Let's Call Her Barbie
She was only eleven-and-a-half inches tall, but she would change the world.
In 1956, the only dolls on the market let little girls pretend to be mothers. Ruth Handler had a different vision. She dreamed of a doll that would let girls imagine they could be anything.
When Ruth walks into the boardroom of Mattel, the toy company she co-founded, she pitches an idea that will revolutionize the industry. A grown-up doll with a glamorous wardrobe. No one has ever seen anything like her.
Ruth assembles a team of creative rebels to bring her vision to life. Head engineer Jack Ryan hides his secrets behind his genius. Fashion designers Charlotte Johnson and Stevie Klein pour their hopes into every miniature outfit. Together, they race against the clock to get this wild idea off the ground.
From USA Today bestselling author Renée Rosen comes a captivating historical novel spanning decades of triumphs and scandals. Through soaring successes and devastating personal lows, each person involved must decide how tightly to hold onto their creation.
This is the untold story behind America's most iconic doll. A story of fierce determination, creative rebellion, and one woman breaking barriers in a male-dominated world.
Because Barbie has never been just a doll. She's a legacy.
Interesting Facts
A Doll Born From Scandal: The novel reveals that Barbie's inspiration was Bild Lilli, a risqué German novelty doll based on a flirtatious comic strip character marketed to adult men. Ruth Handler spotted her during a family trip to Europe.
Eleven and a Half Inches Tall: That's all Barbie stands, yet Rosen builds an epic 429-page saga around the tiny figure. The novel spans from 1956 through the mid-1970s, covering decades of cultural upheaval.
Real People, Fictional Twists: Rosen structures the book as a roman à clef, blending real figures like Ruth Handler and engineer Jack Ryan with the invented character Stevie Klein, a fashion designer whose arc becomes a reader favorite.
Fashion at One-Sixth Scale: The book lovingly details how designers created Barbie's wardrobe at an incredibly tiny 1/6 scale, complete with real linings and sewn-in labels in every miniature garment.
Three Barbies Sold Every Second: Rosen told interviewers that roughly one billion Barbie dolls have sold since 1959. Knowing that makes it almost surreal to read about a time when not a single person in the Mattel boardroom believed the doll would sell.
Includes Vintage Photos: The book features a reader's guide and exclusive vintage Barbie photographs.
Both Kids Became Dolls: Barbie was named after Ruth's daughter Barbara, and Ken was named after her son Kenneth. But Ruth once noted that her children did not actually look like the dolls.
$14 Dollars in the Bank: Ruth's personal papers at Harvard's Schlesinger Library reveal that she and Elliot had just $14 in their joint bank account before creating Barbie.
Ruth Drove a Pink Thunderbird: This feels almost too on-brand to be true, but it's documented in her personal papers now held at Harvard's Schlesinger Library.
A $3 Doll Worth $25,000: The original 1959 Barbie sold for just three dollars. Today, a mint-condition first Barbie can fetch upward of $25,000 at auction. That's an 8,333% return for anyone who kept theirs in the box.
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