Maybe the problem of my whole American Doll idea was that I was going to carefully worm an Educational Experience into my child's life. But reading Megan McDonald's (of Judy Moody fame) version of my childhood to my daughter is - well, it's weird, not to mention bland, by-the-numbers writing. Not that Julie doesn't have bigger problems: her parents have recently divorced, she's the new girl in town, and she's going to need Title Nine to help her achieve her basketball dreams. She felt just inches away from throwing up her hands in frustration. Millimeters? Decimeters? What's wrong with good old inches? she wondered as she picked up T.J.'s ruler. The metric system is taking over the world, and we Americans don't want to be left behind.' Australia and New Zealand have converted. 'President Ford is about to sign a bill that will soon have the whole country using the metric system. Anyway, having all my dreams of stitching samplers (Felicity) or learning Spanish (Josefina) with my daughter shattered, I got the book to see what might be in store.

It's probably (wait, who am I kidding - I've lived my life - it's DEFINITELY) the closest I'll ever get to seeing myself in a wax museum and it was creepy.

That's enough to plunge anyone into a midlife crisis: I mean, seriously, 'historical'? Looking at Julie, I noticed that she comes wearing a turtleneck I used to actually own, has the same hair I had, and is living in San Francisco, just a few hundred miles north of where I was living at that age, San Diego. I decided to 'Meet Julie' when my daughter, who is rapidly approaching her eighth birthday, scanned through the 'Historical Character' section of the American Girl website and got all excited about this character and the year 1974.

Meet Julie by Megan McDonald