Meet Books

The Meet Book, for the purposes of this wiki, are books that come with a character doll at purchase.

Details
Meet books for Historical Characters are always titled Meet [Name] : An American Girl. The books comes with the doll at purchase and generally establish the setting, character, and background, thus rounding out details that In the case of the Central Series it establishes the time as well. 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 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 looking back section. With Best Friend Characters, the books are still considered meet books although the titles are unique; their books serve to show a unique angle for the character not detailed in the main Historical Character's central series.

In the early years of the American Girl of Today, dolls came with a 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.

With the Girls of the Year, the meet book establishes the location and the characterization as well, in a modern location. Initially characters only had one book available to tell the entire story for the full year. Starting with Nicki Fleming, characters had two books; however, the first book still establishes setting and character.

When a character is retired or archived, her books are generally left available for separate purchase. The only meet books that can be considered retired are Lindsey, Kailey, Marisol, and Jess as they are no longer for sale from American Girl directly.

Terminology
Because the first books for the Historical Characters have always been titled Meet ____, this became the fandom term for several items. The initial outfit a character wears is a meet outfit, and the initial accessories This is partially because the outfit shown on the cover is the one the character doll is or was dressed in at purchase. When Felicity's meet outfit was changed from the Rose Garden Gown to the Traveling Gown, her book covers were changed.

Exceptions:


 * Ruthie Smithens is wearing a coat over her meet outfit.
 * Molly McIntire until the 2004 cover revamp, had the same outfit on the cover of the book. Now the cover shows her Halloween Costume.
 * Emily Bennett is wearing her recital outfit on the cover.
 * Ivy Ling is wearing her New Year outfit.
 * Kailey Hopkins is instead wearing her wetsuit.

Historical Characters and Best Friend Characters

 * Kaya: Meet Kaya: An American Girl
 * Felicity Merriman: Meet Felicity: An American Girl
 * Elizabeth Cole: Very Funny, Elizabeth
 * Caroline Abbott: Meet Caroline: An American Girl
 * Josefina Montoya: Meet Josefina: An American Girl
 * 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
 * Samantha Parkington: Meet Samantha: An American Girl
 * Nellie O'Malley: Nellie's Promise
 * Rebecca Rubin: Meet Rebecca: An American Girl
 * Kit Kittredge: Meet Kit: An American Girl
 * Ruthie Smithens: Really Truly Ruthie
 * Molly McIntire: Meet Molly: An American Girl
 * Emily Bennett: Brave Emily
 * Julie Albright: Meet Julie: An American Girl
 * Ivy Ling: Good Luck, Ivy

Girls of the Year

 * Lindsey Bergman: Lindsey
 * Kailey Hopkins: Kailey
 * Marisol Luna: Marisol
 * Jess McConnell: Jess
 * Nicki Fleming: Nicki
 * Mia St. Clair: Mia
 * Chrissa Maxwell: Chrissa
 * Lanie Holland: Lanie
 * Kanani Akina: Aloha, Kanani
 * McKenna Brooks: McKenna
 * Saige Copeland: Saige