Dolls of Our Lives

Lois Lowry's classic novel Number the Stars shares the true story of the Danish resistance movement during the Holocaust. For a generation of readers, the story of Annemarie Johnansen and her friend Ellen Rosen served as an introduction to the experiences of children raised in Europe over the course of World War II. When we first meet Annemarie, she is unsure as to whether she has courage, but she...

Would you befriend a ghost? Better yet, would you leave the 1990s to spend time in the 19th century? Young Zoe, the protagonist of Stonewords, decides she's cool with doing both. From a young age, Zoe develops a bond with a girl named Zoe Louise. The relationship is rocky, and one of their main issues is that Zoe Louise is dead (or half dead, depending on the chapter). We go on a journey with Zoe...

With the 2022 Olympic Games warming our hearts and making us wish for brand new ice skates, we knew it was time...time to learn more about the one and only (Ambassador) Michelle Kwan! Join us in reading Heart of a Champion , one of Michelle Kwan's many autobiographies. Some people might wait to finish high school before writing a memoir, but Michelle had lived enough to write a book at 17. We talk...

Imagine leaving your home in Washington, D.C., and moving to Hawaii mere weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Barry Denenberg takes on this thought experiment and a world of family conflict in one of his offerings to the Dear America series. In this episode, we cover the absolute whirlwind that is Early Sunday Morning: The Pearl Harbor Diary of Amber Billows, Hawaii 1941. Released on October 1...

The Princess Diaries is a novel about an ordinary teen, Mia Thermopolis, who discovers she is actually heir to a throne in a distant country few people have even heard of. In addition to the challenges of math class, Mia has to decide if she would like to be the ruler (someday) of this small, fictional foreign nation. We discuss this classic coming-of-age story and the enduring allure (or fear) of...

Did you know one of the greatest interpreters of literature is a dog? Wishbone is one of the greats, and on this ep we get into why. Original air date: October 16, 2023 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

This month, we read A Coal Miner's Bride: The Diary of Anetka Kaminska. This fictional diary was written by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, who doesn’t shy away from complex or dark histories. Our lead Anetka marries a miner at age 13 and is a widow by 14. The book builds to the Lattimer massacre, with Anetka narrating her story and the challenges of being young and far from home along the way. Join us...

The Birchbark House has finally moved off the Patreon TBR list. This beautifully written novel by Louise Erdrich has been much requested by you, our listeners! Set in 1847, The Birchbark House is a story about an Ojibwa girl named Omakayas. Throughout the book, we spend several seasons with Omakayas and her kin as they weather a smallpox outbreak. Omakayas learns more about her own history and sta...

For this episode, Mary and Allison bravely took on a pair of brand-new Tamagotchi digital pets. It's true what folks say: the days are long, but the Tamagotchi years go very fast (especially when you hit the reset button). Learn about the origins of digital pets and hear our cautionary tales about the care and keeping of virtual creatures, including Neopets.   Original air date: August 23, 2023 Se...

Is this novel about a lavender haze or smoke and mirrors? How about both? In Lev AC Rosen’s Lavender House, a family of soap makers tries to keep their side of the street clean. There’s one big problem: someone in the Lavender home probably committed murder. Set in the Bay Area in 1952, Rosen’s novel imagines a home where queer love makes a chosen family—-and a poisonous mother tries to tear it ap...

You asked and we answered! This month’s Patreon episode features your burning questions about our book, Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can't Quit American Girl, out this month. What part of the book changed the most? Which topics required the most research? We cover these topics and more. This book would not exist without all of you, so this episode is also another chance to say thank you for your sup...

Tis the season … to be bombarded with MLM offers, fanatic workout club ads, and thought-terminating cliches (well, it is what it is!). For this month’s episode, we discuss Amanda Montell’s  Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism.  Montell is a linguist interested in why people end up in cults and how cultish language shapes all of us.   Original air date: November 27, 2021 See Privacy Policy at https...

This month our Patreon bonus features commentary on *Dear America: Voyage on the Great Titanic.*We talk about the iceberg-level cultural fascination with the ship, the Titanic Historical Society, and survivors' videos on Youtube. The Titanic documentary we discuss can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HchZvjV_4o   Original Air Date: April 20, 2020 See Privacy Policy at https://art19....

What does your family tree say about you? Maud Newton tackles this question in her new and powerful book,  Ancestor Trouble . Through this project, Newton asks probing questions about a number of her ancestors, questioning family myths and stories along the way. Using her talent as a researcher, Newton uncovers the true stories of relatives whose lives were or are complex, fascinating, and at time...

Earlier this year, Selma Blair published her memoir entitled Mean Baby. Described as “mean” in her early years, Blair has been searching for labels that fit for decades. A self-described seeker, Blair has looked to psychics, fellow celebrities, teachers, and writers to figure out how to write her own story. In this book, Blair talks about some of her more famous roles (Cecile in Cruel Intentions,...

Fifty years after the Watergate scandal, and endless “gates” later, what can we learn from a children’s book about one of America’s most famous crooks? For this Patreon episode, we looked at the dense and at times, baffling children’s book called The Story of Watergate. Though this is hardly a cool bedtime read, it does shed light on an important moment of reckoning.   Original air date: June 17,...

In anticipation of the Barbie movie coming out this July, we took a dive into the corporate history of America’s (smaller) doll. Join us for a review of  Barbie and Ruth: The Story of the World's Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her.  Robin Gerber’s dual biography charts the rise of Barbie under the leadership of the ruthless girlboss Ruth Handler. Her book shares fascinating information...

A wise person once said: "having fun is never hard when you've got your library card." To this precious adage, we'd like to add an additional locale for future fun consideration: the fictional Telegraph Club. In this month's feature, we decided to read Malinda Lo's phenomenal YA book Last Night at the Telegraph Club. We discuss the fantastic resources in the book (a bibliography! timelines!) along...

With so much recent discussion about the ideas and intentions of the "founders," we decided to watch the film version of the musical 1776...so you won't have to. Clocking in at 2 hours and 45 minutes, this performance will give you more questions than answers as to how the Declaration of Independence was actually written. We talk about Mr. Feeny's (a.k.a William David Daniels's) turn as John Adams...

"I'll never forget the day I got stuck on Lisa Frank!" With these immortal words, Mila Kunis launched her career and the sticker obsessions of at least a million young people.  In this Patreon episode, we talk all about the world of Lisa Frank. We share our own favorite characters, discuss the complex naming conventions of some of the more popular designs, and delve into the dark world of the Lisa...

Happy Halloween! On this episode we read Avi's Something Upstairs (1988). Seeing your favorite childhood keychain may take you back for a moment. But what if that keychain could also take you to another time period? Would you do what needed to be done to stop an injustice from repeating? Avi’s 1988 classic Something Upstairs  asks and answers those questions, and boldly breaks the space time conti...

There comes a time in every woman's life when she must...flee from her family's summer estate holding precious heirlooms in trash bags? For this month's Patreon episode, we read Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty. This short, punchy, and very readable family biography was written by Anderson Cooper (descendent of Vanderbilts) and Katherine Howe (descendent of some of Salem's fine...

In preparation for our upcoming Melody episodes, this month’s feature is  Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop  (2022). Shine Bright  is Danyel Smith's love letter to the important musicians in her life. A prominent music journalist, Smith has sat across from some of the biggest names in pop over the past few decades. In a series of biographical chapters, Smith shares her ex...

For our final episode, we took some twinspiration from the newest historical AGs: Isabel and Nicki Hoffman. When we meet Isabel, she is trying to perfect her Spice Girls choreography in time for a performance on New Year's Eve. Nicki, on the other hand, is learning how to make zines and skateboarding around Seattle. Both girls are struggling with sharing a bedroom, defining Girl Power, and the thr...

It's 1986, and Courtney Moore's summer break is off to a great start. After participating in Hands Across America, she's ready to hit the arcade, read her American Girl catalogue, and make new friends, including a boy named Isaac. But Courtney faces unexpected challenges when she hits the books that fall. When others learn that Isaac is HIV positive, he is forced to leave Courtney's school. For th...