It’s a new year, which
means a new American Girl. This year’s version is Saige, a nine-year-old
student of art and horses from New Mexico. Saige loves to spend her time with
her grandmother Mimi, an acclaimed artist and owner of a rare breed of horse,
the Spanish Barb. When Mimi is hurt in a home accident, Saige must think of
ways to help her grandmother get back on her feet (literally) and back up in
spirit. At the same time, Saige launches a campaign to start afterschool art
lessons, since their school system cannot afford to have both art and music.
Eventually, Saige succeeds at both her goals, resolves her friendships and
celebrates her tenth birthday on a high.
I’ve said before that
the American Girl brand is a mixed bag with me. The qualities the books espouse,
including their non-fiction range, are wonderful qualities to have:
friendship, family, self-confidence, healthy habits, physical fitness,
environmentalism and conservationism. Our girls (and boys) could always use a
dose of that, and in general, the stories are well researched and well written.
What bothers me (aside from the crass consumerism of the brand), is the racial
disparity. Since 2001, there have been eleven girls of the year (no girl was
issued for 2002 or 2004), there has been one Hispanic girl, one girl of mixed
heritage, one Hawaiian national, and no African American girls. In fact, in the
entire realm of American girl dolls/books, there are only two black faces:
Addy, an escaped slave, and Cecile, a free black living in New Orleans in 1853.
All together, the American Girl family is very, very white, and it’s a poor
representation of our country. I say it’s high time for the company to get with
the times and start offering all our girls a chance to see themselves in
their books.
2013, American Girl Publishing Inc.
Library copies
No comments:
Post a Comment