JESSICA DaSILVA

Like every little girl in this country, I grew up absolutely obsessed with American Girl.

I was a little bookworm so I read all the books and all the magazines from cover to cover. On a side note, I’m pretty sure I ordered that magazine until it was just barely appropriate for my age…

For those who are unfamiliar with the company, American Girl is a doll company. The character dolls are from different periods in American history and have six books that tell their stories. The girls are easy to relate to and very realistic. The stories emphasize positive themes like teamwork, leadership, organization, etc.

These stories were where my love for American history first originated. However, I didn’t have one of the dolls. For some reason, I just couldn’t find one that was really like me (this was before you could build a “Just like me” doll). I liked Molly and Samantha, but I didn’t think there were many similarities between us.

Today I discovered my match in Kit Kittredge after listening to a report on NPR about the Kit movie coming out July 2.

Even though Kit debuted in 2000, I never discovered her because I was a little old for American Girl books at that point. Basically all I know about her is that she lives during the beginning of the Great Depression, she’s the first doll to have short (blonde) hair and freckles… and she wants to be a reporter!

I’m sold. I might even get a doll.

Well, maybe I’ll wait until I can get one from the American Girl store in NYC (the American Girl Mecca). I’ve never been because they didn’t have those when I was kid. Back in the old days of the ’90s, you had to order them from a catalog (which I poured over for hours every time we got it in the mail).

The movie revolves around Kit desperately trying to get a story published in her local newspaper in Cinncinatti while facing difficult issues from the time period (one of her friends’ family gets their house foreclosed on).

This is a doll and a story I can relate to. In fact, I’ve already made plans to see the movie.