MigrationBot: Imported latest exported content; source attribution retained.

2026-09-17T21:22:12Z

Imported latest exported content; source attribution retained.

New page

[[File:SamanthaMeetBook.jpg||thumb|300px|The Samantha doll with ''Meet Samantha'', an example of a Meet Book.]]
A ''Meet Book'' is a [[Fandom Terms|fandom term]] that refers to the first (or in some cases, only) book that comes bundled with a character [[Doll|doll]] at purchase to introduce the character.

==Overview and Details==

A meet book of some kind is always bundled with named character dolls at purchase. When a character is [[Retirement|retired]] or archived, the books are generally left available for separate purchase for some time afterwards.

===Historical Characters===
Meet books for [[Historical Characters]] were originally titled ''Meet <nowiki>[Name]</nowiki>: An American Girl.'' Historical meet books generally establish the setting, character, era, and background of the character, setting up the story that is expanded on in later books. In the [[Looking Back]] section, the topic of discussion is always America at the time of the series, and details about the pressing details that will serve as a theme through the series--for example, ''[[Meet Kit]]'' discusses the causes and lead up to the Great Depression, while ''[[Meet Caroline]]'' discusses the lead up to the War of 1812. This helps place historical context for the stories and characters. While [[Cécile Rey]] and [[Marie-Grace Gardner]] share a series, they are both given meet books; Cécile's discusses the lives of free blacks in New Orleans while Marie-Grace's discusses New Orleans specifically. [[Nicki Hoffman]] and [[Isabel Hoffman]] as twins share a meet book, but have individual character meet journals.

There were several sets that included all the released Historical Characters' meet books together, so as to introduce a purchaser to several characters at once. This was discontinued with [[Kaya'aton'my|Kaya]]'s release.

With [[Best Friend Characters]], the books are still considered unique meet books although the titles are unique; their books serve to show a unique angle for the character not previously detailed in the main Historical Character's central series, with books either set in the midst of or after the Historical Character's central series.

With the launch of [[BeForever]], the [[Central Series]] were rebundled into two volumes and the current historical dolls came with Volume 1 of their [[Central Series#BeForever Relaunch: 2014-Present|Classic Series]], which includes the full text of the original stand-alone book as well as the next two books. With the depreciation of the BeForever branding in 2019 and the abridged versions being released, the books and stories were abridged and the meet book may be partially contained in the new volume with sections removed. The exception is [[Samantha Parkington]], whose first volume was completely rewritten as ''[[Samantha: The Gift]]''; the rewrite removed the majority of ''Meet Samantha's'' events and story and only one chapter was kept intact.

===Modern Unnamed Dolls (Truly Me)===
In the early years of the [[My American Girl|American Girl of Today]], dolls came with a [[American Girl of Today Writing Books|six-book set]] that mimicked the Central Series, and came with writing guides that were intended to prompt the purchaser to create a central series of their own. These were later discontinued.

Starting in 2019, [[Truly Me]] dolls started coming with a copy of ''[[Friends: Making Them and Keeping Them]],'' which was later removed.

===Girls of the Year, Contemporary Characters, and World By Us===
With the [[Girls of the Year]] and [[Contemporary Characters]], the meet book is frequently titled with just the character's first name.<ref>Exceptions include Kanani, Lea, Z, Kira, all Girls of the Year starting with Kavi, and all the World By Us characters.</ref> The meet book establishes the location and characterization in a modern location, as well as issues faced by the character and, if applicable, locations traveled to.

Initially Girls of the Year only had one book available to tell the entire story for a character. Starting with [[Nicki Fleming]], characters had multiple books; the first book still establishes setting and character. [[Kavi Sharma]] comes with a journal and her meet book was released and sold separately, and this has been the pattern going forward with Girls of the Year that there is one main book and an accompanying journal.

The [[World by Us]] characters each have a meet book; all three books tie the characters together and occur in an observable chronological order.

==Terminology==

Because the first books for the [[Historical Characters]] were titled ''Meet ____'', this became the fandom term for several items. The initial outfit a character wears is labeled the [[Meet Outfits|meet outfit]] and the initial accessories are referred as [[Meet Accessories|meet accessories]]; the outfit shown on the cover matches what the character doll is (or was) dressed in at purchase. When Felicity's meet outfit was changed from the [[Rose Garden Gown]] to the [[Felicity's Traveling Gown|Traveling Gown]], her book covers were changed.

Exceptions:

* Ruthie Smithens is wearing a coat over her meet outfit.
* Molly McIntire was pictured in her meet outfit on the cover of the books until the 2004 cover revamp, where the cover showed her [[Molly's Halloween Outfit|Halloween Costume]]. With her [[BeForever]] volumes, the covers once again reflect the meet outfit that was available.
* Emily Bennett is wearing her [[Emily's Recital Outfit|recital outfit]] on the cover.
* Ivy Ling is wearing her [[Ivy's New Year Outfit|New Year outfit]].
* Kailey Hopkins is wearing her [[Kailey's Wet Suit and Bikini|wetsuit]].
* Luciana Vega is is wearing the jacket from her [[Luciana's Stellar Outfit|stellar outfit]] over her meet dress.
* Joss Kendrick is wearing her [[Joss's Surf and Swim Set|surfing swim set]].
* Kavi Sharma is wearing her [[Kavi's Performance Outfit|performance outfit]].
* Lila Monetti is wearing her [[Lila's Gymnastics Competition Outfit|competition outfit]].
* Raquel Reyes is wearing her [[Raquel's Beach Party Dress|beach party dress]].

==[[Historical Characters]] and [[Best Friend Characters]] Meet Books==

'''[[Kaya'aton'my|Kaya]]''':
*''[[Meet Kaya]]: An American Girl''
*''[[The Journey Begins]]''
*''[[Kaya: The Journey Begins]]''

'''[[Felicity Merriman]]''':
*''[[Meet Felicity]]: An American Girl''
*''[[Love and Loyalty]]''

'''[[Elizabeth Cole]]''':
*''[[Very Funny, Elizabeth]]''

'''[[Caroline Abbott]]''':
*''[[Meet Caroline]]: An American Girl''
*''[[Captain of the Ship]]''

'''[[Josefina Montoya]]''':
*''[[Meet Josefina]]: An American Girl''<ref>In Spanish, the title was ''Así es Josefina: Una Niña Americana'' ("Here is Josefina: An American Girl")</ref>
*''[[Sunlight and Shadows]]''
*''[[Josefina: Sunlight and Shadows]]''

'''[[Cécile Rey]]''':
*''[[Meet Cécile]]: An American Girl''

'''[[Marie-Grace Gardner]]''':
*''[[Meet Marie-Grace]]: An American Girl''

'''[[Kirsten Larson]]''':
*''[[Meet Kirsten]]: An American Girl''

'''[[Addy Walker]]''':
*''[[Meet Addy]]: An American Girl''
*''[[Finding Freedom]]''
*''[[Addy: Finding Freedom]]''

'''[[Samantha Parkington]]''':
*''[[Meet Samantha]]: An American Girl''
*''[[Manners and Mischief]]''
*''[[Samantha: The Gift]]''

'''[[Nellie O'Malley]]''':
*''[[Nellie's Promise]]''

'''[[Rebecca Rubin]]''':
*''[[Meet Rebecca]]: An American Girl''
*''[[The Sound of Applause]]''
*''[[Rebecca: The Sound of Applause]]''

'''[[Claudie Wells]]''':
*''[[Meet Claudie]]: An American Girl''

'''[[Kit Kittredge]]''':
*''[[Meet Kit]]: An American Girl''
*''[[Read All About It!]]''
*''[[Kit: Read All About It!]]''

'''[[Ruthie Smithens]]''':
*''[[Really Truly Ruthie]]''

'''[[Nanea Mitchell]]''':
*''[[Growing Up with Aloha]]''
*''[[Nanea: The Spirit of Aloha]]''
*''[[Nanea: My Diary]]''

'''[[Molly McIntire]]''':
*''[[Meet Molly]]: An American Girl''
*''[[A Winning Spirit]]''

'''[[Emily Bennett]]''':
*''[[Brave Emily]]''

'''[[Maryellen Larkin]]''':
*''[[The One and Only]]''
*''[[Maryellen: The One and Only]]''
*''[[Maryellen: My Diary]]''

'''[[Melody Ellison]]''':
*''[[No Ordinary Sound]]''
*''[[Melody: No Ordinary Sound]]''
*''[[Melody: My Diary]]''

'''[[Julie Albright]]''':
*''[[Meet Julie]]: An American Girl''
*''[[The Big Break]]''
*''[[Julie: The Big Break]]''
*''[[Julie: My Journal]]''

'''[[Ivy Ling]]''':
*''[[Good Luck, Ivy]]''

'''[[Courtney Moore]]''':
*''[[Courtney Changes the Game]]''
*''[[Courtney's Diary]]''

'''[[Nicki Hoffman]] and [[Isabel Hoffman]]''':
*''[[Nicki: My Journal]]''
*''[[Isabel: My Journal]]''
*''[[Meet Isabel and Nicki]]''

==[[Girls of the Year]] Meet Books==

*'''[[Lindsey Bergman]]''': ''[[Lindsey (book)|Lindsey]]''
*'''[[Kailey Hopkins]]''': ''[[Kailey (book)|Kailey]]''
*'''[[Marisol Luna]]''': ''[[Marisol (book)|Marisol]]''
*'''[[Jess McConnell]]''': ''[[Jess (book)|Jess]]''
*'''[[Nicki Fleming]]''': ''[[Nicki (book)|Nicki]]''
*'''[[Mia St. Clair]]''': ''[[Mia (book)|Mia]]''
*'''[[Chrissa Maxwell]]''': ''[[Chrissa (book)|Chrissa]]''
*'''[[Lanie Holland]]''': ''[[Lanie (book)|Lanie]]''
*'''[[Kanani Akina]]''': ''[[Aloha, Kanani]]''
*'''[[McKenna Brooks]]''': ''[[McKenna (book)|McKenna]]''
*'''[[Saige Copeland]]''': ''[[Saige (book)|Saige]]''
*'''[[Isabelle Palmer]]''': ''[[Isabelle (book)|Isabelle]]''
*'''[[Grace Thomas]]''': ''[[Grace (book)|Grace]]''
*'''[[Lea Clark]]''': ''[[Lea Dives In]]''
*'''[[Gabriela McBride]]''': ''[[Gabriela (book)|Gabriela]]''
*'''[[Luciana Vega]]''': ''[[Luciana (book)|Luciana]]''
*'''[[Blaire Wilson]]''': ''[[Blaire (book)|Blaire]]''
*'''[[Joss Kendrick]]''': ''[[Joss (book)|Joss]]''
*'''[[Kira Bailey]]''': ''[[Kira Down Under]]''
*'''[[Corinne Tan]]''': ''[[Corinne (book)|Corinne]]''
*'''[[Kavi Sharma]]''': [[Kavi's Journal]]; ''[[It's Showtime, Kavi!]]''
*'''[[Lila Monetti]]''': [[Lila's Journal]]; ''[[Lila Goes for Gold]]''
*'''[[Summer McKinny]]''': [[Summer's Journal]]; ''[[Summer Gets to Work]]''
*'''[[Raquel Reyes]]''': [[Raquel's Journal]]; ''[[Raquel Reyes Saves the Wedding]]''
*'''[[Daisy Davenport]]''': [[Meet Daisy Davenport]]; ''[[Daisy Davenport Saves the Day]]''

==[[Contemporary Characters]] Meet Books==

*'''[[Tenney Grant]]''': ''[[Tenney (book)|Tenney]]''
*'''[[Z Yang]]''': ''[[The Real Z]]''

==[[World by Us]] Meet Books==

*'''[[Makena Williams]]''': ''[[Makena: See Me, Hear Me, Know Me]]''
*'''[[Evette Peeters]]''': ''[[Evette: The River and Me]]''
*'''[[Maritza Ochoa]]''': ''[[Maritza: Lead with Your Heart]]''

== See Also==

* [[Meet Outfits]]
* [[Meet Accessories]]

==References==
{{Refs}}

[[Category:Fandom Terms]]
[[Category:Books]]
[[Category:Meet Books]]

----
''This page incorporates text from [https://americangirl.fandom.com/wiki/Meet_Books the source wiki] ([https://americangirl.fandom.com/index.php?oldid=131766 exported version], [https://americangirl.fandom.com/index.php?title=Meet+Books&action=history contributor history]), under [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ the original text license].''

Meet Books - Revision history

MigrationBot: Imported latest exported content; source attribution retained.