Molly: An American Girl : 1944 (The American Girls Collection)

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Molly: An American Girl : 1944 (American Girls: Molly #1-6)

3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 · rating details · 2,626 ratings · 91 reviews

Molly is a lively, lovable schemer and dreamer growing up in 1944. Her stories describe her life on the home front during World War Two. Molly doesn't like many of the changes the war has brought, and she especially misses her father, who is away caring for wounded soldiers. But Molly learns the importance of getting along and pulling together -- just as her country has to...more

Paperback, 398 pages

Published September 1st 1990 by American Girl (first published 1986)

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Dec 20, 2008 Sarah Evans rated it 4 of 5 stars

To my husband's shock, the boys and I listened to this collection on audio. But she's not too girly and the boys love stories set in WWII. Not that the boys will be asking for her doll for Christmas or anything.

The writing and stories actually exceeded my expectations. I guess I was being snobby because of the whole doll tie-in and everything. But this is a solid early chapter book series. Molly's character is realistic and matures nicely over the course of the books. While we don't get to know...more

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Mar 15, 2009 Taylor added it

molly M.cintine life is full of change. her dad is at war, and her mom works at the red cross. The whole world is at war, so life is hard for molly. But she makes the best of it. Such as in the first book meet molly, molly and her family doesn't have much money so her halloween costume will have to do with what they already have. in molly learns a lesson, it is mostly about how her and her friends do a secret project for the schools lend a hand project. in molly's surprise, they face a disappoin...more

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Apr 12, 2010 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars

I used this title to review a book my great-grandmother wrote and had published titled, "Just Molly." Her name was Marguerite Nye Bell and the book was published in 1980. You can actually search for it on Amazon and it will list some places you can buy it used. So, it is a real book, even if Goodreads says it isn't.
I have had a copy of this book in my possession for most of my life, although I never read it in its entirety until about five or six years ago. I just reread it on the heels of Half-...more I used this title to review a book my great-grandmother wrote and had published titled, "Just Molly." Her name was Marguerite Nye Bell and the book was published in 1980. You can actually search for it on Amazon and it will list some places you can buy it used. So, it is a real book, even if Goodreads says it isn't.
I have had a copy of this book in my possession for most of my life, although I never read it in its entirety until about five or six years ago. I just reread it on the heels of Half-Broke Horses, because I saw a few similarities between my great-grandmother, Molly, and Lily. Both raised during the turn of the century, both "trailblazers" in my mind. I needed to read this book again to refresh my memory, and this time take notes on what I think was a pretty interesting life.
Molly was born in 1888 in Minnesota and is my father's mother's mother. She lived into her nineties and I actually went to her 90th birthday, although I was only four, so I don't have any memory of the party. Molly starts her story with her earliest memory ("flying" down a flight of stairs) and continues on with stories about her siblings and parents. She was a red head and was fortunate enough to go to college to become a teacher. She studied under the "famous" Stella Wood who played a part in bringing Kindergarten to The United States. Molly became close friends with Stella Wood and was ultimately asked to write her biography after she (Stella) passed away. "With Banners" is the first book my great-grandmother wrote and it, too, can be found on Amazon. Molly taught just a year or two until she married, Dwight, whom she was married to for 53 years. They started their family and had seven children, though one passed away as a child. My grandmother, Louise, was the second youngest. The story continues in quite an ordinary way until Molly's first grandchild was born. Molly's daughter complained of the baby kicking off her blankets at night and Molly decided to "invent" something to keep the baby covered. It is hard to picture exactly what she came up with, but it involved snaps and clips for the diapers. Molly continued making the "Nap-Jac" for family and friends and was eventually encouraged to sell it publicly and filled many orders from department stores. She was very careful to research the safety of the product herself and visited many pediatricians and hospitals to show it to professionals and get their approval. She even secured a patent for the invention (I need to do some research on this.) Unfortunately, due to WWII, the factory that was producing the Nap-Jac had to be used for the war effort, and it never saw as much success as it may have had.
Molly's family grew and her children moved out, and some back in, over the years. Her eldest daughter's husband was struck with polio at one point and Molly was actually his main care taker. She worked with him for hours daily, for many months until he regained some use of his legs and he eventually moved to California.
At the age of 67, Molly decided to enter the work force as a secretary. She persevered and was eventually hired by a music company. The owners loved her and she worked there for many years.
When Dwight died in 1964, Molly was worried her children would see her as a burden, so she booked an indefinite trip to Europe. Alone. She booked passage on a Norwegian cargo ship, which welcomed a limited amount of passengers. Molly spent time in Amsterdam and England during her four month stay abroad. She was 76.
On another solo trip to Florida several years later, Molly asked each of her children to write her with some of their childhood memories. Both Molly and Dwight often kept diaries and both kept carbon copies of all of they letters they sent! She had a wonderful written history of her family and decided it was time to organize it all. She was disappointed by the lack of content in the letters her children returned to her with their memories, but she started writing anyway. What it turned into was the story of "an American life." And in the end, a book about the "celebration of freedom in personal relationships." Of course, reading this passage from the last chapter, left me feeling the book was written for me.
"I wondered, after it was rejected by publisher after publisher, if anyone but my children would really find it interesting. I consoled myself by thinking that it might mean something special to my great grandchildren, as a record of what life was like long before their time....After all, I had lived in that ancient period when there were no automobiles and no airplanes--what could be more historic than that in the eyes of today's children?"(less)

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Nov 26, 2012 Allison Webster rated it 4 of 5 stars

This set of books belongs to the genre of junior historical fiction.

This set of books describes the life, trials, and lessons learned by young Molly, who is growing up during the times of the second world war. She lives a life with her father fighting the war abroad and her family and herself fighting the war at home.

The areas for critique is characterization. Molly is a young woman growing up in hard times. However throughout her series, she learns many life lessons and grows up a stronger wo...more

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Nov 25, 2010 Audrey rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction, o-children

Man, the American Girls Collection was the shit when I was growing up. These books and the Little House books got me hooked on history starting from age seven. The nerding started early. I remember my mother getting pissed off at me because I kept re-reading these books over and over again, cycling through them. As soon as I finished the Felicity books, I would start the Kirsten books. After Kirsten, the Samantha books. After Samantha, Molly. (At the time, there were only four American Girls). T...more

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Nov 05, 2008 Natasha rated it 5 of 5 stars

Of all the American Girl books, Molly's stories were the ones that bridged the generation gap between me and my mom. She and I cried together at Changes for Molly and laughed ourselves silly at Meet Molly. Changes for Molly still brings a tear to my eye with a re-read as a young adult. It probably always will.

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Apr 16, 2011 Maymuna rated it 5 of 5 stars

I liked this book because one of them is really funny. Molly's 12 year old brother, he had played a prank on Molly and her friends, so they were going to play a prank on HIM. So what they did was, they collected all his underwear, and then one of her friends has gotten her brother distracted by basketball and so he didn't know what was coming down. Her sister Jill and her friend left to go out, and then Molly and her friend said "I see England, I see France, I see Ricky's underpants!" and they t...more

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Oct 13, 2012 Catherine rated it 1 of 5 stars

Maybe I'm Bias as a Brit,(although i don't think so because i loved Felicity and her story, and she was a traitor to the crown! :P haha! :) ) but i found the whole series patronising and inaccurate. I didn't like it as much as any of the other American Girl series and it went straight in the Bin, which is a shame because it was bloody expensive but i just found it no where near as good as the others and molly's view on the war was rediculous, and the idea that they would have had an english evac...more

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Jan 31, 2011 Ash E. rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: young readers, girls

Recommended to Ash by: Cori Johnson

Shelves: review-complete, young-historical-fiction

REVIEW COMPLETE

Comparable with the Dear America series, the American Girl books provide a unique, easily-accessible peek into the past through a young (usually 9 to 10 years of age) girl's perspective. In this case, that girl is Molly. She is living during World War II, a time when Americans across the nation had to sacrifice quite a bit in order to help the war effort. But throughout the series, Molly learns how to be more selfless, and that she should be grateful for the lot she's been dealt i...more

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Mar 16, 2013 Kit rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: childhood

Oh, Molly. She got the short end of the stick in just about every aspect. Goofy glasses? Check. Middle child? Check. Attractive siblings who look nothing like her? Check. Sigh. I still liked her though. I remember putting my damp hair up in pin curls so that I could look like her when she transformed herself for some pageant. But did I look like a lovely young girl with flowing waves the following morning? Ha. All I ended up with was a very raw scalp and an uncanny resemblance to a young Medusa....more

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Sep 18, 2007 Annalise rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: girls 7 to 15

Shelves: american-girls

Molly is just a fun girl trying to do her part to help with world war II.

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Jun 27, 2011 Teri rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult-audio-books, history, american-girl

I've heard a lot of great things about the American Girl series--but I am quite disappointed. I REALLY disliked how cliquey and catty the girls in the book were. Isn't this exactly what we'd like our girls NOT to be? I appreciated the historical aspect of it all (this book takes place during WWII) but it doesn't compensate for the lack of good character I was expecting.

Our library has this on audio CD and my girls really loved listening to it--but I'm not going to be too anxious to pick up anot...more

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Feb 20, 2008 Molly rated it 5 of 5 stars

great!

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Jan 07, 2008 Sarah Parker rated it 5 of 5 stars

loved it

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Jun 25, 2009 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-fiction

Molly was my favorite, my baby, my American Girl doll who actually brought me closer to my grandmother and her own experiences of growing up during World War II. When I was a young American Girl, Molly's story was the most contemporary, which made her the most accessible to me (though sometimes, I wished I'd chosen something with a little more of that fantastical, historical feeling!) Molly's life was a lot like mine, actually- her mother worked, she went to school to learn English and Math, she...more

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Nov 11, 2009 Rebekah added it

Shelves: historical-fiction, young-adult

I loved this books as a wee girl. I think Molly's camping adventure was my favorite. I mean come on, she stuffed worms down her shirt to win and got poison ivy for it. I probably read it about once a month in 4th grade, mostly because I had read everything in the library after being in the same school for 4 years and there was nothing else to read. Felicity was also a favorite and, well I guess I really liked all of them. I own Kit.

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Aug 31, 2011 Princess rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: girl-power

I love these books! Molly is a 10 year old girl living during world war 2. I like it because there are all sorts of problems in her life, but she always finds a way through. There are shortages of everything, and her dad is a doctor working in England, She has two annoying brothers, and an older sister who barely pays any attention to her. Molly is an example to me, and I think Valerie Tripp is a great writer.

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Feb 15, 2013 Kristy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: world-war-2, middle-grades

Of all the classic American Girls, I most connected with Felicity and Molly. Felicity had a dramatic streak to her though, so I dug Molly's sense of humor and freshness a lot. I like the way she bonds with other girls in a positive way and always tries to make a bad situation good. She doesn't shy away from her own frustration, and she's not embarrassed to shine.

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Aug 31, 2011 Isabelle rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It is a very great book. it is about Americana girl that is in the time were world war 2 was taken place and her father goes to war molly is very upset. She does alot of adventures with her friends. She goes to school one day and there is a dace recital and the one who does the best gets to be the star of the show and then molly gets picked and then she gets sick so she can't. I recommend this book. The author is Valerie Tripp.

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Jun 30, 2011 Molly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: any young girl EVER

Shelves: childhood-reads

I LOVED Molly! I'm sure it didn't help that my name is Molly and I had dark hair and glasses. I wanted a Molly doll soooooooooooo badly as a girl,but I never got one! Darn it.Even now, every Christams and birthday I secretly hope to unwrap a beautiful Molly doll with her two braids,jaunty beret and her heart shaped locket. Oh well, a girl can dream.

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Nov 06, 2009 Kristen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-aloud-to-girls, childrens

Molly was my favorite American Girl and she's the only one of the original three who won't be retired by the time Kate turns six (the magic birthday where she gets to pick out an AG doll.) I figured she was the natural girl to start with. At first, Kate and Lexi weren't that interested, it took the whole first book for them to get into it but they got hooked. Kate definitely picked up some residual knowledge of WWII. Happy Birthday, Molly (where Emily comes to stay) was probably their favorite o...more

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Apr 01, 2013 Eddy Allen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arts-and-historical

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Jan 28, 2012 Shalyce rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-for-my-kids

I haven't personally read these, but Alannah has loved this series. It is the first set of books that she has really gotten excited about reading over. I LOVE them because she likes to read them AND because they are historical fiction, so I feel like she is also learning a little about history in the process.

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Mar 12, 2013 Mike Gray rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: kids

My first grader really enjoyed the whole Molly series. The content really kick started some good discussions about life during WWII. The historical aspects definitely help expose children to some additional perspectives on life in different generations.

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Apr 02, 2013 Tori added it

Shelves: elementary, historical-fiction, pre-2000

Molly was my favorite American Girl Doll and I thought I could relate to her the most. Although she grew up in the 1940's, it was interesting to reread the book and notice events in history that I didn't pick up on before

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Aug 17, 2012 Amanda Wheet rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2012, books-that-never-get-old, childhood-favorites

Oh Molly. Molly was my best friend as a kid. I loved everything about her, her spirit, her hometown, her tenacity for hard times. Reading this again as the last set before boxing all of my books almost made me cry.

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Jan 21, 2013 Danielle Giusto Maqsood rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this World War Two time period so Molly was one of my most beloved American Girl series to read. I also loved cooking recipes like Molly's Victory Garden Soup from the companion cookbook.

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Jan 30, 2009 Leilani rated it 5 of 5 stars

Her dad moves away to war... how will it go? she meets a new friend that came from Paris and her Parents died, and also got no reletter from her dad yet.... is he dead? REALLY GOOD

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May 04, 2013 Kimberly Hortman rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: american-girl-club

Wow, the things they did without during the war. The American girl books made history a exciting thing to read about. Molly & I had a lot in common even wearing glasses.

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Feb 19, 2011 Tonia rated it 3 of 5 stars

I definitely enjoyed reading this and getting some perspective on growing up during wartime, the rations, the mixed messages about what's going on. Very eye-opening

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About Valerie Tripp

Valerie Tripp is a children's book author, best known for her work with the American Girl series.

She grew up in Mount Kisco, New York with three sisters. She is a reading expert with a Reading Master’s of Education degree from Harvard University. Since 1985 she has lived in Silver Spring, Maryland. Her husband teaches history at Montgomery College. She has been a writer for reading textbooks for t...more

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Books by Valerie Tripp

Felicity: An American Girl (The American Girls Collection)

Meet Molly, an American Girl (American Girls: Molly, #1)

Meet Felicity: An American Girl (The American Girls: Felicity, #1)

Meet Kit: An American Girl 1934 (American Girls: Kit, #1)

Josefina: An American Girl (The American Girls Collection)

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