BARBIE

Barbie is graduating from high school—as the valedictorian, naturally—and she’s ready to learn her future from the Fates.

Seventeen-year-old Barbie is about to leave Heartland’s Swancrest Academy and embrace a glittering future. Barbie, in her pretty pink dress, has worked hard to be worthy of her perfect life, but her world is irrevocably altered on Boxing Day when she learns that she’s the first person ever to be Fateless. Worry is new to Barbie—along with breaking rules and enjoying the journey without regard for the destination. She decides that if she won’t be given a Fate, she’ll find one herself. Barbie’s quest for self-discovery takes her to new lands, where she discovers there’s more to the world than pink-tinted happiness. She lands at Rock Bottom and learns to survive, even thrive, despite betrayal and heartbreak. Along the way, Barbie begins to discover not only herself—still basking in a pink glow, but fiercer and more capable—but also the mother she never knew and the world beyond her comfort zone. Barbie is supported by friends; Ken even has a cameo. This emotional, fast-moving story centers on the classic Barbie—glamorous, intelligent, and motivated—but even with her confidence, this Barbie feels sadness, insecurity, and uncertainty. She doesn’t achieve things just because she’s Barbie; she works for them, and she sometimes fails while discovering life through living fully.

A beautiful rendering of an iconic figure from many readers’ childhoods.