Am I Snobby? Or just right?

I saw this post on the National Museum of American History’s blog when it first came out.  Entitled “My Tweenage Historical Bookshelf,” I got all excited.  And then I read the post and I was no longer as excited.

My roommate sent me a link to the post earlier this week and we had the following conversation via e-mail:

L:   A short blog post from the Smithsonian – seemed like a subject you might enjoy.  I haven’t read any of the books she lists, but I didn’t scroll through the comments – there may be some there that were my favorites too.

Me: I saw this back when it was first posted.  In my opinion, the entire quality of the post is diminished when she mentions the American Girl books.  Those books are terrible!

L: I have to admit, I can be pretty snobby about them too.  But they’re SO popular.  Sigh.

Me: They’re like a gate-way drug to real historical fiction.

L:  This made me laugh.   But I think maybe they’re just bad like drugs – real historical fiction is good-for-you/rehab, maybe?

So, what are your thoughts?  Are we complete book/history snobs? 

And a note: I’m just talking about the American Girl books, not the dolls.  As a kid, I would have killed for one of those dolls but thought the books were incredibly boring.  Heck, as an adult, I would probably still kill for a one of the dolls.

2 responses to “Am I Snobby? Or just right?”

  1. I thought the books were pretty good when I was a kid, although too short. I mostly read the Molly ones (I already knew plenty about pioneers, and Samantha was too prissy, and the others didn’t exist yet). I already counted myself a Historical Fiction Connoisseur, and I remember thinking they got a lot of good historical details in there right. Favorite moments I remember include Molly’s big sister teaching her how to make pincurls, and the utter failure of the girls in Molly’s class to learn to knit socks for the war effort. The only American Girl book I sought out a copy of to keep as an adult is Molly Saves the Day, where she goes to Girl Scout camp–I honestly think it’s pretty good. The author really gets summer camp.

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  2. i remember when i was a kid i loved the molly books

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