Luciana Vega will teach young girls about  STEM concepts through a variety of branded activities including Space Camp.

NORTH AMERICA–Mattel’s American Girl brand has revealed its 2018 Girl of the Year, an 11-year-old aspiring astronaut named Luciana Vega.

The new Luciana doll features brown eyes, medium skin and dark brown hair with a signature purple streak. In addition, her wardrobe includes STEM-inspired outfits such as a flight suit and space suit that reflect her outer space ambitions. The doll’s collection will also feature a Mars habitat with science and research essentials.

Like other American Girl doll characters, Luciana’s story will be chronicled in a chapter book series published by Scholastic. Furthermore, for the first time, American Girl fans can engage in Luciana’s world by downloading the “American Girl” app and scanning her catalog pages and products to unlock exclusive content–including augmented reality, trailers, and videos, space simulations, quizzes and challenges and more.

“We’re proud to introduce fans to American Girl’s 2018 Girl of the Year, Luciana Vega–a champion of STEM and a natural-born leader who puts her whole heart into making her dreams a reality,” says Katy Dickson, president, American Girl. “Luciana is a role model for today’s girls–empowering them to defy stereotypes and embrace risks that will teach them about failure and success as they chart their own course in life–whatever the goal. For us, it’s all about building girls of strong character, and it’s why we’re continuing to encourage girls to lead change and embrace #charactercounts.”

Additionally, American Girl has partnered with NASA, Scholastic and Space Camp to develop Blast Off to Discovery, an education program that will help grade school students explore the wonder of space through Luciana-inspired content, including STEM-based lesson plans and classroom activities, videos, a game and more. Meanwhile, American Girl and Scholastic will host a Mission to Mars Sweepstakes, where families can go on a variety of weekly missions for a chance to win prizes including a grand prize trip to Space Camp.

The Luciana collection is now available at AmericanGirl.com and American Girl stores nationwide.