We are fairly new to it, but my only daughter has really gotten into it the last year or so (seeing the big store in NYC was probably part of that!) She got the Isabelle girl of the year for her first doll because she is into ballet like Isabelle. I tried to steer her away from wanting Grace (2015 DOTY) because I worried that then she'd think she should get the new doll every year. I want her to think about which doll is most special to her for a certain reason before we get another. I love the dolls from different time periods because I think history is interesting. So maybe think about a time in history that might be interesting to your family and see if they have a doll (and her series of books) that would fit with that? We check out a lot of the books from our library. I also really love the line where you can create a doll that looks like you. With all the many many accessories you can get, they have a lot of things covered. It makes my heart smile that my neighbor's daughter wanted her doll to get the wheelchair because a good friend of hers is in a wheelchair and they could play together
My daughter is into dolls that are "like" her, and I think that's big with many girls now. We just got the catalog with the 2016 DOTY and it's always fun to look and see what's new!