About AN AMERICAN GIRL ANTHOLOGY

An American Girl Anthology: Finding Ourselves in the Pleasant Company Universe turns American Girl dolls—and the ever-growing ecosystem surrounding them—inside out. Editors Justine Orlovsky-Schnitzler and KC Hysmith, along with an expansive list of contributors across multiple disciplines and within different research areas, explore Pleasant Company (American Girl’s parent corporation) and the social and cultural impact the dolls and broader American Girl universe continue to have for generations of American consumers through thoughtful and fun essays.

This collection serves as an ode to the democratizing power of the internet and the intoxicating power of nostalgia, while also looking toward the future as the eldest American Girl fans become parents themselves. It is also a critical account of the ways in which American Girl has shaped senses of self-worth and hopes for the future, securing a base of lifelong consumers, and also serves as a love letter to the kids we collectively used to be. Along the way, readers will take seriously American Girl’s influence and place within larger cultural conversations. They will find essays focusing on topics as diverse as food and historical recipes in American Girl publications, the advent of “tag yourself” memes, the struggle to find authentic and long-lasting Asian American representation within the pages of the American Girl catalog, and the enduring power of The Care and Keeping of You as a resource for finding joy in our bodies.

Featured Essay: Where Is My Dis­abil­i­ty Com­mu­ni­ty?: A Com­par­a­tive Close Read­ing of Children’s His­tor­i­cal Fic­tion

Details: May 15, 2025 | ISBN 9781496858061 | University Press of Mississippi

Reviews

"In ​“Where Is My Dis­abil­i­ty Com­mu­ni­ty?: A Com­par­a­tive Close Read­ing of Children’s His­tor­i­cal Fic­tion,” Maris­sa J. Spear dis­cuss­es the inter­sec­tion of racial and ableist prej­u­dice in her analy­sis of the Kaya books, about an Indige­nous girl and her blind adopt­ed sis­ter. Spear also demon­strates that the Maryellen Larkin books, set in the 1950s, are his­tor­i­cal­ly accu­rate in rep­re­sent­ing the preva­lence of polio in the pre-vac­cine era, while giv­ing the impres­sion that a pos­i­tive atti­tude would be enough to over­come a phys­i­cal hand­i­cap in a world with­out accommodations.”

- Emily Schneider, Jewish Book Council

Academic Articles

Spear MJ. "Women, Survival, and the Black Panther Party in Baltimore." Journal of Women's History. 2025;37(2). https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/jowh.2025.a960906

Spear MJ, Tiwari T, Vaughan JA, Barker C, Faitak B, Langston K, McElfish PA, Long CR. “Facilitators and Barriers to Utilization of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children Identified by Community Health Workers Serving Hispanic and Marshallese Households.” Health Promotion Practice. 2025. https://doi.org/10.1177/152483992513412

Spear MJ, Vaughan JA, Barker C, Faitak B, Cole J, Fleischhacker S, Garcia A, Heam C, Langston K, Martin KS, McElfish PA, McElwee TM, Olamiposi O, Sperduto N, Wawrzaszek A, Wilson N, Woods H, Long CR. "Daily Reality of Food Insecurity: A PhotoVoice Study of Food Insecure Residents in a Rural, Southern State." Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition. 2025. https://doi.org/10.1080/19320248.2025.2505951

Gilbert G, Spear MJ, Barker C, Vaughan J, Faitak B, English E, Gramling P, Langston K, Martin KS, McElfish PA, McElwee TM, Plascensia C, Patterson R, Sappington M, Thomas M, Wilson N, Long CR. “Process Evaluation of Culturally Preferred Food Pilot for Arkansas Food Pantries and Farms.” Journal of Trauma-Informed Community Health, Nutrition, and Physical Activity. 2025;3(1). https://doi.org/10.70434/j-tich.v3i1

​Moore R, Callaghan-Koru J, Vincenzo JL, Patton SK, Spear MJ, Alik E, Ramos AP, Takamaru S, McElfish PA, Curran GM. "External Relationships as Implementation Determinants in Community-Engaged, Equity-Focused COVID-19 Vaccination Events." Frontiers in Health Services. 2024; 4:1338622. https://doi.org/10.3389/frhs.2024.1338622

Purvis RS, Vincenzo JL, Spear MJ, Moore R, Patton SK, Callaghan-Koru J, McElfish PA, Curran GM. "Factors Associated with Marshallese and Hispanic Adults’ Willingness to Receive a COVID-19 Booster Dose." Journal of Primary Care and Community Health. 2023;14. https://doi.org/10.1177/21501319231171440

Vincenzo JL, Spear MJ, Moore R, Purvis RS, Patton SK, Callaghan-Koru J, McElfish PA, Curran GM. "Reaching Late Adopters: Factors Influencing COVID-19 Vaccination of Marshallese and Hispanic Adults." BMC Public Health. 2023; 23:631. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15468-3

​Spear MJ, Rowland B, Vincent, J, Brown T, Wilson A, Palenske C, McElfish PA, Long CR, Presley J, Balis, LE. "Results of a Rural Traffic Calming Event to Promote Physical Activity." Journal of Extension, 2022; 60(2), Article 18. https://doi.org/10.34068/joe.60.02.18

Long CR, Spear MJ, Bogulski CA, Rowland B, Langston K, Faitak B, Sparks K, McElfish PA. "Reducing Sodium Intake in Community Meals Programs: Evaluation of the Sodium Reduction in Communities Program, Arkansas, 2016-2019." Preventing Chronic Disease, 2021;18:210028. http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd18.210028

Capacity-Building Trainings & Guest Lectures

Training. “Qualitative Research Facilitation 101.” UAMS Certified Research Specialist Program. April 2025.

Training. “Qualitative Research Facilitation 101.” UAMS Certified Research Specialist Program. October 2024.

Guest Lecture. “Qualitative Research Methods & Stakeholder Engagement.” University of Colorado Boulder, Masters of the Environment Graduate Program, Professor Christine Ageton. October 2024. 

Training. “Endometriosis: A Toolkit for School Nurses.” NWA Educational Cooperative. August 2024.

Training. “Qualitative Research Facilitation 101.” UAMS Certified Research Specialist Program. April 2024.

Invited Speaker. “Building a More Inclusive Charitable Food System in Northwest Arkansas.” National Institutes of Health (NIH) Advancing Health Equity Through Culture-Centered Dietary Interventions to Address Chronic Diseases Workshop. September 2023.

Training. “Qualitative Research Facilitation 101.” UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation. August 2023.

Training. “Data 101: Telling Your Program’s Story with Words.” Northwest Arkansas Food Insecurity Community of Practice. May 2023

Workshop Facilitation. “Narrative Medicine.” Columbia University’s Live Virtual Group Sessions. November 2022.

Workshop Facilitation. “Narrative Medicine.” Columbia University’s Live Virtual Group Sessions. July 2022.

Guest Lecture. “Health in the Hands of the People.” University of South Florida, Narrative Medicine and Health In/Justice Undergraduate Course, Professor Brianna (Cusanno) August-Rae. February 2022. 

Training. “Qualitative Research Facilitation 101.” UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation. February 2022.

Training. “Endometriosis: A Patient Perspective.” UAMS Northwest Accelerated Medical Students. July 2021.