I Was Off By A Decade

I had a feeling that with the passage of years American Girl's next book series would be about someone more modern: I guessed a 1964 book, but it seems they've gone post-Vietnam instead. The new American Girl is Julie, who's moving away from her Dad and her best friend Ivy after her parents' divorce to live over her Mom's San Francisco clothing store.

Meet Julie (American Girls Collection)

I was just graduating high school and then starting college in 1974, so for this to be "historical" really makes me feel old. :-)

I was really hoping the next series would be around 1914 (perhaps an immigrant girl with ties to one of the countries involved in World War I) or 1874 or 1884 with perhaps a Jewish character in the city.

(Update 09/08: Having now seen the Julie books, I must admit #5 looks interesting: she goes cross-country in a wagon train to celebrate the Bicentennial. I remember telling my father we had to go somewhere historical for vacation that year; he wouldn't go near Philadelphia, so we visited Williamsburg/Yorktown/Jamestown instead. However, having seen the covers up close, Julie looks too old to me; Molly, Kit and the others clearly look like 9-year-olds but to me Julie almost looks about thirteen. At least they have her in the correct grade, fourth, although—fourth graders had basketball teams in 1974? We didn't even have basketball in elementary school gym class in 1968, nor did the school have it after I left. Maybe California schools were different?

And having looked over the companion Ivy book, I wish she'd been the American Girl instead.)