Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can’t Quit American Girl

Horrocks and Mahoney adapt their podcast of the same name into a quippy love letter to the American Girl brand—the line of dolls and accompanying books about each doll set in different historical periods—that became a touchstone for women who grew up in the 1990s. The authors delve into the brand’s origin story, documenting creator Pleasant Rowland’s desire to produce childlike dolls that wouldn’t “push girls toward adolescence too soon by sexualizing them” and the trip to colonial Williamsburg that inspired her to make them historical. The authors note that the American Girl books stood out for their meticulous recreation of children’s lives in the past, though “the outfits from these books live longer in our memories than some of the plot lines.” American Girl expanded during the ’90s into “a full-blown lifestyle brand,” including a magazine, websites, and The Care and Keeping of You, a revolutionary guide for girls to understand their bodies. While Horrocks and Mahoney ostensibly critique the consumerist bent of American Girl’s marketing, the authors and the fans they interview clearly revel in the pleasures of possessing the dolls and their belongings. Full of ’90s and early 2010s pop culture references, this is a twee treat for nostalgic millennials. (Nov.)