'' was highly praised; one critic enjoyed her "engaging" performance", and thought "only the story's vibrant young heroine [...] draws us in enough to care" At age eight, Robb was scouted by an agent, and she and her mother drove to Los Angeles. After several auditions, Robb was invited to appear in a national commercial for
Bratz dolls. After appearing in a commercial for
McDonald's, Robb had a small role in "Number One Fan", an episode of the television series
Drake & Josh. Her first major role was the
title character in the television special
Samantha: An American Girl Holiday. Robb's two big-screen appearances in 2005 were adaptations of popular children's books. She starred as Opal in
Because of Winn-Dixie, and as
Violet Beauregarde in
Tim Burton's adaptation of
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The latter was a major box office success worldwide, and helped escalate Robb's popularity among preteen audiences. In 2005, Robb was the face of Trad Clothing, helping to design and model a fashion line for girls. The following year, she had a guest role on the cartoon show
Danny Phantom as the voice of
Danielle "Dani" Fenton. Robb played
Leslie Burke in
Bridge to Terabithia with
Josh Hutcherson, which opened in U.S. theaters on February 16, 2007. She recorded a song for the soundtrack titled, "
Keep Your Mind Wide Open", and the accompanying video received
rotation on the
Disney Channel. The song peaked at number 90 on the
Billboard Hot 100 during the week of March 1, 2007, giving Robb her first charting single. Robb was a fan of the book before being cast in the role, saying that it "touched me in a way I hadn't been touched by a book before". In 2008, Robb recorded the voice of
Mary Magdalene in
The Word of Promise: Next Generation – New Testament: Dramatized Audio Bible. She also starred in
Race to Witch Mountain (2009). In 2010, she appeared in
The Space Between. Robb then starred in
Soul Surfer, playing
Bethany Hamilton, who continued to surf after losing her arm in a shark attack. In May 2011, Robb was announced to star as
Wendy Darling in
Pan, but later dropped out of the project. On February 3, 2012, it was reported that Robb had landed a role in
Life at These Speeds. Later that month, she was cast as the young Carrie Bradshaw in
The CW's
Sex and the City prequel,
The Carrie Diaries, and appeared in the teen comedy,
The Way, Way Back. In October 2013, Robb started filming for
A Conspiracy on Jekyll Island, playing the cancer-stricken daughter of lead characters played by
Frank Grillo and
Minnie Driver; it was released as
The Crash in 2017. Robb played the role of Alice Green in the
PBS Civil War historical drama series
Mercy Street from 2016 to 2017. In February 2023, Robb was attached to the film
Thelma, which as of September 2024 has yet to go into production. In April 2024, she was attached to
Grosse Pointe Garden Society, a new series ordered by
NBC; as of July 2024, NBC was unsure if it would produce the series for the 2024–25 television season. The series finally debuted on NBC in February 2025 and received generally positive reviews from critics. ==Personal life==