Updated!! It’s official. There will be a new American Girl Historical character added in 2012. Like previous historical releases, the new doll looks like she will be debuting around September 1, 2012.

One of our sharp readers noticed the links to the pre-release information for the new American Girl Historical books by Kathleen Ernst are on Amazon.

• New Historical Character Book 1: An American Girl
• New Historical Character Book 2
• New Historical Character Book 3
• New Historical Character Book 4
• New Historical Character Book 5
• New Historical Character Book 6

Love those Doll Diaries sleuths – like Jenny – who find the coolest clues to American Girl scoop going!! Thank you.

According to the Transatlantic Literary Agency website, Kathleen Ernst has a set of 6 books in the works for American Girl to be released in 2012. How interesting!! And they are supposed to be historical – even more interesting!

Kathleen Ernst has authored many of the American Girl mysteries and has written other history-based stories for young adults. Some of her titles include:

• The Runaway Friend: A Kirsten Mystery (American Girl Mysteries)
• Danger At The Zoo: A Kit Mystery (American Girl Mysteries)
• Clues in the Shadows: A Molly Mystery (American Girl Mysteries)

Now, we just have to patiently wait for more clues as to who the new girl will be!

It’s that time of year again! The time of year where American Girl doll fans of all ages start to wonder… they want to know… they just can’t wait… for the American Girl of the Year for the coming year. In this case it means we are all wanting to know just who the American Girl of the Year 2012 will be. I think we have been given some pretty good clues. I will be continuing to update this post as we get more information about the new doll, her story and sneak peeks.

HERE IS AN UPDATE (as of December 26):

Check: More Pictures of McKenna for a photo of her Loft Bed set

Here is another picture of the McKenna doll

Here is the long awaited photo of the AGOTY2012 doll McKenna Brooks from the Time Out Kids NY publication:

** Please remember that if you post this image or any image on this site (or any site for that matter) on another site you should ask permission and at a minimum be sure to always link back to your source.

And an ad for her books (sent in by Samantha):

HERE IS AN UPDATE (as of December 19):

It has been confirmed that the American Girl of the Year 2012 will be named McKenna Brooks. Supposedly the press have received their packets, but are under embargo (which means they agree to not say a word!) until December 26. Here’s hoping something surfaces before then, though. And I just found out that someone on the AGPlaythings message board has posted pictures of the GOTY 2012 book covers so it is just a matter of time before they show up elsewhere.

Here is a picture of McKenna the GOTY 2012:

Please note: I do not know the original source of this image. It was emailed to me, I have seen it on YouTube, have seen it posted on other blogs, and heard it was originally post on the AGPlaythings message board which I no longer have an account for.

There is also talk of McKenna having a new face mold – she is the first doll to have a “heart shaped” face – oh, the anticipation!

American Girl of the Year 2012 Books

We now have the official Library of Congress summaries. Looks like gymnastics, horses, disabilities awareness and teamwork are top themes in this series.

• McKenna – Girl of the Year 2012 Book 1 (American Girl Today) by Mary Casanova – Seattle fourth-grader McKenna Brooks, who lives for gymnastics, struggles with school work until Josie, a tutor confined to a wheelchair, helps her with reading comprehension and much more. (Library of Congress summary)
• McKenna, Ready to Fly – Girl of the Year 2012 Book 2 (American Girl Today)by Mary Casanova – When Seattle fourth-grader McKenna Brooks’ cast comes off she dives back into gymnastics training in hopes of making the competitive team, but after volunteering at a therapeutic horseback riding center, she considers broadening her interests. (Library of Congress summary)
• Activity Book: Take the Challenge – Challenge yourself and others to these furiously fast and fabulously fun games! Includes timed challenges, art challenges, puzzle challenges, kindness challenges, family challenges, holiday challenges, and more! Fun facts, write-in logs, reward certificates, and other cool tools, will help you improve your skills, monitor your scores, and motivate yourself in work and play. So, go! (Description from Amazon)

On the American Girl in-store events page, quite a few events for the debut of the GOTY 2012 have been added. For example:

A Movie in the Works

While there has been a lot of discussion as to whether the American Girl movie that is currently in production is the direct to DVD movie that will accompany the American Girl of the Year 2012 release or is the long rumored Julie, An American Girl Musical theatrical release, based on a photo posted on Twipic by Nia Vardalos which shows Nia, Olympic Gymnast Cathy Rigby and author Mary Casanova, I think it is safe to say that the movie is for the GOTY 2012 and not Julie.

The movie, which is currently untitled is being filmed in Winnepeg, Canada. According to IMDB the current cast includes:

• Jade Pettyjohn – McKenna Brooks
• Ysa Penarejo – I think she is the character Tammy
• Nia Vardalos- as McKenna’s Mother
• Ian Ziering- as McKenna’s Father
• Kerris Dorsey – Josie
• Will Woytowich
• Kadence Kendall Roach
• Paiten Raine Roach

The movie synopsis is:

AMERICAN GIRL Velma is a wonderfully spirited, strong-willed young gymnast with Olympic aspirations, whose whole world comes crashing down when she is unexpectedly sidelined by an injury. Unfocused, with her grades slipping; she meets a tutor “Jane” and learns a few choice life lessons about what really matters.

And possibly more about the main characters from National Feature Film Casting:

• McKenna - 9-12 years old. McKenna is a wonderfully spirited, strong willed, hard charging little girl whose whole world comes crashing down when she is unexpectedly sidelined. She meets Josie and learns a few choice life lessons about what really matters.
• Josie- 12-15 years old, She is smart, funny, and instantly likeable. None of her spunk or spirit is hampered by the fact that she is confined to a wheelchair. She is hired to help McKenna and though they get off to a rocky start, they soon become inseparable. Josie gently guides McKenna through the minefield that pre adolescence can bring.
• Toulane (not confirmed)- 9-12 years old. She is McKenna’s BFF and used to being #1 in all she does. When Toulane finds out McKenna lied to her about Josie, she is both hurt and confused. But the girls soon patch it up and figure out that more than just two girls can be BFF’s.

Questions

• Big question – will AG release three dolls again like they did with Chrissa??
• Why a gymnast? In my opinion, American Girl chose to have the GOTY 2012 as a gymnast because 2012 is an Olympic year and we all know that gymnastics is the darling of the summer games.

Sources:

• Photo of Jade Pettyjohn and her on screen Dad, Ian Zehring
• Various photos posted by Nia Vardalos on Twitpic
• Winnepeg Free Press
• National Feature Film Casting
• Library of Congress

I will be updating this post as we get more information. If you have anything to add to the GOTY 2012 scoop, please email me at share@dolldiaries.com and be sure to cite your source – where you found the information or another way I can verify it.

UPDATE 10/11/11 – American Girl posted on their Facebook wall that the St. Louis store will open in the Spring of 2012. And here it is in the St. Louis Business Journal, too.

According to the St. Louis Business Journal, American Girl got the green light from Chesterfield’s Planning Commission this week to open its first doll store in Missouri.

There is no specific timeline for opening the store as of now and American Girl will not confirm this until a lease is signed, the proposed store will take over an existing space in the Chesterfield Mall. Chesterfield Mall is located in a western suburb of St. Louis and has many of the high end stores that already attract the type of shopper American Girl loves.

As always, we’ll keep you posted!

UPDATED May 25, 2011!!

Thanks to Gabriela who has been lucky enough to see the books first hand at the book publisher’s show and is sending me pictures.

Meet Marie-Grace and Meet Cécile book covers. Cecile lives with her sculptor father, businesswoman mother, older brother, grandfather, widowed aunt and her son. She also has an AA housekeeper and cook and a white housemaid. Marie-Grace lives with her doctor father, uncle, no-nonsense housekeeper, and dog.

The Friends and Family page of Meet Marie-Grace.

The Friends and Family page of Meet Cécile.

As I get more photos I will be adding them to this page.

******

May 8, 2011

Wow! American Girl historical character fans are in for a treat this year! Two new characters will be introduced and some of the first official photos of their illustrations/covers are beginning to surface, like these that were emailed to me by a reader today.

Introducing Cécile and Marie-Grace!  Meet Marie-Grace will be authored by Sarah Masters Buckey and Meet Cécile will be authored by Denise Lewis Patrick. The books are set in New Orleans, 1853. The theme color is pale blue. There are three books from the point of view of each of the two girls, and the story seems to be intertwined. The girls are from “very different worlds” but they some how meet and become friends. The 1853 yellow fever epidemic is a main plot point.

So, what are your thoughts? I am really excited for these new characters and their stories. Of course, as we get more information we will post it.

There are also pictures of the book covers posted here. Hopefully we will see even more in the next few weeks.

Update – these were first posted by Calyndra on the AG Playthings message board.

UPDATE!! We now know that there will be two new historical characters from American Girl this year and their names are…. Marie-Grace and Cécile!  Meet Marie-Grace will be authored by Sarah Masters Buckey and Meet Cécile will be authored by Denise Lewis Patrick. What we don’t know is if one of the dolls is a “friend” doll, what their story line will be or what they will look like, but as more clues are unveiled, we will post them here!

And FYI – the titles of the books were found here.

PREVIOUSLY POSTED:

Again, those Doll Diaries sleuths have uncovered more details about the upcoming American Girl Historical doll release. It looks like her books will be authored by Sarah Masters Buckey (books 1, 3 and 5) and Denise Lewis Patrick (books 2, 4 and 6) and all will be illustrated by Christine Kornacki. The books have a release date of August 2011.

Right now Amazon has the first book in the character’s series listed as New Historical Character Book 1 (American Girl) and it is available for pre-order.

So, rumor has it there will be two new historical characters and looking at the authors, it makes you wonder if we are finally going to get our new African American girl that we have been waiting so patiently for AG to make. Of course, this is just ME thinking out loud.

As I get more information, I will be sure to post it here.

UPDATE: A new historical doll is on its way. According to American Girl, girls who are on the 25th anniversary cruise will be introduced to the new historical doll:

New Historical Character Event
Your girl can be one of the first to enjoy this in-depth introduction to the newest addition to our historical character line. The event gives girls the chance to discover more about the stories, find out what it was like growing up in that time, and create crafts inspired by the era. For guests ages 8 and up.

So, does that mean those on the cruise will be the first to have the opportunity to buy her? Will she be released in time for Christmas 2011? Or will they be getting a sneak peak for the doll to be released in 2012? What do you think?

____

From my original post:

Between one of our reader’s (Libby) tip and some research of my own, I have found a little bit of info on a possible American Girl historical doll release set for June 2011.

From illustrator Christine Kornacki’s website:

LONG OVERDUE UPDATE
05/13/09 08:25 PM
Though my updates have been few and far between lately, don’t be alarmed. These lack of updates are not due to a lack of work. In fact, they are due to a surplus. For the past seven months, I have been working on a long term freelance job with the one and only American Girl Company. I am in the process of Illustrating not only my first book, but my first series of books! The details are very hush hush at the moment. But I can tell you, its going to be BIG. I still have another six months of painting before the project is finished, and the books are set to be released in June 2011. I’ll give you more info when I can. In the meantime, I’m sorry for the lack of new paintings being posted on here. Keep an eye out, though, new stuff is on the way.

And from a discussion board (less reliable):

My son and his girlfriend are “models” for adult characters in an upcoming American Girl book featuring a new doll in 2011. Their friend is the illustrator for a few of the upcoming books-a project she has been working on for over a year! From what they tell me(its super “hush=hush”) -its a Western theme book/Doll

So, what do you think? Is this Denise or Sarah? Or have you found out anything more in your research?

I’d like to remind everyone that none of this has been confirmed and there is no way of knowing whether the message board post is credible or related to the announcement from the illustrator.

One thing I am certain of when it comes to the American Girl doll collecting community is that once there is rumor of a new doll, they become very impatient for new information. We just want to know all the details as soon as possible.

For 2010 what we know so far, is that we are highly likely to get 2 new historical characters, Denise and Sarah. What we don’t know is if they are both historical dolls complete with the 6-book series and their own line OR if one of them is a friend doll who is going against the normal pattern and getting 6 stories instead of one. What do you think?

We don’t have much more info than that right now. We don’t know what era they are from or any book plots yet.

And in retirement news, if everything follows the pattern set to this point, Molly is the most logical choice for retirement this year. This has not been confirmed – it is just speculation.

As always, if you find any more details, let me know. Most of the info in this post has been gleaned from a variety of sources including reader comments, emails and information found readily on the internet.

Lanie Book Cover

Thanks to some amazing sleuthing and generous sharing from a Doll Diaries reader – here is the photo of the Lanie book cover. And UPDATED with the cover art for the second book, Lanie’s Real Adventures.

Lanie's Real Adventures

Now, to see how she looks in doll form!! Again, if you have any more scoop, email it to share@dolldiaries.com.

UPDATE:

Here is what the cover of the book looks like:

As the release date for the American Girl of the Year – GOTY 2010 gets closer and closer, we are starting to get more clues as to who she is and what her stories will be all about. I think we can confirm that the name of the American Girl GOTY 2010 will be Lanie based on the screen capture of Chapters.ca website that was just sent to me by Hannah’s mom:

Thanks to the fabulous Doll Diaries readers who help find all the best doll scoop!!

UPDATE – we have more info on the book storylines:

The Twilight movie phenomenom is coming to the Barbie collection. Toys “R” Us will being selling exclusive Bella and Edward “Barbie and Ken” dolls in October 2009. The Canadian TRU already has the dolls available for pre-sale but they won’t ship until late November.

Characters Bella Swan and Edward Cullen are dressed in their trademark outfits and they have done a great job with making the Edward doll’s skin tone and facial features true to the movie character.

What do think of them? I think they are gorgeous and would be a must for true Twilight fan or movie doll collection.

UPDATE: Not only are there Barbie Bella and Edward dolls, Tonner and Neca have released their collections, too. You can see them all here.