This year, the American Girl Doll line made history with the release of their first South Asian Girl of the Year doll, Kavi Sharma.
For some more context, the American Girl “Girl of the Year” line is a line dedicated to documenting the lives of American girls living in the 21st century. This line started in 2001.
Over the years, the American Girl “Girl of the Year” line has presented us with dolls representing different communities of color, such as 2004’s Marisol Luna, 2011’s Kanani Akani, 2017’s Gabriela McBride, 2018’s Luciana Vega, and 2021’s Corinne Tan.
Another point to note is that in 2009, the girl of the year Chrissa Maxwell’s best friend, Sonali Mathews, was also made as a doll to purchase. This made Sonali the first South Asian doll to ever be released by the American Girl doll company.
However, prior to 2023, South Asian characters were never the main characters of the American Girl universe. If they were included, they were relegated to be best friends of the main Girl of the Year dolls.
This is why Kavi Sharma’s debut is just so sweet. Kavi is presented as an everyday American Girl: she’s from New Jersey, she loves to sing, dance and perform with her friends, and dreams of one day becoming a Broadway actress.
But, in addition to these things, nods to her Indian heritage are presented throughout her story, thanks to Varsha Bajaj, who brought Kavi’s character to life: she loves Bollywood dancing, she takes yoga lessons with her grandmother, and her favorite holidays are Diwali and Holi.
Plus, all of these little story details are found in items you can buy with her doll, including a cute lehenga for her Bollywood dance performances, a backstage set to showcase her love for theater, and even her own pet companion, Scamper, who is absolutely adorable.
Though some may think I am out of the age bracket to have an American girl doll or to read her companion story, Kavi’s debut means a lot to me, as I grew up being a fan of AG dolls. As a kid, I always thought that my Indian heritage and American upbringing were two separate things, and that my life experiences would never really be considered “an American experience.” But, with Kavi’s release, it’s reassuring to know that lives like mine are worthy of being documented as a representative part of the American experience and that little South Asian girls will now be able to see themselves in a way that people like me were not able to before.