Kirsten. 1854.
Meet Courtney Moore
Courtney is a total ‘80s girl who loves to have fun. She rents movies on weekends, watches MTV after school, and goes to the mall every chance she gets. Her favorite place to hang out is Smiley’s Arcade, where she’s one of the top-scoring players.
Maureen D'Amico
Courtney’s mom juggles a full-time job with caring for her kids, and running for mayor! When a reporter questions Maureen’s ability to be a mayor and a mom, Courtney says, “She can be both!”
Bruce Moore
Dad, a software engineer, shares Courtney’s love of video games. Courtney spends every weekend at Dad’s condo, but when Dad takes a new job and moves more than three hours away, Courtney only gets to see him once a month.
Mike D'Amico
Courtney’s stepdad Mike owns an electronics store at the mall. He’s known Courtney since she was five, and the two of them get along well. Mike loves technology and is always bringing home the latest answering machine or VCR.
Tina D'Amico
Courtney’s 13-year-old stepsister is a valley girl with a passion for fashion. Outspoken Tina makes friends easily and rolls her eyes at Courtney and her geeky, Goonies-loving friends. Like Courtney, Tina likes music, and she loves music videos.
Rafi D'Amico
Courtney’s and Tina’s two-year-old half-brother is an energetic toddler whose mischief keeps everyone on their toes. If something’s missing, check Rafi’s room! When Courtney has a difficult encounter with Tina, she often plays with Rafi.
Kip Tomatsu
Kip is in Courtney’s class at school and is one of her best friends. He loves playing video games with Courtney at the mall or on his Atari at home. Kip is obsessed with movies and wants to be Steven Spielberg when he grows up.
Sarah Barrett
Sarah is Courtney’s best friend since kindergarten. Chatty and fiercely loyal, Sarah has no problem standing up for herself, though sometimes she can be judgmental without realizing it. She loves foreign cultures and wants to live abroad someday.
Isaac Wells
When Courtney meets Isaac Wells at the arcade, they form an epic friendship. Isaac has awesome ideas to add to Crystal Starshooter's game world. When Isaac needs help fighting a real battle called HIV, Courtney is quick to support him.
Justin Wilson
Justin’s a sporty know-it-all who pesters Courtney in part because she’s a better gamer than him. Like Courtney, Justin has a blended family with twin baby half-siblings and a much older stepbrother who picks on him.
Mr. Garcia
Mr. Garcia teaches Courtney’s third-grade class. He wears rainbow suspenders like Robin Williams in Mork & Mindy and has a Robin Williams-esque zaniness. He’s all about getting kids to express their unique personalities.
Ms. Markarian
Courtney and Isaac are in Ms. Markarian’s fourth-grade class. She is Armenian-American and is upbeat and kind.
Author Kellen Hertz
Kellen Hertz was raised by New Yorkers in Fresno, California, a combination that resulted in an overactive imagination and a yearning for bagels. She decided to become a writer at age 10 after reading the Wizard of Oz series (since the job of Princess of Oz was already taken). She is the author of American Girl’s Tenney series, as well as the coauthor of Lea and Camila. Kellen loves vintage maps, strange names, strong coffee, and words and all the flavors they come in. She lives with her husband and son in Los Angeles.
Illustrator Blake Morrow
Blake Morrow is a photographer and digital artist who creates illustrations by taking and transforming photographs into new images. Blake has a passion for pop culture and spends his spare time traveling, watching scary movies, and collecting vintage tin toys. He lives in Toronto.
Courtney’s stories are set in 1986, the year Pleasant Company, now American Girl®, was founded.
Courtney listens to her favorite cassette tapes on her Walkman or on her boombox. 1980s kids often made mix tapes of their favorite songs, like a playlist today.
In a very meta moment in the book, Courtney receives a Molly doll from her dad for Christmas.
Courtney admires Christa McAuliffe, a teacher who is going into space aboard the Challenger space shuttle.
Just like many 1980s girls, Courtney gets a perm at a hair salon. Women and girls wanted sky-high hair and used many products to achieve the look.
Smartphones and social media didn’t exist in the 1980s, so kids often went to the mall to see each other.
Courtney lives in Orange Valley, a fictional town in the San Fernando Valley. In the 1980s, this suburb was tied to the start of “mall culture.”
Just like other working moms at the time, Courtney’s was asked how she could handle both caring for her children and being committed to her work.
Hands Across America was a fundraising event held in 1986. Approximately 5.5 million people participated, raising about $15 million for charities to fight hunger and homelessness.
The MTV music network debuted in 1981. It played music videos 24 hours a day. Viewers loved copying the clothes, hairstyles, and dance moves they saw on TV.
More than 11,000 teachers applied to be the first civilian in space. Christa McAuliffe, a high school teacher, was selected for a spot on the Challenger space shuttle.
