To be honest, all I knew about the American Girl franchise before I picked up the press notes for Kit Kittredge: An American Girl is this: Every time I hit the outdoor mall here in Los Angeles, little monster kids dashing into and out of the American Girl store like to "accidentally" swing bags stuffed with American Girl dolls into my legs and then run off without saying "excuse me." Oh, and whenever my girlfriend talks about having kids, she mentions how she'd want her girls -- because she…