Dolls+Books=💕💕💕💕

I swear I lived in peak doll era. I am old enough to remember the full historical line of American Girl Dolls being available but young enough that I had monster high dolls. I was also an avid reader so I decided to pair these two things with nostalgia and create a list of must reads based on your doll choices. I will probably make more of these when I come up with more ideas.

Anyway…

🇺🇸🇺🇸American Girl Dolls🇺🇸🇺🇸

I picked books that either had historical events or a very American story line.

The Dear America series was a more “grown up” American Girl story, each book was a different person’s story through time. My personal favorite was “My Brothers Keeper” where a young girl keeps a diary for her brother who is fighting in the Civil War. She talks about life in Gettysburg leading up to the Battle of Gettysburg and even gets to see Lincoln’s speech. I feel like the series embodied the American Girl Doll brand to teach history through relatability.

The Magic Tree house series was a favorite of mine. It told the story of two siblings traveling around and seeing historical events. They did a really good job of being both historically accurate and kid friendly, both things the American Girl line strives for.

The Missing Series by Margaret Peterson Haddix is a “What if” series that asks the question, “What if the Missing kids from history were kidnapped to be adopted in the future but then crash land in modern times?” The books tell the stories of the kids going back to their time to try and go back to modern times where their adoptive families are. It’s a very suspenseful series and I love it.

All-American Girl By Meg Cabot is about a girl who saves the President on accident and then gets thrusted into the public eye. I felt like it belonged in this category because it is really a story about a girl trying to figure out who she is in American society. Something I feel is a message in the American Girl Doll Books.

💕💕Barbie💕💕

I really loved the Barbie movies so I picked books that had similar vibes to the movies.

I feel like the Rainbow Fairy Series has the same vibe as Fairytopia or any of the other fairy Barbie movies.

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine captures the magic of a Barbie movie. Just like the story of Cinderella but with a magical twist.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Hear me out… Barbie and the Diamond Castle.

Finally the Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot is a great movie but an even better book. It matches the Barbie Trope of “girl is actually a princess”

🛍️🛍️Bratz🛍️🛍️

For the Bratz books I wanted to focus on themes of friendship and fashion. There is one exception to this but it’s easy to explain.

First off, Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sofia Kinsella is iconic. I feel like Becky and Suze would fit right in with Cloe, Sasha, Jade and Yasmine. The fashion scene is iconic but I feel like the girls might need a little

Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard, is a friend group trying to solve who is terrorizing them. Honestly I stopped watching the show when they let Ezra exist long term and left out the Amish story line. But the bizarre things that happen in the series makes it feel like if Bratz got the CW treatment.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares is Bratz through and through.

The Selection series by Kierra Cass is also giving Bratz in a strange way. The Bratz message is all about individuality, friendship and self expression. I feel like America is very much a Bratz girl because she holds these traits. If you’ve never read the series you should because while it looks like just another dramatic “not like other girls” book it does turn into a series of friendship and standing up for what you believe in.

💀💀Monster High💀💀

Okay number 1, I’m impressed I didn’t cheap out and just use books from the actual series for this and I feel like that is impressive. Number 2: I wanted to pick books that were a little freaky, or had a school have to question itself completely.

Goosebumps by RL Stine is spooky done for kids. I feel like most of the creatures from these books can be characters in monster high. I want a Slappy doll now. Off topic but my favorite was always that camp one where the girl played the flute and swam in the lake with her friend. I loved the twists.

I feel like the Lunar Cronicles by Marissa Meyer is a good pairing because of how it did the fairytale retellings trope in a new way. I would also compare it to Once upon a time but if there were a bunch of sci-fi stuff happening.

The School for good and Evil by Soman Chainani is another fairytale retelling that I feel like fit the bill of “books that show that being yourself is important” which is something I feel is important to Monster High. I absolutely love the story of this book.

Lastly Dead City by James Ponti where a teenager has to go up against a secret society of Zombies that live under Manhattan. I feel like Molly embodies the spirit of Monster High even though she’s policing the Zombies. She manages to be freaky smart and freaky fabulous through her story.

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Okay so how do we feel about my choices? Any others we would add to the list or any to take away? Did you read these books?

🏷️: #lemon8bookclub #lemon8challenge #Barbie #Bratz #Monsterhigh