Customer Reviews

Meet Samantha (American Girls Collection)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is another in the American Girls Short Stories series about Samantha Parkington, a nine-year-old orphan girl living with her wealthy grandmother in the America of 1904. In this first book of the series, Samantha begins to learn about the world outside of her opulent house; she learns of the yawning inequalities that separate race, class and sex. Through it all, Samantha works on her needlepoint sampler that bears the simple motto "Actions speak louder than words," and Samantha puts that motto to work.

This is an excellent book, with a wonderful story, excellent illustrations, and a great lesson. After each reading session, my daughter and I would have discussions about racism, child labor, and a host of other topics. I do think that this is an excellent introduction for children into some of the darker aspects of American history. We recommend it wholeheartedly.

This book is excellent. I am 24,I read these books when I was 8 or 9. Now that my daughter is 7, I thought it would be a good time to get her started. I bought her the entire series, she picked up the first book, Meet Samantha, she loved it. For the next few days every time you saw her she had her nose stuffed in a book. On a recent trip to Mass. she wouldnt leave without her books. Now she is even asking me to get her the series with Felicity. She loves them just as much as I did.

Any book that can get a child to want to read is an excellent one in my opinion. Also, in the back of each of the books there is a bit of real history dating back to the time of when the book takes place (ie. Samantha in 1904, Molly,1944) These books you will be 150% satisfied with! GUARENTEED!

Meet Samantha is an excellent book. It is about a young girl whose parents died when she was 5 years old. Now she lives in the country with her grandmother. Samantha's grandmother does not like to make changes. Samantha meets a young girl named Nellie who is working for another family next door. Nellie's parents and two sisters live in the city and work at a factory. The suggested reading level is ages 7 and up but I think that the Samantha series is wonderful for anyone.

Samantha is a rich Victorian orphan living with her grandmother. Eddie Ryland, her annoying neighbor tells her he has a girl coming to live at his house. And Samantha is excited. Maybe she'll have a friend next door! But she meets the girl who is Nellie, a servant girl. Soon Nellie gets sick and must be sent away. Samantha must do something to stop this or to show kindness. Basically the story wasn't that great of an idea and it drags out for a long time. But any fan of the American Girls will enjoy it.

I first came across this book about fifteen-years ago when I was in the fourth grade. It was library day, and this was the book that I picked to read. I read the first chapter in the library, and spent the remainder of the day hiding the book underneath my desk, so my teacher wouldn't notice that I was reading. I got caught anyway.

Anyway, this is a great collection about a weathly nine-year-old girl named Samantha who is growing up in the year 1904. In the first chapter we learn that her grandmother is raising her because her parents were killed in a motorboat accident. We learn more about that tragedy later on in the Samantha book series.

One day Samantha sees a girl about her age doing the laundry at the house next door. Samantha's neighbors are also well to do, and they have a spoiled son named Eddy, who likes to tease Samantha.
After Samantha talks to this girl she finds out that her name is Nellie, and that her family sent her to work as a servant girl because in New York City Nellie was working long hours in a dusty, factory. This was before child labor laws.

Another thing that Samantha witnesses is that her grandmother's seamstress, Jessie has left her job. Jessie, nor her grandmother will tell her why. One night, Nellie and Samantha hatch a plan to go to Jessie's house to find out why. In the next chapter you get to deal with racism in the early 20th century.

I think this is a wonderful book for a parent to buy, and read to their kids. The book tells a story about a young girl growing up in the early 20th century. It gives a lesson about child labor, and paints a picture of racism. The child will learn that these two subjects are very wrong.

I just hope that one day the books in this series are not edited like so many of the classics have been.

This was the first book that I read out of the American Girls Collection. I have read most of the others now, but this one is still my favorite. Samantha is a very nice and caring girl and this book is really worth reading.

Wealthy Samantha Parkington leads a fairly comfortable life, but is jolted into reality by the befriending of Nellie.

Although Nellie is roughly around Samantha's age, economic need coupled with the lack of today's child labor laws have brought her to work as a servant girl for the equally-wealthy neighbors. Initially different life perspectives lead the two girls on a timeless friendship which spans socioeconomic status.

Samantha may be book smart, but Nellie has spent far more time in the real world's proverbial school of hard knocks.

Nellie also helps Samantha understand why a beloved seamstress named Jessie must suddenly leave employment from her own grandmary's house. Because Samantha has grown up without wanting for anything, she does not realize other people have to prioritize the critical bread-and-butter issues such as child care, ironically to support their families. A person's staying or leaving their workplace is not always a question of whether they like the people they work for or have fun.

While the quote on her sampler could be annoying, it also typified a sheltered Victorian childhood, and therefore did not signifigantly detract from the book's overall plot. Samantha begins to understand that surface images can be quite different from the often more complex (and dangerous) reality within the same afforementioned society.

Yet, unlike so many of the best-intentioned reformers of the day (who really were trying to help their intended target populations), Samantha does not talk down to Nellie in this volume. We see she genuinely attempts to reach out and believe in Nellie'O Malley as an equal. Because this was ironically the social arrangement championed by idealistic first wave feminists (who envisioned an international sisterhood) the placement is inspiring.

Meet Samantha is an excellent way to introduce young girls to the genre of historical fiction. The vocabulary used in the book helps set the tone to be transported to the early 1900's. The actions of the characters also inform readers of the differences between the early 1900's and the time period we are living in now. A very informative addition to the book is located after the story. It is called looking back-changes for America in 1904. This section of the book gives facts about the time period in which the book is set accompanied by photos of the time period. Both the story and this added feature would enable the reader to learn a lot about the early 1900's. This book certainly opens the door for discussion about the changes that have come about in our country and how those changes affect everyone who lives in America. This book will be enjoyed by many young girls because they will be able to relate to the main characters and their newly formed friendship. Readers will sympathize with Nellie's situation and cheer on Samantha who does everything she can to help her have fun!

My daughter just loves this book. She has read it over and over again. She likes this version of the book because she likes the illustrastions better. The book is about Samantha, one of her favorite American Girls. The author (Valerie Trip) is a great writer. This book is a must-have.

We had a Samantha's Mystery Birthday party and used this book as a party favor for each girl to take home. It was a huge hit!