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American Girl Offers a New Spin on Historical Fiction with BeForever™
This fall, American Girl will re-launch its beloved historical-character line of books with a fresh new look and an exciting new format. Each BeForever character is featured in an all-new fiction title that lets the reader star in the story.
“By talking to our customers—girls and moms—we know that there are some young readers who think historical fiction is about the distant past and not relevant to their lives today,” says executive editor Jennifer Hirsch. To overcome that narrative distance, each story in the Journey series is told from the perspective of a contemporary girl who is transported to the past, where she meets a BeForever character. For example, in Full Speed Ahead: My Journey with Kit, the narrator finds herself in 1934, where she meets Depression-era Kit Kittredge and shares adventures with her. “Portraying Kit’s world through the eyes and voice of a girl growing up today gives young readers a direct connection to the story,” says Hirsch.
The reader becomes a part of the action in each Journey title by choosing what happens next at key points in the story. In The Lilac Tunnel: My Journey with Samantha, “the time traveler is asked if she’s the new servant girl,” explains author Erin Falligant. “The reader then decides whether to continue the story as a servant girl or as Samantha’s well-to-do cousin—two very different experiences! Readers can then go back and follow a different branch, to see how their choices change the story.”
As part of the BeForever™ line, American Girl is also reissuing each character’s original six-book series as two novels. The stories are lightly edited, just enough to flow them together, making it easier for readers to access a character’s whole series.
For readers new to American Girl, which line, Classics or Journeys, is the best introduction to the BeForever characters? “It really depends on the girl,” says Hirsch. “For girls who know and like historical fiction, the Classics offer a more detailed sense of what it was like to grow up long ago. But for girls who gravitate more to contemporary fiction or fantasy, the Journey books provide a more familiar narrator and perspective, while still offering a rich snapshot of life in America’s past.”
For a full listing of the new American Girl offerings, click here! |
