On a recent visit to New York City, 11-year-old Rio Lewis walked into the American Girl (@americangirlbrand) doll store with her family and was shocked to see her face on banners for the brand’s newest character all around the shop. “One mom and a little girl, they’re like, ‘Hey, you know what? You kind of look like Claudie.’ And I was like, ’I am Claudie!’” Lewis told the Tribune. Lewis, of Hinsdale, is the model for the brand’s newest character, Claudie Wells, featured in the hardcover book “Meet Claudie, An American Girl” written by Brit Bennett (the New York Times bestselling author of “The Vanishing Half”) and illustrated by Laura Freeman. “It’s really amazing, because I get to tell people, ‘Hey, I’m the face of the new American Girl,’” Lewis said. Tap the link in our bio to read how the character grows up in New York City in the early 1920s surrounded by “writers and poets, painters and sculptors, actors and dancers, singers and musicians.” (James C. Svehla / For the Chicago Tribune)