Guest Post: Varsha Bajaj on Kavi, 2023 American Girl

Picture book and middle grade novel writer Varsha Bajaj’s poignant story about a girl pursuing water justice in Mumbai has been described as “a powerhouse of a middle grade book,” “a valiant call for justice.”

Now Varsha is adding to her creation of quite another kind of writing project—the companion books to the 2023 American Girl doll, our own South Asian American Girls Doll—Kavi. Interestingly, where toys and other novelties can sometimes accompany books, here the books become the novelties that go along with the doll.

Varsha writes here about how this project came to be.

I had wrapped up copyedits on the Thirst manuscript in the Fall of 2021 and was looking forward to reading, replenishing, and recharging for a bit. The best laid plans as we all know, go awry when something truly meaningful emerges on the horizon. The chance to create and write the stories for the first South Asian, American Girl doll of the year 2023 was that opportunity and challenge.

In our exploratory Zoom meeting, my to-be-editor, Jennifer Hirsch, shared that on Page 122 of Count Me In, I mention an American Girl Doll.  I checked, and sure enough I had. Jennifer interpreted that as a sign, a nod if you will, from a benevolent universe. I believe in serendipity too. My daughter had an American Girl doll when she was little, and we enjoyed her together. We would’ve loved to have Kavi.

We determined early in the creative process that Kavi loved music and performing and that led to including Bollywood dance. It felt like a great fit for me since I’d grown up in the heart of Bollywood, in Mumbai. Raised by parents who introduced me to Marathi theater, I learnt Indian music and loved to perform in my school’s productions.  Metuchen, NJ, was the perfect choice for theater and music loving Kavi because of its proximity to New York and Broadway and because of its large South Asian population. It was important to me that the story choices felt organic to Kavi’s personality and story. Kavi’s desire and need to find balance in her life led me to incorporate yoga.

The entire writing process was new to me and a growth opportunity. Typically, I write a manuscript and then it’s sold to a publisher. This time I had to write a book after it was sold, which was both exhilarating and challenging. It took away the anxiety of not knowing the outcome of writing.

I’m a plotter, not a pantser. But my outlines are bare bones, devoid of connective tissue, which typically emerges as I write. I’m also apt to change my outline as needed, as I write. The tight deadlines demand a schedule and editorial collaboration during the writing process. I was lucky to have an amazing editor and a research team that was devoted to every detail.

I write both middle grade and picture books. This project required me to write a heavily illustrated chapter book and a young middle grade. After a moment of questioning my sanity, for taking on new genres with intense schedules, I did what I always do. I looked to books and read like a writer. I went through a huge stack of American girl book. They have a tone, an innocence, and joie de vivre that would’ve delighted me when I was a young girl.  The discipline of writing picture books and telling a story in few words were skills that transferred to the writing of both Kavi’s journal and the hardcover that publishes in the Fall.

No one character or story can ever represent an entire, culturally, and religiously diverse community. That said, I hope that slivers of Kavi’s life, her friends, her close-knit family, and her interests will feel familiar and reflect aspects of many in the community. I hope that Kavi’s story can be both a mirror, allowing girls to see themselves, and a welcoming window for girls who might be unfamiliar with Kavi’s world. This project and books are for my daughter, all our daughters and the little girls within all of us.

Exhilarating and challenging. Thank you Varsha, and welcome to the book and doll universe, Kavi.