Girls of Many Lands

The American Girl Co. introduced the Girls of Many Lands series in 2002. Each story is about a 12 year old girl living in a different time period in different parts of the world. The books, written by award-winning authors, originally came with a matching doll. Not toys to be played with, the dolls are delicately sculpted and exquisitely beautiful and meant to be displayed in a special place. The series was discontinued in 2005 and the dolls have become a very collectible item.

Books

Isabel (Taking Wing) "England, 1592"

Isabel Campion living in London, England in 1592 struggles with fitting her father's image of a "proper" girl, her tomboyish ways often cause her problem in Tudor society. After making friends with a servant and having the audacity to watch a play at the theater, her father sends Isabel away to stay with her aunt de Vere in an attempt to have her learned in proper etiquette. Along the way she ends up in a situation with robbers, is rescued, and then has to disguise herself as a boy to join a group of theatrical performers.

Isabel finally reaches Aunt de Vere's estate and quickly develops an admiration for her. Isabel is then taught interesting subjects and helps with her Aunt's clinic. When word reaches that her baby sister, Hope, is ill and it might be the plague, Isabel goes home just in time. Her Aunt and old nurse have given up, but Isabel nurses Hope through the night and identifies that she does not have the plague. Isabel is welcomed home by her father where he tells her that he's sending her back because she has changed and he wants her to continue it.

Cécile (Gates of Gold) "France, 1711"

In 1711 France, Cécile Revel is the daughter of a poor doctor, although she has learned to read and write and is an independent young lady. After helping a woman who had fallen from a horse, she ends up serving in the Versailles court of King Louis XIV. In the complicated world of court life, Cécile gradually discovers that her heart and spirit are more noble than she thinks. When most of the royal family falls ill, Cécile cannot bear for them all to die and locks herself and some maids in a room from the doctors with Prince Anjou. She is punished for doing so, but is given the chance to go to St. Cyr, a school for girls of noble blood.

pring Pearl (The Last Flower) "China, 1857"

Called boyish by her new family for being able to read and write, twelve-year-old orphan Chou Spring Pearl realizes that her "odd ways" will help save the family during the 1857 Opium War in Canton, China. She decides to do things for herself and slowly wins the respect of her adoptive mother's three daughters.

Neela (Victory Song) "India, 1939"

Neela Sen is an Indian girl who is hoping for peace when preparing for her sister's wedding, dealing with her mother wanting her to marry. Her father is away on "business", or so her mother believes, but he is really fighting in the war. Neela finds out that he might be hurt and goes to search for him, which ultimately ruins her sister's wedding and her mother's health. along the way she is helped by a rich woman with a lavish lifestyle. Neela finally finds her father and brings him home. Her mother is overjoyed.

Minuk (Ashes in the Pathway) "Yup'ik Alaska, 1890"

Minuk is a young, somewhat troublesome Yup'ik girl in the banks of Alaska must endure the realization that her traditional way of life is changed forever with the arrival of Christian missionaries.

aba (Under the Hyena's Foot) "Ethiopia, 1846"

After being kidnapped and brought to the emperor's palace in Gondar, Ethiopia, twelve-year-old Saba discovers that she and her brother are part of the emperor's desperate attempt to consolidate political power in the mid-1840's.

Leyla (The Black Tulip) "Turkey, 1720"

While trying to help her financially destitute family, twelve-year-old Leyla ends up on a slave ship bound for Istanbul. Finding herself in the beautiful Topkapi Palace, she discovers that life in the sheltered world of the palace harem follows its own rigid rules, although it offers Leyla an unexpected opportunity during Turkey's brief Tulip Period of the 1720's.

Kathleen (The Celtic Knot) "Ireland, 1937"

Twelve-year-old Kathleen Delaney from Ireland comes from a poor family. When she and her sisters are caught for being late to their Catholic school, it is requested that she brings her mother the next day. During the meeting of Kathleen's mother and the nun, it is suggsted that she starts Irish dancing. Kathleen dreads this because of Tess O'Hara, who has been dancing since she was six. Kathleen attends the lesson and discovers that she loves her newfound talent and often says it feels like flying. However, at the end of the lesson, she is asked to pay her ninepence which Kathleen cannot afford. Tess and her group laugh at her and say that its free to them only because their family helps pay for the studio. Kathleen, embarrassed, tells her mother just as her father comes from work.

He gives her the ninepence to pay for that day. The next day, the teacher tells her Kathleen can go to the lessons for free because she is light on her feet and she is desperate to win the competion. Kathleen however soon discovers that to compete, it is requires to have an appropriate costume. Kathleen and her mother try to get some remnant material from a fabric store, but Tess O'Hara took very last bit of it for her costume. fail. Kathleen starts praying to God for a costume and her prayers are answered when her Aunt Polly makes her a dress out of green curtains. The story ends wih Kathleen winning the competion and Aunt Polly celebrating her marriage.

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