This is not my first book about Barbie. I started reading Mattel-published books featuring their famous doll, Barbie, and her friends. As an elementary-school-aged girl, I thought teenaged Barbie, Midge, et al., gave me a peek at my teenage life to come. Then came the nonfiction books and documentaries about Barbie, Mattel, GI Joe and Hasbro. Renee Rosen rides the wave of the success of last year's Barbie movie; her latest historical fiction, brings another glimpse of the made-famous-again doll and the history of her making.

For those unfamiliar with the history of this now iconic toy, Ms. Rosen’s book will bring to light the history behind Mattel, Barbie, and the now infamous Ruth Handler. New to me was the story about Jack Ryan and the others who turned Ruth Handler’s idea into reality. Purportedly, Ruth Handler wanted to give girls the opportunity to envision themselves in various occupations beyond marriage and motherhood. Whether you see Barbie as a tool for feminism or a too-sexy toy that creates body-image issues for young girls, the history of the development of the toy is fascinating.

The discussions about Barbie's extreme proportions are addressed as well as the evolution of the doll’s figure over time. The personal lives of the creative team are superficially included. I would have enjoyed a more in depth look into their struggles and how that impacted Barbie and Mattel. Ms. Rosen includes some interesting author notes at the end of her book, that will hopefully inspire readers to delve deeper into the history of Barbie and the toy industry.

I LOVED THIS BOOK! I was a huge Barbie fan as a child, I collected a few in my teen and early adult years and now, as a mom to a 3 year old girl, I love watching my daughter play with her Barbies. Although a work of fiction, it was based on real events. The story mainly follows the people responsible for creating Barbie. Centered around Ruth, a co-founder of Mattel, and the strong woman behind Barbie, this story follows the creative process, the personal and professional challenges and the emotions surrounding Barbie. The impact that Barbie has had on the toy world, and particularly little girls, showing them that they can do anything in life and be anyone. Despite some of the criticism surrounding Barbie, her body and her clothing, she has continued to sell little girls on a world that is completely their own. This book is an inspiration, the story is fascinating and the writing was incredible. I am a huge fan of Renee Rosen and can't wait to read more of her books.
Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

Loved it. Started out feeling very much like non-fiction even though I knew I was reading a fiction book. As the story unfolded, the characters sprang to life and brought the plot with them.

The story showed how with all good ideas, not all is perfect. Brilliance needs balance and this fictional world of Barbie and Mattell was no different. I loved the humanity in the story, the characters were flawed and fascinating.

Advanced reader copy provided by Berkley and NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

What a fascinating story about Mattel and Barbie. Ruth was such a force ahead of her time. Her vision of Barbie was against society norms. Sad about Jack Ryan and all his demons. He was such a genius. From an accounting perspective the financial fraud added some insights to IA rules at most companies.

Let’s Call Her Barbie by Renée Rosen
.
In 1956 the only dolls on the market for little girls let them pretend to be mothers. Ruth Handler at Mattel has an idea for a different type of doll. Let’s Call her Barbie follows the Mattell team from the idea of Barbie to her release, and how Barbie affected them all.
.
What I liked:
-I really enjoyed that this was a historical fiction around all things Barbie! I learned a lot and found myself stopping to Google multiple times.
-The story flowed really well and did a great job keeping me interested.
-What I really liked was learning the ideas behind Barbie. I had no idea how much work went into her design and the designs of her wardrobe.
.
4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I was impressed with this historical fiction and will keep an eye out for what to read from Renée Rosen next.

This historical fiction novel dives into the fascinating history of Barbie at Mattel and the people who shaped the company into what it is today. While the story incorporates many real events, Renee Rosen takes some creative liberties with dialogue and introduces a fictional character, staying true to the overall theme of Barbie’s legacy.
For me, a great historical fiction novel inspires curiosity—it makes you want to dig deeper and research as you read, and this book definitely does that. The story primarily focuses on Barbie’s two creators, Ruth Handler and Jack Ryan, and offers a compelling look at the immense effort it takes to bring a toy to life—something I’d never really considered before.
If you’re still riding the Barbie wave from the summer of ’23, this is your perfect next stop into Barbie’s world!

This story kept me interested & constantly checking Google to see who & what was real or fiction. I grew up loving Barbie so it was interesting to dive into a dive into a bit of her history.

Thanks to Berkeley and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

As a girl who grew up playing with Barbie dolls, it was so interesting to read, as an adult, about the dramatic and sordid lives of the people that created her.

I loved this book. Ruth Handler was hell-bent on making this doll work so that girls could see themselves as more than a housewife and mother, which, in the 1950’s was quite scandalous.

Sure, Barbie started as a fashion doll whose jobs included model and lounge singer, but this book chronicles how hard Mattel, and specifically Ruth Handler, worked to press the envelope on making Barbie a role model for girls to show them that they could be anything.

I really liked the addition of the character Stevie who was fictional. She added a lot to the story as a woman who had gone through a terrible experience and thought she would never have the opportunity to make her dreams come true, but Barbie did that for her. Her character arc gave a great example of what Barbie is meant to do for the kids who play with her, inspire the kids to make their dreams come true.

The last quarter of the book gets a bit depressing, but that part was also interesting. Throughout this novel, we see the rise and fall of Mattel from the 60’s-early 80’s.

This was such an interesting book! A historical fiction novel about the creators of Barbie, Let’s Call Her Barbie looks at the doll’s creation, cultural impact and effect on the personal lives of those who worked on her. I really enjoyed seeing how Barbie went from an idea to a full fledged phenomenon and how she changed over the decades with the times. Also seeing the work culture at Mattel was incredibly fascinating, especially as Ruth Handler began to really take charge. I found Jack Ryan’s POV incredibly interesting as well with his mental illnesses and how he clashed with Ruth. The author’s note at the end really made me want to read and research more on Ruth Handler, Jack Ryan and Mattel. Also, don’t let the cutesy cover fool you. There are some very tough (but well done!) subject matters in the story such as mental illness, cancer, death and body image issues. I think any fan of Barbie would enjoy this one!
CW: sexism, cancer, death, eating disorders, mental illness

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for an advanced digital readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

Who knew Barbie had such history and drama associated with her creation.

This historical novel begins with an idea and lands with an everlasting legacy spanning more than a half century. It's unfathomable to imagine the controversy Barbie created as her sheer notion was to help young girls to dream bigger than a housewife. The creative team's saga was surreal at Mattel, along with their personal lives.

An impressionable story for someone who worshipped Barbie, her friends and her many accessories.

Thank you, Berkley Publishing Group | Berkley

When Ruth Handler pitches to her board of directors her idea for a doll unlike any the country has seen, she is met with skepticism, but she is undeterred. Unlike the other dolls on the market in 1956, this new doll looks like a grown women with a fabulous wardrobe and lots of career options. This is a stellar story of how Barbie became iconic and how a strong woman who believed in herself and her dream made it happen. I was cheering Ruth on the entire time I was reading. For fans of Barbie and pop culture.

I was not going to read this book! Not only that, when I suggested it to book club, they all stared at me like I lost my mind. It was only after hearing about it more and more that I requested it on NetGalley. I didnt have a Barbie as a kid and I was vehimently against baby dolls for more of my childhood so with one eyebrow raised, I began this book.
And I was DELIGHTED that it was so much more than what is the premise. The book is largely about Ruth Handler who believed in herself and her ideas that she was able to rise to the top ranks of Mattell company. A woman in this era in a roomful of men, trying to pitch the idea of a doll that is a grownup - wow. I can only imagine. Let's just say she persisted.
But its also about the skyrocket of success, the struggle to maintain, and the decline of the company, the products and the people behind the ideas.
Its a historical fiction that I immediately picked for book club. I couldnt put it down and was intrigued through to the end.
4 solid stars. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance reader copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

I never knew there was so much history to Barbie.

A novel written based on facts with some fiction to bind it together makes for a great read. I especially loved the parts when they first began to design Barbie and the details to ensure her clothes worked. To take the coldness from what would have been just facts we get the backstory of each of the characters and their life outside of Mattel.

By the author's own admission at the end of the book, it says she had to cut it by 100 pages because it was too long. In my opinion, it is still too long. It flagged at times and I felt we were being taken over old ground. Sometimes reading was like working those long shifts in chapters as the employees toiled away.

I also had my eyes opened to some of the goings on in the toy industry and what happened at Mattel. I looked up some of it as I wasn't sure by this point what was fact and what was fiction. In the main the characters are real. With Barbara Handler and her family and the designer Jack Ryan the main real life people. A character which was invented was Stevie, who was a designer of clothes for Barbie in the book.

The book was apparently in the making before the movie. There are a couple of references to things in the movie that went over my head at the time, and now I understand them. I never got a Barbie and I kind of understand why now!

"She was only eleven-and-a-half inches tall, but she would change the world."
Let's Call Her Barbie is a historical fiction book that tells the story of the creators of Barbie and I was captivated by this one from the beginning. The author wrote this so well and I was turning pages until the very end. It was very interesting to read about the creators of Barbie and I like how the author had her notes at the end that said what was historical or not. Overall, this was one that I highly enjoyed and would recommend to any reader who loves historical fiction or Barbie. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for this read in exchange of my honest review of Let's Call Her Barbie by Renée Rosen.

Let’s Call Her Barbie reimagines the story of Ruth Handler and her best known invention namely Barbie doll. She was ahead of her time with an idea of a doll that wouldn’t imitate mothers but rather bold women who could be anything.

Los Angeles, 1956. Ruth Handler gathers a team of engineers and designers to create a unique doll. She’s had this idea for quite some time and almost gave up on it when she saw this kind of doll in Switzerland. Now, with an example in her hand, she presents it to the team what she wants to recreate. She strongly believes that there is a marketplace for it which is untapped.

Along the way, there are many setbacks, but Ruth’s vision is unwavering. After three years of hard work, it doesn’t get any easier at the Toy Fair in NYC. The buyers are not convinced about a doll that looks like a woman. The Barbie launch is a colossal failure, but Ruth strongly believes in TV commercial. When most would give up, despite the Fair failure, she proceeds with commercial advertisement.

Then, there is something happening behind the scenes, something that no one sees from Mattel group, (created by Ruth and her husband), until there is a flood of orders that can’t be fulfilled.

With the smashing success of Barbie comes an idea of creating a boy doll, and other products associated with the two most famous dolls.

This fascinating story brings a strong woman who took risks when no one else dare doing it, along the way exposing private tensions of Ruth’s family, and other co-workers who took part in creating Barbie doll. Behind the big success, there were many struggles and challenges which are exposed in the story; giving it dimensions and making it feel very real.

Let’s Call Her Barbie is richly imagined. This empowering novel is narrated with fun and crisp prose, turning the pages of the story quickly.

I grew up with Barbie. I loved Barbie, and when I saw this book about the fictional history of how Barbie was created I felt that this book was created for me: Historical Fiction collides with the toy that helped create some of my favourite childhood memories.

This is a story about how Barbie went from an idea to a reality for Mattel and the real and fictional people that made this happen. Ruth Handler pushes her company to create and believe in a doll that can help girls believe that they can be whoever they want to be. Jack Ryan is the toy engineer that designs Barbie, and Stevie Klein changes her own life when she accepts a job designing clothes for the toy that will create an empire.

The one thing that I really loved the most about this book is the character development. There is a near perfect balance between the perspectives of Ruth, Stevie, and Jack in this book, and I fell in love with Ruth and Stevie most of all. It was powerful.

I appreciated the historical nuances and accuracy of the time period, and how Rosen really unraveled the challenges that women faced, especially women in powerful positions like Ruth in the 1950s onwards. How society imposed a dichotomy that you can either be a wife or you can be a professional, but shame on the woman who tries to be both (especially being a business woman)…. Unfortunately this sounds eerily familiar.

I recommend this book if you enjoy historical fiction or if you are looking to start…Especially if you grew up and loved Barbie too, it's nostalgic! It will be available on January 21, 2025 for you to pick up your copy.

Page & Pour Rating: 4

Thank you so much Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley for providing me an advanced copy of this book to review.

I played endlessly with Barbie dolls growing up.

My favorite part about Barbie was dressing her in different outfits so this historical fiction novel that tells about all the drama of the creation of Barbie and Mattel was fascinating.

The book not only focuses on Ruth Handler, but also Mattel toy designer, Jack Ryan, and his role in Barbie’s creation.

The book is told in 4 parts and goes from Barbie’s inception in the 1950s through the 1970s. This time period doesn’t just change Barbie and everyone involved with her, but also the Mattel corporation itself.

My favorite part was the reading about Charlotte Johnson, who was Barbie’s first designer. I loved learning about the intricacies and details of the creation Barbie’s wardrobe.

If you ever played with Barbie or just enjoy books about strong women, this book will delight you.

I thought I was all Barbied out but I enjoyed Let’s Call Her Barbie, a historical fiction account of the making of Barbie and an inside look into Mattel. The author does a good job of bringing the characters to life and telling the story but the end felt a touch abrupt.

As someone who grew up playing with and loving Barbie, this book was fun. That said, I definitely think this is a book for everyone, not just those who had Barbies.

The setting of this book was mostly workplace-focused (Mattel offices), and I thought this was a great setup. I loved how each character was introduced and the big personalities they had, and how the dynamics between everyone would shift and get messy.

Aside from maybe Stevie and Elliot, most of the characters are pretty morally gray - there were moments when I felt for them, and moments where they drove me crazy. I did really admire Ruth and how hard she fought for herself and her ideas for her company. The book starts out in the 1950s, and the sexism she deals with throughout the story was so frustrating, but seeing how she pushed back was satisfying.

The many ups and downs with both the business and the characters kept me engaged the whole way through, and the ending wrapped up things nicely.

“Let’s Call Her Barbie” by Renee Rosen, is a captivating, intriguing and memorable. What woman doesn’t remember of wanting or having a Barbie Doll? My most recent recollection is a signed Bob Mackie Barbie that I received from a friend, that I treasured. Unfortunately a few years ago, some pipes broke in my house, and this and other things were ruined. After all Barbie has become a legend throughout the years, and even a movie. The genres for this novel are : Historical Fiction, Women’s Literary Fiction, Women’s Historical Fiction, Historical Pop Culture, and Fiction. In this well-written novel, Renee Rosen vividly describes how the dream and idea of “Barbie” came to be, and the difficult production and design. The exquisite dresses,costunes, and miniature sized accessories also were so important.

Ruth Handler and her husband brought to life the idea of a doll that wasn’t a baby, and one could pretend to be anything. Jack Ryan was instrumental in engineering and bringing this design to scale in precise detail. Ruth’s daughter was named Barbara, and Jack’s wife was named Barbara. “Barbie” seemed to be the perfect name. Soon a marketing agency became involved, and after investigating how young girls felt about Barbie, and how the mother’s thoughts about Barbie helped create the image.

I learned details about the scandals, lawsuits, friction, and growth of Barbie and her friends. This is a fascinating and thought-provoking read that I highly recommend for others.