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AROUND TOWN

Doll's Day
Out

Temple Israel tea party
features American Girl author
Jaqueline Dembar Greene.

Jacqueline Dembar Greene signs her book.

A

good, old-fashioned "ladies tea party" brought together hundreds of girls,
mothers and grandmothers at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield. But it wasn't
the demitasse teacups, the pink lemonade, the tea sandwiches or the dainty
desserts that really drew a crowd of about 450 people; it was American Girl author
Jaqueline Dembar Greene. She was the featured speaker at the Oct. 3 girls' luncheon
and tea where dolls were also invited.
"Jacqueline revealed her excitement as a writer in receiving
the all-important call from American Girl:' said Lauren Marcus
Johnson of West Bloomfield, director of the temple's Libraries
and Media Center. "She was delighted to have the chance to draw
from her life as a Jewish woman to write the first American Girl
series to feature a Jewish girl and her family"
For decades, American Girl dolls, storybooks, clothing and
accessories have been popular with girls of all ages. The dolls
come in a variety of hair and eye colors, and each one comes
with a different story. The new Jewish character's name is
"Rebecca Rubin." A description of Rebecca says she's "a lively
nine-year-old who dreams of becoming a movie actress while
holding onto the treasured Russian Jewish traditions of her

large family"
On her website, Greene tells fans, "When you open the book covers, you're stepping
into a different time in America. Walk around in Rebecca's high-button shoes and feel
what it was like to live in New York City in 1914, and how immigrant families struggled
to keep their traditions while adapting to new American ways."
The event included a raffle for a Rebecca Rubin doll, crafts and a book signing. It was
sponsored by the Temple Israel Libraries and Media Center, Sisterhood, JYFTI, and the
Grandparents Club with support from the Newman Family Fund for Library Programs
and the Helen M. Pickett Children's Reading Fund.
Spotted in the crowd were: Lenora Beron, Melissa Hortick with daughter, Talia, 2,
Margo Lazar with daughter, Shaina, 7, and Linda Merkle with granddaughters, Jenna
Silverman, 8, and Lexie Finklestein, 8, Yolanda Tisdale with granddaughter, Allison
VanDerAue, 8, and Elise Otis with daughter, Jessica, 5, all of West Bloomfield; Natalie
Cohen with daughter, Julia Fertel, 13, and niece Nina Fertel, 7, all of Walled Lake; and
Janet Berman of Farmington Hills.

Cousins Nina and Julia Fertel of Walled

A doll sits on the floor during lunch.

Lake hold the Rebecca Rubin doll.

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October 21 • 2010

iN

Emily Schiffer, 6, of West Bloomfield

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For more information about Jaqueline Dembar Greene's work, go to her
website, www.jdgbooks.com

Peyton Kaplan, 4, of Commerce

Township