Rachel Reads & Reviews

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Tag: #americangirl

  • Reading Log 2025

    I know, I know, I said earlier this year I’d cut back on the reading. I didn’t reach a thousand, but I clearly didn’t stick to my goal. I blame the economy for not giving me a job to fill my time. Currently stands at 839 Any who, reading is better than drugs and I…

  • Sarah Masters Buckey Interview

    Sarah Masters Buckey is the author of several mysteries in the American Girl historical line, and the stand-alone History Mystery series. She graciously took the time to answer my questions about the historic fiction genre, working with the American Girl brand and what’s coming next. Enjoy! 1. What first drew you to writing? More specifically,…

  • History Mystery P2

    The second half of the series gets a little bit darker. The mysteries involve dangerous individuals whose actions are not explained away as a misunderstanding or bitterness. Often there is real hate or greed motivating them, and they have the weapons to back them up if others get in their way. There is more exploration…

  • Ranking Girls from Many Lands

    Now the other series American Girl spun off was the Girls from Many lands series for older middle schoolers tackling historical periods from eight different lands and more intense in some senses. What I mean is that half of the series tackles serious topics like court intrigue, colonization and genocide. The other half is more…

  • Ranking History Mystery

    Everyone knows American Girl, but in a brief space in the early 2000s, they branched out to two other series. The History Mysteries series is aimed more for older lower-schoolers and middle schoolers with slightly darker themes like racism, discrimination, and murder. Of course, mysteries are at their core too. These were my favorites as…

  • American Girl Retrospective

    Since I have almost finished my American Girl collection (4 more to go, woo woo), I decided to do a little retrospective on the series that has touched so many childhoods and have surely sparked my interest in historical fiction. My retrospective will be primarily focusing on the arc of the series since they’re pretty…

  • Thoughts on new American Girl cover

    So American Girl is releasing a new historical girl from the 1920s! Woo, I love that mainly because I love the 20s so it’ll be good for kids to have a new, admittedly more entertaining way to learn about the Harlem Renissance rather than just school books and lectures. However, I do have one cavet…

  • Kathryn Reiss Interview

    1. Your suspense varies from gothic-lite to time traveling adventures to mystical reincarnation. What are some of your favorite tropes to explore in mystery?  I love to write the sort of thing I love to read!  Some of the tropes that especially draw me are the baby left on the doorstep, the imposter among us,…

  • Jacqueline Dembar Greene Interview

    Jacqueline Dembar Greene is a writer of lower/middle grade historical fiction and creator of Rebecca Rubin for American Girl. In this here interview she talks about her inspiration, heritage and historical fiction books. She also kindly provided cover images. Please enjoy! What first drew you to reading? More specifically, the historic fiction genre? Growing up…