Beauty in hardship

Kit Kittredge: An American Girl offers girls more than a typical wealth fantasy | Megan Basham

If you haven't heard of American Girl dolls and the historical fiction series starring each one, you probably don't have much contact with 3- to 12-year-old girls. Or girls now in their 20s. Since 1986, American Girl has sold 123 million books and more than 14 million of its pricey (usually in the $75 to $100 range) collectible dolls.

Given that level of brand recognition, it was only a matter of time before Hollywood came calling. And after considerable success with three made-for-TV movies, the toy company chose the story of Kit Kittredge to take American Girl to the big screen.

It was certainly a prescient decision. The G-rated film (to be released nationwide July 2) opens in 1934 with 10-year-old Kit (Abigail Breslin) watching as bank representatives repossess her friend Frances' home and most of the family's possessions. Soon Kit's own father finds himself out of a job, and in an effort to keep the family's house leaves Kit and her mother (Julia Ormand) temporarily to look for work in Chicago.

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June 28, 2008, Vol. 23, No. 13

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