GOTY 2018 Luciana!!!!!

Today American Girl announced the new GOTY for 2018!!!

Luciana!!!

"American Girl's 2018 girl of the year is Luciana Vega, an 11-year-old "aspiring astronaut who dreams of being the first person to go to Mars," the wildly popular doll makers said in a statement unveiling the new character.

"Luciana is our first character that's really immersed in STEM," said Rebecca Dekuiper, a American Girl designer. "We've had STEM products before, but we really wanted to do a whole character to show girls that STEM is cool." 

American Girl worked with a lot of people from NASA to make sure Luciana's story and collection was accurate- from a astronaut to a scientist to the CEO of the Space and Rocket center! A NASA astronaut, Megan Behnken, said this about Luciana: "I was able to follow Luci through all of her story and adventures, and provide feedback from an astronaut's perspective on the authenticity of her story and the activities that she participated in. I've been in space and fixed the Hubble space telescope, so I have some perspective on how we use robotics, how we train for robotics."

The president of American Girl, Katy Dickson, said this about Luciana: " [Luciana is] a champion of STEM and a natural-born leader. Luciana is a role model for today’s girls -- empowering them to defy stereotypes, embrace risks and failures, and chart their own course in life -- whatever the goal."

Luciana will be released on January 1st! So close yet so far away!

How many of you want her? I do!

~Kara