Movie Recommendation: Chrissa Stands Strong

One of the things I love about the American Girl doll line is the fact that each doll is based on a 10 year old girl with her own personality and story. The original dolls were set around different historical time frames, however, there are also dolls that are “today” dolls and limited edition dolls. Last year’s Girl of the Year doll was Mia, an ice skater with her own story. This year’s Girl of the Year doll is Chrissa, a swimmer.

The thing that is different about this year’s Girl of the Year is that American Girl released a movie, An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong, in addition to the doll and her books (Chrissa (American Girl Today) and Chrissa Stands Strong (American Girl Today)) . This evening my daughters and I watched Chrissa and really enjoyed it. If you have a tween girl, you need to watch the movie.

Chrissa stars Sammi Hanratty and tells the story of a young girl who moves to a new town/new school. During this transition, Chrissa experiences bullying at school and swim team. The story is filled with so many good messages as to how to deal with bullying in the classroom, online, at sports and in everyday life. It also addresses many of the issues that sports helps girls with, like self esteem, dealing with pre-competition nerves, team work and more.

Whether you are into the dolls or not, Chrissa is a movie that all young athletes will enjoy.  PS – Moms will relate to it as well!