Nanea Mitchell is the sixteenth historical character and the 3rd BeForever exclusive. She is from the Hawaiian island of O'ahu growing up in the early 1940's representing the bombings at Pearl Harbor that ushered the U.S. out of The Great Depression and into World War II. She may be the youngest in her Ohana (family), but she still wants to be useful and help. But before she can prove that she is ready for more responsibility, Japan attacks the military base in Pearl Harbor where her father works.
Melody Ellison is a nine-year-old girl living with her family in Detroit, Michigan, during the civil rights movement in the early 1960s. Her parents are Will, who works in an auto assembly line, and Frances. Frances' parents (Melody's grandparents) are Frank Porter, a florist; and "Big Momma" Porter, who teaches piano and voice. Melody's older brother, Dwayne, wants to be a Motown singer; her oldest sister, Yvonne, is a student at Tuskegee University; her sister, Lila, is in middle school and lives at home.
A live-action web special based on her stories entitled Melody, 1963: Love Has to Win, an American Girl Story was released by Amazon Studios, starring Marsai Martin as the title character. Melody is the third African American character made by American Girl. The first being Addy and the second being Cecile.
The first dolls in the American Girl/Historical line (Samantha, Kirsten and Molly) shared the same face mold but had different hair and eye colors. The first dolls were created with white muslin bodies, but these cloth bodies were changed in 1991 from a white muslin to a matching flesh tone. This accommodated the low necklines of Late Colonial/Revolutionary period gowns produced for the Felicity Merriman character (also introduced in 1991). Additional face molds were later developed for other dolls, and the line to date includes ten characters covering the period 1764 to 1974.
Described as a girl "who is eager to help", Lindsey's self-titled book details the difficulties her impulsive attempts at helping with causes. The character is Jewish and the book references her brother's Bar Mitzvah experience and party plans. A small collection consisting of a scooter set and laptop accompanied her release. She is the first girl of the year released in 2001 and retired in 2002, and replaced by Kailey Hopkins.
Kailey Hopkins lives near tide pools in California and is an avid Swimmer and Surfer. When development threatens to destroy the tide pools she loves and surfs in, she and her best friend Engineer a protest to make a difference. Kailey's collection included various beach outfits and accessories. She was the second girl of the year, released in 2003, retired in 2004, and replaced by Marisol Luna.
Nellie O'Malley, Samantha's best friend, is an Irish immigrant who works for Samantha's neighbors and is befriended by Samantha. She personifies the working-class immigrant experience of the time and teaches Samantha about the conditions faced by children who are part of the work force. Nellie and her sisters, Bridget and Jenny, are orphaned and later adopted by Samantha's relatives, Gardner and Cornelia Edwards. In 2004, American Girl introduced a new line of Best Friend dolls with Nellie O'Malley debuting as Samantha's Best Friend in conjunction with the Samantha DVD release. Nellie was marketed with a small collection of clothing and a book written by Valerie Tripp, Nellie's Promise, which chronicles the character's growth and adjustment to her recent adoption. As Nellie was part of Samantha's collection, she was archived at the same time as Samantha. In 2014 with the return of Samantha, the release of BeForever, and American Girl's decision to move away from the Best Friends line it is unlikely for Nellie to be re-released.
Marisol Luna is a nine year old girl who aspires to be a Dancer. She moves from Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood to a suburb that does not have a dance studio where she can practice her favorite ballet folklórico dances. Introduced on January 1, 2005, Marisol had an extensive collection of dance outfits and accessories. Marisol has medium skin, brown eyes, and medium brown hair. Her face mold is the Josefina Montoya mold. Marisol is the first Mexican American Girl of the year made by American Girl. The second being Luciana.
Emily Bennett is a British girl who is sent to America by her family to protect her from the intensity of the English battlefront during World War II. Originally a minor character temporarily residing with the McIntires in the book Happy Birthday, Molly!, Emily's character was expanded in a book by Valerie Tripp called Brave Emily for her debut as the third doll in the Best Friends collection on September 5, 2006. Emily's debut coincided with the premiere of the Molly made-for-TV movie. Since Emily is a minor character and not Molly's best friend, she was marketed instead as "Molly's English friend". As Emily is a part of Molly's collection, she was archived along with Molly.
Mia was previewed on the November 21, 2007 episode of Oprah. The doll was subsequently released on January 1, 2008 with an extensive collection and two books: Mia and Bravo Mia, both written by Laurence Yep. Mia's stories chronicle her passion for competitive figure skating, which is at odds with her hockey-playing family. Mia is featured in a computer game (Mia Goes For Great!).
Kit's core series of books was written by Valerie Tripp and illustrated by Walter Rane. A feature film Kit Kittredge: An American Girl was released to theaters on July 2, 2008, starring Abigail Breslin in the title role. Many new items were added to Kit's collection as product tie-ins to the movie. Two video games based on her stories were also developed and published, namely Kit Mystery Challenge for the Nintendo DS, and the point-and-click adventure game A Tree House of My Own for Microsoft Windows platforms.
Chrissa Marie Maxwell and her collection were released on January 1, 2009. An accompanying direct-to-DVD film entitled Chrissa Stands Strong based on her story premiered January 5 and became available for purchase the next day. Chrissa's books and DVD focus on peer bullying issues. Chrissa is portrayed by Actress Sammi Hanratty. Both books are written by Mary Casanova. In a break with tradition for this product line, Chrissa's collection included two additional "best friend" dolls: Gwen Thompson and Sonali Matthews, neither of which had a separate collection. In the books, Gwen Thompson is disappointed in Chrissa when she believes Chrissa has revealed one of her secrets to school bullies. At first, Sonali is one of the bullies, but then learns to stand up for others. The character of Sonali debuted a new face mold to represent her Indian heritage.
Lanie was released in January 2010 along with her collection. Lanie is a ten-year-old girl living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, depicted as having an affinity for science and biology and considers herself a scientist.
Kanani is the ninth Girl of the Year character; she and her collection were released in 2011. Kanani is the second multiracial character, following Jess McConnell. Her father is of Japanese and Hawaiian descent, and her mother is French and German. Hailing from Kaua'i, she helps her family run a shave ice shop and is passionate about helping people by sharing the aloha spirit and protecting Hawaiian wildlife.
She is the first Girl of the Year to have three books – Isabelle, Designs by Isabelle, and To the Stars, Isabelle, all written by Laurence Yep. A mobile app for iOS platforms entitled Isabelle's Dance Studio was also released in line with her debut. A port of the game to Android was also released in July 2014.
Ashlyn is the group's party planner, and the most socially-active among the girls. She is described as throwing the best parties and loves to make her friends happy—and has a "princess"/very feminine side to her, wearing a predominantly pink outfit with a tiara, blouse, a tulle skirt and pink boots with gold and lace designs.
Grace Thomas is the thirteenth Girl Of The Year, released in 2015. An avid baker from the fictional town of Bentwick, Massachusetts, her story centers around her dreams of being an aspiring Entrepreneur, with her trip to Paris as a key plot point. Grace made her debut on Good Morning America on January 1, 2015.
Coinciding with the characters' launch is a mobile game for iOS consisting a series of minigames centering on the WellieWishers girls and their adventures, and an animated web series scheduled to be released in Fall 2016.
Gabriela McBride is the fifteenth Girl of the Year, released in 2017. She made her debut on Good Morning America, Gabriela is an aspiring poet from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to express her feelings to help her overcome stuttering. Gabriela loves to dance at the community center after school. She is the first African American Girl of the Year. Gabriela uses the Sonali face mold.
Luciana Vega is the sixteenth Girl of The Year. She was released on January 1, 2018, and is a space loving eleven-year-old Chilean girl from San Antonio, Texas who wants to be the first person to walk on Mars. Luciana is the second Latina American Girl of the Year made by American Girl, the first being Marisol.
