Nellie's Promise: 1906 (American Girl) [Hardcover]

Valerie Tripp (Author), Dan Andreasen (Illustrator), Susan McAliley (Other Contributor)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Series: American Girl

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. .

--This text refers to the School & Library Binding edition.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5–Nellie O'Malley lost both of her parents to influenza and she is charged with caring for her younger sisters, Bridget and Jenny. Forced to live with their vile Uncle Mike, who took their money and abandoned them, the girls ended up in an orphanage, where Nellie's friend Samantha found them and took them to live with her at her Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornelia's house. In this companion to the "Samantha" books (Pleasant Company), the sisters are not only taken care of, but also surrounded by a loving family. When Uncle Mike reappears and threatens to take them away, Nellie fears that she may lose her happy new home. The plot has just the right amount of action and suspense to keep the story moving. Nellie struggles mightily to solve her problems on her own, and is a strongly developed protagonist. Samantha is also a fully realized character, and the girls' interaction is realistic. The ending comes to a fitting conclusion that will leave readers satisfied. An enlightening historical endnote describes "Adoption in 1906" and the plight of orphans. Interspersed throughout the text are charming and vibrant, full-page color paintings as well as tiny scenes of people and places. Another winning entry and a natural progression from the "Samantha" series (Pleasant Company).–Kristen Oravec, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Strongsville, OH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 85 pages
• Publisher: American Girl Publishing Inc (August 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584858931
• ISBN-13: 978-1584858935
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,751,002 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Promise broken, February 17, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Nellie's Promise (American Girl) (Paperback)

I don't know who to be more steamed at - Valerie Tripp, or Mattel. Like many other people, I agree that this book didn't seem...well, all quite there, to be exact. It seemed flat, like the whole "Samantha Spark" was gone.

It starts off with Nellie happily skipping around on the streets of New York City, reveling in the fact that she now has a home. But her happiness is short-lived, for when her oaf of an uncle finds her, he threatens to take away all she loves. Nellie, with her fear of being found out, distances herself from her new-found family. How can she ever be happy with her new family and figure out how to elude herself from her uncle's clutches?

Personally, I think that how the two main girls, Nellie and Samantha, were handled were all wrong. I really regret the fact that both Susan Adler and Maxine Rose Schur stepped down from writting Samantha's books and left it up to Valerie Tripp. Samantha is the only American Girl whose books have been written by over three authors, most of them are written by none other than Valerie Tripp. Now, let's count how many books Valerie Tripp has written...All of Felicity's books, All of Josefina's, all of Kit's, all of Molly's and six- no, seven- no, eight!- of Samantha's books. I'm starting to think of Miss Tripp as a tyrant, if you ask me. Miss Adler did a beautiful job portraying Samantha, and Miss Schur as well, but Miss Tripp's work has been becoming...well, to be frank, shoddy. I thonk she's getting her other charecter's mixed up, because somethings were very unSamntha-ish. Like the widely used example of Samantha's wish to be president. now, out off all of Samantha's preceeding books, did she ever even seem to act like that, AT ALL? Samantha may be good at telling the truth and being fair and kind, but she never seems to strike me as a girl who would even dare to think of that. And the realtionship of her and Nellie doesn't seem to fit. Samantha wouldn't let such a huge gap enter their lives like that! And the whole thing is patched up in only a few pages, no regrets and hard feelings left over what soever. Very unrealistci, if you ask me. And the idea of a promise to your dying mother is fine, but that's what this books only seems to be about, and thank gooness that was rightly done.

Personally, I feel like I can't really trust American girl with a new girl, because she'll be in danger of Valerie Tripp writing her books, and to be honest - we need some new authors. I will not read any books written by Valerie Tripp about any other new characters without taking it with a grain of salt and some remorse - and that's a promise.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Does not fit with Samatha and Nellie's friendship at all, January 2, 2005

By 

Andrea "123" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nellie's Promise (American Girl) (Paperback)

In this book parts of it could be the basis for a good story but then a rift develops between Samantha and Nellie and the "rift" does not make any sense at all! Samantha would never treat her friend Nellie like that and Nellie would never treat Samantha like that - actually there is no reason for the rift to be there at all - it is so weird! This rift goes on and on and is the basis for the developing story and then in the blink of an eye it is all talked over and gone. It seems a poor choice as a basis for the story to me. A disapointment as it leaves a negative feeling about their friendship that appeared to be so deep and special at the beginning.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not inconsistent with other Samantha books, December 3, 2004

By 

WMS (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nellie's Promise (American Girl) (Paperback)

I spend a considerable amount of time working with children, and I thoroughly enjoy the American Girls series. I think they are both interesting and educational, and this book is a worthy addition to the Samantha collection. I especially liked the fact that the story was told from Nellie's point of view. Samantha seems to be an especially popular American Girl. I am sure that girls admire her caring personality, but I also think that Samantha's life seems like so much fun because of her family's wealth. She wear's pretty clothes, she eats great-tasting food, she goes on fun vacations, and she has wonderful toys. Nellie's Promise shows the other side of the story, so to speak. Not all girls lived comfortably in the early 1900s. This book tells the timeless story of a family coming together, but it also describes the unique lives of working-class girls and women.

One of the other reviewers thought it was inconsistent with the times that Samantha express a desire to become the first woman President. Actually, a woman named Belva Lockwood ran for President in the late 1800s. I don't know if Samantha knew that, but I don't think the idea of her becoming President is as farfetched as the other reviewer believed it was. Also, in one of the earlier books, Samantha was nervous about speaking at the school contest because she changed her speech after talking to Nellie. She was never afraid of speaking in general. She also displayed leadership qualities when she organized the talent show for the new library. I think Samantha's remarks were actually consistent with her behavior in the previous books.