American Girl was my life when I was younger. I read all the books, had five dolls and five beds and five sets of wardrobes, went to the American Girl Store in Chicago and blew years’ worth of savings in less than two hours, attended historical events at my local living history museum and with my grandmother in her city’s museum…

And then middle school happened, and I grew older, and the magazines stopped coming and I was out of the loop.

Sad.

But then (!) I became a bookseller, and now I’m “meeting” all of the new AGs and looking forward to the stories they have to tell! Finally, this week, a new girl has arrived that I know nothing about and the younger girls I sell books to are just as excited as I am!

Meet Caroline Abbott! She’s stuck in the middle of the War of 1812 (AG appears to have broken the ‘[#]4 formula), and a lot is going to turn her world upside down.

Caroline Abbott is doing what she loves most—sailing on Lake Ontario with Papa—when her world turns upside down. A British officer boards their sloop, announces that Britain and America are once again at war, and takes her father prisoner. As Papa is led away, Caroline promises him that she will be brave until he returns. Then the British attack her village, and it looks as if the Americans are in trouble. Can she stay steady enough to help win the day?

My favorites in the boxed sets were the Christmas / winter / holiday stories. I genuinely want to start with Caroline’s winter story first whenever I get the chance to feel ten again.