True Stories: Girls' Inspiring Stories of Courage and Heart is a American Girl book focusing on real-life stories submitted by readers.
Contents[]
The stories are taken from American Girl Magazine, which included a section in the magazine to publish true stories submitted by its readers.
Giving Back[]
- Two sisters cut their hair to donate to Locks of Love.
- A reader with alopecia areata receives a wig from Locks of Love.
- A girl and her golden retriever go to hospitals to encourage and cheer patients while helping with their therapy.
- One reader started Kids Helping Kids, which buys videos for children in hospitals to watch during their stay.
- One girl started a business called Devon's Heal the World, and collects cans to recycle.
Disaster[]
- One family's house is destroyed by a tornado, and is uninhabitable for six months.
- A reader and her family survives a severe flood for two weeks.
- A wild fire threatens a girl's ranch, animals, and family.
- One reader spends overnight in an Arby's restaurant because of a severe snowstorm.
- A girl and her parents were struck by lightning while hiking.
- A bear invades a family's home.
Friends[]
- A reader finds an unexpected friend through a pen pal relationship that helped her deal with a painful divorce. The friend also gives her story about how her pen pal helped her face a difficult move.
- One girl becomes a comedian with the encouragement of her family.
- One reader discusses her experience of going through a normal school day in a wheelchair.
- A girl and her mother improve their shaky relationship through a book club.
- Two cousins solved a case and help find a missing boy.
- One girl and her mother find a bag filled with $600 in cash in the parking lot, and seek out the owner.
Rescues[]
- A girl chokes on a jawbreaker and is saved by her friend. The girl who saved her has a second story.
- A family rescues a dog that fell off a bridge.
- A reader takes control of a runaway bus when the driver fainted.
- Two friends save a drowning kitten, purposely thrown in a lake by a boater.
- One girl finds an abandoned man with a broken leg calling for help on a random radio channel.
- A reader raises money and starts a club to rescue chimps in Africa.
Obstacles[]
- One reader forms a group at her school to prevent bullying.
- A girl records a CD to help raise awareness for Lyme disease, which took the life of her golden retriever.
- A reader raises $8,500 through a lemonade stand for the Red Cross, after her cousin's life was claimed in the 9-11 terrorist attack.
- One girl learns to swim, her favorite sport, again after falling from a horse and paralyzing her right arm.
- A reader overcomes her mother's death from cancer.
Heroes[]
- One reader and her two cousins were almost attacked by an angry mother moose, but saved by her Alaskan malamute.
- A softball team renames their playing field after a young teammate that died of a brain tumor.
- A girl remembers the donor that supplied her crucial bone marrow transplant: a firefighter who later died in the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks.
My True Story[]
Several sheets of watercolor , splotched purple, pink, blue, and green paper is included in the back for a girl to tell her own personal true story. There is a small red and pink heart illustration in the lower-right hand corner of each page. The address of the editor and mailing instructions are printed on the back of the last page.