Molly Learns a Lesson: A School Story

American Girl: Molly #2

by Valerie Tripp, Nick Backes (Illustrator)

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 do to win the war Molly plans a secret project to win her school's Lend-a-Hand Contest. But the project tums out to be harder than Molly had thought.

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

88 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

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 and one brother. A member of the first co-educated class at Yale University, Tripp also has a M.Ed. from Harvard. Since 1985 she has lived in Silver Spring, Maryland. Her husband teaches history at Montgomery College.

Right out of college, Tripp started writing songs, stories, and nonfiction for The Superkids Reading Program, working with Pleasant Rowland, the founder of American Girl. For that series, Tripp wrote all the books about Felicity, Josefina, Kit, Molly, and Maryellen and many of the books about Samantha. She also wrote the "Best Friends" character stories to date, plays, mysteries, and short stories about all her characters.. Film dramatizations of the lives of Samantha, Felicity, Molly, and Kit have been based on her stories. Currently, Tripp is writing a STEM series for National Geographic and adapting Greek Myths for Starry Forest Publishing. A frequent speaker at schools and libraries, Tripp has also spoken at the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, The New York Historical Society, and Williamsburg.

Reviews

[Miranda Reads]

"School is your war duty. Being a good student is as important as being a good soldier."

Molly McIntire absolutely loves school and adores her teacher. Miss Campbell is the kind of teacher who walks into the room and the room is silent with anticipation and an eagerness to learn.

"Wake up! Sharpen your pencils! The day is beginning!"

So when Miss Campbell announces a school-wide contest called "Lend-a-hand", Molly cannot wait. Quickly the class divides into two groups (boys vs girls) and the two teams come up with weekend projects to help the war effort.

Allison Hargate, one of Molly's classmates, comes up with an idea to knit socks (which Molly thinks is stupid) but the rest of the girls are excited for. Molly agrees to join in but secretly plans to make her own, better (MUCH better) project.

Now, all she needs to do is rope in her two best friends and they can win the contest and Miss Campbell's approval (and then, maybe (just maybe) Molly will be asked to be in Miss Campbell's wedding) (that last one was a longshot but a girl can dream!).

As I said in my Meet Molly review, I struggled connecting with the first book in Molly's series, in part due to her mean girl tendencies, and this book did feel more of the same.

Molly is so annoyed at Allison Hargate for just...existing and being nice. I totally get that irrational hatred of that one kid in your class...but at the same time, it isn't very fun to read about and gosh dang did Allison seem like a good person.

Allison is sooooo sweet in this story and Molly is like 'absolutely not. b*tch' (my words, her vibes).

And then Molly pushes her friends to do HER project despite the horrible weather and absolute misery that the three of them go through.

I did like how Molly seemed to walk back her 'me-me-me' attitude at the end and find a way to help Allison's project work...but still...it didn't really feel like much character development to me, more like Molly was trying to correct what she saw as a dumb idea.

I will say, I did like how this book felt a bit more historical to me. The first book in the series almost felt like it could have been set in a number of decades and still had worked. This one felt more grounded in the 1940s, especially when we'd get conversations like this:

"There just isn't enough rubber left over to make red rubber boots for nine-year-old girls."

Overall, I am definitely going to continue the series but I'm struggling a bit. Maybe I shouldn't have gone from Addy's brilliant story to this one. It's too much whiplash.

More reviews in the Molly-verse

Main Series:
Meet Molly - ★★★☆☆
Molly Learns a Lesson - ★★★☆☆
Molly's Surprise - ★★★★☆
Happy Birthday, Molly - ★★☆☆☆
Molly Saves the Day - ★★★★☆
Changes for Molly - ★★★★☆
Molly's Boxed Set - ★★★☆☆

Best Friend Book
Brave Emily - ★★★★★

Short Stories:
Molly's A+ Partner - ★★★★☆
Molly Takes Flight - ★★★★☆
Molly and the Movie Star - ★★★★☆
Molly's Puppy Tale - ★★★★★
Molly Marches On - ★★★★☆
Molly's Short Story Collection - ★★★★☆

Additional Historical and Activity Books
American Girls Cookbook - ★★★★★
American Girl Cross-Stitch - ★★☆☆☆
The American Girls Party Book - ★★★★★
American Girl Sweet & Savory Treats Cookbook - ★☆☆☆☆
Everything I Need to Know I Learned From American Girl - ★★★☆☆
The Making of American Girl - ★★★★★
Minute Mysteries - ★★★★☆
Minute Mysteries 2 - ★★★★☆
Molly's Cookbook - ★★★★☆
Molly's Cooking Studio - ★★★★★
Molly's Craft Book - ★★★★☆
Molly's Route 66 Adventure - ★★★★★
Molly's Theater Kit - ★★★★★
The Official American Girl Cookbook - ★★★★☆
Welcome to Molly's World - ★★★★★

Mystery Books
Clues in the Shadows - ★★★★☆
The Light in the Cellar - ★★★★☆
A Spy on the Home Front - ★★★☆☆

Beforever (Re-Release of Main Series in 2018)
A Winning Spirit: A Molly Classic Vol 1 - ★★★☆☆
Stars and Stripes: A Molly Classic Vol 2 - ★★★☆☆

Abridged Version (Re-Release of Main Series in 2022):
Molly: A Winning Spirit - ★★★★☆
(NOTE: They have not re-released the second book yet)

Beginner Reader & Picture Books
Molly's Christmas Surprise (Step Into Reading) - ★★★☆☆
My First American Girl Boxed Set - ★★★★☆
Happy Birthday! (Little Golden Book) - ★★★★☆
Happy Holidays! (Little Golden Book) - ★★★★★
Time for School! (Little Golden Book) - ★★★★☆

[Elizabeth]

Alison is literally just trying to be nice to Molly and Molly would probably shove her down a steep hill if given the chance

[Kailey (Luminous Libro)]

I love the character development that Molly goes through in this book. She sees a problem and wants to correct it, and believes that her idea is better and more practical. However, she doesn't have the courage to speak out. She tries to implement another idea on her own, but discovers that she needs the help of the group in order to make it a success. Finally, she gathers the courage to speak her mind in a kind way, and the results are that the group listens to her ideas and helps her with her other project too.

I love that Molly is a problem solver! Her personality is so strong and smart!

The writing style in this book is just perfect, and we can really follow Molly's journey and feel each scene with her.

I love the historical information at the back of the book that talks about how civilians would assist in the war effort during the 1940s. It's wonderful to see such a vivid glimpse of how people lived back then.

[Allie]

i feel like i know more about Miss Campbell than any character who isn’t Molly. this feels queer

[Morgan's Endless Bookshelf]

This one feels like, "Molly, you are technically correct, but you did everything wrong."

[Olde American Spirit (Shannon)]

The title of the book is very accurate in that Molly goes about everything all wrong. It turns out in the end, thankfully. Hopefully, with lesson learned. :)

[Shelby]

LOVE I T

[Hannah Showalter]

so cute and sweet!!

[Sesana]

Molly is kind of a brat in this book. She's rude to Alison for no reason and she spends most of the book in a sulk because she isn't going to be in the spotlight. She does eventually realize that things are smoother if she works with the other girls instead of against them, but that's a very late development in a very short book, and she ends up getting the spotlight anyways.

[Hermione]

Very quick read. Would have been nice to see if the boys accomplished their project. The "looking back" section at the end of the book is a great way to teach girls how it was back then.

[Asho]

Molly was my least-favorite American Girl when I was little, but after re-reading this book when S discovered American Girl books this summer, I don't know why. Molly is great!

[Catherine]

THIS BOOK WAS ALSO VERY GOOD!!!!!!!!!

[Amanda Blake]

Gosh these are fun to read… however, Molly is a bit insufferable. She just realllllly needs to be the main character.

It just makes me laugh a little because this silly little American Girl book really exposes our human bent toward selfishness. There’s a whole world war going on and Molly just NEEDS to be featured in the newspaper with her teacher, who she longs for recognition from.

Themes: friendship, teamwork, self-centeredness, longing for recognition

[RaspberryRoses]

justice for alison who literally did nothing to deserve this scorn. this isn't even a kipperlilly situation she is literally just standing here.

[Holly]

Reread in August 2025: https://hollograms.blogspot.com/2025/...

[H.J. Swinford]

3.5 stars. This was a better story than the first. We really see Molly being involved and discussing the war and more impacts of rationing. Still not digging incredibly deep, though.

[Katie Young]

The 1980s clip art is the best thing about the Molly series. I also love how Val Tripp's understanding of child psychology is spot one already. I remembered a lot of both of these Molly books, which is fun but surprising because I am so not a Molly!

[Christina Erickson]

First of all, bring back bread days.
Second of all, I love her but Molly is a little bit of a brat that only loosens up after she usurps a group project from a very friendly popular girl. She does so by capitalizing on a vulnerable moment.

She goes uncorrected, in fact she is AFFIRMED.

But honestly, we all do what we can for the war effort. The end justifies the means.

[James Crawford]

This book is about what people were doing during World War II as far as trying to help the war effort from their schools. The various classes at Molly's schools are coming up with different methods to help, things like scrap metal drives and sewing things that soldiers can use.

When the decision is made on what Molly's class will do, Molly disagrees and ends up trying to come up with a project of her own that she and two of her friends can do. They end up involved in the original project, though, and end up changing that to something even better that all the girls end up having fun being involved in.

There's the usual historical section and in this one it talks about the various scrap metal and other drives that were done. If you look at any high school yearbooks from the war years you will probably see things that the high school students did for the war effort.

[Katie]

I remember reading this in elementary school and wondering when we would do a multiplication bee. My teachers never did, and I was a little disappointed about it.

The description of Molly that's used everywhere calls her a "schemer and dreamer." I like Molly the dreamer well enough, but I don't always like her when she's scheming. I don't like that she pulls Linda and Susan into a separate project without ever voicing her objections to the rest of the group. I don't like that she strong arms them into doing what she wants. I don't like the spying in the window. I do like that Molly comes up with the clever solution, but I don't love how much credit she gets for it after basically going rogue and not contributing until the last minute. Does Molly actually learn a lesson here?

[Sara]

I'm fairly confident Molly has a crush on her teacher, Ms. Campbell... Ha, the first time I read this, around ten years ago, my first thought when I saw her name was, "Oh, like the soup." Molly compares her teacher's glossy curls to her own hair which is "straight as a stick." This is one thing Molly and I did't have in common! When I was her age, I had the curly hair and wished to have straight hair!

In this book, Molly's third grade class (eleven boy and ten girls...or maybe it's the other way around) will be participating in the Lend-a-Hand Contest. The class will be divided into teams of two and they will have to think of something to help the war effort. A boy named Howie immediately shouts out that he wants the teams to be divided by boys vs girls. He also wanted it this way when they had a multiplication bee early that day. I don't think there's any malice of sexism in Howie always wanting boys vs girls; I just think this is the only way he can think of how to divide the class. They will have only one weekend to work on these projects which seems insane...they couldn't have a month? Even a week?

The boys decide that they will collect tinfoil and send it to be made into trucks and tanks. While I'm sure the boys will find tin, there's no way they can collect enough to be made into a tank in one weekend!

Alison Hargate, Molly's nemesis (for really no apparent reason), suggests that the girls knit socks. Molly thinks this is a horrible idea because she knows socks are hard to make because Mrs. Gilford her housekeeper had tried to teach her before and it was very complicated. I don't love how Mrs. Campbell (seemingly) just decides on the first suggestion from the girls' team. At least hear out the other suggestions (unless there weren't any).

Instead of just sucking it up and going along with knitting socks, Molly pulls her two best friends, Linda and Susan, into doing something else. They decide to collect bottle tops. This sorta seems like the same idea the boys have (I know, it's a different material they're collecting, but still the same concept) and we will later find out that the Boy Scouts are collection bottle tops so what is the point?

While they're talking about this in Molly's garage after school that day, they're hiding when Alison Hargate comes to deliver the invitation for the knitting bee that will be at her house tomorrow afternoon. (It's crazy how fast she made those invitations!) There's really no reason for them to hide. Linda and Susan think it sounds like fun, but Molly says they'll do their own thing and that's how they will win - by collecting 100 bottle tops for scrap metal. (BTW, is 100 bottle tops really a lot?)

Things don't go as planned. First of all, it's a rainy day. I was confused when Molly put her rain boots over her saddle shoes. But I guess she's wearing galoshes and they're supposed to go over your shoes. I really thought galoshes were the same as rain boots, but apparently not. Ha, I owned both Molly's galoshes and saddle shoes and the red galoshes definitely did NOT go over her saddle shoes! (I can barely get her galoshes over her bare feet!)

The girls go up and down about three blocks and collect ten bottle tops. Trying to collect 100 is going to be a difficult feat. Honestly, going door to door collecting (or selling) things is my worst nightmare. I'd much rather knit socks at someone's living room (even though I know I would suck at it!).

The girls come across Alison Hargate's house and decide to look in the window and spy. Her mom catches them (I mean, they're probably not being very subtle) and tells them Alison was wondering where they were and her mom had assured her that they would never be so rude to not come.

Inside, it's nice and warm (and dry!) and hot chocolate and cookies are being served as refreshments. Much better than stomping around outside in the cold drizzle. All the girls are having difficultly knitting socks and are getting frustrated with it, then Molly realizes that with all the squares of different fabric they have they could make a blanket. She suggests it and everyone loves it. Molly saves the day! The third grade girls win the contest and get their picture in the paper.

So one thing that's worth mentioning is that when Molly, Linda, and Susan go to Molly's house after school, Mrs. Gilford has made Boston Brown Bed which is baking in a coffee tin. There's no sugar or butter in it, but the girls give her their approval. Mrs. Gilford has made many breads this way including one made with tomato juice that sounds absolutely revolting. Apparently Molly thought so too because she begged Mrs. Gilford to never make it again, ha.

[Rachel B]

#6 in the Molly main series in my opinion. This book is a yikes from me. First of all, Molly's obsession with Miss Campbell does seem realistic (unfortunately I too was obsessed with certain teachers as a kid), but it's also very ridiculous, especially her fantasy of Miss Campbell asking Molly to be a flower girl in her wedding. It was just not endearing to me at all.

Second, Alison Hargate is just a normal, nice, sweet girl, and Molly is so mean to her for no reason at all. Like sure, Alison's idea might not be the best possible one, but Molly doesn't have a better idea, and she just hates Alison's idea and Alison herself for completely unknown reasons. Like Alison literally hand-delivers an invitation to Molly's house and Molly hides from her. This is not endearing behaviour.

I don't love Molly trying to do another project different from the rest of the class and thinking everyone will thank her for it, and I don't like her forcing Linda and Susan out in the rain to go collect bottle caps. And I don't like them going to spy on Alison. Alison and her mom are again so nice and so welcoming, and Molly is so rude to them! I guess her idea for the blanket is fine in the end, but she would have been a lot better off if she'd worked with the other girls in her class from the start rather than being so rude and dismissive and selfish. Molly always needs to be the centre of attention, and again, it's not endearing.

I get that the lesson Molly learns is that working together is better than working alone, but she's such a brat through the whole process and doesn't seem to understand her own errors. And I don't like how she gets rewarded in the end by having an article in the paper that mentions her and not any of the other girls, who in fact did most of the work, especially Alison. I don't like how Molly is positioned as a hero when she's just been pouting petulantly for most of the book. I do NOT like her character. She's at the bottom of my list of American Girls.

[Sarah]

I've been rereading all of the American girl books, partially because escaping into nostalgia has helped me get through this pandemic, and partially because I'm trying to catch up on the American Girls podcast. (It's an excellent listen, would strongly recommend.)

Growing up, Molly had always been my favorite. (It's funny, because as an adult I tend to avoid WW2 based fiction since I feel like I've been inundated with it my whole life. Probably because it's a war where we've been able to clearly have the moral high ground in comparison to what was happening in Germany at the time. With other wars, it isn't always so clear cut.) I think rereading them, I can understand why I enjoyed Molly so much. Her experience was the easiest for me to relate to as a child. She goes to school. She has projects to do with her peers. She feels embarrassment during the multiplication bee. She has a friends she goes on adventures with - like a clear cut friend group, which the others girls don't always have. (This really stands out after reading Samantha's books, since she flip-flops her pals from book to book.) It was the closest one to my own childhood. Obviously, there were differences, but she was so relatable to me. Even now, I'm enjoying these the most out of all my rereads. I just remember a childhood version of myself curled up on a couch with these books, and I'm glad I get to revisit them again.

[Kristi Drillien]

Molly's got a little bit of a manipulative streak, which I totally can relate with. I like the way this one works out in the end—it might be a bit easy, but it is a kid's book, after all.

I thought these books might be silly or feel too light, since these books were written to go along with actual dolls, thus they could have been very quick and simple. However, they don't smack of a marketing ploy; the author did a great job with them, and they're really just like any other book series written for kids this age. Also, the "Looking Back" section at the end of each book is really interesting! I love that it gives a little history of the time period, generally relating to the story, with pictures and even examples of ads/posters/propaganda from that time period. The focus is on children and even women, which is something that you really aren't going to see a lot of places. I think these books could be a great resource for teaching kids age 7+ about the time period, how kids lived in those days, and the hardships they had to deal with. If I'd gotten to these books when my daughter was younger, I would have had her read them and then discussed them with her afterward.

[Eekind]

Heartwarming charming and smart entry in the AG collection

I’m here Because of the Dolls of our Lives Pod episode on this book. I definitely enjoy the illustrations and style of Molly’s world even if I am more middling on the story arcs. Like bit but with the illustrations of the three top secret agents before and after they get soaked both feels very apt for the funny pages era of Comics Molly would have access to and feels in keeping with how nine year olds imagine themselves when they play pretend

Overall, having all the 3rd grade girls work together to collect bottle tops and use the knitting work to create a big blanket for wounded GIs is a great message for kids. You don’t always have to get a long with your peers but there are advantages to working as a team and being willing to put yourself out their to help your classmates

I enjoyed Miss Campbell and definitely agree with Mary from Dolls of our Lives that Molly had the most young person queer energy when she goes from talking about how pretty her teacher is to imagining how she’d strong arm herself into Miss Campbell’s wedding with her presumed soldier fiance

[Cassy]

Molly would probably be my third favorite American Girl. She is growing up during a time period that I have always loved learning about, which made these books especially enjoyable for me.

Some of the topics brought up in the story actually sparked some really interesting conversations with my husband. For example, the book talks about the Pledge of Allegiance, which is not commonly done in schools anymore. It also spends a lot of time discussing patriotism and how strongly people felt about supporting their country during wartime. Reading that perspective was interesting, especially when comparing it to how differently patriotism is often viewed today. I think it is possible to be proud of where you come from while still recognizing that no country is perfect.

I have probably digressed a bit, but that is honestly one of the things I appreciated most about this book. Beyond just being a fun historical read, it gave me more to think about and discuss afterward. So far, I think Molly’s stories have sparked more conversation for me than Kristen’s did, and I am looking forward to continuing the series.

[Laura Edwards]

Molly is a little annoying because she tends to be jealous and always wants to go her own way. At least everything works out in the end and Molly realizes how well things can turn out and how fun it can be to work together. I hope she realizes Alison is not so bad by the end of the series. Alison's mother, however, is a different story. In the last book, Molly and her friends are sympathetic to Alison regarding her mother. It was a little creepy how she snuck up on the girls while they were looking in the window. Why not just call them over to the front door, especially since it was raining?

The book does a good job of describing the sacrifices people made on the home front during WWII. The illustrations were a little better in book two. Not all looked cartoonish.

[Sarah]

Research matters

Yes, for the most part AG books are very well written and well researched. But the little things really do matter.
Portraying these 9 year old girls who do not know how to knit as suddenly going to be able to turn out a pair of socks each in a single weekend is ridiculous. Even an advanced knitter can't necessarily do that. Sock legs cannot be turned into blanket squares, 1, they are not square and 2, typical socks as they seem to be attempting to knit are done with very fine yarn. Can you make a blanket with it? Yes. But would it be good for a war hospital blanket? No,it would be much too thin and delicate.
Am I just being picky? Probably a bit. However, the little things do matter especially in a book that's meant to be historically accurate.

[Sophia]

This book was really sweet. I don’t understand why so many people dislike Molly in this story she’s a third-grade middle child, and I feel like that’s a huge reason why she craves attention and validation from her teacher. She clearly admires Miss Campbell and wants to feel special too, so of course she’d feel jealous when Alison suddenly gets all the attention for the “Lend a Hand” contest idea.

What I liked most is that the book allows Molly to have realistic emotions without making her a bad person. She’s insecure, attention-seeking, and jealous in a very believable childlike way, especially during the stress of WWII. The older American Girl books were really good at showing imperfect girls learning and growing, and I think that’s what makes Molly feel so real and lovable.

[Danielle]

This second installment in the Molly series proves to be a bit more interesting than the first. Though Molly still lacks an interesting or compelling personality, she at least grew as a character in this book. The history aspect of this book also improved from the past. Where the first book had a very shallow take on the time period and war, this book at least integrates the history a bit better, though it is not without it's shallow moments. Despite the improvement from the first book, this book still lacks noticable depth compared to other books in the American Girl series, which leaves me feeling very disappointed.