History Literature / TheDollPeople

** The mention of Permanent Doll State in the first novel doesn't come into play until the second one.
** A bit of a stretch, but when Annabelle enters Doll State in the first novel, she mentions feeling very groggy and tired. [[spoiler:This is part of what kept Auntie Sarah asleep for all 45 years in the attic.]]

* ContrivedCoincidence: It's a good thing the descendants of Gertrude Cox live in the same house she did, and the dolls she had a child were passed down through the years and are owned by her great-granddaughter and still together--so when the toy store Wilson and Sons in LondMion found the package with Baby Tilly inside, it could be shipped to the exact same address the Doll Family lived back in the 1890s and the family could be reunited. Grandma Katherine [[LampshadeHanging points out]] how lucky they are to still be there when they open Tilly's package.

* ContrivedCoincidence: It's a good thing the descendants of Gertrude Cox live in the same house she did, and the dolls she had a child were passed down through the years and are owned by her great-granddaughter and still together--so when the toy store back in London found the package with Baby Tilly inside, it could be shipped to the exact same address the Doll Family lived back in the 1890s and the family could be reunited.

%% * {{Jerkass}}: Mean Mimi. She's nasty to the other dolls in her household, and carries this over to when she sneaks over to the Palmer house.

* LivingToys: The titular Doll People, as well as many other toys. On the SlidingScaleOfLivingToys they're Schrodinger's Toy; they can move about only when not being observed, and every toy and doll takes the oath to not do so around anyone who would see, including making sure they're as close as back to where they belong after being out at night. Failure to do so can lead to Doll state, a 24 hour pause where they cannot move or talk at all but still have thier thoughts. [[spoiler:Deliberately violating the oath, such as jumping at a person purposefully, invokes permanent doll state which never wears off.]]

* ParodyProductPlacement: The endpapers and covers of the book "advertise" or display the various the dolls as if they were real products, including [[spoiler:listings for Baby Tilly]] in the third book. ''The Meanest Doll in the World'' focuses on the Princess Mimi brand, with the hardback cover under the jacket showing the schematics of the doll herself.

* DelinquentHair: Averted. Annabelle is just as sweet as can be with her bright green hair. Notably, her hair wasn't always green--it was naturally blonde (well as natural as a china-haired doll can have) but one of the previous owners of the doll house painted it that way in the 70s.

%% * {{Jerkass}}: Mean Mimi. She's nasty to the other dolls in the household, and carries this over to when she sneaks over to the Palmer house.

''The Doll People'' is a novel series written by Creator/AnnMMartin and Laura Godwin, and illustrated by Brian Selznick.

* ActionGirl: Annabelle, Tiffany, and [[spoiler:Auntie Sarah.]]
* AndIMustScream: Permanent Doll State--a rumored punishment for dolls who have done something so reckless that it puts the entire existence of living dolls in jeopardy--is this. [[spoiler:Mean Mimi from ''The Meanest Doll in the World'' undergoes this, and it's implied that because dolls are still conscious while they are in temporary Doll State; ''Mimi is still conscious despite being forever immobile.'']]

** Played straight with Tilly May from the third novel, who was trapped in a box at the doll shop in London for ''200 years''.
* AngerBornOfWorry: How Annabelle's Victorian parents react to her coming home late from adventuring.
* BanisterSlide: Mom Funcraft does this a few times.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler:Mimi after she follows Annabelle and Tiffany back to the Palmers' and pretends to be a sweet and friendly doll.]]
* ABoyAGirlAndABabyFamily: Both the Dolls--Annabelle, Bobby, Baby Betsy--and the Funcrafts--Tiffany, Bailey, Baby Britney--both apply. Lampshaded.

* CatsAreMean: The Palmers' cat, named The Captain, is a constant adversary of the Dolls, and a major reason why Annabelle is forbidden to leave the house.
* DelinquentHair: Averted. Annabelle is just as sweet as can be--even with her bright green hair.
* EvilRedhead: Mean Mimi.
* FireForgedFriends: Annabelle and Tiffany with the dolls at BJ's house in the second novel.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: The mention of Permanent Doll State in the first novel.
** A bit of a stretch, but when Annabelle enters Doll State in the first novel, she mentions feeling very groggy and tired. [[spoiler:This may be part of what kept Auntie Sarah asleep for all 45 years in the attic.]]
** In the second novel, when the dolls at BJ's house are describing Mimi's minions, they mention that one of them is an action figure, which confuses Tiffany and Annabelle because action figures never take the oath. [[spoiler:Turns out their confusion was right--he's just a regular doll wearing action figure parts to seem intimidating.]]
* HappilyAdopted: Baby Betsy. Being dolls, none of them are ''biologically'' related, but all the other dolls come from the same set. Baby Betsy wasn't and was shipped with them by mistake. Her family was relieved the Palmers didn't decide to send her back, because they knew she was supposed to be theirs.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Mimi in the second novel. Her plan was to ruin Annabelle's life at the Palmers' home by alerting Kate to the fact that her dolls were alive. However, her jumping out at Kate and being spotted by Nora causes her to enter Permanent Doll State.]]
* IntergenerationalFriendship: Annabelle and Tiffany, in terms of physical age. Annabelle was created in 1898, and Tiffany is nearly brand-new when she meets Annabelle.
* {{Jerkass}}: Mean Mimi.

* LivingToys: The titular Doll People.
* TheMasquerade: Dolls who have taken the Oath are forced to uphold this, and failure to do so results in their being placed in a temporary "Doll State" where they can no longer move or talk.

* PluckyGirl: Tiffany. Annabelle as well, although much more downplayed.

* SpeakInUnison: The Cutouts from the second novel do this.
* SpeciesSurname: The Doll family are dolls.

* YearOutsideHourInside: A sort of additional, unnamed form of Doll State explored in the first novel as an explanation for what happened to [[spoiler:Auntie Sarah.]] A doll who becomes trapped somewhere for a long period of time becomes sleepy and dozes off for however long it takes for them to be found, and when they awake, they believe it's only been a few hours at most.

''The Doll People'' is a novel series written by [[Creator/AnnMMartin Ann M. Martin]] and Laura Godwin, and illustrated by Brian Selznick.

''The Doll People'' is a novel series written by Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin, and illustrated by Brian Selznick.

* RipVanWinkle[=/=]YearOutsideHourInside: A sort of additional, unnamed form of Doll State explored in the first novel as an explanation for what happened to [[spoiler:Auntie Sarah.]] A doll who becomes trapped somewhere for a long period of time becomes sleepy and dozes off for however long it takes for them to be found, and when they awake, they believe it's only been a few hours at most.
* {{Shoutout}}: "Surrender, Annabelle", which is written on one of the last pages of the first novel, is a reference to ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Annabelle has green hair as a result of a failed dyeing incident by her owners.

* CassandraTruth: [[spoiler:Kate's sister Nora in ''The Meanest Doll in the World'', when she sees Mimi jump off Kate's bookshelf.]]

* {{Kaiju}}: Due to the obvious scale involved, the human characters are portrayed as such in the eyes of the doll people. Luckily, the Palmer family are (mostly) gentle with them.

* HappilyAdopted: Baby Betsy. Being dolls, none of them are ''biologically'' related, but all the other dolls come from the same set. Baby Betsy wasn't, and was shipped with them by mistake. Her family was relived the Palmers didn't decide to send her back, because they knew she was supposed to be theirs.

* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: As a book geared toward young girls, about two young girls (young in terms of emotional development at least) Annabelle and Tiffany's friendship is taken very seriously.

''The Doll People'' is a novel series written by Creator/AnnMMartin and Laura Godwin, and illustrated by Brian Selznick.

* AndIMustScream: Permanent Doll State--a rumored punishment for dolls who have done something so reckless that it puts the entire existence of living dolls in jeopardy--is this. [[spoiler:Mean Mimi from ''The Meanest Doll in the World'' undergoes this, and it's implied that because dolls are still conscious while they are in temporary Doll State, ''Mimi is still conscious despite being forever immobile.'']]

* HappilyAdopted: Baby Betsy. Being dolls, none of them are ''biologically'' related, but all the other dolls come from the same set. Baby Betsy wasn't, and was shipped with them by mistake. Her family was relived the Palmers didn't decide to send her back, because they knew she was supposed to be their.s

* TakeThat: To the mindless nature of Barbie dolls and action figures, as it's stated that [[DumbBlonde Barbies]] and [[DumbMuscle action figures]] never take the oath.

* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: As a book gauged at young girls, about two young girls (young in terms of emotional development at least) Annabelle and Tiffany's friendship is taken very seriously.

[[caption-width-right:350:The front cover of the first novel.]]

* AndIMustScream: Permanent Doll State, a rumored punishment for dolls who have done something so reckless that it puts the entire existence of living dolls in jeopardy, is this. [[spoiler:Mean Mimi from ''The Meanest Doll in the World'' undergoes this, and it's implied that because dolls are still conscious while they are in temporary Doll State, ''Mimi is still conscious despite being forever immobile.'']]
** Averted with [[spoiler:Auntie Sarah]] in the first novel, who was [[spoiler:trapped under a heavy trunk in the attic]] for ''45 years,'' but fell asleep for the entire time, leaving her unaware of what happened.

* ActionGirl: Annabelle, Tiffany, and [[spoiler: Auntie Sarah.]]

** Averted with [[spoiler: Auntie Sarah]] in the first novel, who was [[spoiler: trapped under a heavy trunk in the attic]] for ''45 years,'' but fell asleep for the entire time, leaving her unaware of what happened.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler: Mimi after she follows Annabelle and Tiffany back to the Palmers' and pretends to be a sweet and friendly doll.]]

* CassandraTruth: [[spoiler: Kate's sister Nora in ''The Meanest Doll in the World'', when she sees Mimi jump off Kate's bookshelf.]]

** A bit of a stretch, but when Annabelle enters Doll State in the first novel, she mentions feeling very groggy and tired. [[spoiler: This may be part of what kept Auntie Sarah asleep for all 45 years in the attic.]]
** In the second novel, when the dolls at BJ's house are describing Mimi's minions, they mention that one of them is an action figure, which confuses Tiffany and Annabelle because action figures never take the oath. [[spoiler: Turns out their confusion was right--he's just a regular doll wearing action figure parts to seem intimidating.]]

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: Mimi in the second novel. Her plan was to ruin Annabelle's life at the Palmers' home by alerting Kate to the fact that her dolls were alive. However, her jumping out at Kate and being spotted by Nora causes her to enter Permanent Doll State.]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Tiffany reacts this way after [[spoiler: Papa Doll gets snatched up by The Captain]].

* RipVanWinkle[=/=]YearOutsideHourInside: A sort of additional, unnamed form of Doll State explored in the first novel as an explanation for what happened to [[spoiler: Auntie Sarah.]] A doll who becomes trapped somewhere for a long period of time becomes sleepy and dozes off for however long it takes for them to be found, and when they awake, they believe it's only been a few hours at most.
* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: Annabelle and Tiffany are--in terms of emotional development at least--young girls, and take their friendship very seriously.

''The Doll People'' is a novel series written by Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin, and illustrated by Brian Selznick.

Annabelle Doll is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin just that, a doll,]] living with her family in eight-year-old Kate Palmer's home. She has lived with the Palmers for over 100 years, and has never had a true adventure in that time--that is, until the Funcraft Dolls move in.

The trilogy:
#''The Doll People''
#''The Meanest Doll in the World''
#''The Runaway Dolls''

* DelinquentHair: Averted. Annabelle is just as sweet as can be - even with her bright green hair.

** In the second novel, when the dolls at BJ's house are describing Mimi's minions, they mention that one of them is an action figure, which confuses Tiffany and Annabelle because action figures never take the oath. [[spoiler: Turns out their confusion was right - he's just a regular doll wearing action figure parts to seem intimidating.]]

* {{Jerkass}}: Mean Mimi.

* RipVanWinkle / YearOutsideHourInside: A sort of additional, unnamed form of Doll State explored in the first novel as an explanation for what happened to [[spoiler: Auntie Sarah.]] A doll who becomes trapped somewhere for a long period of time becomes sleepy and dozes off for however long it takes for them to be found, and when they awake, they believe it's only been a few hours at most.

Annabelle Doll is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin just that, a doll,]] living with her family in eight-year-old Kate Palmer's home. She has lived with the Palmers for over 100 years, and has never had a true adventure in that time - that is, until the Funcraft Dolls move in.

The series consists of the first novel, ''The Doll People'', and two sequels, ''The Meanest Doll in the World'' and ''The Runaway Dolls''.

* {{Shoutout}}: "Surrender, Annabelle", which is written on one of the last pages of the first novel, is a reference to TheWizardOfOz.

* CassandraTruth: [[spoiler: Kate's sister Nora in ''The Meanest Doll in the World'', when Mimi jumps off Kate's bookshelf.]]

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: Mimi in the second novel, when her jumping out at Kate causes her to enter Permanent Doll State.]]

* CatsAreMean: The Palmer's cat, named The Captain, is a constant adversary of the Dolls, and a major reason why Annabelle is forbidden to leave the house.

* TheMasquerade: Dolls who have taken the Oath are forced to uphold this, and failure to do so results in their being placed in a temporary "Doll State" where they can no longer move or talk.