Jul 19, 2016 5 min read

A popular historical girls’ book series has turned a growing number of children at LeMoyne Community Center in Washington into enthusiastic readers – and globetrotters.

Since American Girl Book Club was launched at the center in 2010, dozens of girls read the books, and then traveled to a destination in the United States that ties into one of the books.

The girls in the book club ventured to Colonial Williamsburg in 2012, after reading and studying “Meet Felicity,” about spunky, horse-loving Felicity Merriman, caught between Patriot and Loyalist family and friends at the start of the American Revolution.

A trip to Rancho de las Golondrinas, a Spanish colonial living history site near Santa Fe, N.M., and an Indian reservation, followed the girls’ completion of “Meet Josefina,” about a Mexican girl, Josefina Montoya, living in New Mexico in 1824 and trying to help run the household after her mother dies.

Last year, after the girls read the “Samantha” series, about orphan Samantha Parkington, who grew up during the Victorian era, they visited historic Cape May, N.J.

The idea for the book club was conceived by Linda Harris, the center’s director of education, who ran across her first American Girl book, “Meet Addy,” while stuck at Hartfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta.

“I bought the book, which was about a fugitive slave who escapes with her mother to Philadelphia during the Civil War. I loved the book, but I didn’t know there were six books in her series, so I came home and got the books and I just fell in love with American Girl books, particularly the historical aspect,” said Harris. “I told (executive director) Joyce Ellis that I’d like to teach this to our girls, to help improve their reading skills but also to provide them with a touch of history. A lot of kids think history is old stuff, or boring, or that it doesn’t apply to them. But you have to know where you’ve been to figure out where you need to go.”

American Girl Book Club is part of the center’s Homework and More program.

The stories include Native American, black and latina girls as leading characters, and Harris likes the diversity the books promote.

“I want the girls to understand that people are different, and to be accepting of everybody,” she said.

The club, which now includes 22 third- through sixth-graders, starts in October and runs through May, when the girls host a dinner theater for the community.

During the dinner theater, the girls put on an American Girl play – Harris purchases a theater kit that accompanies the book series – and they serve a meal, using recipes prepared from an American Girl cookbook.

This year’s play, “Home is Where the Heart Is,” was based on Kirsten Larson, a 9-year-old girl who arrived in New York from Sweden and is traveling across the country with her family to their new home in Minnesota.

The menu included homemade fare, including Swedish meatballs, baked ham slices, parsley potatoes and cabbage.

On Aug. 7, 16 of the girls, along with Harris and other chaperones, will travel to Milwaukee, Wis., to visit Pioneer Village, a collection of restored buildings and structures dating from the 1840s to early 1900s.

The book club girls raise money for the trips by selling candy and candles, and from funds raised by hosting the annual dinner. The center covers the cost of transportation, hotels and meals.

At the conclusion of the program each year, the girls receive a set of American Girl books and a miniature doll.

Alexandra Berumen, 13, is heading on her fourth trip (she’s visited New Mexico, New Jersey and New York City with the book club), and her sister, Claris, 11, is taking her third trip.

“I like learning and reading, and I like experiencing new places,” said Alexandra. “It’s really fun.”

Tearsa Smith, 12, played the role of Molly two years ago, and said her reading skills improved since she joined the book club.

Said Smith, “I was a slow reader, but this has definitely helped me learn how to read better. I like the books.”

Harris said she noticed improved reading skills (the girls are required to read aloud, and Harris said their reading comprehension has improved, thanks to study guides and a “Jeopardy”-like game the girls play) and increased camaraderie.

“There’s a whole world outside of Washington, Pennsylvania,” said Harris, who noted the trips have marked the first time some of the girls have flown on an airplane, ridden a train or visited a beach. “I want them to know that there’s so much to see and to do and experience. I think it’s a really worthwhile project. I want them know that reading is important and fun, and I want them to always remember these experiences.”

To donate to the American Girl Book Club, send checks to LeMoyne Community Center, American Girl Book Club, P.O. Box 1241, Washington, Pa.