Melody Ellison: Back Cover Blurb

Melody's themes as listed in the rumored debut giveaway doll-sized tee pictured above (found on Ebay) are "Freedom, Community, Family and Peace." As today's news about BeForever 2016 keep rolling in on various social media sites, these themes are now taking specific shape in the details of Melody's story.

The back cover description from Melody Ellison's first book No Ordinary Sound:

Meet Melody Ellison... 

Melody can't wait to sing her first solo at church! What song will she choose? She gets advice from her big brother, who has his sights on becoming a Motown star, and she gets inspiration from the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Melody's also inspired by her older sister, who's home from college with new ideas about making things fair.What isn't fair in their cousin's struggle to buy a house. Melody learns that they're not welcome in certain neighborhoods because they're black. Just as Melody's ready to sing, an unimaginable tragedy leaves her silent. Can she find her voice when it really matters? 

No Ordinary Sound, the first volume of Melody's stories about growing up in the 1960s, shows how people can come together to create social change.

Now we just need a debut date! Can we hope for February?

Melody!!!

She's all over social media! A first look at BeForever 2016: Melody!

So excited! How about you??

Melody Ellison: BeForever 2016?

Melody Ellison Update: See Book Cover and Read Synopsis!

Is the newly trademarked name Melody Ellison a sneak peak at the rumored BeForever 2016 doll? American Girl officially announced many months ago that BF 2016 will be an African American doll--so do we now have her name as well?

MELODY ELLISON:  BF 2016?

The name Ellison is not without significance in African American literary history. A greatly lauded piece of literature by an AA author is the novel Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. Invisible Man was published in 1952 and chronicles the struggles and frustrations of a black man in 1930s New York City who was essentially, because of the color of his skin, rendered socially "invisible."

I would like to think the choice of Ellison is a not-too-subtle nod to AA history. I do not in any way believe Melody Ellison, if she is the BF2016 doll, would be made to be actually related to AA author Ralph Ellison, but rather that the name choice would be an appropriate and interesting subtle homage to Ellison the writer as well as the AA history of struggle for "visibility."