Additional characters from the American Girls Collection.
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Contemporary Characters
Tenney Grant and Logan Everett
Tenney and Logan were were released in 2017, launching the Contemporary line; Logan was the first 18" male doll for the company.
Tenney is a thirteen year old musician from Nashville, TN, who is starting on a burgeoning music career.
Logan Everett is Tenney's grumpy fourteen year old drummer.
Tenney Grant
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Her little sister Audrey has moments of being annoying.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: The gentle girl to Logan's brooding boy.
- Canine Companion: Her golden retriever, Waylon.
- Christmas Episode: Tenney is the only modern character to receive a Christmas-exclusive book.
- Cool Old Lady: Portia Burns, Tenney's new songwriting mentor, is a cooler lady who guides her through her early time as a performer.
- Cynic–Idealist Duo: The idealist to Logan's cynic. This can also apply to her and Portia.
- Dissension Remorse: In Tenney in the Key of Friendship, Tenney and Jaya get into an argument: Tenney is always rehearsing while Jaya is failing with making enough money for the book drive to rebuild her cousin's school (which was damaged when her whole town is ravaged in a storm). She and Jaya soon apologize to each other and make up. Tenney also makes up with Logan, whom she didn't get along with too well at the start.
- Everybody Loves Blondes: Lampshaded by Tenney's mother, who says that her record company wanted her to dye her hair blonde.
- Feud Episode: In her second book she has feuds with both Logan and Jaya, but she eventually makes up with both of them.
- From Zero to Hero: Once Tenney's song is uploaded to the internet, everyone loves her.
- Hair-Contrast Duo: Her bright blonde hair contrasting to Logan's dark brunette.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Tenney is a sweet, caring blonde.
- "I Am Becoming" Song: "Reach the Sky."
- Intercontinuity Crossover: In one of the Z.Crew videos, Tenney meets Z Yang and they facetime with Gabriela McBride.
- Like Father, Like Son: Tenney is a talented singer/songwriter like her mother, which worries her mom quite a bit.
- Loved by All: Everyone talks about how great Tenney is at singing and songwriting. The only people who don't eventually admit that she is good at it and they're just jealous.
- Meaningful Name: Tenney's full first name is Tennyson, after Alfred Lord Tennyson.
- My Nayme Is: Tenney's classmate Holliday.
- New Friend Envy: In the second book, when Jaya becomes closer to Holliday.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Tenney has been compared to Taylor Swift, due to her light blonde hair, a passion for singing, and her emphasis on country music.
- Performance Anxiety: Tenney struggles with this in the first book, which almost costs her a record deal.
- Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Both her and Logan's meet outfits and performance outfits fit this trope.
- Reformed Bully: Holliday.
- Saving the Orphanage: In Tenney: In the Key of Friendship, when Tenney and Jaya work to save Jaya's cousin's school.
- Shout-Out: In the second book, Tenney tells Logan that she likes singer-songwriters such as Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, and Taylor Swift.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: With Logan at first.
- White Man's Burden: Tenney becomes invested in Jaya's attempts to fundraise for her cousin's disaster-stricken school in Bangladesh. The fundraiser attempts don't make money without the intervention of Tenney or Holliday, and at the end of the second book Tenney gets a personal "Thank You" message from the entire Bengali school.
Logan Everett
- Big Brother Instinct: Logan will do anything to protect his little brother.
- Byronic Hero: The perfect snarky, pessimistic teenage boy archetype.
- Cynic–Idealist Duo: The cynic to Tenney's idealist.
- Delicate and Sickly: His brother Jude is cheerful and happy, but his asthma means he needs constant attention.
- Disappeared Dad: Logan's father is traveling worldwide with a band, leaving his wife and sons alone.
- Emo Teen: Logan is actually the oldest of the American Girl characters at fourteen.
- Friend to All Children: Tenney realizes Logan isn't so bad after she realizes how much he visits the children's hospital.
- Hair-Contrast Duo: His dark, straight brunette hair with Tenney's curly blonde.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's rude to Tenney and they have trouble getting along, until she finds out that he's a caring older brother and son who volunteers at the children's hospital.
- Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Both his and Tenney's meet outfits and performance outfits fit this trope.
Z Yang
Suzanne "Z" Yang
. Z was released in Spring 2017 with her own collection.- Adaptation Name Change: In the Z.Crew videos, Mariela goes by "M." Mariela could technically be her full name, however in the books she never once goes by M.
- Age Lift: Mariela is a year older than Z in the Z.Crew videos. She is the same age as her in the books.
- Asian and Nerdy: Korean Z is skilled with tech and filmography.
- Canine Companion: Her dalmatian, Popcorn.
- Canon Immigrant: Z was created specifically for promotional stopmotion videos. When the Contemporary line was launched, Z was released as a doll with a small collection and her own book series.
- Dissension Remorse: Z and her best friend Lauren have a friendship breakup over Z's focus on her documentary; this later causes rifts between her and Mariela as well.
- Girlish Pigtails: In most of her promotional photos she has her hair in two low pigtails; this carries over to the movie.
- In Name Only: Summer Camp: Friends for Life, Z's movie, has nothing to do with her books or the Z.Crew videos. She has new friends and doesn't mention her book crew, with only her interest in filmmaking and marketable fashion style carrying over.
- Inspirationally Disadvantaged: When Z is interviewing people on her road trip with her mother, one is an inventor who cites her autistic cousin as their main inspiration.
- Intercontinuity Crossover: Hoo boy, there's a lot of this. In the Z.Crew videos, Z constantly uses American Girl dolls in order to make her stopmotions, using the mini-dolls for shots with her own doll in them. In the books, while the American Girl books aren't named, she is stated to have a Kit Kittredge doll. Then, there is a Z.Crew episode where she meets Gabriela, then another where she meets Tenney and facetimes Gabi. In a later episode, to promote Nanea Mitchell's release, Z makes a Nanea stopmotion, and says, "It’s too bad I can’t have the real Nanea on my show, the Real Me with Z, but hopefully I’ll still do her story justice." This implies that Nanea was also a real person in this universe... does this mean the in-universe AG makes dolls about actual historical people? Where does the modern line tie into this?
- Internet Safety Aesop: Z says in the first book that her parents look over everything she posts before she posts it, because "nothing ever goes away online." In the second book, she accidentally releases confidential images. Oops.
- Like Father, Like Son: Z learns a lot from her mother, a film professor.
- The Movie Buff: Both Z and her mom.
- Nerd Glasses: The Z doll was sold with glasses, though she's never illustrated with them nor are they mentioned in-text.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In the second book, when Z accidentally posts NDA-protected photos online, potentially getting her mother in legal trouble.
- Put on a Bus: Z's stopmotions stopped being made after her doll was retired. However, the videos are still up, in case corporate ever decides to bring her back.
- Second Place Is for Winners: Z's documentary places third in the contest, to her delight.
- Shout-Out: Singin' in the Rain. Z has Mariela's band perform a cover of the title song for her documentary.
- Spoofing in the Rain: As mentioned above, it's deliberate.
World By Us
In General
Focusing only on characters of color, the line launched in 2021 as part of a diversity initiative from American Girl.
The three World By Us girls: Martiza, Evette, and Makena.
- Intercontinuity Crossover: The stopmotion videos as well as several promotional materials included the 2021 Girl of the Year Kira for no stated reason.
- Simultaneous Arcs: Makena and Evette's books overlap in timelines, with Maritza's happening slightly after.
- Shout-Out: Makena's Aunt Belinda is friends with the founder of Harlem Fashion Row. Three of the designers created limited availability outfits for the characters' collections.
- Town Girls: Makena is feminine, Maritza is a tomboy, and Evette is in the middle though she leans more feminine than neutral.
Makena Williams
Makena Williams
- Big Little Sister: Amari is taller than her older sister Makena.
- Big Sister Instinct: Makena is protective of Amari and becomes terrified when they are confronted by police officers and Amari is too scared to move.
- Butterfly of Transformation: Makena likes wearing butterflies because they remind her that though change can be difficult, it can lead to something beautiful.
- Cool Uncle: Her uncle Alex, who runs a food truck, and her Auntie Bling, who shares Makena's passion for fashion.
- Costume Evolution: She wears her meet outfit early in the book, though without words decorating the shirt. She later paints on the words "See Me, Hear Me, Know Me" herself and wears the shirt with a Kenyan kente skirt to represent her pride in her heritage.
- Elemental Motifs: Both her and Evette compare themselves and their heritage to the river.
- The Fashionista: Became famous online through her beautiful outfits.
- Graceful Ladies Like Purple: In many of her outfits. Her promotional images also feature purple backdrops.
- Heartfelt Apology: From the neighbor who profiled Makena and Amari.
- Instant Web Hit: Makena becomes popular online after posting her quarantine outfits daily. After the incident with the police, she makes a video about experiencing racial profiling which goes viral and inspires many in her community to speak out as well.
- Meaningful Name: Makena Lilias Cook-Williams."I have four names: Makena means “happy one” in Swahili; Lilias was my dad’s mom, who died when he was a boy; Cook, for Mom’s family, and Williams. They all matter, and they make me who I am."
- Nice Girl: Always kind, helpful and optimistic.
- Racial Face Blindness: One of Makena's substitute teachers cannot tell her and the other black girl in the class apart.
- Pink Is Feminine: One of her signature colors, along with purple and black.
- Purple Is Powerful: Her signature colors are black, purple and pink.
- Pretty Butterflies: Used in a lot of Makena's outfits and merchandise.
- Profiling: The Williams' new neighbor sees Makena and Amari trying to get into their house after accidentally locking themselves out, assumes they must be robbers, and calls the police. While one of the officers realizes they're just children, the other continues pointing a gun at them and threatening them."I rolled over and pressed the pillow around my ears, but Mom's question was like a song I couldn’t get out of my head. Couldn't he see that they're children? Couldn't he see?""No, Mom! I wanted to scream. That’s the problem. He couldn't see that we're real people, with real names and lives and feelings. All he could see was that we're Black. I cried sad and mad tears, because none of it made any sense."
- Shout-Out: Makena references the "screaming white lady" meme while talking about a white lady who profiled her and her friends at the park.
- Textile Work Is Feminine: Makena is a burgeoning fashion designer and influencer.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Makena is the fashionable girly girl to Maritza's sporty tomboy. Evette is more feminine than Maritza but not as much in comparison to Makena. She is also the girly girl to her sister's Passionate Sports Girl.
Evette Peeters
Evette Peeters
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Evette says that her little brother Bud can sometimes be a pest.
- Ascended Fanboy: Evette was a huge fan of Makena before meeting her. She sent her a picture of her upcycled shoes and became ecstatic when she liked them; when they meet in person, Evette is shy and excited.
- Boys Like Creepy Critters: Bud likes the bugs in the garden, while Evette finds them creepy.
- Caring Gardener: Evette loves to spend time in her Gran-E's garden.
- Child of Two Worlds: Evette's white paternal grandmother and Black maternal grandmother don't like each other, and haven't interacted since her parents' wedding. Evette goes out of her way to fix this.
- Doting Grandparent: Both Evette's grandmother and Gran-E love her dearly and take care of her while her parents work.
- Elemental Motifs: Both her and Makena compare themselves and their heritage to the river.
- Elemental Personalities: In comparing herself and her family to the river, Evette herself is cool, calm, close to her loved ones, and always gunning for change.
- Green Aesop: Evette's main interest lies in conservation and recycling, and she organizes a river cleanup for everyone.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Evette herself.
- Makeup Is Evil: Evette is scared away from Ashlyn's new friend Gia after seeing her with "too much eyeliner." This is later subverted once Evette realizes Gia is actually fun to be around.
- Mistaken for Racist: Ziggy asks rather bluntly in his first meeting with Evette if she is black or white, which upsets her. She later bonds with him and Gia.
- Nonconformist Dyed Hair: Evette's best friend Ashlyn surprises her with cut and dyed hair, which shocks her and weirds her out.
- New Friend Envy: Evette with Ashlyn's new friends, Gia and Ziggy.
- Outdoorsy Gal: She loves to garden and work for environmental change.
- Racist Grandma: Evette's paternal grandmother didn't want her white son's wedding to be held in his black wife's neighborhood, because she saw it as dangerous. This caused a rift between her and her daughter-in-law's family. Evette later confronts her about it and explains that she had made a racist assumption, and they work to mend the rift.
- Sunny Sunflower Disposition: Evette's favorite flowers are sunflowers, and she is cheerful and bright. Slightly subverted with Gran-E's sunflower swimsuit representing her childhood trauma when she wasn't allowed in a segregated pool.
- Wise Beyond Her Years: Is able to heal the familial rift that has lasted in her family for fifteen years.
- Yellow Earth, Green Earth: Evette's color palette is mainly green, though her interest in sunflowers brings a bit of yellow.
Maritza Ochoa
Maritza Ochoa
- Action Girl: Maritza is one of the sportiest American Girl dolls.
- Adaptational Angst Downgrade: The serious and relevant plotline about immigrant rights is completely omitted in the stopmotion, which now focuses on raising money for Violeta's hospitalized family rather than threatened by deportation.
- Adaptational Backstory Change: Violeta in the stopmotion short; the immigrant story is replaced with her family member being hospitalized.
- Blue Is Heroic: While her main color is red, she also specifically gets a blue outfit in Makena's book. She also wears a blue outfit for Makena's fashion show.
- Canine Companion: Her pug, Suerte.
- Character Catchphrase: Tu lucha es mi lucha: "Your fight is my fight."
- Cool Aunt: Maritza's deceased aunt.
- Ethnic Menial Labor: It is mentioned that Maritza's immigrant grandparents had to suffer through horrible jobs in order to stay in the country.
- The Illegal: Violeta's uncle is detained by the ICE, leading to her family's fear that he will be deported. We later find out that Violeta and her mother are also undocumented immigrants, adding to her panic.
- Immigrant Patriotism: Maritza considers herself an all-American girl with an all-American family, including her immigrant grandparents.
- Meaningful Name: Author Angela Cervantes was allowed to pick Maritza's surname, and named her after Mexican soccer player Guillermo Ochoa.
- New Friend Envy: Sierra, until she realizes that Maritza was helping Violeta.
- Outdoorsy Gal: Maritza is a track and soccer star in her neighborhood.
- Passionate Sports Girl: Mainly about soccer, but she's also known as a star racer.
- Red Hot Masculinity: Maritza is a tomboy with a red color palette.
- Red Is Heroic: Maritza is the hero of her and Violeta's story and had a red-toned pallet.
- Tomboy: Despite her long flowing hair, Maritza is only really interested in sports, and admits in Makena's book that she's useless with fashion.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Implied to be with Sierra, who is more interested in pretty blouses than her. Played more straight with Makena, who helps her find a decent outfit.
- Unkempt Beauty: Maritza doesn't know much about fashion, letting Makena pick out an outfit for her.
- You Go, Girl!: At the beginning of the book, Maritza argues with a male coach about letting the younger girls and boys play together.
