Samantha Learns a Lesson: A School Story

American Girl: Samantha #2

by Susan S. Adler

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Genres: Historical Fiction, Childrens, Fiction, Historical, Middle Grade, Chapter Books, Young Adult

61 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my favorite of the Samantha books because of the strong social message and the effortless way in which it is executed. In the other books, Nellie is often portrayed as a helpless, lower class child in desperate need of whatever aid super-rich Samantha is generous enough to offer her. In this tale, however, she turns from Samantha's grateful student into her much-needed teacher with that unforgettable line brimming with conviction: "It's just not true."

It's not easy to write a children's story about classism, child labor, and being critical of America's "progress" at the turn of the century, but it's a very important story to tell.

[Olivia]

if Samantha Parkington understood the concept of using your privilege to help others at the age of NINE, then what excuse do the rest of us have? answer me that

[Olde American Spirit · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Actions speak louder than words “

This is what is standing out to be the theme of this series so far. Not only is Samantha brave and compassionate, she puts action to her concerns!

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved reading these books when I was a girl, and now I am enjoying revisiting these stories and remembering the little details. Samantha is a wonderful main character, and the stories are simple and heartfelt.

[Hannah Showalter · Rating 5 out of 5]

samantha parkington said workers rights in this one!!

[Morgan's Endless Bookshelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Oh, Nellie, I wish girls were allowed to fight. I most surely do."

Then she finds a way to fight with her words! Samantha is Queen!!!!

[Jaci Millette Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starting to collect these for my niece— read this one I just thrifted and it brought me back!

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nellie returns after Grandmary secures Nellie's family employment at a neighboring home. This means Nellie gets to go to school! She is sad because people laughed at her, but Sam promises to teach her what she needs to know in order to move up. Nellie reveals her anti-capitalistic leanings and Sam teaches everyone about child labor practices.

For years after I first read this as a kid, I thought watercress sandwiches were ultra luxurious since that's what Sam eats for lunch. And Nellie's story about a girl losing half her scalp and nearly dying in a factory traumatized me as a child.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Samantha uses her newfound knowledge of exploitative child labor to write a speech against factories and stand up for a friend. 4/5

[Nickie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, the series is already getting better! My girl Samantha has the biggest heart, teaching her best friend and making sure people know the truth about factories.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-reading for the first time in decades, here's what jumps out:

- There are a lot of Samantha qualities I don't necessarily share. She's braver than I was at her age, more outgoing, and more popular. But the bit at the beginning where she tries to coach Helen through a French word she doesn't recognize? That I felt.

- I love that Samantha never once questions whether her life would be easier without having to stick up for Nellie to the likes of Edith, Clarisse and Eddie.

- How does Nellie feel about Samantha interrupting her work all the time? On the one hand, I could see how that would make you feel special and would be an almost magical escape. On the other, sometimes you just gotta get stuff done. It makes an interesting parallel to Addy's friend Sarah, especially in Changes for Addy where she needs to spend more and more time helping her mother work. Sarah's mother steps in to gently shoo Addy away at one point - where is Nellie's mother? Does the family feel obligated to let Nellie spend time with Samantha because, ultimately, they have these jobs because Samantha decided to make friends with Nellie?

- Clarisse Van Sicklen sounds almost as awful as Eddie Ryland.

- I do love that Samantha really listens to what Nellie has to say and not only changes her mind, but also changes her speech - after what we're told was a lot of work on the original version. Nellie's presence goes a long way to temper the extreme privilege of Samantha's world.

- However, the idea that Samantha is cheered and awarded first place for (a) speaking uncomfortable truths and (b) veering off the stated prompt feels more unlikely than it did as a kid.

- Would Nellie really have been moved up a grade that quickly?


More Samantha babble:
Meet Samantha | Samantha Learns a Lesson | Samantha's Surprise | Happy Birthday, Samantha | Samantha Saves the Day | Changes for Samantha

Nellie's Promise

Samantha's Winter Party | Samantha and the Missing Pearls | Samantha Saves the Wedding | Samantha's Blue Bicycle | Samantha's Special Talent | Samantha's Short Story Collection

The Curse of Ravenscourt | The Stolen Sapphire | The Cry of the Loon | Clue in the Castle Tower

The Lilac Tunnel: My Journey with Samantha

[Panda Incognito · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book further develops the story of Nellie. Samantha learns more about her background as a child factory worker, and grows in her compassion and awareness for people outside of her privileged bubble. However, this book is still written in a clunky style. "Probably no one on earth was as smart as Edith Eddleton thought she was" is a good burn, but I'd rephrase it for more impact. Also, parts of the story are oddly paced as the author rushes through to each plot point.

My bigger issue with this book is its lack of historical realism in how people respond to Samantha's speech. Even though this series is well-researched and brings early 1900s America to vivid life, it is simply not possible that a room full of adults would applaud and cheer a speech about how "progress in America" cannot be attained until factories no longer abuse child workers. Samantha changed her originally positive speech at the last minute to reflect her new understanding from Nellie, and in the real world, her teacher and other administrators would have been upset that she presented a different speech at the public event than the one she had won a prize for in school. Also, many adults in the audience would likely have financial investments in factories, and they all benefited from the cheap goods available.

It is unreasonable and unhistorical to expect the adults to respond to Samantha's short, sparsely worded speech with enthusiasm, when it is neither profoundly stirring and eloquent nor something that most of them would like to hear. It's easy to look back into the past and think, "Ah, yes, a speech about child worker's rights will bring down the house," but in a world where this was a major social problem, that simply isn't so. My younger sister and I were discussing this recently related to the scene in the movie, and when she shuddered over how cheesy it was, I pointed out this larger difficulty, saying that it would be as unrealistic as if she got a rousing ovation from a crowd for publicly opposing abortion. People don't like to face up to the brutal, immoral aspects of how children are treated in their societies, and when something is as socially accepted as employing child factory workers in the early 1900s or terminating life in the womb right now, people would simply rather not hear dissenting voices.

This book's ultimate failure isn't in its writing, or its poor pacing, but in the overly rosy view of how adults would respond to a speech that criticizes American progress and provides moral judgment on the social conditions that provided convenience and financial enrichment to people in Samantha's social class. It was brave and right for Samantha to take the stand that she did, and to risk disappointing and angering the powerful adults in her life, but because she does not have to deal with any cost or reckoning for her actions, the book is unrealistic and much less powerful than it could have been.

[RaspberryRoses]

samantha invented activism.

[Asho · Rating 3 out of 5]

S has always been interested in history so was excited to find the American Girl books at my parents' house. I re-read this one with him and remembered it vividly. I especially remember the part where Nelly describes a child's hair getting caught in one of the factory machines. My 8-year-old was pretty horrified by that, too, but I think the book is an important look at class and social justice in an age-appropriate way. It has been a couple of decades since I first read this book, but I think it holds up well.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful installation in which Samantha learns about class snobbery, sticks up for her friends who are child workers, and learns that progress can come with issues of abuse - here, to factory-working children.
(Also, I've always wanted the outfit Samantha wears on the cover and wished the desks I had a school were that pretty.)

[Tea and Spite · Rating 4 out of 5]

If this series was set during Samantha's teen years it'd be "Samantha and the Night That Goldman Spoke at Union Square". The entire moral is that Samantha is a budding little activist and I love her for it. These books really do hold up far better than I expected them to given their age and how absurdly expensive the dolls have always been.

[Kaley Catron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was cool to read because they talked about the factories that I had previously not known about when I first read these books but now since APUSH I've learned more about them and it was more interesting to read about now to see what I actually learned from that class 😂😂

[Jasmine Shadows · Rating 3 out of 5]

Character building stories. Samantha is a very delightful character.

[Ashlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good choice for reading with my 4 y/o daughter.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember thinking Samantha was so brave when I was a kid and, man, Grandmary was too!

[halle · Rating 5 out of 5]

this might be the best samantha book i fear

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exposing the progress that we've made through child labor and human rights violations - American Girl never fails to keep it real.

[Katelyn Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a lovely read I do love Samantha and her Grandmother!!! It still amazes me at how childern were expected to work in such dangerous factories!!!!

[Gretchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very moving story. Educational about factory life for children in that period.

[Jenn]

Not me almost crying in this book.

[Jessie-sharon Craft · Rating 5 out of 5]

This goes hard for a children's book.

My parents let me read this book and then wonder how I became a liberal. 😂

[Patricia Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Samantha Learns a Lesson by Susan J. Adler is a 55 page historical fiction book. It is one book in a series set in 1904. This book is for children of primary age to 100. This book is makes you want to hurry and finish and get to the next book but it is not a must read.
The book begins with Samantha in private school. She is a good student. After school she usually played with her best friend Nellie but Nellie moved away. Nellie is a servant girl that use to work in a factory and then next door at the Ryland house. She was sent back home to her parents in the city and Samantha missed her very much.
Samantha GrandMary knew that Nellie's family was very poor so she got Mrs. Van Sicklen to hire Nellie's entire family. This was a surprise to Samantha and she was very happy to have her best friend just doors away from her.
Nellie 9 years old and her little sisters went to public school and Samantha help Nellie with her studies because she had never went to school and she was behind.
Nellie improved with her friends help and moved up to the third grade.
Samantha school was invited to enter the young people's contest sponsored by he Mount Bedford Ladies Club. Samantha essay was chosen one of two as the winners to be read in front of the whole town. Samantha changed her speech after Nellie told her of the horrors of working in a factory.The audience applauded her honesty and Samantha won and received a medal from the Mayor. This imaginative narration is grounded in the facts of the past. The quality is vivid and the words paint a picture in your mind.
The artistic elements are there; line is shown in the dresses of the girls pressed almost stiff. Texture of cotton is also shown in the well pressed dresses. Shape is present in the pleats of the dresses as well as color in the leaves of the fall trees. I give this book a four star rating.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book to read to my grand daughter, Beatrice. I think she will love it. Favorite Line is the note Samantha's friend slipped to her during French class. "What the dickens does 'la gorge' mean?" She couldn't imagine what would happen if she were caught with a note that said "the dickens." Didn't Helen have enough sense not to write almost-swear-words in school?"

I think Bea will love this part as well. I can just hear her repeating "What the dickens," once she hears that Samantha thought it was nasty.

[Madison Aboud · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved that this book focused on how children were treated in factories. It was a horrible thing and none of those kids deserved it. I love how Nellie changes Samantha’s mind about the conditions of factories. I did not like how the beginning seemed very rushed with Nellie coming back and her going to school. I thought it seemed very unrealistic that Nellie goes to school one day and Samantha instantly does something instead of giving it some time. All and all I think that this is one of American girls more mature books

[Tori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find Samantha's speech on progress at the end of the book so inspiring and still, sadly, quite timely.