Susan S. AdlerBesprekingen

AR: 3.7

Kindhearted Samantha Parkington's 1904 New York City world changes when Nellie O'Malley walks into her life. Nellie, her father, and two little sisters move in next door to be servants for the Ryland family. Though they come from completely different backgrounds, Samantha and Nellie become fast friends. The girls turn to each other in happiness and sorrow, adventure and danger, and grow to be as close as two sisters could ever be. But life is full of surprises and nothing prepares them for the life-altering one that lies just ahead.

This book follows the story of Samantha growing up in the early 1900s. Samantha is an orphan living with her grandmother who expects her to behave like a young lady. Samantha befriends Nellie who is a young servant girl. They become close friends, despite their social classes, and solve a mystery together. The story reveals the inequality and hardships of the time. The story also talks about progressive women of the time, like Samantha's aunt who believes women should be able to make money. This book gives historically accurate information while telling a story of how friendship can be found in unlikely places.

AR: 4.3

AR: 3.8

Samantha wants to win the gold medal in the speaking contest, but she's worried about Nellie, the poor servant girl who has become her friend but cannot read.

An introduction into the darker aspects of American history.

This book is a good historical fiction book since it describes what it was like to be a young lady during the Industrial Revolution, and the Women's rights movement. As well as what it was like to go to school during that time and to live in the city and work in a factory instead of going to school during this time period.

This book is about a girl named Samantha who is a young lady growing up in the time of the Industrial Revolution. She is an ordinary girl who makes friends with a young servant girl from the city and learns about the hardships from working in the factories and then gives her the doll that she got so that way her friend could have a doll which she never had before to bring back to the city with her. This is a good book because it also tells about historical facts from that time period in history.

Another cute story in the American Girl: Samantha series. In this one, Samantha learns a little something about her privilege through the eyes of her friend Nellie, a girl from a poor family who used to work in a factory before Samantha's grandmother found the family servant work in a house two doors down.

We also see Nellie's very first opportunity to attend school and the problems that entails.

I like this book, a few elements stood out to me that I really liked. The first thing you notice about the book is that even though it is a chapter book, it still included illustrations throughout. On page 2, Samantha finds Eddie’s beetle collection and there are is a picture of three different beetle pictures within the paragraph. Another thing I liked was the fact this is a great transition book to get younger readers into chapter books. The font is big, the paragraphs are manageable, and there are pictures throughout which reinforces the text on the page which is great for readers that are just getting into chapter books. I also love Samantha, this is the first book in a series of 6 and you really get a good idea of who Samantha is. Throughout the book, Samantha is depicted as a strong girl likable girl who is ahead of her time. She was always looking up to her Aunt Cornelia who was all about being a progressive modern woman. Cornelia would tell Samantha her ideals, for example, she told Samantha that women should be able to make money, which her Grandmother deeply disapproved of because it went against the cultural norms of the day. The main idea of the book is friendships can come out of the most unlikely circumstances if you just care about them. Samantha struck up a friendship with a neighbor’s servant (Nellie) even though they knew they shouldn’t be friends because of status, Samantha still went out of her way become friends and by the end of the book, they were great friends.

love this book

USE: Learning about classes and womanhood in the early 1900s.
Genre: contemporary realistic fiction. Historical. Early Reader.
Media: paint. old photographs.

Sam(Samantha) is growing up in the early 1900s. She is raised by her grandmother. She has a friend next-door who likes to tease her. I think he may like her? Sam leaves a cookie in a room for ants and her grandmother gets upset. Her grandmother wants her to act more ladylike. Cars are a new thing and her grandmother doesn't want her to get dirty in one. A servant girl moves next door and Sam befriends her. Until she has to leave. :( Will she be back? She was getting sick. Sam gave her her expensive doll. Grandmother was proud of her. Their seamstress left working with them because she had a baby and Sam was originally sad because she didn't know why she had left. Sam convinces her grandmother to allow the seamstress and her baby back.

I like this book for a few reasons. First, I used to read American Girl books when I was a child and I'm happy to see that they are still being created and changed. They have rearranged and added on to the older books I knew as a child. Secondly, I enjoyed the plot in this story. It's very interesting and forces children to learn about history perhaps without even realizing it. Lastly, the story pushes student to think about and discuss topics that they may not normally be exposed to in regard to the historical and economic aspects. I believe that the message of this book is about showing compassion to others and being a good friend even when people are different than us.

This is definitely an older book and it shows it. I liked it because the book told a few different stories of those who have diabetes. There was dialogue in this book, which I am not used to seeing in informational books, which I liked because it was different. However, even the pictures seemed old and I cannot see a child or anyone even liking this book. The main topic of this book is to inform those about diabetes and how you can have friends with diabetes because they really are not different from you. It shows a side to children how being different is okay and how you should accept people who are different than you in your life. One part I really did not like from this book was that there was a picture of a girl giving herself medicine with a needle. Maybe some people do not find this disgusting, but I am not okay with seeing pictures like that, especially in a children's book. This is not a book that I would have in my classroom.½

Summary:
Samantha Parkington was a nine year old young lady. She was an orphan that lived with her wealthy Grandmother. Samantha liked things such as climbing trees and playing outside. She didn't care much for piano practice or sewing. She made friends with servants such as Jessie and Nellie. When she heard about her friend Nellie leaving, she pack up food and her favorite doll to send with her.

Personal Reaction:
I have collected American Girl Dolls since I was about 5 years old. Samantha was the first one I ever received. However, I don't ever remember reading the story of her life. She was a strong adventure young girl in a time that didn't look too highly on those aspects.

Classroom extension:
1. I could bring my doll to school to show the class what she looked like.
2. We could do research to see what information we could find on her life.

This book introduces Samantha in the American Girl series. She is an orphan living with her grandmother in 1904. Samantha's neighbors have a girl her age come and live with them, but she has to work as a servant for her living rather than being priviliged as Samantha is. Samantha has grown up with servants but has never seen that children must also work in houses and factories. The two become friends and solve a mystery together. The story reveals the hardships and inequality of the time, rather than an idealistically whitewashed portrayal, but still shows the beauty of the period through historically accurate details. There are two versions of the artwork depending on the edition, but both give expression and warmth to the characters, and smaller illustrations show old-fashioned items that readers might have difficulty conceptualizing. These books introduce young readers to history in a non-glorified but approachable way that makes them more accessible and gives an understanding of real world concepts. The looking back section at the end uses real photographs and images from the era to display the highlights of that time in history along with the social implications.

Samantha Parkington is more fortunate than most orphans; she lives with her wealthy Grandmary and attends the prestigious Miss Crampton's Academy. Samantha's friend Nellie has returned with better circumstances and is now enrolled in public school. Although Samantha's friendship with Nellie, a servant, is ridiculed and questioned, Samantha continues to tutor and help Nellie adjust to school. Eventually, it is Nellie who teaches Samantha the true lesson of American progress!

The "Looking Back" section of this historical novel addresses education in private and public schools in 1904.

I really liked this book. I would recommend it to younger girls who enjoy learning about a girl and a little bit of history as well. This book is set in the past. The readers will really have to grasp that concept, instead of looking at the book as if it was published today. Overall, I liked it.

Samantha Parkington, an orphan, lives a privileged life with her Grandmary in a luxurious home in 1904. She is expected to be a proper young lady who practices piano and works samplers. But Samantha doesn't quite fit the profile.

Samantha meets Nellie who works as a servant for the Ryland family and the two nine-year-olds become friends.

Samantha soon realizes that Nellie's circumstances are quite a contrast to her own elegant life. Meet Samantha is the first book of the Samantha series.
"A Peek into the Past" tells of domestic life in 1904. There were no refrigerators, no freezers, no vacuum cleaners, and little prepared food.

Servants of privileged families did all the hard work for very little money and poor living conditions.

Samantha was my first American girl doll, which I got way back in 1st grade, not long after the American Girls came out. I always loved her books the best esp 'Samantha Saves The Day' and 'Changes for Samantha', both of which I still remember the plots from.

Samantha was my first American girl doll, which I got way back in 1st grade, not long after the American Girls came out. I always loved her books the best esp 'Samantha Saves The Day' and 'Changes for Samantha', both of which I still remember the plots from.

It is rare that two hobbies of mine collide, but that is exactly the case with 'Meet Samantha'. An avid doll collector, Samantha is one of my favorite American Girl dolls. Like many, I read this book series back in the early 90's when I was scrimping and saving my pennies for Pleasant Company's American Girl dolls. 2012, it seems, has been a year of re-reading for me, and I thought what better to re-read than Samantha's story?

Set in 1904, 'Meet Samantha' introduces us to 9 year old Samantha. Rich and upper class, Samantha is far from your typical socialite. She's full of spunk and not afraid to get dirty or speak her mind. This first book in this six book series is, for the most part, an introduction to the characters and settings. That's not to say there isn't a story, because there is, but a lot of this book concentrates on relationships.

What I love most about Samantha's story is the setting. 1904 was a time where you could realistically see cars and horse drawn carriages sharing roads. New things were being invented every day. Can you imagine?

I will forever recommend the Samantha book series to young readers. They are great stories with great themes (ie: friendship, confidence, etc). Even after all these years, I had a blast reading 'Meet Samantha' and your young reader will, too! Because of that, this blog gives 'Meet Samantha' 5 out of 5 stars.

This book is a great book for children who are in the period of transiting into more complex books. Little girls who have American Gril Dolls will especially favor these books. I loved reading this book to my American Girl Doll, Samantha.

This story Samantha begins to help someone of a lower class in society learn how to read and do her schooling. At the same time, Samantha writes a speech about progress in America. She later discovers that there is more than she knows, and changes her speech at the last moment to the horrors of children working in factories.
This story reminded me about Laura Ingalls Wilder. I loved reading her stories as a child.
This can be used to talk about the inventions that have made a difference in our history, and how they changed over time.
This story can also be used to talk about how early schools worked. (Curriculum, recess, public schools,and private schools.)