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She was only eleven-and-a-half inches tall, but she would change the world. Barbie is born in this bold new novel by USA Today bestselling author Renée Rosen.
When Ruth Handler walks into the boardroom of the toy company she co-founded and pitches her idea for a doll unlike any other, she knows what she's setting in motion. It might just take the world a moment to catch up.
In 1956, the only dolls on the market for little girls let them pretend to be mothers. Ruth's vision for a doll shaped like a grown woman and outfitted in an enviable wardrobe will let them dream they can be anything.
As Ruth assembles her team of creative rebels—head engineer Jack Ryan who hides his deepest secrets behind his genius and designers Charlotte Johnson and Stevie Klein, whose hopes and dreams rest on the success of Barbie's fashion—she knows they're working against a ticking clock to get this wild idea off the ground.
In the decades to come—through soaring heights and devastating personal lows, public scandals and private tensions—each of them will have to decide how tightly to hold on to their creation. Because Barbie has never been just a doll—she's a legacy.
"Think you know Barbie? Think again, in this delightful, fast-paced, compassionate, and well-researched story, Renee Rosen skillfully takes everything you think you know and turns it on its head, telling us the real story of the feisty, strong, original woman who created America's most loved and most hated doll. Choose this one for your book club if you want the conversation to flow. I promise you everyone will want to talk about this excellent and fascinating book." —Elizabeth Letts, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Ride of Her Life
"The story of how Barbie came to be is as iconic as the doll herself. Renee Rosen's research and deft writing bring Barbie - and those who brought her into the world - to vivid pink life and make Let's Call Her Barbie a riveting read for anyone who loves historical fiction, strong women (real and otherwise), Barbie the doll, Barbie the movie, or stories about the American dream. As an avid lover and collector of Barbies - at a time when society often looked as harshly at me as it once did the doll - this story spoke to my heart and spirit and made me love my beloved Barbies even more. The first must-read of 2025! It's DOLL-ing!" —Viola Shipman, USA Today bestselling author of The Page Turner
"Bold. Tenacious. Resolute. Renee Rosen's Let's Call Her Barbie vividly brings to life the incredible journey of Ruth Handler, the woman behind the iconic doll. Through impeccable research and masterful storytelling, Rosen captures Handler's fierce determination and the challenges she faced as a woman breaking barriers in a male-dominated world. Impossible to put down, this is a riveting portrayal of a flawed yet awe-inspiring visionary. I thought I knew Barbie's story, but Rosen's unflinching portrayal of the doll's meteoric rise, and the players behind it, proves there's much more to this tale. An absolute must-read." —Karma Brown, #1 international bestselling author of What Wild Women Do
This information about Let's Call Her Barbie was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Renée Rosen is the USA Today bestselling author of Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl, The Social Graces, Park Avenue Summer, Windy City Blues, White Collar Girl, What the Lady Wants, and Dollface. Renée lives in Chicago.
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