<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: My kids love these books and so do I.
Review: Each night, I read a chapter to my daughter, age 5 1/2, and my son, age 7. One reason they can't wait for me to return from my business trips is so they can find out what's going to happen to Molly next. My kids really enjoy the stories and all the characters. I think the writing is pretty good - appropriate and understandable for children - and the stories are fun and well-paced. "A peek into the past" at the end of each book is also fun to read with my kids. It's nice to show them how people lived in those days. I never thought my kids would actually look forward to bedtime, but now they do!
Rating: 
Summary: Molly's dad comes home from world war 2
Review: First Mollys in a dance show with her friends and shes the star so every day she curls her hair and then the day her dad came home the she had her show but she got sick that day and had to go home but her dad comes and shes the first to see him!
Rating:
Summary: Now I Love to Read!
Review: I like the Molly books very much. They are some of the best books I've ever read. Valerie Tripp did a wonderful job telling a story about a young girl during World War II. Molly has an adventuresome spirit. I think just about any girl would enjoy the American Girls Collection. They are a big page turner. I could read an entire book in one day if I had the time. I've already read the complete Samantha series, which is my favorite so far. I never really liked to read until my grandmother gave me the American Girls books.
Rating:
Summary: Now I Love to Read!
Review: I like the Molly books very much. They are some of the best books I've ever read. Valerie Tripp did a wonderful job telling a story about a young girl during World War II. Molly has an adventuresome spirit. I think just about any girl would enjoy the American Girls Collection. They are a big page turner. I could read an entire book in one day if I had the time. I've already read the complete Samantha series, which is my favorite so far. I never really liked to read until my grandmother gave me the American Girls books.
Rating:
Summary: life during World War II
Review: The world of Molly McIntire is a complicated one. First there's the war. Oh, wait, the war is the root of all of Molly's problems. Dad is away in England as a doctor treating wounded soldiers. Mom works for the Red Cross. Now the housekeeper runs the house. Molly's world is one of few chocolate cakes (because sugar, chocolate and butter are all rationed) Christmases without Grandma and Grandpa (because they need a new tire and tires are rationed) wearing your brother's galoshes because you outgrew yours (again because rubber is rationed) no interesting presents (because plastic and metal are used for the war effort) spending your free time with the housekeeper weeding the victory garden, being forced to eat turnips because those are the only vegetables you have and the housekeeper won't resort to cans. Then there is older sister Jill who won't spend much time with Molly because she's discovered boys and popularity; there is Ricky the pest and Brad who doesn't get the war. Even color war at camp and multiplication tables at school relate to the war somehow. Add the typical elementary school problems of the girl who is prettier, perkier, and overall gets things faster than you do (Alison) and the guy who goes out of his way to brag about himself and then pick on you (Howie) and you have the life of Molly McIntire, the American girl from 1944. Molly McIntire is a brat at the beginning of her books. She's used to getting everything her heart desires. Like Kit Kittredge, the American girl from 1934, Molly has to cope with a lot of change. But Molly's family has the money for things. Its just that they can't get things because things are rationed. Meet Molly introduces you to Molly's world, one filled with what I mentioned at the beginning of this review. In book one, Molly decides to get revenge on Ricky for humiliating her. The two of them go into circles until Ricky ruins Molly's Halloween and Molly humiliates Ricky in front of his crush. The two of them learn about getting along through their mom, who catches the two of them the last couple of times and grounds them. Book two, Molly Learns a Lesson, shows that Molly is still a cocky little brat in many ways. She gets mad that she doesn't get her way and concocts a scheme of her own to seal the victory for her and her two best friends at the school competition. But Molly gets caught by her archrival Alison's mother and is forced to learn about teamwork. In the end Molly's idea does win, but it takes the combined efforts of the whole class to earn that victory. In Molly's Surprise, we see the root of Molly's problem. She misses dad, and she doesn't like the changes in her life. We learn this the same time Molly's sister Jill does, as the two of them fight through the first half of this book. Christmas quickly becomes a downer for the McIntires. First there's no dad; then there's the reality that Christmas will consist of "practical" presents this year because of rationing. But then other things compound the problem: Grandpa and Grandma can't come because they have a flat and need to get it fixed and it won't be fixed in time; there's no Christmas tree, and Jill, Molly, and Ricky are fighting like crazy. Finally, there's no word or presents from Dad, and this has the McIntires worried. But one day Jill and Molly discover a surprise that they hope will restore Christmas this year, and the siblings learn that they need to make their own surprises sometimes. In Happy Birthday, Molly! Molly's family takes on a British girl for the summer, the same time as Molly's brithday. But Emily is a far cry from what Molly thinks a British girl should be like and the McIntires aren't Emily's idea of Americans, either. The two engage in a bitter fight until they can learn to bridge their differences. In Molly Saves the Day, we see the first spark of change in Molly's character when Molly confronts someone like she used to be. Molly is determined to make Color War fun-and a game that is a far cry from the war. In Changes for Molly we see how much Molly has changed and grown accustomed to the war. She's picked to be Miss Victory in a show, and Molly is thrilled. She's even more thrilled to learn that Dad is coming home. But one of Dad's letters leads Molly to believe that she hasn't changed and is not as good in her Dad's eyes as her brothers and sister. So she decides to change her appearance to look older and change for her dad, only her attempts cost her her dream role as Miss Victory, and ruin her chance to impress dad-or so Molly thinks. The Peek Into the Past selections focus on the effects of World War II on Americans, but also talk about the devastation wreaked upon Europe and Japan as a result of the war. A brief section in Happy Birthday, Molly! talks about why Europeans might have chosen to have their children shipped to the U.S. Changes for Molly depicts and talks about the devastation experienced in Europe and briefly explains the death toll from the second World War. The Peek into the Past sections do, however, mostly spend time talking about the cause of the war and its impact on Americans-from the Victory garden mentioned in the Molly books to the shortages of Nylon and Rubber and how the war in a sense created latchkey children. The Molly books are a good place to start studying the war. I recommend them. They also prompted discussion between me and my grandparents about the war, as my grandparents lived through it. Changes for Molly is my favorite of the Molly books.
<< 1 >>
| 
