American Girl Magazine

American Girl Magazine is a magazine published by American Girl. The magazine was originally released in January 1993. The magazine is bimonthly, with six issues per year.

History
In the beginning, the American Girl Magazine was more closely affiliated with promoting the products of the American Girl company. For example, the magazine published various Historical Character Short Stories which were later collected in book form. Later the magazine shifted its focus away from the dolls and more towards articles featuring real-life contemporary girls.

The magazine advertises itself both as an ad-free magazine (which is possible because of the corporation behind it) and a magazine for girls that does not focus on making them grow up too fast. Beginning at the September/October 2009 issue, the magazine featured more advertisements for American Girl products. The contents page was shrunk to fit an advertisement for American girl and the behind the scenes page was moved to fit another advertisement at the back of the magazine.

Subscriptions
A one-year subscription is currently $22.95 while a two-year subscription is $39.95.

Letters From You
Letters From You is on the second page. The magazine publishes letters written by its readers, commenting on articles in past issues. Normally, three or four are displayed.

Win It!
Win It! is a sweepstakes hosted by American Girl Magazine. The prizes vary with every issue. To enter, one must send in a notecard with your contact info, and the winner is picked at random.

Did You Know?
Did You Know is a blurb found in each issue, which gives a strange or random fact.

The Buzzword
The Buzzword had been a vocabulary word hidden in the issue. Now however, the buzzword is found in a puzzle on a specified page. The word's pronunciation and definition is given, along with a sentence using the word in context.

Creative Corner
The Creative Corner is a small section of the magazine that has a cute, easy craft for the reader. The small square can be cut out, with a picture displayed on the front, and instructions on the back.

True Story
True Stories were short articles telling of reader's experiences, varying from survival stories to interesting occurrences.

AG Poll
There is normally one poll in the American Girl issue for the reader to answer. However, as of late, readers answer online at the website. Results for the last poll is posted.

Help Wanted
Help Wanted is where readers can submit stories, ideas, or other things.

Shining Stars
Shining Stars is a segment spotlighting girls who help make a difference in the world. There is a small writeup on each girl, that includes a picture and facts.

Art Gallery
Readers can submit photos, drawings, or paintings to be published in a section called Art Gallery. Normally, only a few pieces of artwork are displayed.

Contest
A contest is held in every issue. A few pages display the winners from a previous issue's contest, and a small box in the bottom right-hand corner states the next contest, the requirements, and in which issue the results will be published. Contests usually center around creative, hands-on crafts, however Story Contests are frequently held, in which a reader must write a story of certain length within certain requirements.

Heart to Heart
Heart to Heart is a small section in which AG puts out a question, such as opinions on school uniforms, and girls can send in their responses. Up to the July/August 1994 issue, the only contributers were girls from schools the magazine visited. In the October/November 2009 issue, girls can now also send in a possible question along with their responses.

Doll Fun
A two page article that focuses on activities girls can do with the American Girl doll. It's content varies from doll crafts to hairstyles.

Brainwaves
The Brainwave section is several pages of jokes, puzzles, and an Answer Box. Readers often submit photos, which American Girl makes puzzles of. The Laffateria is around half-a-page and displays jokes from the readers.

Mini Mag
Towards the back of each American Girl magazine, there is a smaller version of the issue made for dolls, with some of the same articles as well that one can read. The reader is to cut out the pages and staple them together, making a magazine for the doll.

Posters
Each magazine has one page (front and back) that make two posters. About once a year, American Girl will have an issue with a giant poster about the size of four pages for the reader to color in. In the past, American Girl has made many issues with multiple poster, or dozens of smaller posters. The posters have cute sayings, pictures, or animals.

HELP!
HELP! is a section in the magazine where readers can write to American Girl seeking advice. These answers are published in the back on several pages, four in some issues. There are several pictures illustrating some of the questions.

Articles
There are tons of articles.

Lunch Box
Lunch Box is an article featuring quick and creative snacks - such as Mini Pizzas or Smoothies.

About the Cover
About the Cover was a feature where the the model on the cover answered a few questions and gave a few facts about herself, and included a picture and the model's signature. This feature was retired around late 2008.

Who's That Girl?
Who's That Girl was a section where they gave clues about a female celebrity's childhood and it was up to the reader to guess which celebrity it was. There were five clues, each one telling a different experience the celebrity had when she was younger, and a photo of the celebrity at a young age. The next page would then reveal the celebrity, along with a short article about what she does. Then there's usually some advice from the celebrity following the end of the article. This feature was retired in 2003.

Letters from You
Letters from You published letters from girls, usually their responses to articles from past issues. This feature was retired in the September/October 2009 issue.

Find It!
Find It! is a small feature of American Girl. Random facts are hidden throughout the magazine, marked by a small magnifying glass. In the earlier issues, the magnifying glass would have questions that could be answered by reading the articles in the magazine.

Many are articles in each issue which could be about crafts, activities, parties, stories, and/or advice.