American Girl Talk

Hobos and Bums and Tramps, oh my! When a young hobo wanders into Kit's backyard, she's immediately adventure-cucked. Living in a tent, eating communal hobo soup? What a treat! What a dream!  Wrong! Turns out, being a vagabond is not nearly as cool as it seems, and actually scary! Oops! We could not have predicted this.  Chapters  0:00 - Our Darkest Book Yet  2:01 - Chapter One: Stuck!  10:02 - Cha...

The eggman cometh! Join us as we celebrate (or barely reference) Kit's upcoming 10th birthday! When Aunt Millie comes to town, she brings with her tons of ideas on how the Kittredges can actually save money and turn a profit with their failing boarding house business - but will the Kittredges be happy with these changes, or will they be inexplicably shamed by the idea of eating peaches out of a de...

It's a Depression-era Christmas, and Kit is NOT feeling the Christmas cheer - if you can even believe. Between Ruthie's dad threatening to evict her family as a New Year's gift and Ruthie giving her hand-me-down dresses, Kit is at her limit with financial stress, as any nine-year-old would be. But can she turn her Christmas around by performing a series of increasing random errands for her curmudg...

Our very first book where no lesson is learned - potentially! It's Thanksgiving at the Kittredge boarding house, and Kit is FED UP with all the boarders cramping her style. Dad will get a job any day, so there's no point in having them there, right? RIGHT? Wrong! Turns out, you can't trust adults to be honest, but you can trust us to give you the DL on everything happening in Kit's world on this w...

America may be depressed, but we certainly aren't (sometimes)! It's time to meet Kit - our spunky, plucky, Depression-era daddy's girl who just discovered her family is headed towards financial ruin! When a ghoulish boy and his maybe-questionable-mother move into the Kittredge house, Kit discovers that life is not fair, and Caroline and Celia wonder why the adults in Kit's world lie so much.  Chap...

You heard it here last, folks! American Girl just released their new Girl of the Year, and she comes equipped with clothes, accessories, and...Samantha lore? Tune in for a quick lil' snack of an episode where we discuss this breaking news! This podcast is for entertainment purposes only. Characters mentioned from the American Girl Doll books are the property of the Pleasance Company. 

It's time for another yap! We're taking a week off from reading about American Girls and we're simply talking about American Girls - Kirsten, Samanth, Molly, Felictiy, Addy, and Josefina! Join us as we rank, rant, rave and review what we've noticed and who's won our hearts. PLUS: Celia does some snooping and gets to the bottom of our frenemy, Valerie Tripp's relationship to the American Girl Doll...

WE WERE SO RIGHT. Love is IN THE AIR in the land of enchantment, but yearning is also at full throttle - and Papa and Tia Dolores do not know what to do with themselves! When Tia Dolores announces she's going to leave the rancho and move to Santa Fe, Josefina full-on crashes out because she KNOWS Tia Dolores is meant to be with Papa. Can Josefina mastermind the relationship into existence? We're l...

We can't even focus on this book because of the sheer amount of tension between Papa and Tía Dolores, but...    Josefina and her family are in Santa Fe to trade goods and save the ranch! When Josefina encounters the Rizzmaster Señor O'Toole, he says that he can help her family earn the money they need AND throw in something a lil extra to make Josefina's day! But can we trust this Americano? Are a...

Josefina's name day fast approaches, and she's LOCKED IN on becoming a healer. She's fostering goats, sniffing herbs, and cleaning pots off tall shelves - but will it be enough? Only time and bizarre circumstances will tell, so join us as we hyperfixate on what papa and Tia Dolores are doing, speculate on the logistics of snake attacks, and wonder if mallow root really could save the day!   Chapte...

Feliz Navidad! It's Christmastime for Josefina and her family, and everyone is wondering - for the first time since Mama's death - do they dare to be happy? The jury's out because Clara doesn't think so! She's hiding dolls, crashing out over altarpieces, and in general feeling glum about the holiday season. Can Josefina and Tia Dolores lift her spirits? Will Josefina unlock a classic American Girl...

*AUDIO DISCLAIMER* The ghost of Mama cursed this episode, so the audio in the first part is...bad! Stick with it though!  When a torrential flood kills a shocking number of sheep on the rancho, Tia Dolores swoops in to save the day! Josefina and her sisters must weave like their lives depend on it to save their family's fortunes, but could weaving lead to worse things - like forgetting the legacy...

Hola! Bienvenido a un nuevo episodio de American Girl Talk! We're down in the land of enchantment with Josefina, our newest gal! She's shy, she hates goats, and she's not even technically American at this point! It's been a year since Mama died, and the Montoya's are barely scraping by (emotionally)! When Mama's sister, Tia Dolores, comes to visit all the way from Mexico City, the rancho comes to...

This podcast is for entertainment purposes only. Characters mentioned from the American Girl Doll books are the property of the Pleasance Company. 

It’s full-on weep city at AGTHQ as we close the final chapter of Addy’s journey — the bravest girl in the American Girl universe. In the winter of 1865 Philadelphia, Addy clings to hope: hope for her family to be whole again, and for the freedom she’s fought so hard to claim. But freedom doesn’t come without cost, and we’re reminded that not every story ends neatly — or happily. Join us as we laug...

It's summertime in the city! War is over, the church is planning a fair, and Addy is in a full-out brawl with mean girl Harriet over puppets and magic. But puppets and magic are no match for thieves and amputees...and you'll have to listen to find out what that means. Join us as we hee-hee haw-haw and sometimes sob our way through yet another Addy book! Chapter Markers 0:00 - Welcome Back! Another...

Nothing says birthday quite like meeting a mystical blind woman, experiencing severe discrimination, and co-opting the end of the deadliest war on American Soil for your own birthday! Addy manages to do all these things and more. Celia is now a doll (Dollia), and Caroline is crashing out about Addy's tragic journey and her latest foster dog. Chapters  6:25 - Chapter One: Double Dutch  15:13 - Chap...

Merry Christmas in July! Addy's celebrating her first Christmas as a free girl, and she's locked in on getting Momma the best gift she can find. Life is complicated, though, and freedom isn't all it's cracked up to be when you're freezing in a garret with a barely functioning window. We delve into Addy and Momma's living situation, their generous spirits (which are even more generous than ours), a...

Addy's back and she's learning all kinds of lessons in this week's episode! From proper spelling to the inner machinations of dealing with mean girls, our little lady is learning that wars don't just happen on the battlefield; they happen in the classroom as well! Where will her allegiances lie? Is Harriet the worst? Should Sarah have gotten her own doll? Find out all this and more as we yap and g...

New Girl Alert! This week, we're covering Addy's harrowing journey to escape slavery and find freedom! It's full of horror, heartbreak, and unimaginable trauma - you know, kid stuff! Will she be successful? Will we, two white women, be able to cover this topic with the tact and delicacy it deserves? Tune in to find out! Chapters 0:00 - New Girl Alert! Meet Addy! 10:07 - Chapter One: Whispers of Fr...

We're back for another yap in between our coverage of the American Girl Doll books! Join us as we recap our thoughts on Kirsten, Samantha, Molly, and Felicity - who we liked, who we hated, who we LOVED, and who still might need to brush up on her ESL classes! We're going through funny hypotheticals, astrological charts, and fan fiction for your favorite not-real-book-couple (ifykyk). So take a sea...

Goodbye, Felicity—and hello darkness, my old friend. Revolution is brewing in Colonial Williamsburg, but that’s not the only upheaval in store for our favorite horse girl. Winter is a tough season for the Merriman family, and 1776 is no exception. In this final Felicity book, we dive into themes of friendship, rebellion, and whether we should be shipping Felicity and Ben (??). Oh—and we also casua...

It's summertime in Colonial Virginia and we feel weird about where Felicity's family decides to spend their idle time! But those feelings have NO time to manifest into a longer political rant because BEN IS MIA and it's up to his best girl to find him and save the day. Tune in for semi-problematic character shipping, an absolutely problematic inability to deal with an icky part of American history...

Justice for Felicity! On the eve of her birthday, Felicity is confronted with an age-old question: Do adults overreact to things? Like a lot? Luckily for us, our girl can't be stopped, and she turns another ambiguous "birthday" book into something more akin to a Saves the Day adventure.  And Ben is there! And, more complicated racial dynamics!  Chapters  0:00 - Welcome back! Jumping right in  2:09...

Hey cuties! Short bonus episode for ya about some news we heard on le Reddit. Kirsten Learns a Lesson has gotten a facelift, and the inclusion of the Dakota tribe is less egregious! Yippee!  We discuss that and more in a sweet Thursday special, and we would love to hear your thoughts! Kisses! This podcast is for entertainment purposes only. Characters mentioned from the American Girl Doll books ar...