Welcome to
Pretend Friend Ville
Enter into a world of magic and fantastic adventures where impossible dreams come true every day. Welcome to a world where you could be a nobody one minute and famous the next, or discover you're a long lost princess to a magical kingdom, sail across the seven seas with pirates, become a jungle explorer or travel through time on the Time Travel Train, fly to moon and battle with aliens or simply enjoy saving the world from evil villains with your family. Welcome, my dear reader, to Pretend Friend Ville, a place where all children find themselves at least once in their childhood even if they never realize it. It's a whole world of invisible people just waiting for the next adventure to find them in their beautiful, magical lives. It's a place where anything can happen just as long as you have enough imagination.
First and foremost, you must know that everyone in Pretend Friend Ville or rather PFV, has magic. They use magic for everything from small stuff like household chores, transportation like flying instead of walking, and magic refills on beverages so they never run out, to the big things like starting wars, taking over the world and then salvaging it before the next batty lunatic tries to destroy it again. Everyone in PFV also has a magical creature they turn into or just are. Some examples are: dragons, fairies, mermaids, elves, werewolves, etc. Life in PFV would cease to exist if it weren't for magic. Pretend Friend Ville is a place where crazy is the new normal and the random laws of magic replace the laws of science and math. It's a world of stories, each one a little bit loonier than the last.
Despite how unusual this world is, there are still outcasts. There are still extraordinary people who will never live down the reputation of wackos. They are the Playroom, a unique family where eight of the sixteen children are adopted from different historical periods in American history.
The following stories are about the Playroom people and how they were adopted by Jessica and Jackie, two real world girls who stumbled upon this magical world when Jessica was a lonely child at three years old and Jackie still a baby. Over the years, Jessica and Jackie had their share of adventures in PFV as they made a home in the Playroom with the girls they adopted from the famous Time Traveling Company American Girl.
Together in these stories we will see the Playroom face evil villains, dangerous missions, deathly diseases, shipwrecks, romances, homesickness, and who knows what else as they struggle to remain a real family through it all.
The Playroom family is grouped into three categories: the Big Girls, Glogan, and the Babies. Exactly one half of the Playroom people were adopted by Jessica and the other half by Jackie. Since Jessica and Jackie are sisters, everyone from one side of the Playroom family has a best friend on the other side. To give you some idea of who's who and what's what here is a list of the Playroom people and a little description about each one. Not everything about each person can be summarized here and you will learn more about each person as the stories go on. There will be things in these stories you may not understand and that's okay. The detailed Playroom jargon can be difficult to comprehend especially if you've never even heard of PFV but it's not important to the main plot of the story. Now that that's settled, let's meet the characters.
Samantha Parkington:
Meet Miss Samantha Parkington, the girl in charge. As the first Big Girl to be adopted by Jessica, Samantha has seen it all in the last ten years she's lived in PFV. She was there before any other Big Girl arrived and she was there when the Playroom was first built. Since Jackie and Jessica don't really care about the family as adoptive mothers ought, Samantha feels it is her duty to take control. Samantha has practically raised most of the children in the Playroom and a single word from her can stop any and all chaos. Everyone loves Samantha even though she can get very angry sometimes. Living in a place like the Playroom can do that do a person. Samantha spends her time chasing after her family in her attempts to monitor the craziness. She does let them have their fun; however, when it gets out of hand Samantha is there to clean up the mess.
From the Year: 1904 Place: New York Best Friend: Nellie O'Malley
Adopted by: Jessica Day she came to PFV: July 22, 2005 Age: 17
Magical Creature: Dragon
Nellie O'Malley:
Meet Nellie O'Malley, the girl who has been here almost as long as Samantha and who has joined her on every adventure. Nellie also has an air of leadership like Samantha but she doesn't get as angry and isn't as intense. This makes her better equipped to handle all the drama in a house of fifteen girls.
Back in time, Nellie was a servant girl next door to Samantha. Samantha herself was an orphan living with her wealthy grandmother and when Nellie's parents died, Nellie was put in a terrible orphanage with her sisters Bridget and Jenny. Samantha was there to rescue them. Soon they were adopted by Samantha's Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornelia. They were all very happy until Samantha and Nellie were sent to live in Groveland Massachusetts in a magical world one hundred years in the future. Even though the girls found a new home in the Playroom, Nellie still yearns to go back in time. Nellie loves her Playroom family but unlike Samantha, Nellie is not truly satisfied with her lot in life. She is homesick for the past although she'll never admit that to a few certain individuals in the Playroom.
Year: 1904 Place: New York Best friend: Samantha Parkington
Adopted by: Jackie Day she came to PFV: Christmas 2006? Age: 17
Magical Creature: Mermaid
Felicity Merriman:
Meet Felicity, the girl who thinks battling evil, rescuing your friends, saving the world, encountering situations that require a great deal of courage and experiencing an intense amount of betrayal and heartbreak are all in a day's work. Of any of the Playroom citizens, Felicity is the one who best lives up to the title "wackos on Play Road." She is fierce, strong, determined, and very overdramatic. She is not afraid to do crazy things like wear a squid costume and run around town as "Squid Woman" or jump on a horse and keep on riding with no thought as to where she's going. Felicity doesn't get embarrassed or shy; she doesn't even know the meaning of those words. But when someone she loves is in danger or needs help, Felicity is there in an instant with no regard for her own safety. She'll deliberately sacrifice herself if it means her friend can go free.
Felicity is from colonial America and her ideas of freedom match those of the founding fathers. She is a hard core patriot and doesn't like sewing, teatime, and other "sitting down" kinds of things. She could have never been the gentlewoman her birth mother expected her to be and instead prefers to take off on a wild horse adventure. While she was still living back in time, she yearned to be a boy so she could run off to war with her friend Benjamin Davidson.
And yet where Felicity ended up is even better than she could have imagined. Life with Felicity can be exasperating, exhausting and downright frustrating. But that doesn't stop the crazy Playroom family from welcoming her in with open arms.
Year: 1774 Place: Williamsburg, Virginia Best friend: Elizabeth Cole
Adopted by: Jessica Day she came to PFV: Christmas 2007 Age: 16
Magical Creature: Siren
Elizabeth Cole:
Poor Elizabeth is stuck with a person like Felicity Merriman for a best friend. Elizabeth doesn't have much time for herself and her own life because Felicity is always dragging her along on her adventures. Felicity is said to be a faithful friend but Elizabeth begs to differ. Felicity often marches off to do something crazy without her and Elizabeth always tags along. Felicity expects Elizabeth to follow her and only rarely will Elizabeth surprise her by not coming. Elizabeth is Felicity's voice of reason and she is one of the only people who can talk some kind of sense into Felicity.
Back in time, Elizabeth's family came from England and had only newly arrived in the new world when the American Revolution broke out. Elizabeth and her family remained loyal to the king while Elizabeth formed an unlikely friendship with the feisty patriot Felicity Merriman. Even now over two hundred years later, they are still an unusual pair. Felicity is loud where Elizabeth is quiet; Felicity is thoughtless and sometimes selfish when Elizabeth is very thoughtful and giving.
Year: 1774 Place: Williamsburg, Virginia Best Friend: Felicity Merriman
Adopted by: Jackie Day she came to PFV: April 3, 2010 Age: 16
Magical Creature: Ice dragon
Molly McIntire:
Before coming to the Playroom, Molly lived through World War II on the American home front. Molly isn't involved in the Playroom as much as the other Playroom citizens and her talents may still remain a mystery. She is practical and smart which are two traits the Playroom needs desperately. Molly and her best friend Emily don't have much to do in the Playroom. They mostly stay at home while everyone else is off living their lives. Yet adventure still manages to find them even if it's quieter, subtler, and slower moving than say, Felicity. There is more to Molly than what meets the eye but for now that's all you need to know.
Year: 1944 Place: Jefferson, Illinois Best friend: Emily Bennett
Adopted by: Jackie Day she came to PFV: Christmas 2007 Age: 16
Magical Creature: Werewolf
Emily Bennett:
All Emily has ever known is war. It was war she grew up with in England during World War II before being sent to America to live with the McIntires and now it's magical wars she is facing today in PFV. Emily is very shy and it took quite a while for her to warm up to Molly. Emily is a little bit of an outcast in the Playroom and it's mostly because she doesn't talk. She is very afraid. She is scared of many things and Glogan are one of them. Felicity is another. Felicity and Emily do not get along and everyone else is so busy they don't have a chance to get to know Emily even if they wanted to. Molly is the only real person Emily can talk to but even then they aren't very close. Since Emily is so quiet no one really knows her but it makes it that much easier for her to keep a secret, an important one which may or may not come up later.
To help their family defeat evil villains, Molly and Emily disguised themselves as D.E.S.T.I.N.Y.(don't ask what it stands for, no one remembers) a group that blows up famous monuments like the White House, Big Ben, the Pyramids, and the Eiffel tower, when evil villains had their conventions there. D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. is briefly mentioned towards the end of Captured by French Pirates when they blow up the Eiffel Tower.
Year: 1944 Place: London, England & Illinois Best Friend: Molly McIntire
Adopted by: Jessica Day she came to PFV: July 22, 2010 Age: 16
Magical Creature: Unicorn
Marie-Grace Gardner:
Marie-Grace was growing up in New Orleans during the 1853 yellow fever epidemic with her widowed father when she met Cécile Rey, a free girl of color who despite all odds, became Marie-Grace's only real friend. Marie-Grace and Cécile worked as volunteers in the overcrowded orphanages. Missing a parent herself, Marie-Grace had an idea of what it is like to grow up alone. She has compassion for others and struggles with a lack of confidence in her abilities. Marie-Grace's father is a doctor and he experienced the horror of the epidemic first hand. After losing his wife four years ago to the same disease, Thaddeus Gardner agrees to send his daughter to safety with a complete stranger. Little does he know just how far this stranger will take her. Marie-Grace does not want to leave her new home and friends for an even more exotic world she's never even heard of. For the first time Marie-Grace fights with her father and she comes to regret it because the last words she ever gets to say to him are in anger.
Marie-Grace used to be very shy before she came to the Playroom. Now she's finding her voice and discovering her own talents with her new family on Play Road. Like her best friend Cécile, she also has a growing interest in the performing arts. But before Cécile even comes to PFV, Marie-Grace is kidnapped by pirates, an event that will change her life forever.
Year: 1853 Place: New Orleans, Louisiana Best Friend: Cécile Rey Adopted by: Jessica Day she came to PFV: Christmas2012 Age: 15
Magical Creature: Water Nymph
Cécile Rey:
Cécile was a wealthy free girl of color living in New Orleans with her family during the yellow fever epidemic of 1853. She yearned for adventure and pursuing her dreams of acting until she finally had a chance to live those dreams by coming to PFV. Even then it's a struggle because the spotlight is always focused on her best friend and the adventures Cecile once dreamed of having are impossible. Now she is finding a new place to belong as she discovers new dreams with her time traveling family. Cécile is the newest member to the Play Road family and we do not see her until Orphans Run Wild which is part three of Adventures with a French Pirate.
Year: 1853 Place: New Orleans, Louisiana Best Friend: Marie-Grace Gardner
Adopted by: Jackie Day she came to PFV: April 4, 2013 Age: 15
Magical Creature: Genie
Gwendolyn Lindashire:
Gwen and her best friend Logan are different from the rest of the people in the Playroom in more ways than one. The first is physically. They are American Girls' Hopscotch Hill School and they are meant for an age older than Bitty Baby but younger than the historical Big Girls. They are hard bodied and very skinny. Finding clothes that fit is a constant problem. Gwen and Logan, or Glogan as they're most commonly referred to as, are the heart and soul of the playroom. They bear the brunt of battle on the front lines. They are such close friends that they've become almost inseparable, hence the nickname Glogan.
In their duo, Gwen is the idiotic sidekick who always has something funny to say. She is the comic relief and she is famous for lightening the mood during serious, on the verge of death situations. She is the class clown but occasionally she'll shock everyone by saying something wise and enlightening. But for the most part, she's silly little Gwen who will always follow Logan to the ends of the earth.
Another important tidbit about Gwen is that she is the Long Lost Elf Princess. In PFV, Santa Claus enslaved the whole race of elves and trapped them on the North Pole so they could make the toys he delivers on Christmas Eve. To make a long story short, Gwen discovered her true identity when she and Logan freed the elves and punished Santa. All elves, even Gwen, are excellent toy makers and have reoccurring nightmares about Santa.
Year: 1515(In general, elves live really long lives) Place: Elf Kingdom
Best Friend: Logan Buckingham Adopted by: Jessica
Day she came to PFV: Christmas 2004 Age: 14 Magical Creature: Elf
Logan Buckingham:
The picture of the sweet innocent face to the left does not match the character of Logan at all. Don't let looks deceive you. Logan is a hard core spy/ agent/ time travel/leader/ emotional advisor/ investigator and she also dabbles in illegal scientific magic experiments. She is always on the lookout for danger and is constantly defeating villains. Logan knows a lot of things about PFV that will shock and surprise you, amaze and even frighten you. Whenever anyone in the Playroom has a seriously dangerous magic situation, Logan is called in to help. Where Gwen is known for accidentally making things worse, Logan is known for saving the day. Logan can be very tight lipped and doesn't blab top secrets to the world like Gwen. When Logan doesn't want to say something she doesn't say it no matter how much Gwen begs her. Logan can also be funny like Gwen but she also has a serious side that Gwen seems to lack. Logan's past remains a mystery to everyone and to maybe even Logan herself. We know that she has time travelled more than humanly possible and that may be a reason why we know so little about her history.
Year: Classified Place: Classified Best Friend: Gwen
Adopted by: Jackie Day she came to PFV: Christmas 2004 Age: 14
Magical Creature: Vampire?
Meredith (Martha) Keable
Meredith is your classic, sweet, blonde, American teen who came from your average foster home to live in the Playroom. But Martha, her pseudo name, is perhaps PFV's most impressive, power hungry villains who will stop at nothing until the Playroom heroes are destroyed and she rules the world. She is the Playroom's biggest traitor yet they count her as family anyway. They want to defeat her yet they don't want to destroy her. They want to save her instead.
The last name Keabl in PFV means she comes from one of the original most powerful ancient families who discovered magic. Their ancient stories are very confusing and most professional magic historians cannot figure out what happened. Keabls are physically invincible and their magic is ten times stronger than your average PFV citizen which makes them almost impossible to defeat. Martha is the last Keabl. The rest of her family was destroyed in an ancient battle and her memory of them and being a Keabl was erased to protect her and the world. She was renamed Meredith and placed in the foster home system in the United States. She never would have known she was a Keabl except she came to the Playroom and it was all revealed in a quest to find her past identity.
Year: Present day Place: Maine Best Friend: Kelsey Reburta
Adopted by: Jessica Day she came to PFV: Christmas 2012 Age: 14
Magical Creature: Keabl
Big Dolly Chinchon:
Big D. is considered a baby in the Playroom even though she's over ten years old. Big D. is special because she was the very first baby doll Jessica adopted. Big D. has been there since before Jessica can even remember. As a result, Big D. isn't looking too good. Despite the fact her arm was ripped off and had to be glued back on (on more than one occasion) and her eyes are rusting out of her head, Big Dolly still has a lot of life left in her.
In PFV, everyone has a magical creature and Big D. is a seer or an old hag who knows the future. Big D. uses her magical abilities to tell people's fortunes. She and her henchman Parker have made a business out of it. To have your future told all you have to do is pay Parker at the entrance of the tent and then go in to see Madame Dolly. We will see Madame Dolly in action in Samantha's second story Where Madness Begins.
Big D. talks a lot but the Big Girls don't find her nearly as annoying as either one of the two Bitty Babies. Big D. is also a chef. Big D. and Parker are the only ones in the Playroom who can cook and they are responsible for feeding all sixteen of them. Needless to say, Thanksgiving Dinner is their biggest nightmare.
Year: Unknown Place: China Best Friend: Parker Squansofin
Adopted by: Jessica Day she came to PFV: Unknown Age: 11
Magical Creature: Seer
Parker Squansofin:
Meet the man of the house, Parker. As the only boy in the Playroom, Parker is used to being picked on by everyone else. Parker is constantly being used and bullied by the other Babies; Madame Dolly is a prime example. Parker has that classic macho physique. He was actually a famous wrestler for quite some time until he gave it all up to be part of the Playroom family. Parker is relatively quiet and simple minded. Parker is best friends with Big D. and they bicker like an old married couple. Parker loves Big D. as more than a best friend and she loves him back. It's a cute, awkward childhood crush.
Year: Unknown Place: Australlia Best friend: Big D. Adopted by: Jackie
Day he came to PFV: Unknown Age: 11 Magical Creature: Troll
Bitty Baby Fatterson:
There are two Bitty Babies in the Playroom and Bitty Fatterson belongs to Jessica. Bitty F. is best friends with Bitty Quansa. They are the youngest people in the Playroom and their actions show how immature they can really be. They have lived their entire lives in the Playroom and that may not be a good thing. The closest things they have to parents are Samantha and Nellie. Samantha and Nellie do their best to love and discipline them but they're just kids themselves. They can only do so much.
Both Bitties can be bossy, demanding, and insulting without even meaning to be. Despite being exposed to so much magic and chaos their whole lives they have a childlike innocence that the others do not. They are a bit spoiled and used to having their own way. Bitty Q. is a little bit smarter and more sincere at times than her friend Bitty F. Bitty F. has a tendency to blurt out whatever she's thinking. She is more abrupt than Bitty Q. and she can be a bit harsher. She thinks of herself as a sidekick to Bitty Q. but that's not really true. They are both equals.
Bitty F's parents are rather large people (like the size of three houses & that's possible in PFV) and they stow away on cruise ships. Over the years, they have been in and out of debtor's prison. They care more about eating and watching T.V. than they do about raising their daughter. Their nicknames are Mama Pork and Daddy Potato Chip. They gave birth to Bitty on the back of a city bus in Boston. For obvious reasons the PFV government stepped in and took Bitty out of their custody. She was living in a government facility camp when Jessica came to adopt her. For most of her life, Bitty had no idea who her parents were. Now she and Bitty Q. regularly visit them. Bitty uses the money she makes from being famous to help pay for her parents to roam around on cruise ships. The majority of the Playroom people don't think very highly about Bitty's parents but Bitty doesn't seem to care. She loves them anyway.
Year: Present day Place: Massachusetts Best friend: Bitty Quansa
Adopted by: Jessica Day she came to PFV: Unknown Age: 7
Magical Creature: Giant
Bitty Baby Quansa:
In PFV, the name Quansa is a famous one. Bitty Q. is a musical protégée and moments after birth she could play the violin as if she'd been playing it for years. Bitty was born in Japan but she was orphaned soon after. We don't know how much she remembers of her parents, it's something she refuses to talk about no matter how much Samantha pleads with her. While living in the Playroom Bitty has become even more famous with her partner Bitty F. Together the Bitties write and perform plays/musicals with the rest of their Playroom family. One show in particular made their fame skyrocket and now all Quansa shows are a must see event in PFV. Throughout Samantha's stories we see the Bitties in action as the Playroom gets ready to put on a musical. In Adventures with a French Pirate we see the Bitties more humble beginnings.
Year: Present day Place: Japan Best Friend: Bitty Fatterson
Adopted by: Jackie Day she came to PFV: Unknown Age: 8
Magical Creature: Fairy