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[[File:ValerieTripp.jpg|thumb|325px]]
'''Valerie Tripp''' is the most prolific author for [[American Girl]] and one of the first creators of the stories; she was the first person initially brought into the company idea by founder [[Pleasant Rowland]].

==Biography==

Valerie Tripp was born in 1951 in Mt. Kisco, New York; she was the middle of five with two older sisters and one younger sister and brother.<ref name="bio">[http://biography.jrank.org/pages/2169/Tripp-Valerie-1951.html Valerie Tripp Biography]</ref>. Tripp easily learned to read while playing school with her older sisters, and later taught her younger siblings, but was terrible at multiplication.<ref name="bio"/>

She majored in Philosophy and graduated from Yale University (from the first year of co-ed classes) in 1973 with a Bachelors of Arts with honors; She initially worked with Little, Brown, and Co. publishing company; this was followed by working for Addison-Wesley textbook publishing, where she wrote songs, stories, and skills exercises for the elementary grade reading program. She later graduated from Harvard University with a Masters in Education in 1981 and developed educational programs for educational publishers such as Houghton Mifflin, Macmillan, and Harcourt.

She and Rowland both worked as editorial staff at Addison-Wesley; she was first hired by Pleasant Rowland to write songs, stories, plays, nonfiction essays, and skills book pages for a reading program called "The Superkids."<ref name="Q&A">[https://www.crackingthecover.com/qa-with-american-girl-author-valerie-tripp/ Q&A with American Girl author Valerie Tripp]</ref>

She currently lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with her husband, Michael and has a daughter, Katherine (born c. 1988). Her hobbies and other interests include reading, hiking, and conversation.

==As Part of Pleasant Company/American Girl==

In 1983, Rowland first discussed the idea of American Girl--then referred to as "Sunshine Books"--in a postcard sent to Ms. Tripp.<ref name="MakingofAG">''[[The Making of American Girl]]''</ref> and later asked her to help with the launch of Pleasant Company.

Tripp wrote the first outlines of the stories for the characters [[Kirsten Larson]], [[Molly McIntire]], and [[Samantha Parkington]]. She later went on to write the [[Central Series]] books for Molly McIntire, selecting her of the first three because she felt that it would be more of a challenge to make the time period matter to readers.<ref name="Pat">[https://www.patriciamnewman.com/kidlit-creators/valerie-tripp-renews-energy/ Meet Valerie Tripp], www.patriciamnewman.com</ref>

Tripp later took over for the last three of Samantha's books (after the [[Susan S. Adler|first author]] was removed from the project after two books and [[Maxine Rose Schur|the second author]] only wrote one book before stepping down). She then wrote the following: all of Felicity's, Josefina's and Kit's books; several Historical [[Short Stories]] (including for [[American Girl Magazine]]); Josefina's first [[Historical Character Mysteries|mystery]]; the companion meet books for Nellie, Elizabeth, Emily, and Ruthie; Maryellen's central stories; and [[My Journey Books]] for Kit, Molly, and Maryellen. (She is thus credited in any collections, including Classic Volumes and Abridged versions.)

Notably, Tripp's entire first draft of ''Meet Josefina'' was thrown out, forcing her to rewrite it<ref name="Pat" />. She also rewrote ''[[Samantha Saves the Day]]'' after her initial plot to have [[Grandmary]] die to move Samantha to New York City and in with Gard and Cornelia was considered callous by her husband when he told her; he argued that he liked Grandmary and didn't want to see her "bumped off."<ref name="MakingofAG"/>

Tripp also wrote all the books for the [[Hopscotch Hill School]] series and all the American Girl published books for the [[WellieWishers]] series; the writer guides that came with the [[American Girl of Today Writing Books]]; the plays in the [[Theater Kits]]; and three [[American Girl Magazine Plays]] for historical characters.

Several of the experiences that are written in the Historical Series are based on Tripp's own childhood experiences. Examples include Samantha's adventures in New York City being based on Tripp's memories of family visits to the city to see Broadway plays and go to museums, as well as Felicity's adventures reflecting Tripp's fascination with colonial history and visiting Colonial Williamsburg with her family at age ten. Her experience of attending a concert at the Governor's Palace was the basis of Felicity's attendance at the Governor's Ball during the holiday season.<ref name="bio"/> Tripp's mother inspired events of Kit's books, as her mother was the same age as Kit in 1932 and her father (Tripp's grandfather) lost his business due to the Great Depression. He died on Christmas when her mother was eleven years old; after this, her mother (Tripp's grandmother) took in boarders to earn extra money. Her mother did many of the same chores Kit does in her series. (This is stated in the special edition of ''[[Meet Kit]]''.)

She received the Children's Choice Award from the International Reading Association in 1987 for ''Meet Molly: An American Girl.''

Other books written by Tripp and not related to American Girl include the ''Just One More'' series of children's books and the STEAM focused book series ''Izzy Newton and the S.M.A.R.T. Squad'' for National Geographic.

==American Girl Books==
===[[Historical Characters]] (including [[BeForever]])===

====[[Felicity Merriman]] and [[Elizabeth Cole]]====

* ''[[Meet Felicity]]''
* ''[[Felicity Learns a Lesson]]''
* ''[[Felicity's Surprise]]''
* ''[[Happy Birthday, Felicity!]]''
* ''[[Felicity Saves The Day]]''
* ''[[Changes for Felicity]]''
* All stories in [[Felicity's Short Story Collection]]
* ''[[Very Funny, Elizabeth]]''

====[[Josefina Montoya]]====

* ''[[Meet Josefina]]''
* ''[[Josefina Learns a Lesson]]''
* ''[[Josefina's Surprise]]''
* ''[[Happy Birthday, Josefina!]]''
* ''[[Josefina Saves The Day]]''
* ''[[Changes for Josefina]]''
* All Stories in [[Josefina's Short Story Collection]]
* ''[[The Glowing Heart]]''

====[[Samantha Parkington]] and [[Nellie O'Malley]]====

* ''[[Happy Birthday, Samantha!]]''
* ''[[Samantha Saves The Day]]''
* ''[[Changes for Samantha]]''
* All Stories in [[Samantha's Short Story Collection]]
* ''[[Nellie's Promise]]''

====[[Kit Kittredge]] and [[Ruthie Smithens]]====

* ''[[Meet Kit]]''
* ''[[Kit Learns a Lesson]]''
* ''[[Kit's Surprise]]''
* ''[[Happy Birthday, Kit!]]''
* ''[[Kit Saves The Day]]''
* ''[[Changes for Kit]]''
* All Stories in [[Kit's Short Story Collection]]
* ''[[Really Truly Ruthie]]''
* ''[[Full Speed Ahead: My Journey with Kit]]''

====[[Molly McIntire]] and [[Emily Bennett]]====

* ''[[Meet Molly]]''
* ''[[Molly Learns a Lesson]]''
* ''[[Molly's Surprise]]''
* ''[[Happy Birthday, Molly!]]''
* ''[[Molly Saves The Day]]''
* ''[[Changes for Molly]]''
* All Stories in [[Molly's Short Story Collection]]
* ''[[Brave Emily]]''
* ''[[Chances and Changes: My Journey with Molly]]''

====[[Maryellen Larkin]]====

* ''[[The One and Only]]''
* ''[[Taking Off]]''
* ''[[The Sky's the Limit: My Journey with Maryellen]]''
* ''[[Maryellen: My Diary]]''

===Plays for American Girl Magazine===

* [[Annoying Annabelle]]
* [[Samantha's Surprising Birthday]]
* [[Molly's Teammates]]

===[[Hopscotch Hill School]] Series===

* ''[[Good Sport Gwen]]''
* ''[[Lindy's Happy Ending]]''
* ''[[Hallie's Horrible Handwriting]]''
* ''[[Teasing Trouble]]''
* ''[[Thank You, Logan!]]''
* ''[[Bright, Shiny Skylar]]''
* ''[[The Fair-Share Pair]]''
* ''[[The One and Only Delaney]]''

===[[WellieWishers]] Series ===
* ''[[Ashlyn's Unsurprise Party]]''
* ''[[The Muddily-Puddily Show]]''
* ''[[The Riddle of the Robin]]''
* ''[[Camille's Mermaid Tale]]''
* ''[[The Mystery of Mr. E]]''
* ''[[The Rainstorm Brainstorm]]''
* ''[[Willa's Wilderness Campout]]''
* ''[[Emerson and Princess Peep]]''
* ''[[The Clippity-Cloppity Carnival]]''
* ''[[The Princesses and the Dragon]]''
* ''[[Teamwork Magic]]''
* ''[[Ready to be Royal]]''
* ''[[A Fin-tastic Surprise]]''

===Miscellaneous===

* ''[[Introduction to Williamsburg]]''
* All script adaptions for the [[Theater Kits]]

==Links and Biographical Citations==

* [http://biography.jrank.org/pages/2169/Tripp-Valerie-1951.html Valerie Tripp Biography]
* [https://www.crackingthecover.com/qa-with-american-girl-author-valerie-tripp/ Q&A with American Girl author Valerie Tripp]
* [https://www.patriciamnewman.com/kidlit-creators/valerie-tripp-renews-energy/ Meet Valerie Tripp], www.patriciamnewman.com
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20181101092839/http://www.valerietripp.org/career.html Valerie Tripp - Career]; (archived site accessed 10/26/22)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20181101104852/http://valerietripp.org/about.htmlValerie Tripp - About]; (archived site accessed 10/26/22)

==References==
{{Refs}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tripp, Valerie}}
[[Category:Authors]]

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''This page incorporates text from [https://americangirl.fandom.com/wiki/Valerie_Tripp the source wiki] ([https://americangirl.fandom.com/index.php?oldid=130111 exported version], [https://americangirl.fandom.com/index.php?title=Valerie+Tripp&action=history contributor history]), under [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ the original text license].''

Valerie Tripp - Revision history

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