There is no doubt that we all look for pieces of ourselves in the media we consume; in the stories we read, the movies we watch, the songs we listen to. We yearn for connection, and for something that reflects us and our stories, a confirmation to know we are not alone, so we can feel seen, understood and appreciated.
When I was young, I was obsessed with Disney princesses, characters from my books, and, of course, American Girl Dolls that resembled me. Marisol was specifically my favorite. My mom bought her for me before I was even born, with the intention that I would be able to connect with her story, which I did. My mom also loved her purple outfit and the fact that she was a dancer. My Abuela and Abuelo helped take care of me for a huge part of my childhood, and spoke and sang to me in Spanish, so I really connected to that part of Marisol’s story, and I loved that we both had the same long brown hair, tan skin, and Hispanic background. I clung onto her and her story. There is so much beauty in being able to point to something within pop culture or the media and say, “she looks like me” or “she represents how I’m feeling!”, especially at such a young age.
This month, when focusing on and appreciating Hispanic Heritage month, we can celebrate the arrival of the new American Girl Doll, Raquel Reyes, to the 2026 collection and what it means for young girls growing up in Hispanic communities or with those roots.
Raquel Reyes, the aspiring DJ from Kansas City, loves paletas from her parents’ local shop and playing with her rescue pup, Luzita.(americangirldoll.com) Before Raquel’s release, there were only five other American Girl Dolls with Hispanic backgrounds. Having Raquel is an exciting addition, especially given the fact that her father is Mexican-American. Having two identities or a mixed background can be hard, but being able to see this reflected in an American Girl Doll is beautiful and special for girls who can relate.
For longtime American Girl Doll fans, like Hannah Martinez, a senior at Ithaca College, Raquel and her background are a refreshing addition to the American Girl Doll collection, especially as someone who has Puerto Rican roots. Hannah and her sister Haley grew up with an assortment of American Girl Dolls and a pure love and obsession for the collection. Hannah even remembers her parents redoing a section of their basement, specifically dedicated to housing the dolls, with shelves that became small rooms full of accessories and props for their dolls.
“On Christmas Day, is when they revealed the room to us. It was crazy, like there were three shelves that were big enough to have little rooms and like my mom made a kitchen and she made a little laundry room and there were multiple bedrooms,” Hannah shared.
Together, the sisters had more than six dolls and got to enjoy the new living space that their parents had carefully poured their heart and soul into building.
“My mom was telling me how she would stay up late a lot to work on this, and she had her teaching partner help. He cut out a ton of little hangers for the clothes and she made this like Rockwall so like she cut out cardboard, and then literally made like the little rocks from clay.” Hannah said it took over a month for her parents and other friends to finish putting the room together, proving how special these dolls and their stories really were to so many of us, to the point where they were baked into the fabric of our childhoods. I personally think it is so precious that Hannah’s family realized this, and did what they could to make their daughter’s childhood so special- I’m already taking notes for my future children.
For a lot of young children growing up, American Girl Dolls created many core memories and exciting stories to look back on, especially for Hannah. Hannah remembers collecting her favorites, or at least the ones that looked closer to her, and shared her brown curly hair, like Rebecca Rubin.
“She’s a historical doll, so she wasn’t one that looked exactly like me, but at the time when I got her, she was the only doll that had brown curly hair, and I wanted a doll that looked just like me, so that was my first ever.” Hannah said.
“That’s what I love about American girls. Since then, they’ve added so many more dolls, and they also added dolls where you can kind of customize and make them look just like you, which is just so important.”
For young children specifically, it’s so important they feel represented and seen in the toy industry, because these are what make up the rooms and spaces of their lives. Play areas, daycare, camp centers, full of toys, should accurately represent and include all identities.
“It’s also important to show kids in general that humans are super diverse and there’s so many different races and ethnicities and people have different heritages so having dolls just like that like every doll has their own little story it kind of just shows like everyone is different, but also everyone deserves to be included and that’s why it’s super important for toys to show diversity and inclusivity.”
Apart from this, the fact that Raquel’s father is Mexican-American can really speak to a specific community of girls who are raised with two identities.
“I think it’s so cool being mixed like Puerto Rican and American and to experience and be exposed to different cultures and traditions, but I guess just the one downside is just that little identity crisis.” Hannah brings up a good point, and as the daughter of both my father who grew up in Cuba, and my mother who grew up in New York, I can easily relate, and I’m sure so many others can too.
“That’s how I was raised and I grew up with the amazing culture, even if I sometimes don’t feel ‘Puerto Rican enough’ myself,” Hannah said.
“When people ask, I always say I’m Puerto Rican, but then I feel like I’m not enough because I don’t speak Spanish. But I will always identify as being Puerto Rican, and I absolutely love and embrace that I am.”
No matter how old you are, or who your favorite American Girl Doll was growing up, I think we can all celebrate and appreciate the new release of Raquel Reyes and her story. Especially the way that it will undoubtedly speak to and uplift young girls who might be looking for another version of themselves in the toys they play with.
Allow yourself to feel the giddy feeling of receiving an American Girl Doll, and revisit that piece of you that loved to play pretend and hold on tight to it, before it slips away into the memories of our mind that we don’t often revisit.