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American Girl celebrates the Harlem Renaissance with new 1920s historical character, Claudie Wells, whose story is written by acclaimed author Brit Bennett. (PHOTO: BUSINESS WIRE)

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American Girl Celebrates Literary Heritage & Harlem Renaissance With Best-Selling Novelist Brit Bennett

American Girl, a cornerstone in the Mattel (NASDAQ: MAT) portfolio of purposeful brands, welcomes a new historical character—Claudie Wells—to its flagship line of dolls and books that give fans an understanding of important times in America’s past. Growing up in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood in 1922, Claudie™ and her family are living in a profound period of cultural growth that would become known as the Harlem Renaissance, the most influential movement of African American artistic and cultural expression in U.S. history. In her first foray into middle-grade fiction, New York Times best-selling author and childhood AmericanGirl fan Brit Bennett wrote Claudie’s story and takes readers on a journey to this extraordinary moment of Black artistic joy and expression, while also deftly exploring the challenges of the times.