American Girl author Valerie Tripp to speak at event commemorating Colonial Williamsburg and girlhood

WILLIAMSBURG – Valerie Tripp, the acclaimed author behind many American Girl books, will give an author talk this Thursday, July 17, from 6-8 p.m. at the Hennage Auditorium at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg.

Tripp – who wrote the stories of characters like Molly, Kit, Samatha, Josefina and Williamsburg’s own Felicity Merriman – will discuss how Colonial Williamsburg inspired the creation of Felicity’s stories. She will also share a bit of her story-making process as a seasoned author.

After the talk, Tripp will sign books and take questions from the audience. 

All are welcome to attend this celebration of over 30 years of storytelling, girlhood and community with American Girl. Tickets are required for entry and cost $20 for adults and children over 5, and $10 for children age 5 and under. 

Michelle Smith, manager of the Hennage Auditorium, spoke with The Triangle about the significance American Girl’s Felicity holds for Colonial Williamsburg. Tripp’s upcoming visit is in anticipation of CW’s 100th anniversary later this year. 

“[Tripp]’s been a longtime friend of CW,” Smith said. “In particular, one of the things that sparked inviting her this year is the art museums’ preparations for the commemoration of 100 years of Colonial Williamsburg.”

Tripp, who currently lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, began her career after being part of Yale University’s first co-ed graduating class in 1973. After a few years of working in children’s publishing, she returned to school – this time at Harvard – for a Master’s in Education. 

Shortly after completing her degree, she had the opportunity to pitch historical fiction stories for Pleasant Rowland, an educator who would go on to found the American Girl brand in 1986.

“Right after I graduated from college, I was hired by a woman named Pleasant Rowland, to work on a reading program”, Tripp said. “So it was Pleasant’s idea to have books about fictional girls who lived in these different periods of American history.”

Since then, Tripp has contributed significantly to American Girl by writing stories for its “Historical Characters” line. 

She’s also authored several American Girl mini-series, including the eleven titles in the Welliewisher mermaid series and all eight Hopscotch Hill School books, in addition to a book series for National Geographic Kids – Izzy Newton and the S.M.A.R.T. Squad. 

Tripp’s work has earned her numerous accolades, such as the Children’s Choice Award and the March of Dimes Mother of the Year. Her titles comprise the lion’s share of the 160 million copies of American Girl books sold to date.

Today, Tripp enjoys giving speeches at libraries, museums and schools across the country. She has appeared at the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, Mt. Vernon, Yale, Harvard, American University and the University of Maryland.

Since the 1980s, Tripp has worked hard to connect past and present experiences of girlhood and continues to attract new readers year after year.

Content creator Babbity Kate, who produces American Girl commentary on TikTok and Youtube, noted that the brand has had a resurgence since 2020. She attributes this trend, at least partially, to adults having had more time during the pandemic to rediscover their childhood interests.

“People are really interested in re-examining and reviving these parts of their own girlhood that sometimes get a bit overlooked, but it’s so joyful to return to them, to dig into them, sometimes in a more critical way,” Kate told The Triangle.

Many original readers are now introducing American Girl to their own children, while others are discovering it for the first time with the resources and freedom they did not have in their youth.

Babbity Kate encourages her viewers to dive wholeheartedly into their passions, while also maintaining a nuanced lens on how the stories are presented today.

She describes her content as an “adult’s look back,” balancing affection with critical reflection.

“I have a complete, unrelenting affection for American Girl, and I will also analyze it in a critical, scholarly way, or I will talk about things that do or don’t work for me now as an adult,” she said.

America’s broader embrace of girlhood in pop culture has gained traction in recent years, marked by acclaimed phenomena like Taylor Swift’s Eras tour and the 2023 Barbie movie.

“It is an overall trend, I think, of this re-embrace of girlhood,” Kate said. “The summer of 2023, which was the first summer of the Eras tour and the Barbie movie, may not have started it. But I think it was such a big moment for people being unashamed and unabashed in celebrating girlhood culture.”

Kate advocates for media aimed at young girls to be taken seriously because of the impact it can have on its impressionable audience.

“I think it also matters that we take the media of girlhood seriously because it is really formative and it is real art,” Kate said. 

Tripp’s commitment to the portrayal of strong, curious and compassionate girls has left a lasting mark. Many of her earliest readers are now adults, able to pass down her stories to the next generation.

“My first readers are grown up now. I call them ‘my alums,’ and many of them have daughters of their own,” Tripp said. “They tell me how the adventurous and thoughtful American Girl characters helped, inspired and befriended them.”

For more information or to purchase tickets for the “Meet Valerie Tripp” event, visit the Colonial Williamsburg website.