In Meet Samantha, Samantha is an orphan child who lives with her wealthy grandmother. While her house is very nice, Samantha wishes she had some to play with. One day, a little girl named Nellie moves in next door, Samantha has found a friend! Soon Samantha finds out that she and Nellie are from different lives. Despite everything, Samantha and Nellie become good friends. This books tells of all the lessons Samantha learns that comes with being friends with a person very different from you and shows that friendship doesn't have a boundary.

I remember reading the American Girl books when I was younger. This series is great because it covers so many eras that the readers of the books were never alive for. Even after having read this book when I was younger, I still found myself falling back into the story when I read it again. I could reccomend this book and the rest of the series to little girls again and again.

I would use this book in the classroom to discuss the different social classes that existed in the early 20th century. I could also use this book to discuss early American Industrialization. I could group this book together with others about people from this time period and have students write a paragraph about what it was like to live back then.

I love the American Girl books. They were such a large part of my childhood. Their plots are somewhat slight, and they are very formulaic, but they also teach quite a bit about history to young girls, and, more importantly, interest them in it. I will always wonder, though, why they chose to call Samantha a 'Victorian' girl, when 1904 isn't Victorian at all. It's Edwardian. That probably confused quite a few people in my generation. It's terrible Pleasant Company (who created the series) sold out to Mattel. There's a definite sway these days toward contemporary themes with merchandising tie-ins, and very little in the way of historical information with any attempt at accuracy. ( )

The American Girl series is a classic. This book is a historical fictional, series book. The pictures in this book look like they were drawn using oil paints or pastels. The content of this book is about a little girl named Samantha who is raised by her wealthy grandmother who is very concerned with her becoming a proper young lady. She makes friends with Jessie, the seamstress and is heartbroken when she has to leave to take care of her baby. Samantha also makes friends with Nellie, the girl that works next door and she gets in trouble because she is caught playing with Samantha and not working. Nellie gets sent away when she gets sick and her owners think she won't be able to work. Samantha is devastated. The reading level of this book is probably third grade because it is a short chapter book and the words are not very difficult. The curricular connections in this book are: history, slavery, seamstress, manners, becoming a lady and friendships. ( )

Meet Samantha is the story of a wealthy Victorian orphan who befriends a girl in the servant class. While being fiction, the book closely is tied to the time that it was written about. In the United States, there were still social classes. Girls of the Upper class were to never socialize with girls of the lower class. This book breaks through the social classes, having an Upper class girl (Samantha) become friends with a lower class girl (Nellie). It highlights the struggles that both face. Samantha must face the real world when she talks to Nellie, while we see the world that is many times hidden in history. In the end, Samantha gives up her favorite doll, so that Nellie can have a friend no matter what. The book pushes friendship (as do all the American Girl books). It shows the breaking of social barriers in Victorian America. It has a very good message for young girls that its the person inside that matters, not what they wear or how much money they have. This is a good book for elementary libraries and especially girls named Samantha (like me!) ( )

Meet Samantha: An American Girl is a great book about friendship, family, and early American life. Samantha is a young well to do girl that lives with her grandmother. She becomes friends with a servant girl from next door. Different things happen that deepen the girls' friendship.

I love the American Girl series of books. It really gives girls today insight to how life was a long time ago. My daughter has these books and of course, the dolls.

I would use this book in a unit on early American life in the city. I would also use this for a unit on discrimination, because of the differences in social status of the girls.