Central Series

Samantha Parkington's box set Central Series (before the BeForever Launch and the game box sets).

The Central Series are the core main stories about each Historical Character, covering the full initial story of each character over a span of approximately two years.

Originally historical character books were published for Pleasant Company by Scholastic, but in approximately 1991, the Central Series (along with many other books) began to be published by Pleasant Company Publications (later known as American Girl Publications). They also worked through Georgetown Publications in Canada for distribution.

Book Releases and Availability

Central Series books, unlike dolls and their collections, are available widely through various book sellers instead of just available through the company. Historical Character dolls were packaged with the first book in their series from launch until BeForever; BeForever-released dolls and many dolls released afterwards came with the first volume; Isabel and Nicki were packaged with their journals, with journals being added for prior characters after. For several years dolls could also be purchased with a full set of the character's six-book Central Series. Box sets included all books from the central series.

Books originally came in both hardback and paperback versions; hardback versions came with paper jackets that matched the design of the uncovered books. In approximately 2007--before the release of Julie--hardback versions were phased out; no characters from Julie to Courtney were given hardback versions of individual books outside of library bindings or special editions. This changed with the release of Claudie, who has both a paperback bundled with the doll and a hardback special edition with her second book in hardback, and Nicki and Isabel, whose combined meet book is hardcover but not sold with the dolls (instead they are sold with paperback journals).

Initially, characters were released near the fall with only the first three books in the Central Series and collections relating to those books (outside of Bedtime Collections and sometimes storage). The last three books were released by the spring along with the rest of their collection. Currently it is standard to have multiple or all books released at the character release (or in the case of characters after 2014, both volumes at once).

Kirsten, Samantha, and Molly had only the first three books available in 1986; their birthday books were released with their birthday collections in 1987, followed by the summer and winter books (and items) in 1988. Kaya had all six of her books released together at once. Melody's books were released separately and prior to the release of her collection. Courtney and Claudie have had one volume book released at the start of the collection and the second volume book later. Nicki and Isabel's first book was released later; they are bundled with journals. Julie, Nanea, and Maryellen received journals in 2024, with Melody's released in 2025.

Book Box Sets

The first box set for the Historical characters was the nine-book Keepsake Collection; it included the first three books for Kirsten, Molly, and Samantha, a Slip Case large enough to hold all nine hardback books with a ribbon, and a brass plate bookmark. This was available until all six books for each character had been released, whereupon the slip case was slimmed to hold six books and the keepsake collections were now per character. Early complete collections sets for Kirsten, Samantha, and Molly also included the Keepsake Collection six-book set with slip case (rather than the later care kits) and the six-book Keepsake Collection could be bought with the doll's initial purchase. The slip case was included in the doll and six-book purchase until possibly the release of Felicity's complete collection; after that, the slip case was sold separately. Dolls could still be purchased with all six books but the new cardboard slip case included with a purchase had the character image from the meet book cover. When Addy and Josefina only had three books available, the cardboard case had the large oval portrait with their image from the meet book, stated them as being the newest American Girl, and advertised the upcoming next three books on the back.

By 2000 with the release of Kit, six-book sets came in covers designed after the character and themed on the meet book cover. Hallmark book sets also came in unique cases that only included the first three books. This style of book set continued through to 2004 after the change in cover design, with new cases now illustrated with large character images from one of the covers. When Samantha and Felicity had Best Friends released, it was possible to purchase a seven-book set that included the Best Friend's book as part of their set.

A Samantha 2011 box set with the game back.

Box sets from 2011 to 2014 (prior to BeForever) had large close ups of character faces, based on a selected illustration. They also included an attached fold-out board game--titled Character's Favorite Things Board Game--on the back and included cardstock pieces for game play; they tied shut with white ribbon. Six-book sets for Cécile and Marie-Grace combined and Caroline only came in sets with game-play boxes.

BeForever volumes were initially packaged in three-book sets with the My Journey Books included.

As of 2019, box sets are not sold. Through Costco in 2019 after the release of the abridged volumes, box sets were sold with an additional Activity Journal that applied to all characters.

Story Collections

See: Story Collections

Story Collections are hardback all-in-one volumes that include all six of a character's books in one bound volume. These only include the Looking Back section of the winter story books, if any at all. Characters with Best Friends might include sneak-peek chapters of their books.

Audio Books

Samantha, Molly, and Kirsten had audio books released on cassette at launch. These were also available for Felicity, Addy, and Josefina as their books were released, but not for any characters after.

Book Style History

There have been many changes to the American Girl books through the years. The covers of books have had five major changes, with several minor elemental changes during their runs. A book can be fairly accurately dated to its publication run by its traits.

First Style: Parchment (1986-2000)

First style cover as shown by Meet Samantha.

The first three characters were introduced with matching books styles in 1986 that were carried through 2000. This is the longest availability, lasting for thirteen years from launch until the Mattel purchase and only being modified as needed to add new characters, redone illustrations, and updated elements. They are distinctive for the off-white parchment-paper style boxes around the characters on the front and text on the back. The cover design was designed by San Francisco illustrator Myland McRevey, one of the first two art directors for the brand.

Standard elements included:

• A specific color was chosen for each girl which was used for things like the year, her silhouette on the back cover, and the selected dingbat style logo on the spine. This color was not exceptionally prominent on the books themselves.
• The year at the bottom of the front cover was split in two, displayed in oval frames (e.g. Samantha's would have "19" in burgundy on the left and "04" in burgundy on the right).
• Each character was listed in chronological order on the back with her color-themed silhouette to the left of a brief character description.
• Book summaries were either on the inner front flap (paperback) or on the back underneath the dust jacket cover with the Pleasant Company logo (hardback). Hardbacks had the same back covers as the paperbacks on the dust jacket.

The complete back cover text read in 1986:

The books in this collection tell the stories of three American girls who lived long ago:

Kirsten, a pioneer girl of strength and spirit who settles on the frontier,

Samantha, a bright Victorian beauty, an orphan raised by her wealthy grandmother,

Molly, who schemes and dreams on the home front during World War II.

You can share their worlds -- the friends they make, the struggles and successes they have in school, the excitement of their Christmas secrets, their birthday celebrations, and their summer adventures. You'll see that some things in their lives are very different from yours. But others--like families, friendships, and feelings--haven't changed at all. These are the important things that American girls will always share. These are the traditions that come alive in the American Girls Collection.

1989
The book number in the series was added under the title and subtitle on the front cover and to the spines, just above the character's dingbat symbol. Molly's first four books (including covers) were rereleased using illustrations by Nick Backes throughout, removing the ones done by Chris Payne and David Gaadt. There are versions of her books that still have the first illustrations, but updated portraits in Nick Backes's style.

1991
Felicity was added to the list on the back of the books with a green silhouette; she was placed first in the listing as she was the earliest chronologically. She was described as Felicity, a spunky, sprightly colonial girl full of energy and independence. The Pleasant Company logo was also added at the center bottom.

1993
Addy was added to the list on the back of books with a burnt orange silhouette, listed chronologically between Kirsten and Samantha. She was described as Addy, a proud, courageous girl determined to be free in the midst of the Civil War.

The longer character list resulted in shortening the bottom paragraph, which now read:

You can share their worlds--the friends they make, the struggles and successes, their sad times and celebrations, their secrets and adventures. You'll see that some things about growing up have changed, while others--like families, friendships, and feelings--haven't changed at all. These are the important things that American girls will always share. They come alive for you in the American Girls Collection.

1997
Josefina's release resulted in a full overhaul of the character list layout. Each girl had her silhouette replaced with a miniature portrait next to her given description and the images now alternated sides. Josefina, placed between Felicity and Kirsten chronologically, was described as Josefina, an Hispanic girl whose heart and hopes are as big as the New Mexico sky.

The bottom paragraph was shorted again to read:

Some things about growing up have changed, while others--like families, friendships, and feelings--haven't changed at all. These are the important things that American girls will always share. They come alive for you in the American Girls Collection.

The Pleasant Company logo was reduced, changed from maroon to black, and repositioned to the lower right side.

1998
Addy and Samantha's books were fully redone with new illustrations. Melodye Rosales and Bradford Brown's images for Addy's books were replaced by Dahl Taylor; Nancy Niles's and Luann Roberts's images for Samantha's books were replaced by Dan Andreasen. These new illustrations were integrated into the parchment book styles.

1986-2000 Back Cover Gallery:

1986 version

1991 version

1993 version

1997 version

2021

In 2021, limited edition bundles of the first six characters for the 35th anniversary included re-releases of this style of book. While Molly's and Addy's books used their newer illustrations from 1989 and 1998 respectively, Samantha's used her first edition illustrations from 1986. The back cover, instead of having groupings of all six the characters, has the book summary on the back and the Pleasant Company logo, similar to the hardback books underneath the book jackets.

Vinyl Sticker Packs for the characters also included this style of cover for the first five characters.

2024 and 2025

In 2024, rereleased versions of Addy Walker, Josefina Montoya, and Kirsten Larson along with their re-released Birthday Outfits came with the parchment style of books; the dolls with the meet book and the birthday outfits with the birthday books. Kirsten later had a parchment version of Kirsten's Surprise with her 2024 Limited Edition holiday release.

In 2025, a rereleased version of Samantha came with a unique-to-her book, rather than Meet Samantha; Addy's and Kirsten's School Outfits and Samantha's Birthday Outfit include the parchment style of books.

Second Style: Faded Background (2000-2004)

Second style cover as shown by Meet Samantha.

Kit's book release in 2000 led to a full revision of the book covers. The style was also used for Kaya's books initially. Cover illustrations used the same themes and compositions as the parchment covers, but with several layout changes. They include:

• Cover illustrations were given more detailed (though faded) backgrounds that filled the entire cover, rather than a small section.
• The title, year, book number, etc. was repositioned from the bottom of the front cover to the top.
• The spine was colorized to match the colors assigned to each girl, rather than just using the color on the dingbat symbol on the spine; this helped emphasize a characters' specific books by the spines.
• The back cover no longer showed a full list of all the characters. This was replaced with a description of the book's plot and a list of the other books in the character's series. The other characters are represented in a small arch of mini-portraits at the bottom, just above a brief description of "The American Girls Collection."

The new version of the back copy:

What was it like to be a girl long ago? The American Girls Collection takes you inside the worlds of girls who lived during exciting times in the past. As you read their stories, you can imagine how different life was back then. But you'll also discover that their feelings, ideas, and dreams are just like yours.

Hallmark sold versions of these books in their stores for a short time. This variation had the back bottom cover state The American Girls Collection from Hallmark and a Hallmark logo was added to the spine.

In 2023, a limited edition 100th Birthday edition of Meet Kit was released as part of her limited edition doll bundle; the book includes an introduction by Valerie Tripp. Her Vinyl Sticker Pack also included this style of cover.

Third Style: Large Illustration (2004-2014)

Third style cover as shown by Meet Samantha.

All books were changed dramatically with the release of Nellie's Promise. There was no longer a primary set theme to the cover illustrations, though several maintained an illustration style similar to the original covers. This is the second longest available version of books, remaining in this style for ten years. Julie's separate books, Rebecca's separate books, Cécile and Marie-Grace's books, Caroline's separate books, and the Best Friends books were only available in this cover style. This was also the last version to have widespread hardback books available until Claudie, as they were phased out prior to the launch of Julie; she and all characters up until the abridged illustrated volumes did not have books available in hardback versions until the release of Claudie's special edition.

• Characters were given a special font intended to mimic what might have been closest to their style of cursive handwriting, used in their names in each title on the cover and on the spine. As Kaya's culture at the time did not have written language, her font is a serif print font with distressed edges.
• The title is printed over a stripe of the character's unique color towards the top of the cover.
• Books no longer have the book number or extra subtitles on the front cover.
• The spine remained the character's special color, but dingbat symbols at the top have been removed and now only appear inside the book for scene breaks.
• The back cover changed fully. The stripe at the front of the book is echoed on the back as a cropped inner illustration. Below it is a story summary, then an arch of the other books in the series and a blurb about the series itself. In the lower left-hand corner is the AG Inner Star logo with the then used Inner Star blurb promoted on the website and other products. Other characters are not listed externally, but are listed on the first page inside in chronological order by portraits.
• Books either showed a wholly unique illustration or a larger, close up version of an inner illustration with a brighter background. The Meet Books still retained the style of the character's walking introduction in her meet outfit and Holiday Books retained the larger image of the character in her holiday wear from the hips up. The character illustration often had a glossy overlay from the background.

The style was retired with the launch of BeForever, though older character books that were not yet re-released in styles after this could be found through multiple venues for some time.

Fourth Style: BeForever (2014-2019)

BeForever Cover as shown by Manners and Mischief.

The launch of BeForever resulted in the most dramatic changes to the styles and layouts the Central Series.

Most notably, the six-book series were rebundled into two-volume books--referred to as Classic Series--and the Central Series became no longer available as individual single book volumes. Each volume was given a unique name and contained three of the six books, with no titled separation between the books specifically and transitions added between stories. Reasons include making the books more palatable to e-book formats and to "age up" the books to the desired eight-to-twelve age range (as most children of those age ranges have or will soon transition into chapter books of considerable length, often with few to no illustrations). Mistakenly these books are assumed, for characters released under BeForever, to not have a full "set" of stories and thus only give characters two books for a full story; this is incorrect as all six individual stories are included, with three per volume.

Books released for characters initially released under BeForever, starting with Maryellen, were first available in this book style.

• The top stripe contains the American Girl Logo, and below that the BeForever Logo.
• To the right side in a single character color stripe is the character name and the year. Instead of individual styled handwriting, a standard brush-writing style font was used for all names.
• An oval logo contains the unique name of the volume and "A Classic Featuring [Name]".
• Volume numbers are listed in the lower right.
• Theme colors for some characters changed dramatically (e.g. Addy's themed color changed from a dark orange to medium blue).
• All internal illustrations were removed.
• Previous dingbats are changed to new styles with several new ones more unique to character theme or era (e.g. Addy's are now buttons reflecting her connections to sewing; Josefina's changes from a Spanish style-burst to a simpler sun; Samantha's faux-floral swirl is now a swirled flourish).
• Cover illustrations are more photo-realistic, and include detailed backgrounds. New covers were done by Juliana Kolesova.
• Transitional paragraphs and sentences are placed between chapters to tie books together.
• The Looking Back Section has been changed to "Inside [Name]'s World" and is a two-page summary of the era.
• The spine is in the assigned color. At the top (left, when held with text upright) is the BeForever logo. In the center is the title of the volume, the new dingbat logo, and "A 'Character' Classic 1 (2)". The bottom/right is a red section with the American Girl logo.
• The back text either headlines with "Meet Character's full name" (Vol 1) or "Character's Story Continues..." (Vol 2) and discusses, briefly, the stories contained inside the volume. Below are shown the covers of the other volume and the My Journey Book, with text saying to look for the other books. Below that is the AG promotional text, followed by a unique dividing line appropriate to the era (e.g. pearls for Samantha) over data about American Girl, the book and the ISBN and barcode.

Older style books were slowly phased out of print and retired. This resulted in books for Felicity and Molly (until re-release), Kirsten, Marie-Grace and Cecile, and all Best Friend Characters books being no longer available through American Girl directly, though they remained available through the website when searched afterwards until removed.

The newer book style was also loosely applied to the Girls of the Year and Contemporary Characters.

2018

Second Edition BeForever Cover as shown by Manners and Mischief.

In 2018, with the release of Molly's BeForever volumes, all books took on the cover look that had been introduced with Felicity's volumes for uniformity.

The character's name is in large brush script at the top just below the American Girl logo stripe. The text of "A Classic Featuring Name" is removed, as well as any volume numbers from the front; volume numbers remain on the side. The title of the volume is not isolated in an oval frame and directly printed on the cover image. BeForever is repositioned where the name had been previously, in a small burgundy ribbon in the lower corner with the year and a star logo. Ribbons are no longer in individual colors; designated colors are on the spine.

Furthermore, cover images were resized in various ways for some characters; cover images were zoomed in or out, re-centered, or adjusted.

These were not done to Caroline's volumes.

Fifth Style: Abridged and/or Illustrated Volumes (2019-Present)

Abridged Cover as shown by Samantha: The Gift.

In 2019, the central series was majorly revamped again--mostly in order to do away with the BeForever branding--and implementing several major changes in abridged versions. The most significant change is that many chapters--and whole storylines--are removed from several volumes to condense the stories down. For example, Maryellen: The One and Only no longer contains the last four chapters that were in The One and Only which covered her holiday-style story, and Kaya and Lone Dog and Kaya Shows the Way are both nearly completely removed from Kaya: Smoke on the Wind. Due to this, all books that were re-released in this style show an "Abridged Edition" notation in the lower left corner of the back cover.

These were only released initially for Kaya, Rebecca, Nanea, Maryellen, Melody, and Julie. Josefina, Addy and Kit's revised books were released in 2020, Samantha's in 2021 and 2022, and Molly's in 2022.

Addy's, Kit's, and Josefina's abridged volumes have been shown to be the least affected, retaining all major stories and plotlines while mostly removing side descriptions, short scenes, and extra events. Samantha's are the most modified, with the first volume having entire events and stories removed and new scenes written and edited in, and changes the order of events from the original series; the second volume removes two chapters and modifies scenes to fit new events in the first volume, but otherwise is similar to Addy, Kit, and Josefina's versions in retaining all major plots.

Courtney's, Claudie's, and Isabel and Nicki's books are only available in this style and, as they were written to fit the new format, are not considered abridged. Starting in 2022, select books began to be supplemented with character journals.

Excerpts of these versions are available as part of the American Girl Online Library, which is accessible here: American Girl Bookshop.

• Much like the previous BeForever volumes, the newer books feature the character's name on the top just below the American Girl logo stripe, this time as a detailed character-specific logo with the year incorporated in a smaller font.
• Character colors have been adjusted again for characters, as indicated on the spine e.g. Kaya's books are now dark blue, instead of the prior red tone.
• The title of the book is on the cover and on the spine in a unique font face to relate back to the character's time period (e.g. Julie has bubble letter text; Josefina has a southwestern flourish to the letters). This font--and the character's color--are used for chapter headings with the addition of new, unique dingbats on either side of the title/chapter name.
• Books have been retitled to include the character's name at the start; some books were completely renamed to integrate the name (e.g. Growing Up With Aloha became Nanea: The Spirit of Aloha.)
• Volume indication is removed from the front cover; the books are numbered on the spine, in a top section with a style to invoke the era.
• Back covers have unique illustrations and contain prior blurbs, edited as needed. These are either contained in a character-appropriate framing (e.g. Nanea's bamboo-style frames) or printed over a full illustration (e.g. Maryellen's).
• Illustrations return for characters and Maryellen, Melody and Nanea received them them for the first time. Julie has several new large photo-realistic illustrations with older illustrations shrunk to vignettes; Kaya, Josefina, Addy, Rebecca, Kit, and Samantha return to their prior illustrations. Several images are photoedited to include BeForever-released outfits, especially concerning new meet outfits (e.g. Addy is shown in her Beforever meet outfit on the pier in Philadelphia rather than her classic meet outfit; Josefina has her skirt and sash edited to match her BeForever style). In Samantha's first volume images are both added, modified, and moved to be connected to new story plotlines. Not all illustrations from prior volumes are used.
• Family and Friends portraits return, with new ones created for those who did not have them prior. Some are modified.
• The front of the book includes a "snapshot" or two of the character's world, illustrated; the diagrams and images are taken from older books when available.
• Handwritten letters and sections that had been displayed in italics (such as Nanea's letter to Donna) are now displayed in faux-handwriting fonts.
• Author information, dedications, and advisory board information (for characters developed with boards) are present inside the front flap; the back flap contains publication data, illustrator(s), copyright, and image credits.
• The back page of each volume shows all the characters available with new abridged style books, as well as their personal portraits and name logo.
• The "Inside [Name]'s World" section, while similar to prior editions before BeForever, often includes much of the same text from those volumes with few to no expansions in text. Authentic images and items of the era, paintings--and photos when possible--are integrated throughout. The first page shows the title of the section with the character's portrait inside a colored box.

Sixth Style: Character Journals (2022-Present)

Character Journal as shown by Nicki: My Journal.

Starting with Isabel and Nicki, character journals began to replace traditional meet books when bundled with selected characters. (Journals were initially released in the Girls of the Year line starting with Kavi Sharma, who was released shortly before Isabel and Nicki.)

The journals are partially designed as if written and illustrated by the characters themselves along with cartoon-style doodles and standard illustrations representing "photographs"; they are written from the viewpoint of each character, summarizing the events of their first volume. (The author is stated as to have "helped" the character write the journal on the front.)

Nicki: My Journal and Isabel: My Journal released in 2022 with the dolls' release; both cover events in the later released Meet Isabel and Nicki, along with some events not seen there. Julie: My Journal was released in 2024. (Cut scenes from her abridged book, like Julie studying for her states capitals test, are restored.)

Maryellen: My Diary and Nanea: My Diary were announced in 2024 for a 2025 release, replacing the prior abridged books when bundled with the doll. Melody: My Diary was announced for and released in 2025.

The abridged illustrated volumes for each character remain available as a separate purchase.

Series Story Patterns in the Central Series (1986-2000)

See: Central Series Story Patterns

The patterns within the books--both in story plots and covers--in the Central Series books for all Historical Characters were perpetuated from the release of the line in 1986 through Kit Kittredge's release in 2000 and 2001. Each parallel book in the individual series had a specific cover style which varied only by the character and era, in part to help display items available in the Historical Collections and show parallels among characters.

Variations From Initial Central Series (Prior to 2019 Abridgement)

Starting with Kaya's series, every character's books have deviated from the formerly standard six-book formats (whether in titles, cover style, and/or order and formatting of events), though each occurred for unique reasons. The first documented changes are prior to the release of the 2019 abridged versions.

Kaya

Kaya's stories do not follow the traditional patterns or titles set by the first seven historical characters, as Kaya's Indigenous culture is unique from the dominant Euro-American cultural pattern that was established by the first three characters. Her story line is written so that she does have several parallel events, such as a winter festival and a summer "trip" to a new location not seen before in the books; however, she does not have the lifestyle or culture of the prior characters and so for example, does not celebrate Christian holidays or her own birthday. Some titles tried to relate to the pattern of prior books, such as Kaya Shows The Way, and her meet and concluding winter books remained titled the same. She also was given subtitles, each relating to the events of the books. Her birthday is not shown, as her people would not have tracked her specific birth date via a western-style calendar. She is given a summer birthday but is not given a specific birthday celebration. She more accurately "saves the day" in Kaya's Escape! when she is captured, escapes, and returns to her people.

While Kaya's books had different titles, plots, and a unique illustration style, she kept to many of the traits on book covers from 2002-2004.

Julie

Julie's series does not follow the set title pattern given by previous characters, same as Kaya before her. The title changes did not clearly confirm that the original pattern was being discarded or due to the varying events present in Julie's series until Rebecca's release. The main stories, however, are loosely equivalent and overall are simply are not titled in the same format. With the exception of the first book, the subtitles of the stories that had been applied were also removed.

Julie's holiday book focuses more on Chinese New Year instead of Christmas, which is only shown briefly at the start of the book; however, her initial holiday collection originally focused on the holiday tea with her father. Her "birthday" book less focuses on her birthday party and personal maturity for her and more on the rise of social environmental concerns in the seventies, including the Looking Back section. Julie does "save the day" in Julie's Journey, but the Looking Back section focuses less on general summer activities outdoors in the era and more on the US Bicentennial celebrations in 1976.

Rebecca

Rebecca's series did not follow the traditional titles and was confirmation that the traditional titles and patterns that had been in place for the first seven characters would most likely no longer be used. Her holiday book focuses on Hanukkah as she is Jewish, and includes conflict with Rebecca being Jewish and wanting to honor her family's traditions while surrounded by the trappings of a Christian-dominant American culture. The main stories still are loosely equivalent to the original series and keep to the same pattern, and like Julie's series, do not have the subtitles with the exception of the first book. She does "save the day" in Rebecca to the Rescue when she rescues her cousins, and has a birthday mention and celebration in Rebecca and the Movies, though the book and its Looking Back section focuses more on the early emerging film industry.

Cécile and Marie-Grace

Cécile and Marie-Grace's series do not follow the traditional titles or styles whatsoever, with the exception of their dual Meet Books. The intertwining series make their books serve as a diptych and a parallel to one another. With two meet books, the same events were shown from each character's perspective. Additionally instead of covering two or so years, the Central Series only covers approximately one year in the two girls' connected lives. This style of books was not repeated with any other characters. There are no birthday books for either character in the series; Marie-Grace's birthday is March 3rd and Cécile's May 28, but their birthday celebrations are not shown in any of their books.

Caroline

The main stories of Caroline's series loosely follows the pattern seen in previous Historical Characters' series, in terms of seasonal setting. However, they do not align to events in the same order as the others with the exception of the Meet Book. Caroline does not have a proper birthday book whatsoever; her birthday is celebrated at the end of Caroline's Secret Message, her second book, giving her a fall birthday and making her the first main historical character with a non-spring or summer birthday. She also "saves the day" multiple times in her series due to her living in Sackets Harbor, which was heavily affected by the War of 1812 due to its proximity to the then-British colony of Canada; this includes more personal "saving" events in both A Surprise for Caroline and Caroline Takes a Chance.

Maryellen

Maryellen was the first character launched wholly within BeForever, so she was never given a separate six-book format and was released with the two-book "classic" volumes which lacked all illustrations. However, her books can be loosely sectioned off internally into the first stlyle of a six-book format as was seen with earlier characters, as the series was in development prior to the BeForever formatting. This includes a school book with two separate lessons, a winter holiday with a surprise and her realizing that family is the best gift, a spring birthday and immature conflict with others leading to maturity, and a summer trip to a different location where she "saves the day" after facing fears and worries, which is similar to the order presented in books prior to Kaya.

Melody

Melody's books were released before the release of her collection; the first book was released in January 2016 and the second July 2016, but the doll (who was not revealed until February) and collection was not released until August.

Unlike Maryellen, Melody's classic-volume books are not as easily sectioned off internally or tied tightly to the original six-book format. While stories can be divided into vaguely defined sections, there is no tightly-knit six-book structure, unlike those seen in many prior characters or Maryellen. In this, her volumes read a lot more like a single book each rather than three books combined into one volume.

Her birthday is touched on early at the start of Volume Two; she is born January first, giving her the earliest birthday in the calendar of any Historical Character. Christmas celebrations are not focused on or seen, instead supplanted by New Year's/Watch Night/her birthday at the start of the second volume. She does take a summer trip to a different location, and there is a partial saving of the day.

Felicity (BeForever volumes)

Unlike other rereleased volumes before her, Felicity's BeForever books do not include frequent transitional paragraphs between the previously separated books. One is written between what was the fifth and sixth books that says that time has passed between late summer 1775 and early winter 1776, but unlike others she is not given any added events, explanations, or transitions.

Furthermore, her books did not initially have the same cover design as other BeForever volumes and were given a new style; this was given to subsequent volumes and later retroactively done to older volumes before her. Her name is in large script at the top below the American Girl Stripe, with no text of "A Classic Featuring Felicity" anywhere. The title of the volume is not isolated and is just printed on the cover image with no oval or white background. BeForever is instead in a small burgundy ribbon in the lower along with a star logo and the year (1774). No volume number is listed on the front.

Nanea

Like Melody before her, Nanea's classic-volume books are not sectioned off internally into the six-book format and each volume is written as a fully flowing story with multiple chapters from start of volume to the end. Her books start in Fall 1941; while this is rather late compared to earlier series which tended to start in either summer or early fall, this was done so that the book directly covers the bombing of Pearl Harbor (in part, from Nanea's direct perspective on the day of the bombing) and the after-effects of the attack on their family, extended family, and Hawaii as a territory. Christmas is only lightly touched on and not a major focus of a plot like characters prior, and the same is done with Nanea's birthday. Because of the aftereffects of the attack and damage in her community, Nanea does not resume going to school again until February 1942 which is covered in her second volume. Nanea's books cover a span of under a year from about November 1941 until approximately late June 1942.

Nanea's books do not have the same complete cover design as other BeForever volumes and more resemble Felicity's. Her name is in large script at the top below the American Girl Stripe, and the title is instead "A Classic Featuring Nanea". On the back her full name is not listed and instead it reads "Meet Nanea..."

Molly (BeForever volumes)

After the release of Molly's volumes, older version covers were updated to match styles with her books, Felicity's, and Nanea's. There are some added transitional paragraphs. Since several of Molly's story components were in illustrations (such as the newspaper clipping and letter to her father of the girls knitting a blanket and winning the contest), in the BeForever volumes the details are typed out in descriptive paragraphs.

Variations From Initial Central Series (Post 2019 Abridgements)

Courtney's books, Samantha's abridged books, Claudie's books, Isabel and Nicki's books, and Molly's abridged books all continue to deviate from the fully depreciated six-book format; each of their deviations are post the 2019 abridged volumes and have the same style of covers.

Courtney

Courtney was released with only her first book, Courtney Changes the Game, available; this is similar to older collections when only the first three books were released. A second book, Courtney: Friendship Hero, was made available in February 2021.

Courtney was the first character released after the change to abridged books. As her books were written within the new format, the books are not abridged and are to be considered complete as-is (and so do not have the abridged notations on the back). Her first book covers a very short span of time, approximately a month (from early January to early February 1986), quite possibly one of the shortest times covered in a single volume outside of the individual six-series books. Like Melody and Nanea, her first volume is a complete story, not written in sections. Courtney: Friendship Superhero in contrast covers one of the longest periods in a single volume outside of the combined multi-volume books, with the story going from late May to early December 1986. Her birthday on February 12th is not shown.

Despite only having two books, Courtney is given a full--if somewhat compacted--set of stories.

Samantha (Abridged Volumes)

Samantha's rereleased abridged books are not only abridged, but the first volume is rewritten and partially edited by American Girl's executive editor, Jennifer Hirsch.

The first volume, Samantha: The Gift, has only one original chapter of Meet Samantha included; the first five chapters are completely removed, with the last chapter, "A Fine Young Lady," placed in small parts as part of Chapter Seven after multiple other events before it. Samantha Learns a Lesson is also truncated with only selected scenes used, mostly focusing on either Nellie's tutoring with Samantha and the speech contest. Samantha's Blue Bicycle and Samantha Saves the Wedding are integrated into the text, with the latter replacing the entirety of Samantha's Surprise (and pushing the wedding up to the fall).

The overarching purpose appears to be to remove events among the first three books that do not focus on Samantha's relationships with either Nellie O'Malley or her aunt and uncle, Cornelia and Gardner Edwards. These changes also remove several scenes of classism, class disparity, and racism that were shown in the original books, and several character and plot events are changed to fit the changes. For example, Nellie is the only one of the O'Malley family to come to live in Mount Bedford; the rest of her family is not present, though she talks about them lightly, and she only leaves once to return to New York before the death of her parents, stating that it is because her mother is ill. All new scenes have been added in order to flesh out the plots being focused on and include new details that connect these and the added short stories (e.g. Samantha sees two young men on bicycles at the start of the book and remembers that Grandmary thinks of them as ridiculous contraptions before she is gifted hers; after Nellie's information about factories, Samantha is actively seen revising her speech, rather than it being unseen, implied, and more spontaneous).

The second volume, Samantha: Lost and Found removes the first two chapters of Happy Birthday, Samantha. (This results in the minor character of Eddie Ryland no longer being present in the series at all.) Other than this, there are only minor changes and scenes removed, with most changes being done to align to how events have been retold in the first volume.

Claudie

Claudie, like Courtney, was initially released with one book available.

Claudie's first book Meet Claudie, has a title similar to the first books including the subtitle "An American Girl", but is in the newer single volume format. Like Courtney, her books are not considered abridged and were written full style. The book explicitly ends with the story continuing in the second book with several cliffhangers of the set plot, making the book not as self-contained as many other meet books are. The first chapter of Finding Freedom, (which is the first chapter of Meet Addy) is the additional character chapter, rather than any continuation of Claudie's story. The book is available in a limited edition hardback that has a introduction from the author, Brit Bennett, on how she was inspired in part by the Addy Central series and its author, Connie Porter.

The second book, Adventures with Claudie, also has an interview with the author and the first chapter of Finding Freedom. Much like the first book, it is available in a limited edition hardback.

Isabel and Nicki

Isabel and Nicki were not initially released with a central series book available for their collection; instead each doll was bundled with the illustrated character journal, a first for Historical Characters that later expanded into the Character Journals for other characters. The journals start in mid-December 1999 rather than the fall or summer and transition into the 2000 New Year's celebration to cover the start of a new millennium, only covering about twenty days (slightly shy of a month).

The more traditional meet book, Meet Isabel and Nicki, is a single book for both characters (rather than the dual viewpoint meet books that Cécile and Marie-Grace received), with alternating viewpoints. It has a title similar to the first styles of books, have no subtitle, is in hardback, and was released in September 2023. The illustrations and events from the journals are used in story form and expanded with events and scenes that are not seen in the journals; it starts in December 1999, on the last day of Hanukkah and covers through New Year's Eve (and early into New Year's Day), approximately three weeks.

Molly (Abridged Versions)

The first volume, Molly: A Winning Spirit, was released as a physical volume in 2022. Her second volume, Molly: Stars, Stripes, and Surprises was only been released as an audiobook and with full, abridged text through the American Girl online museum; it was not released as a physical volume.

List of Central Series Books

Italicized listings are volume reprints for characters whose first book releases predated the BeForever revamp, with Vol. 1 representing the first three books and Vol. 2 representing the second three books respectively. Listings with a diamond (♦) are the post-BeForever abridged and/or modified volumes. Listings with a flower (✿) are character journals.

Kaya

• Meet Kaya: An American Girl
• Kaya's Escape: A Survival Story
• Kaya's Hero: A Story of Giving
• Kaya and Lone Dog: A Story of Friendship
• Kaya Shows The Way: A Sister Story
• Changes for Kaya: A Story of Courage
• The Journey Begins (Volume 1)
• Smoke on the Wind (Volume 2)
• Kaya: The Journey Begins (Volume 1) ♦
• Kaya: Smoke on the Wind (Volume 2) ♦

Felicity

• Meet Felicity: An American Girl
• Felicity Learns a Lesson: A School Story
• Felicity's Surprise: A Christmas Story
• Happy Birthday, Felicity!: A Springtime Story
• Felicity Saves The Day: A Summer Story
• Changes for Felicity: A Winter Story
• Love and Loyalty (Volume 1)
• A Stand for Independence (Volume 2)

Caroline

• Meet Caroline: An American Girl
• Caroline's Secret Message
• A Surprise for Caroline
• Caroline Takes a Chance
• Caroline's Battle
• Changes for Caroline
• Captain of the Ship (Volume 1)
• Facing the Enemy (Volume 2)

Josefina

• Meet Josefina: An American Girl
• Josefina Learns a Lesson: A School Story
• Josefina's Surprise: A Christmas Story
• Happy Birthday, Josefina!: A Springtime Story
• Josefina Saves The Day: A Summer Story
• Changes for Josefina: A Winter Story
• Sunlight and Shadows (Volume 1)
• Second Chances (Volume 2)
• Josefina: Sunlight and Shadows (Volume 1) ♦
• Josefina: Second Chances (Volume 2) ♦

Cécile and Marie-Grace

• Meet Marie-Grace: An American Girl
• Meet Cécile: An American Girl
• Marie-Grace and the Orphans
• Troubles for Cécile
• Marie-Grace Makes a Difference
• Cécile's Gift

Kirsten

• Meet Kirsten: An American Girl
• Kirsten Learns a Lesson: A School Story
• Kirsten's Surprise: A Christmas Story
• Happy Birthday, Kirsten!: A Springtime Story
• Kirsten Saves The Day: A Summer Story
• Changes for Kirsten: A Winter Story

Addy

• Meet Addy: An American Girl
• Addy Learns a Lesson: A School Story
• Addy's Surprise: A Christmas Story
• Happy Birthday, Addy!: A Springtime Story
• Addy Saves The Day: A Summer Story
• Changes for Addy: A Winter Story
• Finding Freedom (Volume 1)
• A Heart Full of Hope (Volume 2)
• Addy: Finding Freedom (Volume 1) ♦
• Addy: A Heart Full of Hope (Volume 2) ♦

Samantha

• Meet Samantha: An American Girl
• Samantha Learns a Lesson: A School Story
• Samantha's Surprise: A Christmas Story
• Happy Birthday, Samantha!: A Springtime Story
• Samantha Saves The Day: A Summer Story
• Changes for Samantha: A Winter Story
• Manners and Mischief (Volume 1)
• Lost and Found (Volume 2)
• Samantha: The Gift (Volume 1) ♦
• Samantha: Lost and Found (Volume 2) ♦

Rebecca

• Meet Rebecca: An American Girl
• Rebecca and Ana
• Candlelight for Rebecca
• Rebecca and the Movies
• Rebecca to the Rescue
• Changes for Rebecca
• The Sound of Applause (Volume 1)
• Lights, Camera, Rebecca! (Volume 2)
• Rebecca: The Sound of Applause (Volume 1) ♦
• Rebecca: Lights, Camera, Rebecca! (Volume 2) ♦

Claudie

• Meet Claudie: An American Girl (Volume 1)
• Adventures with Claudie (Volume 2)

Kit

• Meet Kit: An American Girl
• Kit Learns a Lesson: A School Story
• Kit's Surprise: A Christmas Story
• Happy Birthday, Kit!: A Springtime Story
• Kit Saves The Day: A Summer Story
• Changes for Kit: A Winter Story
• Read All About It! (Volume 1)
• Turning Things Around (Volume 2)
• Kit: Read All About It! (Volume 1) ♦
• Kit: Turning Things Around (Volume 2) ♦

Nanea

• Growing Up with Aloha (Volume 1)
• Hula for the Home Front (Volume 2)
• Nanea: The Spirit of Aloha (Volume 1) ♦
• Nanea: Hula for the Home Front (Volume 2) ♦
• Nanea: My Diary ✿

Molly

• Meet Molly: An American Girl
• Molly Learns a Lesson: A School Story
• Molly's Surprise: A Christmas Story
• Happy Birthday, Molly!: A Springtime Story
• Molly Saves The Day: A Summer Story
• Changes for Molly: A Winter Story
• A Winning Spirit (Volume 1)
• Stars, Stripes and Surprises (Volume 2)
• Molly: A Winning Spirit (Volume 1) ♦
• Molly: Stars, Stripes, and Surprises (Volume 2) ♦

Maryellen

• The One and Only (Volume 1)
• Taking Off (Volume 2)
• Maryellen: The One and Only (Volume 1) ♦
• Maryellen: Taking Off (Volume 2) ♦
• Maryellen: My Diary ✿

Melody

• No Ordinary Sound (Volume 1)
• Never Stop Singing (Volume 2)
• Melody: No Ordinary Sound (Volume 1) ♦
• Melody: Never Stop Singing (Volume 2) ♦
• Melody: My Diary ✿

Julie

• Meet Julie: An American Girl
• Julie Tells Her Story
• Happy New Year, Julie!
• Julie and the Eagles
• Julie's Journey
• Changes for Julie
• The Big Break (Volume 1)
• Soaring High (Volume 2)
• Julie: The Big Break (Volume 1) ♦
• Julie Takes a Stand (Volume 2) ♦
• Julie: My Journal ✿

Courtney

• Courtney Changes the Game (Volume 1)
• Courtney: Friendship Superhero (Volume 2)

Isabel Hoffman and Nicki Hoffman

• Meet Isabel and Nicki
• Nicki: My Journal ✿
• Isabel: My Journal ✿

American Girl of Today Central Series

The six blank books that came with the first American Girl Today dolls.

In the early years of the American Girl of Today line, dolls came with a blank paperback six-book set that mimicked the Central Series. They came with a decorative stencil and short writing guides by Valerie Tripp that covered tips for writing one's own stories for a character and included summaries of the books as examples. They were intended to encourage the purchaser to create something akin to a central series of their own for their doll, and for some time slipcovers could be ordered to protect the completed books. These were later reduced to only the first "meet "book and fully retired by 2000.

See Also

• Story Collections, all-in-one volumes of the six Central Series books
• American Girl Teacher's Guides, formal educational guides to be used with the first six character's Central Series
• Short Stories, shorter vignette style stories for several Historical Characters
• Historical Character Mysteries, longer Historical Character books with a mystery plot