: Tomboyish Molly with neutral Linda and feminine Susan.
- Villainy-Free Villain: Alison Hargate is probably supposed to come off like like a Spoiled Brat (and does way in the movie), but is more of a Lonely Rich Kid set apart; Molly thinks she's bragging whenever she so much as speaks honestly about her life, though Alison isn't doing it to brag.
- We Named the Monkey "Jack": Molly and Emily name their dogs after each other, though they don't literally call them Molly and Emily at least. (Molly's dog is named Bennett, Emily's last name, while Emily's is named Yank after a slang term for Americans.)
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: She has a fanciful perception of Britain and is obsessed with glamour, while generally unaware of how the war's circumstances have truly impacted people throughout the world.
Emily Bennett
Emily is a English refugee who is sent to the US to keep her safe from from war-torn England (which was more affected than the US). When her aunt falls ill, she must stay with Molly's family for two weeks. She struggles with the differences between America and England during the war, while maintaining British steadfastness.
Emily's role is elevated in the movie and she was released as a Best Friend doll in 2006, but retired with Molly's archival.
- Absent Animal Companion: Her dog is never mentioned again following Happy Birthday, Molly!
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: While she was already pretty traumatized by the bombings in the books, the film ups it by having her mother killed in one of the attacks instead of her dog.
- Adaptational Hairstyle Change: She was originally portrayed as having a bob-like hairstyle. Following the film and doll release, she was re-illustrated to have shoulder-length hair.
- Ascended Extra: Emily was originally a minor character who stayed with Molly's family for two weeks while her aunt was sick. She was later made into a doll, given her own book and starred prominently in the movie.
- Be Yourself: Both her book and expanded role in Molly's film have her pretending to be more impressive than she is in hopes of fitting in with the girls her age.
- Beware the Nice Ones: She is shy, kind, sweet, and humble—but becomes frustrated during Happy Birthday, Molly! when Molly pushes down her ideas for their party.
- Birthday Episode: Emily's birthday is on September 29th. However in Happy Birthday, Molly!, Molly says they should share parties on her birthday, since Emily missed out having birthday celebrations for years due to London's bombing and British rationing. Until they fight over what happens at a party.
- Blitz Evacuees: A resident of London who comes to America, primarily to stay with her Aunt.
- Blue Is Calm: Quiet, shy Emily wears mainly blue.
- Book Smart: In the film, Emily shrugs off studying for the school Spelling Bee, saying it would be pointless. She ends up as one of the finalists, and might have won alone had it not been interrupted; instead she is considered a tie for winning.
- British Stuffiness: She fits into this initially, only to open up when more familiar with the McIntire family and tries to live up to the "stiff upper lip" persona with mostly successful results.
- Celebrity Lie: In Molly's movie, Emily pretends to be nobility, pressured into it because she doesn't want to let down the American kids who built up high expectations for her.
- Christmas Episode: Only in Molly's movie where Emily spends Christmas with Molly and her family as befitting the theme of the movie being near the holidays.
- Death by Adaptation: Her mother, who was alive but lightly mentioned in the books, is killed in a bombing as an Adaptational Angst Upgrade (originally, the story has her dog die).
- Defrosting Ice Queen: She's rather stoic and aloof when she initially comes to live with Molly's family, but eventually comes to open up to them more.
- Dissension Remorse: In Happy Birthday, Molly, Emily and Molly have an argument over party plans, leading Emily to call Molly a spoiled child that has to have everything her own way, but then, the next morning, Emily feels bad about it and tells Molly that she realizes how much Molly misses her father, and that life during World War 2 isn't easy for her either.
- English Rose: What Molly and her friends assume Emily will be like before they meet her. Well, except for Susan, who expects a starving waif instead.
- Every Proper Lady Should Curtsy: One of Molly's friends tries to curtsy while wearing pants when she meets the English girl Emily, and she says that she thought English girls always did that.
- Fake Brit: Her film actress was Australian.
- Feud Episode: In Happy Birthday, Molly! with Molly. They do make up at the end though.
- Fiery Redhead: Averted, even when she is angry or stressed out, her demeanor is calm and she has copper colored hair to contrast with the impulsive brunette Molly.
- Fish out of Water: Once she comes to stay in America with the McIntire's.
- Flower Motifs: When Molly is confused by Emily being so shy and quiet, Mrs. McIntire compares her to a flower that hasn't bloomed yet, but needs time and care to open. In her own book, Emily is shown to enjoy gardening.
- Friend to All Children: Is more sweet towards Brad than Molly is.
- Good with Numbers: She is adept at mathematics and takes time to help Molly on her dreaded times tables.
- Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Sports a purple dress for Christmas in the film and in her collection.
- Green Thumb: Helps out with Victory Gardens in Brave Emily.
- Heroes Love Dogs: Is gifted a dog and names it "Yank," after her American friend.
- Imaginary Friend: An imaginary dog, until she gets a real one.
- Missing Mom: Her mother is killed off in the films. In the books, she's separated from her family, but chokes up while reading a letter from her Mum.
- Naïve Newcomer: When Molly and her friends exaggerate their practice times, Emily thinks they're being serious and ups her practice numbers in hopes of fitting in.
- Not So Stoic: She has been asked to act like a brave little soldier and so does not show her emotions much, although her armor tends to crack every now and then, allowing her true persona to shine through.
- Pets as a Present: Her dog, Yank, a gift from Mrs. McIntire.
- Princess Phase: She admits in the film that she was scared the girls wouldn't like her if she wasn't a princess. Molly responds by telling her that she'll "always be a princess to me."
- The Quiet One: Even after opening up to the McIntire family and her peers, she still doesn't call attention to herself.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The calm and collected blue oni to Molly's impulsive red.
- Shout-Out: In the film, her favorite book is A Christmas Carol.
- Shrinking Violet: She's initially quiet and shy and rather difficult to get to know.
- Snowball Lie: Misunderstanding Molly and her friends, Emily pretends she practiced on the flutophone more than she did, which ends up getting her a starring performance... when she's not that good at it.
- Spelling Bee: 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.
- Take a Third Option: Done by the company when pushing Molly for a movie and new collection. Molly has two best friends in her series, so rather than choosing between Susan and Linda, the company instead made one-book character Emily an Ascended Extra. The movie focuses heavily on her and Molly, she was included in one of Molly's mystery books, and she received her own book.
- We Named the Monkey "Jack": Molly and Emily name their dogs after each other, though they don't literally call them Molly and Emily at least. (Molly's dog is named Bennett, Emily's last name, while Emily's is named Yank after a slang term for Americans.)
- We Work Well Together: When she ends up having to perform her flutophone in public, Molly and her friends cover her mistakes by joining her as a band.
Maryellen Larkin (1954)
Maryellen Larkin
The first character released under the BeForever rebranding (though she has traits carry over from the prior style), Maryellen was released in 2015.
- '50s Hair: Wears her hair with short bangs (that she tried to cut herself) and a long, curly ponytail.
- Adapted Out: Her youngest brother is not cast in the film.
- Affectionate Nickname: Her family often calls her "Ellie"; her older sister amends this with rhymes, such as "Ellie-jelly." Her next-door neighbor greets her with "What's up, doc?"
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Hates when her little siblings try to join in on her fun with friends, especially Beverly. Meanwhile, Joan considers her to be one.
- Bookworm: Her sister, Joan, who is said to be a Lethal Chef because she gets too distracted by reading to remember to turn the stove down. She dreams of being a teacher.
- Blithe Spirit: Unique, with big ideas, her own writing style, and wants to stand out from the crowd.
- Bridezilla: Of a Mother of the Bride sort in Maryellen's second book. Mrs. Larkin is planning to go out for a fancy wedding with home-tailored dresses and a fancy church wedding for oldest sister Joan since Mr. and Mrs. Larkin didn't have the wedding they wanted because of the Depression, Joan wants and succeeds in getting a nice but simple backyard affair.
- Canine Companion: Her family dog, Scooter.
- Cheerful Child: She is a good-natured and optimistic girl with big ideas who wants to stand out.
- Cheery Pink: She loves the color pink and wears a pink blouse with her poodle skirt and is a cheerful child herself.
- Contrasting Replacement Character: In September 2015, American Girl released Maryellen Larkin soon after retiring and Caroline Abbott. 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 compared to other girls of their eras. 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.
- Cool Big Sis: Maryellen's older sister Carolyn gets along great with her, as opposed to their older sister Joan.
- Cut-and-Paste Suburb: Maryellen laments living in one of these, where all the houses look alike. This prompts her to try and paint the front door red.
- Dad the Veteran: Her father Stan Larkin fought in World War II.
- Digging to China: Davy and some of Maryellen's siblings start digging a hole to China at the beach in her first story.
- Dirty Communists: Maryellen's school story discusses the then-recent start of the the Cold War and centers around an allegory for the same.
- Dreaming of a White Christmas: In her Christmas story, Maryellen laments that she's never had a white christmas or gone ice skating during the holiday, what with living in sunny Florida. She travels to her grandparents in Georgia in order to see snow for the first time, but soon wants to come home and spend the full holiday with the whole family.
- Dumb Blonde: Averted, she's a strawberry blonde and intelligent with an interest in science.
- Fangirl: A big TV and film fan who loves the Davy Crockett serial and The Lone Ranger, even making up episodes of the latter where she stars in it.
- Feminine Mother, Tomboyish Daughter: While Maryellen is active and energetic and plays without caring about getting dirt on any of her dresses, her mother is a housewife who keeps everything tidy and organized and knows how girls should dress in the 1950s. In Maryellen 1955: Extraordinary Christmas, Maryellen is told by her mother that it is not ladylike for a girl to be wearing pants and she should change out of her pants.
- Feud Episode: Maryellen gets into many feuds throughout her stories. In Maryellen: The One and Only, she and Davy get into a little argument when she accuses him of getting her in trouble when Mrs. Humphrey finds out about a drawing that Maryellen drew of her, leading Davy to storm off. Throughout that same story, the two Karens get upset with Maryellen for being friends with Angela, just because Angela is an Italian girl, and some of their family members were killed because of Italian soldiers during the Cold War. In Maryellen: Taking Off, Maryellen gets angry at Wayne for stealing her spotlight on ideas on how to convince people to get the polio shot. In Maryellen 1956: Extraordinary Christmas, Davy and Maryellen argue about Maryellen wanting to help disabled kids in the hospital have a merry Christmas.
- Fiery Redhead: Downplayed. She has light red hair, is competitive, and can be impulsive at times, but is not as short-tempered as the trope often pushes.
- First Snow: In her Christmas story, when she travels to her grandparents'. She later brings snow back in a cooler for her siblings to see.
- Heroes Love Dogs: She has an old weiner dog, Scooter, who she loves.
- Hey, Let's Put on a Show: In order to raise awareness for the new polio vaccine, Maryellen and her friends put on a performance instead of a birthday party.
- Important Haircut: Her trademark bangs are cut by her on the morning of the first day of school, because she wants to look special. Unfortunately, this turns into a Traumatic Haircut as she cuts the bangs wrong and they're too short, making her look awful.
- Informed Attribute: Similar to an Informed Deformity, Maryellen is stated to have a weak leg from her brush with polio prior to the series. However, this is mentioned only twice and rarely becomes a problem for her. Many fans redesign her to have a leg brace.
- Innocently Insensitive: Her best girl friends, the Karens, buy poodle skirts to match Maryellen on the first day of school... not realizing she was excited for the skirt because it would make her stand out.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Maryellen can sometimes be a little bossy and whiny whenever things don't go her way, but she then apologizes for being a pain.
- Live-Action Adaptation: Maryellen 1955: Extraordinary Christmas (2016)
- Malt Shop: Her Big Ticket Item in her collection is a 50s diner complete with working Jukebox radio.
- Massive Numbered Siblings: Has the most siblings of the American Girl dolls, as she comes from a family of six. She's the third, and has severe Middle Child Syndrome from it.
- Middle Child Syndrome: The mid-born child of her many siblings, she for once would like to be known more for who she is as a person.
- The New Rock & Roll: Maryellen's sister Carolyn is into the current popular music.
- Nostalgia Filter: Most of her books focus on the lifestyle of the 50s, with mentions of overcoming misogyny. The books only briefly mention polio and xenophobia against Italians, and never mention the racism and segregation of the time period. The Cold War is also a brief afterthought.
- New Friend Envy: Maryellen gets jealous whenever Davy hangs out with Wayne, but the two Karens get jealous whenever Maryellen hangs out with Angela.
- Nuclear Family: Maryellen's mother could have gone back to work, but quit her job in solidarity with the other female workers, so now she has a working dad, stay-at-home mom, and many, many siblings.
- Only in Miami: Averted. She and her family live in Daytona Beach, which is in the central part of Florida.
- Outdoorsy Gal: Maryellen enjoys playing with her friends outside without bothering about messing up any of her outfits.
- Pimped-Out Dress: Gets a classic Poodle Skirt for her collection, as her outfit for the first day of school.
- Platonic Boy/Girl Heroes: Maryellen is best friends with the boy next door, Davy. Though her sister tells her that boys and girls can't be friends past a certain age, her and Davy work out their differences and remain best friends.
- Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: Her and Davy having a falling-out when she refuses to talk to him on the first day of school. She later has a fallout with the Karens as well. All of these get patched up.
- Plucky Girl: Nothing, not even being the middle child and a polio survivor, can stop her from achieving her dreams and being her own person.
- Prejudice Aesop: She becomes good friends with Italian immigrant Angela, but her other friends (both named Karen) believe they can never be friends with an Italian person, as they were enemies in World War II. They later learn to get along with Angela.
- Throughout the series, Maryellen worries that boys and girls can't be friends, as her sister told her once. She eventually not only befriends Davy, but his "annoying" friend Wayne, and they work together to prove their misogynistic classmates wrong.
- Retro Rocket: Maryellen joins science club, inspired by the idea of space exploration, and builds a model rocket with her team.
- Road Trip Plot: For her fifth story (the middle section of her second book), she and her family go on a road trip in a camper.
- Shipper on Deck: For her older sister Joan and her boyfriend Jerry, she even privately tells Jerry that he should go ahead and "pin" Joan already. Her efforts ensure that Joan did get "pinned" and later engaged.
- Shout-Out: Her favorite series are Davy Crockett and The Lone Ranger, and she dreams up episodes where she gets to be the hero. Her next-door best friend Davy greets her with "What's up, doc?", referencing Bugs Bunny.
- Signature Scene: In her first book, Maryellen tries to make their house stand out by painting the door red, which fails drastically. This moment was later made the cover of her abridged book as well as the poster for her film.
- Stay in the Kitchen: Her mother stated she quit what would've been a great job in aircraft because her fellow women workers were being fired to "make way for the men" and she refused to stay. Later, Maryellen is forced to be secretary by the boys in her science group until she quits.
- Stern Teacher: Maryellen dislikes her new teacher, who calls her by her siblings' names. The teacher makes her stay after class with Angela, only to later reveal she did that as she believed Maryellen would be the best to help her.
- Tender Tomboyishness, Foul Femininity: Maryellen is tomboyish and can be bossy sometimes. But her oldest sister, Joan, is more feminine and even more bossy than she is—fitting as the oldest. Her younger sister Beverly is even more bossy and pretends she's a queen often.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Despite the feminine outfit the doll comes in and pearl necklace accessory, Maryellen is tomboyish. She doesn't mind getting dirty and plays wildly against her expectations as a girl of the era. 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.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Is tomboyish, but also likes fashionable looks like bangs and poodle skirts.
- Tomboyish Ponytail: Has a ponytail and is chided by Joan for being a tomboy.
- Tropey, Come Home: Scooter goes missing while the family is on a road trip, and Maryellen and Joan have to work together to fetch him. He later goes missing again in The Runaway.
- Unwillingly Girly Tomboy: While not in the books, where she enjoys pink and skirts, in the film she is told not to wear pants as it's "unladylike" and made to change out of them. At the end of the movie, though, her mother whispers to her that she bought her the pants she liked, and Maryellen squeals with delight.
- Wedding Episode: Maryellen's second book features a segment largely based aroud Joan's wedding.
- You Go, Girl!: Maryellen splits from her assigned team for the rocket project after they ignore her ideas due to her gender, and she forms her own inclusive team to compete.
Melody Ellison (1964)
Melody Ellison
Melody was the second character released under the BeForever rebranding in 2016.
- '60s Hair: Has relaxed hair in a long flipped out bouffant. However, the character is often shown with her hair in pigtails outside of church and more formal events.
- Adapted Out: In her In Name Only adaptation, almost everyone from her huge family is cut out, leaving only her, her mother, and her grandfather. This cuts her beloved grandmother, her three siblings, her father, her dog, her best friend, her other best friend cousin and her parents, and her two best friends from school, Sharon and Diane. Her best friends are instead replaced by white classmate Tricia.
- Adaptational Hairstyle Change: While she does have her main bouffant at the end of the movie, through many scenes she has her hair in short, high pigtails, while she normally wears braids in the books.
- Affectionate Nickname: Melody's family calls her DeeDee, and her grandmother calls her "little chick" as she calls all her grandchildren chickadees.
- Beautiful Singing Voice: She's often told how wonderful her voice is, and she gets a solo at Church at the beginning of her first book. Her brother lets her record for one of his tracks; he has a good voice as well.
- Big Brother Mentor: She loves her brother Dwayne, who loves music as much as she does, and is upset when he and their Dad fight over his choice to pursue music rather than college.
- Big Sister Instinct: Inverted example. When she finds out the bank she made her first savings account at refused to hire her sister due to her race, she goes and withdraws all her money.
- Bookworm: Her sister, Lila.
- Break the Cutie: The news of the church bombing from Birmingham, Alabama was enough to leave her voiceless.
- Canine Companion: Her dog, Bo.
- Cheerful Child: Sweet, adorable, optimistic, and passionate; She is a bright ray of sunshine isn't she?
- Cool Big Sis: Yvonne, a college student involved in Civil Rights protests and the first girl in their immediate family to wear a natural afro. Her brother Dwayne is also a Cool Big Bro as he becomes a traveling Motown singer and even invites his sister to the studio.
- Country Cousin: Val, who used to live in rural Alabama. Technically, her parents are Melody's country cousins, as Val is her second cousin, but they're close enough in age that they just call each other cousins.
- The Cutie: A sweet, smiling, bright-hearted girl.
- Dad the Veteran: Her father was a mechanic in the Tuskegee Airmen.
- Death of a Child: While not any named characters, Melody hears about the bombing in Alabama that killed four little girls and is traumatized and too terrified to go to Church.
- Desperate Plea for Home: Her cousin Valerie admits that since she had to leave Birmingham, she hasn't been able to feel at home anywhere.
- Dirty Communists: When Melody first hears about the bombing in Alabama, she asks if it's the Russians. It's the KKK.
- Disabled in the Adaptation: As her actress, Marsai Martin, wears glasses in real life, Melody was given glasses for her film.
- The Diva: Her first impression of classmate Diane Harris.
- Doting Grandparent: Big Momma.
- Flower Motifs: As a passionate gardener. She honestly gardens more than she sings.
- Girlish Pigtails: Often wears her hair in two braids.
- Green Means Natural: Her Meet Dress is a bright green, and she loves to garden. She also has a lime, flower-decorated Easter dress.
- Green Thumb: Melody loves to garden and spends a lot of time doing so. She uses her talent to spruce up the neighborhood playground and save it from being destroyed.
- Heroes Love Dogs: With her dog, Bo.
- Iconic Item: Her upright piano.
- In Name Only: As mentioned above, almost everyone in Melody's cast was adapted out for her film. The film features some events in the book, such as the Birmingham bombings and shoplifting accusations, fused into a new storyline about Melody standing up to racism in her school. Melody is more outspoken and also now shows an interest in clothing design, and Frances is a Struggling Single Mother. Canon Foreigner characters include her teacher Miss Abbot, bully Donald, and new best friend Tricia.
- Inspiring Sermon: In her second book, after hearing her pastor lecture about making a difference in the community, Melody becomes more active and looks for ways to help others.
- Kid Hero: Organizes a community cleanup for the local playground. She also begins attending protests with her sister.
- Live-Action Adaptation: Melody 1963: Love Has to Win (2016). In Name Only, as multiple changes were made to the story to focus more on racial conflict and integration.
- Meaningful Name: Melody is a singer—though only in church.
- Nervous Wreck: When singing in front of huge crowds.
- Nice Girl: One of the nicest girls around.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed / Trumplica: The class bully in the Melody movie is a tall blond blue-eyed boy named Donald. Apparently his name was supposed to be Douglas, but on set the crew kept slipping up, so his name was changed to Donald.
- Pink Means Feminine: An outfit that she borrows from her sister to play Motown singer in has a pink floral print. Her cousin Val also wears pink often.
- Plucky Girl: She is optimistic and plucky.
- The Power of Friendship: When Melody is too scared to perform her solo due to the 16th street church bombing and her thoughts of ther four girls near her age killed in church, her friends and cousin agree to go up with her and stand together with her.Melody tugged at one of her braids. "But what if I lose my voice again? What if I think about the [four little] Birmingham girls and–""We'll all go inside together," Sharon said. "You don't have to be scared.""We're four little girls," Val pointed out.
- Practically Different Generations: Yvonne and Dwayne are college-aged while Melody is nine. Her first cousins are also old enough to have a child her age.
- Prejudice Aesop: In her books, she faces several discriminatory storekeepers and businesspeople and participates in protests against them. Her cousin Valerie had to move to Detroit because her home in Alabama was becoming too dangerous for black visitors; soon afterwards, the Birmingham Bombings happen. Val's parents also have trouble finding a house that will sell to a black family. In the film, Melody protests against segregation and for equal rights.
- Saintly Church: New Hope Baptist Church.
- Saving the Orphanage: Plans a cleanup of the local playground to prevent it from being torn down or abandoned.
- Shout-Out: A lot of 60s Protest songs, such as "Lift Every Voice and Sing." Melody, Lila and Val also dress up as the Marvelettes. Melody also watches Martin Luther King Jr's famous "I Have a Dream" speech live in Detroit when he first made the speech.
- Shrinking Violet: Melody doesn't believe she could be a good leader due to her shy nature.
- Significant Birth Date: January 1, representing new beginnings; it is also Watch Day, a holiday in the black community where black people stayed up to protect their homes in the south from white supremacists.
- Trauma Button: After hearing about the 16th Street church bombing that kills four girls near her age, she is too traumatized to go into church without crying. When she finally returns, she is supported by her friend group.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Has the belief that one day her race will be treated equally.
- Youngest Child Wins: She is the baby of the family and the central character.
Julie Albright and Ivy Ling (1974)
Julie Albright
Julie was released in 2007.
- '70s Hair: Has long, sleek blonde hair that goes down to her back, as was popular in that decade.
- Academic Athlete: A Passionate Sports Girl who also happens to be the elementary school's student body president.
- Affectionate Nickname: Several: Ali-oop by her best friend Ivy, Jules by her older sister Tracy, Cool Hand Albright by members of the school' basketball team, and her neighbor Hank calls her Sport.
- American Eagle: Her birthday book focuses on saving some endangered bald eagles.
- Amicably Divorced: Julie's parents get along decently whenever they meet. Ms. Albright also scolds Tracy for her Bratty Teenage Daughter behavior towards her father. They're more standoffish in Ivy's film.
- Blithe Spirit: Heck, her first book is about Julie trying to have her new school accept girls onto the boys-only basketball team.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: Tracy is angsty, rebellious, and obsessed with popular music and boys.
- Bullying the Disabled: The Water Fountain Girls mock Joy for being deaf, and Julie choosing Joy as her Vice Class President makes her unpopular at first.
- Bunnies for Cuteness: Her beloved rabbit, Nutmeg, who she keeps at her dad's house.
- Character Catchphrase: Julie often says "Far out!" Also, whenever she learns something interesting and cool, she would say, "This is so boss."
- Cheerful Child: A fun-loving, happy, spirited girl, full of energy and new ideas.
- Clashing Cousins: Doesn't get along with her cousin at first in Julie's Journey.
- Companion Cube: Her beloved doll.
- Cool Toy: Though Julie's Chinese doll Yue Yan is far more important to the story (she actually appears and Julie wants her, even getting a quipao like hers), the doll that actually got merchandised as part of her Christmas collection was a Barbie styling head. Ads in the catalogue tried to use this to play on parents' nostalgia — did your older relatives have a Quick Curl Barbie Beauty Centre as a kid?
- Demoted to Extra: Despite her multitude of books, her official film appearance was in her best friend Ivy's adaptation, in Ivy & Julie: A Happy Balance.
- Differing Priorities Breakup: It's said that Julie's parents divorced because they each had different ideas of what a woman could/should do.
- Feminine Mother, Tomboyish Daughter: Julie is a sporty girl who plays basketball while her mother is a slightly more fashionable woman who owns a secondhand clothing shop. However, her mother is defying expectations of her gender by not remaining a stay-at-home-mother like Julie's father wanted, hence the divorce.
- Feud Episode: In Meet Julie, Julie and Ivy have an argument over Ivy wanting to make bracelets and Julie wanting more people to sign her petition to be on the basketball team, but then Ivy sends a petition to Julie to be her best friend again with her own named signed on there many times.
- Former Bigot: In the first book, the school basketball coach refuses to even consider Julie for the basketball team due to her gender, even throwing away her petition. By the second book, he considers Julie their best player.
- Game-Breaking Injury: In her second book, Julie is knocked out of the game by an angry misogynistic opponent. When she asks her coach if they won anyway, he says that no, because they lost their best player.
- "Gender-Normative Parent" Plot: In the first book, while her Dad likes playing basketball with her, he isn't too keen on her joining the all-male basketball team.
- Green Aesop: Her Birthday Book is focused on wild animal conservation.
- Hair-Contrast Duo: Dark-haired, practical Ivy and bright-blonde, dreamer Julie.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: A good-natured child that cares about people being treated respectfully, who also possesses light blonde hair.
- Heroes Love Dogs: Enjoys dog-walking with her friend, Joy. The dogs were sold with her collection.
- Horseback Heroism: In Julie's Journey.
- Lovable Jock: The most obvious jock out of the Historical Characters, with her love of basketball.
- New-Age Retro Hippie: Her BeForever Meet outfit is inspired by hippie-like fashion, with a giant flowery peace-sign on her shirt.
- Nothing Is the Same Anymore: In Meet Julie, she breaks down in tears over the fact that her parents are divorced, she lost her best friend due to wanting to complete a petition, and she failed to be a part of the boys basketball team. Julie and Ivy eventually become friends again, in part from Ivy giving her a petition with her name all over it asking to to be her friend again.
- Passionate Sports Girl: Julie is into basketball and earns her way onto the boys' team.
- Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: Ivy at first doesn't understand Julie's drive to join the boys' basketball team and they have a disagreement over it. They do become friends again eventually though.
- Plucky Girl: Nothing, not even sexism or mean classmates can stop her from achieving a goal.
- Pony Tale: Julie's Journey.
- Punny Name: Albright ("All Bright").
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Somewhat subverted; in the Lunar New Year celebration, passionate and headstrong Julie is in blue, and practical and collected Ivy is in red.
- Shout-Out: Julie is a huge fan of The Brady Bunch, and reads Little House on the Prairie.
- Stay in the Kitchen: Lampshaded; her parents divorce since her Dad wanted a housewife while her Mom wanted to start a business and Julie has a hard time joining the basketball team because she's a girl.
- Stern Teacher: Ms. Duncan, who is extremely fond of traditional, sentence-writing detention and gives out said detentions like lottery tickets.
- Stock Animal Diet: Julie feeds her rabbit some carrots in her second book.
- Student Council President: Julie runs for Class President in her last book, giving her an interest in politics.
- Tender Tomboyishness, Foul Femininity: Julie is tomboyish but caring and compassionate while Tracy is sometimes bossy and irritable. Julie can be tender in comparison to Alison, Amanda, and Angela, three girls in her new school known as the Water Fountain Girls that pick on her because she is a tomboy who plays basketball.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Tomboy to her best friend Ivy's and older sister Tracy's more feminine attitudes (though Tracy plays tennis and basketball with Julie).
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Julie is more tomboyish in comparison to Ivy; she loves basketball and playing with the boys and doesn't show interest in playing with dolls like most other girls. However, Julie also enjoys baking with Ivy, making bracelets, and dressing up with Ivy for Chinese New Year.
- Treasure Hunt Episode: The Puzzle of the Paper Daughter has Julie and Ivy searching for a doll Ivy's grandma once owned, racing against an unknown third party who wants it for the valuable treasure hidden inside.
- You Go, Girl!: Julie's efforts to joint the basketball team serve as a kid-friendly representation of second-wave feminism.
- White Sheep: The first boy to encourage Julie in her basketball efforts is classmate TJ.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Becomes terrified of horses, then has to ride one in Julie's Journey.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Seen through her efforts to join a basketball team that bars girls and help a disabled classmate.
Ivy Ling
Ivy was released alongside Julie as a Best Friend doll with Julie's launch in 2007; she was retired with the rest of the Best Friends line in 2014.
- '70s Hair: After Happy New Year, Julie, she has her long hair cut in a pageboy that mimics Nancy Drew. It slowly grows back.
- Adaptational Hairstyle Change: While her style changes throughout the books, she always has bangs. In the film, she has no bangs, and a long ponytail in the book where she had shoulder-length hair.
- Affectionate Nickname: Julie often calls Ivy "Poison Ivy."
- Arc Words: "Dragons make their own luck."
- Breakout Character: Despite only having one book in comparison to Julie's multiple, she is still incredibly popular, even post-retirement. When her doll wasn't even being sold, her book was adapted to film!
- Chekhov's Classroom: Ivy complains at the beginning of her book about having to go to Chinese School every weekend and learn Cantonese. Later, when she finds a woman has lost her child in Chinatown and they can only speak Cantonese, she is able to translate for her and help the family reunite.
- The Drag-Along: Ivy felt like this in Meet Julie, when Julie was doing a petition to join the boys' basketball team and she wanted Ivy to come with her; Ivy wasn't as interested in the situation as Julie.
- Dragons Up the Yin Yang: Ivy's brother tells her that "Dragons make their own luck," which becomes her mantra.
- Family Honor: Ivy seems to have a deep connection to her Chinese heritage, although Chinese school is boring to her and she doesn't like to eat Chinese food every single day.
- Feud Episode: In Meet Julie, Ivy and Julie have an argument about Ivy wanting to make bracelets and Julie wanting more people to sign her petition on joining the basketball team. Ivy feels she is getting dragged along and storms off. Julie then receives a petition sent from Ivy to be her friend again, with her name singed repeatedly on it, and they make up.
- Friendly Local Chinatown: Ivy and her family live in the Chinatown area of San Francisco.
- Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: Ivy is more feminine in comparison to her sporty and tomboyish best friend Julie, with a love of baking and making bracelets. However, she participates in gymnastics, and sometimes enjoys playing baskeball with Julie (even though Julie always beats her).
- Hair-Contrast Duo: Dark-haired, practical Ivy and bright-blonde, dreamer Julie.
- Limited Wardrobe: Not in the books—where she's shown in a variety of clothing—but in her collection. Ivy only has her meet set, a Chinese New Year Dress, and a terrycloth romper to wear. That's all there is without adding in items from Julie's collection. She didn't even get pajamas like the rest of the Best Friends, even though she and Julie are said to have sleepovers!
- Live-Action Adaptation: Ivy & Julie 1976: A Happy Balance, an adaptation of her book.
- Nervous Wreck: When she has to decide between her gymnastics tournament and her family reunion.
- The Perfectionist: She loves gymnastics and hates to mess up in front of a crowd.
- Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: Ivy at first doesn't understand Julie's drive to join the basketball team and they have a disagreement over it.
- The Power of Family: Ivy learns to appreciate her family and its history throughout her book.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Somewhat subverted; in the Lunar New Year celebration, passionate and headstrong Julie is in blue, and practical and collected Ivy is in red.
- Shout-Out: Loves to watch The Brady Bunch with Julie. Her brother also idolizes Jackie Chan.
- Token Minority: She serves as Julie's Chinese best friend in the line, and also happens to be the single historical Asian character to have been produced to date.
- Treasure Hunt Episode: The Puzzle of the Paper Daughter has Julie and Ivy searching for a doll Ivy's grandma once owned, racing against an unknown third party who wants it for the valuable treasure hidden inside.
- Two-Timer Date: Ivy finds out that her big gymnastics meet is the same night as her important family reunion; this is the main plot point of her book and film.
- When You Coming Home, Dad?: Ivy's mother is studying to be a lawyer and thus is busy, often leading to Ivy taking care of her little sister. Her mother later expresses how much she appreciates Ivy for helping her out, and Ivy understands how excited her mother is to be continuing her schooling.
Courtney Moore (1986)
Courtney Moore
The first character released after the BeForever brand was removed from the Historical Characters, Courtney was released in 2020.
- The '80s: Courtney's era, and she embodies it visually. Her favorite game is Pac-Man, is a Valley Girl, has '80s Hair, and her signature collection is described as "totally rad", "ultimate", and "awesome".
- '80s Hair: Has long, bouncy, curly hair with lots of volume. Makes sense, since her time period is the 1980s. Her stepsister Tina also begs for a perm and gets one, which lets her match her stepmother and stepsister's naturally curly hair.
- Afraid to Hold the Baby: Tina is skittish around Courtney's guinea pig. She eventually gets over this.
- All of the Other Reindeer: Happened to Isaac in his previous town, after his HIV status was discovered. When it's found out in Orange Valley, he's confined at home, so the angry parents and students turn their anger towards Courtney, his friend and staunch defender.
- Amicable Exes: Her parents are completely amicable and communicate often.
- Bad Hair Day: For the newspaper photo reporting on her Mom's campaign. Her mom barely manages to fix it.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Courtney is an extremely energetic and caring girl, but tells off bullies that pick on Isaac for having HIV in Courtney: Friendship Superhero.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: She is a sweet, cheerful, quiet young girl who keeps to herself but when two TV reporters ask her mother questions about how she would balance motherhood and being a mayor (not that they'd ask a male candidate such questions), she speaks up to them and tells them her mother is a hard-worker and good mother and she has a husband who can help out with domestic tasks.
- Be Yourself: When Courtney opines that she can't end her dream videogame amicably because that's not what every other video game is like, Tina responds, "Yours doesn't have to be," giving her an epiphany.
- Bland-Name Product: While Pac-Man is her favorite game, othe video games are titled "Gorilla Run" (highley likely to be Donkey Kong) and "Space Blaster", which could be any then-popular space shooting game but is likely Galaga.
- Blended Family Drama: Mainly with her stepsister, Tina, who she now has to share a room with; they come in conflict, and Courtney considers her to be "hot and cold."
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: Older Tina, who is argumentative, hot-tempered, and into fashion and pop culture.
- Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Courtney's mother runs for mayor, which would make her the first mayor of their town.
- The Bully: Justin Wilson, a boy in their class. He's is rude to Courtney and often says nasty things to her. Her best friend Sarah stands up to him.
- Categorism as a Phobia: The people who are bigoted towards Isaac do 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, and things end up much lighter than they did for many HIV-positive kids in reality.
- Cheery Pink: She is a bright, happy girl who enjoys vivid colors like pink. She even wears pink tights on her cover for Courtney Changes the Game and pink scrunchies or hair bows.
- Children Are Innocent: Her half-brother, Rafi, is two years old and cute; she gets along with him better than she does with Tina.
- Conspicuous Consumption: 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 often at the arcade while her sister mills around the food court with her own friends.
- Cool Teacher: Her third grade teacher, Mr. Garcia, who tries to do the moonwalk to impress the kids. Her second teacher staunchly defends her and Isaac.
- Dance Sensation: Tina loves to dance and often pulls Courtney up to dance with her, when she's being nice.
- Death Is a Sad Thing: Courtney is traumatized, and Tina re-traumatized, as they watch the Challenger explosion live. Didn't help that Courtney thought that Christa McAuliffe looked like her mother...
- Death of a Child: While he doesn't die by the end of the book, Isaac confides to Courtney that with his HIV diagnosis, he likely 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 and that it's unfair for children to die like that.
- Denser and Wackier: Her collection is extremely bright-colored and focused on the nostalgia of the 1980s.
- Department of Redundancy Department: One of the similated snacks that came with Courtney's lunch box has the label "Cheese Flavored Cheese Puffs."
- Disappeared Dad: While her dad is present in her life, he has to move farther away for his new job, which makes their visits less frequent (and her unable to stay over there as often like before). She is upset over this, so when she first reads Molly's book, she relates to having her father away.
- Doomed by Canon: Doomed by Reality. The first book has Courtney excited for the Challenger launch. Those who remember the era and the disaster flinch, dreading what's coming.
- Ear-Piercing Plot: Courtney gets her ears pierced in her first book as part of a mother-daughter bonding with her mother and stepsister Tina. She describes her ears as bright red and throbbing in the moments afterwards but they heal fine.
- Fashion Hurts: Courtney gets her ears pierced in her first book, and describes her ears as bright red and throbbing in the moments afterwards. They heal fine.
- Gamer Chick: She has one of the highest score on the local Pac-Man 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, which would be very difficult for a girl in 1986 even with a coder for a father).
- Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: Courtney is into fashion, stuffed animals, discovers an interest in the newly launched American Girl, and has items in her collection from Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake. However, she is a gamer girl—which was considered boyish in the era—and her best game is Pac Man.
- Good Stepfather: Mike D'Amico is thoughtful, kind, friendly, and extremely supportive of his family.
- Iconic Item: Her sister Tina has her favorite ceramic unicorn from her mother.
- I Miss Mom: Stepsister Tina's main angst throughout the first book is issues not only with Courtney living and sharing a room with her, but missing her late mother Bonnie. This comes to a head during the Challenger Disaster which reminds her of losing her own mother.
- Inspirationally Disadvantaged: Isaac, Courtney's new friend who is shunned for his HIV status.
- Intercontinuity Crossover: Courtney 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 doll 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.
- Negated Moment of Awesome: Maureen ends up losing the mayor's election offscreen inbetween books, basically rendering that an Aborted Arc.
- Nice Girl: Sweet, helpful, cheerful, and accepting when she learns one of her new friends Issac has HIV straight away.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Courtney tries to clean up her and Tina's room to make her stepsister happy, but ends up breaking her Carousel Horse figure, a gift from her dead mother. Tina is furious.
- No Communities Were Harmed: Courtney's Orange Valley is clearly an allusion to the San Fernando Valley.
- Nostalgia Filter: Her second book deals with the HIV/AIDS scare. She and Isaac are both brutally bullied and shunned, but the book places most of the blame on the confusion within the panic and the lack of widespread information. The homophobia tied into the scare is only briefly mentioned in the Looking Back section, and President Reagan is portrayed as less harmful of a president regarding the pandemic than he was.
- Open-Minded Parent: Courtney's mother and stepfather are all immediately accepting of Isaac and defend him when the town turns against his family. Her father isn't involved, but he takes her in for a while when things get too dangerous and upsetting for her in town and helps her research everything they can find on HIV to spread correct information.
- Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: Her and Sarah have a fallout over Courtney keeping Isaac's secret. It later turns out that Sarah isn't intentionally bigoted towards him, but was more upset that Courntey didn't tell her; Courtney replies that it wasn't her secret to tell.
- Pulling Your Child Away: A boy is pulled away from Courtney during a protest outside her school against HIV-positive Isacc attending.
- The Quiet One: Shy around everyone but her close friends. After standing up for her mother on live TV, her classmate states that he had no idea Courtney could be so bold or loud.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Courtney's blue to her best friend, Sarah's red. Courtney can sometimes be shy and have anxiety while talking infront of crowds. Sarah, on the other hand, is more talkative and is able to stand up for Courtney whenever Justin picks on her.
- Shout-Out: Courtney adores Pac-Man 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 Super Mario Bros. (which is slightly inaccurate, as the game wasn't likely out in the US in 1986).
- Her stepfather works at the mall and offers to rent their favorite movies for movie night- for Tina, Footloose, and for Courtney, The Goonies.
- The Moore-D'Amico kids also all love "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun."
- Courtney's collection features Care Bears pajamas with a matching sleeping bag. She is also a fan of My Little Pony.
- Shrinking Violet: She is normally a shy and quiet girl who keeps to herself, yet surprises herself when she speaks up for her mother in a live TV interview when she feels her mother is being treated unfairly.
- Stay in the Kitchen: Courtney's mother Maureen is running for mayor of their town. During a TV interview when the reporters ask Maureen if she's capable of being a good mother and a good mayor, normally shy Courtney speaks up and says her mother is capable of both.
- Technology Marches On: Courtney is excited to use a rare computer at her Dad's office; they have them at school, but the ones at his office are more advanced.
- This Is My Side: Tina dislikes sharing a room with Courtney and constantly tells her to keep things on her side, especailly her "smelly" guinea pig.
- Totally Radical: As befitting a character from the 1980s; she is intended to evoke this nostalgia to the Late Gen X and early Millenial people who would be near her age.
- Tragic AIDS Story: A child-level version. Her second book, Courtney: Friendship Superhero has the plot of Courtney befrending a new neighbor, Isaac Wells, who contracted HIV through a blood transfusion from his hemophilia. When this fact gets out at school, parents pull their children from class and protest his attendance, and Courtney is caught in the crossfire. While Issac isn't dead by the end, Courtney does think about the fact he will be in the future (as far as she knows in 1986, at least) and laments that children their age shouldn't have to consider their own mortality so young. The historical Looking Back section discusses the life of Ryan White, who contracted HIV the same way and passed away in 1990.
- Valley Girl: She lives in a suburb in Orange Valley (which is an expy of the San Fernando Valley), likes going to the mall and its arcade, enjoys fashion, and uses appropriate-era slang. However, she is more intelligent and ambitious than the usual trope. Her teenage stepsister Tina embodies it more.
Isabel and Nicki Hoffman (1999)
Isabel and Nicki Hoffman
They are the second paired historical release (after Marie-Grace and Cécile) and were released in 2023. They are also the first characters to not be released with their meet book availiable; each instead has has a character-written journal, with their combined book releasing later in 2023.
As a Pair:
- The '90s: Loosely. While advertisements and promotional material emphasizes their ties to the era, the books are set three weeks before the start of the year 2000, making their story barely occur in the 1990s.
- All Jews Are Ashkenazi: Isabel and Nicki are Jewish through their father, and both are white.
- Always Identical Twins: Averted. They are fraternal twins and have completely different hair and eye colors.
- Ambiguously Jewish: They are Jewish on their father's side and as part of an interfaith family, celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah. However, the only representation in their collection is that they got their pets (and journals) on the last day of Hannukkah, and the last day is breifly added in the early chapters of the shared book. This trait was added in by the authors of their books, who were raised interfaith and asked to have the characters be the same.
- Birthday Buddies: A given as they're twins. They were born on May 22, 1990.
- Cat/Dog Dichotomy: With Isabel being a Kind Hearted Cat Lover and Nicki being a dog-lover.
- Converting for Love: Subverted with the Hoffmans' parents; their dad is Jewish and their mother is Christian, and the girls are being raised in an interfaith household.
- Hair-Contrast Duo: Isabel's light blonde to Nicki's brunette.
- Intercontinuity Crossover: Isabel and Nicki enjoy playing on the American Girl website and Isabel has an American Girl Magazine subscription. Nicki collects Grin Pins, and Isabel owns a Miss AG Bear. During the new year's celebration at their father's coffee shop, they each wear an outfit from the (then-called) American Girl Today collection—the Year 2000 Outfit and Red Jumper Outfit—which were made available in children's sizes. These outfits along with a t-shirt based on a late 1990s version were released for their collection in Fall 2023. Nicki also mentions reading Addy Learns a Lesson in her journal.
- Limited Wardrobe: The collection was only launched with two extra outfits for each character: their pajamas and their "sport" outfits—skateboarding for Nicki and tennis for Isabel. Nicki's skateboarding outfit can be seen as a day-to-day set if the skating gear and board isn't included (as it's overalls, a t-shirt, and a puffy vest). But Isabel didn't have anything else to wear but her meet set until the fall 2023 release that added the Year 2000 outfit—which is still more of a fancy dress than day-to-day wear. Averted in the books as other outfits are illustrated, including the girls wearing their fancy outfits to the second New Year's Eve Millenial Party, The outfits are based on then-availiable outfits from the modern collection that came in children's sizes, the ones later added to their collection. A lot of collectors opt to use the late 90s modern clothing they may have had as children to expand their wardrobe.
- Local Hangout: Their father Dave's coffeeshop, Coffeegarden. The girls go there with their friends, even though they're not allowed to drink any coffee. When the Millenium celebration citywide is cancelled, Coffeegarden hosts the impromptu celebration in its place.
- Men Like Dogs, Women Like Cats: Both girls but the more girly Isabel loves cats and tomboyish Nicki is a dog lover.
- Millennium Bug: A plot point in the series; Nicki is terrified the Y2K bug may end the world even though her mother Robin, a coder, is working hard on helping to prevent it.
- Pets as a Present: They get their new pets for the last night of Hannukah.
- Polar Opposite Twins: Evoked quite a lot in the advertisements; Isabel is a pink, preppy, extroverted girl, while Nicki is a grunge-loving, quiet, introverted girl.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Extroverted Red(/Pink) Isabel with Introverted Blue(/Purple) Nicki.
- Shout-Out:
- Isabel and her friends are hardcore fans of the Spice Girls (and even assign themselves roles), while Nicki prefers grunge and alternative, like No Doubt. Later Isabel's friends say they're fans of N Sync while she's into Backstreet Boys.
- Nicki's favorite show is ThePowerpuffGirls1998 and she names her dog after one of the main characters. Isabel does the same with Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
- It's highly likely that their father Dave named his coffee shop "Coffeegarden" after Soundgarden.
- Shown Their Work: The Seattle Year 2000 Millenial Celebration was in fact cancelled shortly before New Year's Eve; Mayor Paul Schell canceled the celebration only a few days before, citing worries about possible terrorist acts occuring during the event (and in part blaming the November 1999 Seattle WTO protests).
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Evoked quite a lot in the advertisements; Isabel is a pink, preppy, extroverted girl, while Nicki is a grunge, quiet, introverted girl.
- Simultaneous Arcs: While their first book features both POVs, the dolls instead come with separate journals "written" by them, taking place between the last day of Hanukkah when they are gifted their journals until New Year's Day 2000.
- This Is My Side: After Isabel's forceful pink makeover of the room, Nicki puts tape down the center of the room in frustration and tells Isabel one side is hers and to stay on her side. Isabel complains in the journal that her side of the room doesn't have the door. Nicki is so upset she doesn't care.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Nicki's the skateboarding tomboy and Isabel's the fashionable pop-music girly girl.
- Totally Radical: As part of the nineties marketing, despite technically being closer to Y2K dolls.
- 20 Minutes into the Past: The closest Historical Character release from their original time period, at ~23 years since the start of the 2000s.
- Twin Telepathy: Isabel insists that her and Nicki know what each other are thinking and how they feel, calling it "twintuition". Nicki is more skeptical of the idea, especially as Isabel more thinks it means they should do everything together and Nicki should agree to her plans and ideas without being consulted.
- You Go, Girl!: Incredibly hyped as part of their marketing. Isabel and Nicki both set "Girl Power" goals before New Year's Day. Nicki wants to prove that girls can skateboard, too, while Isabel is into the Spice Girls and thinks they embody girl power. (She learns it's more than just what the Spice Girls say it is.) The last section of their personal journals each have a school essay from them listing their top ten "girl power" events of the 1990s (and subtly serving as their "historical facts" section).
- Younger Than They Look: The dolls' painted eyelashes (which started in 2017 with Nanea's release and became standard to all dolls starting in 2022) and fashion styles can make them look more like teenagers than nine-year-olds of the time period. Isabel's outfit is closer to what a teenager would wear as it's similar to Cher's from Clueless.
Isabel Hoffman
The girlier twin who likes pink, parties, sparkles, pop music, and dancing. She is one inch taller.- Alpha Bitch: The newest member of her friend group, Cammy, comes in to her group of friends and takes over. She immediately starts insulting Isabel the first time she comes over (and has insulted her in the past), calling her fashion sense babyish and turning her friends against her. She insults Isabel and Nicki's room and style, persuades Quinn and the others to kick Isabel out of the group and calls her new friend Kat old acting for dressing in vintage things. On New Year's Eve in Coffeegarden, Tiffany confesses that Cammy likely only used them to be able to perform in public and has ditched them now since the Seattle Millenium Celebration was canceled.
- Bitch Alert: Cammy—a fifth grader who manupulates Isabel's friends away from her—immediately establishes herself as an Alpha Bitch when she comes to Isabel's house for dance practice, calling Isabel's pink Baby Spice clothes "sparkly" in a derogatory way, and saying shes "cute" wearing her hair in pigtails which Cammy hasn't done since she was in first grade. Then the moment she sees Isabel's cat Buffy, she says she's allergic—then clarifies shen't not, just hates cats. It only goes downhill from there.
- Bit Character: Tori and Tiffany, the other two members of Isabel's group of friends, don't stand out as much as Quinn (or Alpha Bitch Cammy) in Isabel's arc. They do differ in appearance—Tori has red hair and always plays Ginger Spice while Tiffany, the black girl, always plays Scary—but outside of a few scenes where one or the other does something to hurt Isabel, they're mostly background to what's going on with Isabel's friend group turning on her, this being headlined by Cammy and Quinn now serving as Cammy's Beta Bitch.
- D.I.Y. Disaster: Isabel decides to cheer herself up after being called babyish and her friends turning on her by completely redoing her and Nicki's room in pink, glitter, and sparkles, going as far as to tear down Nicki's posters and stuff her comforter away to put a pink one on Nicki's bed. Nicki sees what was done without her input and angrily tells Isabel she wasn't even considered in the makeover—and Isabel doesn't know Nicki's likes at all. Isabel makes it up later by doing a proper makeover as a gift to Nicki for Christmas, that incorporates both their interests rather than just Isabel's—or done in hopes of impressing others.
- Girl Posse: Deconstructed. Isabel and her friends Quinn, Tori, and Tiffany start out as very close friends and like to dance together to Spice Girls music (and try to get Nicki in as the fifth member like when she was younger, which Nicki actively avoids). However Alpha Bitch Cammy comes in—on Quinn's asking—to help improve their dancing performance and turns the other three against Isabel, with the three going so far as to kick her out of the performance group and later exclude her from a study group in class where they giggle and share candy without her, leaving her friendless. When they all reconnect and apologize to each other for what they did (as Isabel's also realized she was in the wrong as well by expecting everyone to go along with her vision of things), they invite her to be part of their dance performance at Coffeegarden—but Isabel declines. She's not part of their group anymore and has since made new friends, and realizes it's okay things have changed, even if she doesn't know how close they'll all be anymore.
- Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: Isabel is the more girly twin who loves pop music, pink, The Powerpuff Girls, and fashion. She gets the tomboy aspect—very lightly—when she starts to play tennis with her new friend Olivia.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: A sweet, friendly girl with bright blonde hair.
- Heel Realization: After she "decorates" her and Nicki's bedroom and Nicki hates it—going so far as to put tape down the center of the room and stop talking to her—Isabel admits that she decided that Nicki would like what she did to the room based on what she likes—pink, glitter, sparkles, butterflies, etc.—and that she did her messy redecoration only focusing on her likes and to get her friends to like her again. She also realizes it's the same with her friends—she insisted they do a routine to the Spice Girls with the song and choreography Isabel picked out, without asking them about their ideas or interests.
- Pink Means Feminine: Isabel is the more girly twin and incredibly into pink, and has a pink Meet Outfit.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: She shares the basic name with the 2014's Girl of the Year Isabelle Palmer; they also both have the same hair and nearly the same eye color, as well as the same color scheme and interest in fashion and dance. However, Isabel was a more professional dancer, was a modern character, was released almost ten years before Isabel, and is no longer available.
Nicki Hoffman
The shyer, more tomboyish twin who likes grunge music, skateboarding, and purple. Nicki is six minutes older.- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Introverted, shy Nicki has dark brown hair.
- Blue Is Calm: The more grounded one in comparison to her sister, also clothed more in blue than Isabel's pink.
- Braids of Action: Often has her hair in two braids when she's skateboarding.
- Daddy's Girl: Implied; she's closer to her father, and in her book when she's upset with Isabel, her father takes her out to walk Blossom and they talk about his old band and music they both enjoy.
- Deadpan Snarker: To a point; she's a lot more deadpan than her sister.
- Embarrassing Middle Name: She doesn't like her middle name, Pearl, thinking it doesn't fit her tomboyish personality. She later learns her father—who formerly was in a local grunge band—chose it in part as a Shout-Out to Pearl Jam and she embraces it after.
- Game-Breaking Injury: She sprains her ankle practicing skateboarding tricks before the Y2K celebration, where she wanted to prove the talent of skateboarding and that girls could skate, too (along with her friends who wanted to prove that skateboarding wasn't a menace and is a skill and sport). It ultimately doesn't matter since the whole celebration is canceled by the city, but she isn't able to perform with her friends during the Coffeegarden celebration.
- "I Am Becoming" Song: Nicki is a budding songwriter who confesses to her dad she likes to write song lyrics. She shows them to him and he performs one of her songs at the millenium celebration.
- Kiddy Coveralls: As part of her skater girl Tomboy persona, Nicki wears overalls frequently and has an outfit focused on overalls.
- Like Father, Like Son: Nicki and her father are both into the grunge scene and rock/alternative music, in contrast to Isabel.
- '90s Hair: Nicki's loose grunge style and (temporary) dyed hair fit the nineties.
- Nonconformist Dyed Hair: Has two bleached streaks at the front. She later dyes the streaks purple (temporarily).
- Sibling Seniority Squabble: According to Isabel's journal, Nicki often insists that she should get to do things first because she is six minutes older.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: While not as obvious, Nicki Hoffman 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 about friends (though Nicki F's is about losing one while Nicki H's is about making any at all) and a love for dogs. They're also both the oldest siblings in their family; however, Nicki Fleming has a younger brother and twin younger sisters, while Nicki Hoffman is the oldest of twins by only six minutes.
- Tomboy: Much more so than her Girly Girl twin Isabel. She prefers flannel, jeans, and sneakers; her favorite color is purple and other dark colors; and she prefers skateboarding over dancing. Nicki actively avoids being roped into playing Spice Girls with Isabel and her friends now (they often had her be Sporty Spice) and despises their frequent girlish squealing, and she isn't the same kind of fashionable like they are. By the events of their book, she's ducking out when Isabel's friends come over to avoid being pressured into being the fifth Spice Girl.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: 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. She also lets Isabel dye her streaks purple for a special occasion and wears a nice dress—albeit vinyl with dark accents—for the Millenium celebration.
- Tomboyish Baseball Cap: Nicki is always seen wearing her hat backwards; it was the fashion of the 1990s when people wore baseball caps regardless of their interest in baseball (or any sport).
