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TheFindersKeepersRule

The Finders-Keepers Rule.

Historical Character Mysteries (or American Girl Mysteries) are mystery stories starring Historical Characters, including those released through BeForever.

Overview[]

Each story is set either after or during the events of the Central Series, at some point after the character's meet book (for example, Shadows on Society Hill happens after Changes for Addy; however, The Runaway Friend happens soon after Meet Kirsten). The books are written by well-known authors from the History Mysteries series; the target audience is the nine-to-twelve age group. Each book has multiple layered mysteries occurring, with the title referencing the main mystery going on through through the book.

The books had no inner illustrations and covered more mature topics than are touched on in the Central Series (such as the effects of war on returning soldiers post World War Two, racism towards blacks, and classism in the Edwardian era) and include Looking Back sections that discuss the topics.

Early editions of books had removable bookmarks or information cards on the back flap that also listed other titles in the series, which were removed with the rebranding. During BeForever, several prior mysteries were been reprinted with new covers and additions, such as The Crystal Ball's reprint including a glossary of Yiddish words.

All historical mystery books were retired with the end of BeForever in 2019; no characters after Nanea have received mystery books. The series showcased all characters at least once but was heavily unbalanced towards character representation, with Kit receiving the most with seven books total but Kirsten, Addy, Nanea, and Melody each only receiving one and a gap of ten or more years between Kaya and Josefina's two mysteries.

In 2023, the announcement of the Mysteries Across Time series was made, with the first book focusing on Julie and titled Julie and the Blue Guitar. The series is a graphic novel style book with a framing device of a girl of the modern era reading a diary of the past.

Related Items[]

Two other items were tied into the first release of mysteries: The Zip-Up Sweatsuit for dolls and the American Girl Mystery Puzzles.

List of American Girl Mysteries[]

Kaya[]

Felicity Merriman[]

Caroline Abbott[]

Josefina Montoya[]

Cécile Rey and Marie-Grace Gardner[]

Kirsten Larson[]

Addy Walker[]

Samantha Parkington[]

Rebecca Rubin[]

Kit Kittredge[]

Nanea Mitchell[]

Molly McIntire[]

Maryellen Larkin[]

Melody Ellison[]

Julie Albright[]

See Also[]

  • History Mysteries, a historical mystery series focusing on individual characters in unrepresented (at the time) American history time periods.
  • Mysteries Across Time, a graphic novel mystery series framed with a modern girl reading eras of the past.
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