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The Beacon Street Girls are going on solo adventures, and their tween fans not only will be able to read about them, they'll be able to buy products based on each of the seventh-grade character's fictional experiences.
B*tween Productions Inc. will launch the Beacon Street Girls Adventure series in September, starting with the release of "Charlotte in Paris."
The new imprint will include 25 books through 2008 - five for each of the five 12-year-old characters.
The Lexington company simultaneously will introduce character-specific tie-in lines. For "Charlotte in Paris," the products will include the messenger bag featured on the illustrated book cover, an Ooh La La! Paris stationery set, and a pillow, clutch and "bon voyage" barrel bag in the title characters favorite color of purple.
"The new adventure series is all about focusing on individual characters and taking them to places, and having those girls go through certain experiences that are unique to that character," said Addie Swartz, B*tween Productions founder and CEO.
It's the second series by the company, which promotes itself as a parent-approved brand designed to empower girls ages 9 to 13 and help them cope with social issues. The books are penned by a team of writers - under the pseudonym Annie Bryant - that consults with experts in adolescent development.
B*tween Productions first introduced young readers to the multicultural characters of Charlotte Ramsey, Katani Summers, Avery Madden, Isabel Martinez and Maeve Kaplan-Taylor with the Beacon Street Girls Classics series set in Brookline. The company has sold more than 300,000 copies of the books, eight to date, since 2004.
The adventure series and products sprung out of suggestions from the company's advisory board of more than 3,000 girls in 39 countries, according to Swartz.
"Girls have been asking us to make the products that the characters use," she said.
Swartz doesn't see the products running counter to the company's mission of promoting "socially responsible" values to young girls. "There's no go-buy-it-here message in the books," she said.
"There are so many girls out there that are emulating and affiliating themselves with Paris Hilton and Britney Spears and a host of characters that are thin, blond, beautiful and perfect and live these superstar lives," Swartz said. "The Beacon Street Girls offers an opportunity to celebrate all girls, and all they have to offer internally and externally and through their talents.
Every one of the characters has drawbacks to them, and that makes them realistic and dimensional. That's why girls like them."
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