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American Girl: Samantha #4-6
Lost and Found
Samantha is having all kinds of fun sharing adventures with ten-year-old twins, but when an adventure leads to danger, Samantha and her friends must focus all their attention on getting back to safety. Then Samantha learns that Nellie and her sisters are in serious trouble. Samantha sets her sights on saving her friend--and fighting for the family she's always wanted. Can she find a way to do both before it's too late?
157 pages, Paperback
First published August 28, 2014
13 people are currently reading
183 people want to read
About the author
Valerie Tripp
272 books445 followersValerie 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 5, 2026
This review is for the 2014 Beforever relaunch of the Samantha Parkington series (Lost and Found: A Samantha Classic)
This one contains (almost) the entirety of books 4, 5 and 6 from the original Samantha main series (Happy Birthday, Samantha, Samantha Saves the Day, and Changes for Samantha) with only a few edits to the text.
I will say, it does work *slightly* better than Manners & Mischief (which contains books 1 - 3 of the original series) but it still isn't great, and if you have the ability, I would highly recommend trying to pick up the original books.
The reason I'm such a stickler on the originals is mainly due to the illustrations, the historical content, and the overall flow of the story.
The original books have these gorgeous full-color paintings throughout the story of Samantha Parkington. It's a lot of fun to see the expressions on her face. And there's mini paintings as well, of various objects she interacts with or things that she sees.
This might sound like a small detail, but I found it to be really touching to see the paintings that her mom made before she passed away and it's objectively hilarious to see young Uncle Gard with his giant fish. To me, these little moments really made the series sparkle.
Additionally, the original books have these lovely Peek into the Past sections that really delve into the historical background of the series.
We learn about childhood in the early 1900s - what children wore, played with, and behaved like. There's information about the outdoors, and how people would flock to summer places if they could to enjoy the fresh air. And we are taught about major inventions of that time period - ones that would change Samantha's world forever.
And while the new book does have a tiny historical section that covers all three sections, it is watered down. It's missing the photographs of the people, the fashions, and the locations. It does tell us a little, but it isn't as cool as seeing the images alongside the words.
And finally, the biggest reason that I put this book at 3-stars is that the three individual stories combined into this book simply aren't meant to be published this way.
There are certain things you can get away with when Samantha's books are split into the original six individual novels that just doesn't work as well for this 3-in-1 version.
In books 4 and 5 (Happy Birthday, Samantha and Samantha Saves the Day), Nellie (Samantha's best friend) isn't mentioned. She returns for a big role in the sixth book (Changes for Samantha).
It's safe to assume that Nellie was probably working for the Birthday story and Nellie definitely couldn't take off to spend the summer with Samantha in Piney Point for the fifth book.
It's a bit clunky to not mention Nellie in those two then swing around to focusing entirely on her for the last book but I think it still works because those stories are meant to be read on their own - kind of like vignettes into Samantha's life. She's a child and she might not mention all her friends if she's focused on specific situation.
But when you read the 3-in-1 book, there's an expectation of cohesion and flow to the story that is beyond what you'd expect for the six individual novels.
In this book, you see Samantha with random friends in the beginning, see her hanging out with her step-cousins in the middle of the book, and then (suddenly) in the last third, she talks on and on about this "Nellie" who is supposedly her best friend.
To me, this doesn't work because if Nellie truly is Samantha's best friend, why wouldn't Nellie show up in the beginning or middle of the book? Even for just a line here and there.
And finally, for the curious - from what I can tell the 3-in-1 version does keep much of the story intact, with only a brief transition written here and there to try to bridge the time jumps from the original books. I did double check the American Girl Wiki page and found that that agrees with my assessment.
This one contains (almost) the entirety of books 4, 5 and 6 from the original Samantha main series (Happy Birthday, Samantha, Samantha Saves the Day, and Changes for Samantha) with only a few edits to the text.
I will say, it does work *slightly* better than Manners & Mischief (which contains books 1 - 3 of the original series) but it still isn't great, and if you have the ability, I would highly recommend trying to pick up the original books.
The reason I'm such a stickler on the originals is mainly due to the illustrations, the historical content, and the overall flow of the story.
The original books have these gorgeous full-color paintings throughout the story of Samantha Parkington. It's a lot of fun to see the expressions on her face. And there's mini paintings as well, of various objects she interacts with or things that she sees.
This might sound like a small detail, but I found it to be really touching to see the paintings that her mom made before she passed away and it's objectively hilarious to see young Uncle Gard with his giant fish. To me, these little moments really made the series sparkle.
Additionally, the original books have these lovely Peek into the Past sections that really delve into the historical background of the series.
We learn about childhood in the early 1900s - what children wore, played with, and behaved like. There's information about the outdoors, and how people would flock to summer places if they could to enjoy the fresh air. And we are taught about major inventions of that time period - ones that would change Samantha's world forever.
And while the new book does have a tiny historical section that covers all three sections, it is watered down. It's missing the photographs of the people, the fashions, and the locations. It does tell us a little, but it isn't as cool as seeing the images alongside the words.
And finally, the biggest reason that I put this book at 3-stars is that the three individual stories combined into this book simply aren't meant to be published this way.
There are certain things you can get away with when Samantha's books are split into the original six individual novels that just doesn't work as well for this 3-in-1 version.
In books 4 and 5 (Happy Birthday, Samantha and Samantha Saves the Day), Nellie (Samantha's best friend) isn't mentioned. She returns for a big role in the sixth book (Changes for Samantha).
It's safe to assume that Nellie was probably working for the Birthday story and Nellie definitely couldn't take off to spend the summer with Samantha in Piney Point for the fifth book.
It's a bit clunky to not mention Nellie in those two then swing around to focusing entirely on her for the last book but I think it still works because those stories are meant to be read on their own - kind of like vignettes into Samantha's life. She's a child and she might not mention all her friends if she's focused on specific situation.
But when you read the 3-in-1 book, there's an expectation of cohesion and flow to the story that is beyond what you'd expect for the six individual novels.
In this book, you see Samantha with random friends in the beginning, see her hanging out with her step-cousins in the middle of the book, and then (suddenly) in the last third, she talks on and on about this "Nellie" who is supposedly her best friend.
To me, this doesn't work because if Nellie truly is Samantha's best friend, why wouldn't Nellie show up in the beginning or middle of the book? Even for just a line here and there.
And finally, for the curious - from what I can tell the 3-in-1 version does keep much of the story intact, with only a brief transition written here and there to try to bridge the time jumps from the original books. I did double check the American Girl Wiki page and found that that agrees with my assessment.
Currently reading
February 6, 2026This review is for the 2021 abridged & edited relaunch of the Samantha Parkington series (Samantha: Lost and Found).
I don't want to spoil it for myself so I didn't read too far into the wiki page but there seems to be a lot of cutting and rearranging of the original books.
And yes, the originals weren't without flaws but at the same time...they were still wonderful. Hopefully this one will work...?
I don't want to spoil it for myself so I didn't read too far into the wiki page but there seems to be a lot of cutting and rearranging of the original books.
And yes, the originals weren't without flaws but at the same time...they were still wonderful. Hopefully this one will work...?
March 23, 2018
I loved this book just as much as the other one, but this one was a little more dramatic in my opinion. But it was still a good book. My favorite part was when it was Samantha’s tenth birthday party! Overall I totally recommend this book too!!
February 26, 2015
I loved the Samantha books as a kid. They're still entertaining. My favorite part was always the "Peek Into the Past" section, which included interesting photos, facts and illustrations from the time period. And the illustrations throughout the books were beautiful! I loved seeing Samantha wearing her various outfits from the doll collection. I would spend hours reading these books!
Well, this new edition is a travesty. They've poorly spliced together three of the books, and have removed ALL ILLUSTRATIONS. Basically the books have been gutted with the price remaining the same. Why are they cheating girls out of the bulk of the stories and illustrations? Shame!
I'm so disappointed, but I'm happy that I still have my old books. Don't bother buying these. Look for the older copies instead.
Well, this new edition is a travesty. They've poorly spliced together three of the books, and have removed ALL ILLUSTRATIONS. Basically the books have been gutted with the price remaining the same. Why are they cheating girls out of the bulk of the stories and illustrations? Shame!
I'm so disappointed, but I'm happy that I still have my old books. Don't bother buying these. Look for the older copies instead.
July 5, 2018
Oh Samantha! I loved her as a child and you can see why, Samantha is the little rich girl we all wanted to be lol! My favorite and least favorite parts of Samantha's story involve Nellie, Samantha's best friend who is also a child laborer. Samantha herself is so sheltered that it is hard for her to understand just how hard Nellie's life is. These stories introduce women's suffrage in the US and the Orphan Train. I will be interested to see what parts of this book stood out to the book club girls most.
February 1, 2024
The version of the book I read didn't have this cover. I think it may have been abridged, because each of the stories felt a little incomplete. Even adding 5-10 pages to each of the three stories would have helped the plot feel a little more complete, and could have gotten into a little more historical information for the reader. That said, Samantha is a spunky girl with a heart of gold. I can't figure out why she didn't get into more trouble for her crazy ideas, but her heart was always in the right place.
March 18, 2020
A classic AG book. This one is the original last three books combined into one. You can tell that the transitions used to be completely different stories, but it's not bad. I like all the stories though. They are heartwarming.
March 14, 2020
Quick-paced adventures for Samantha and her uncle's young sisters-in-law, this book lacks an overall plot, as it meanders through the year. Again, it lacks a real feel for the time period.
July 5, 2020
Very interesting
February 23, 2015
This book was an interesting read, and Samantha Parkington is easily one of my favorite American Girl characters. While I do have to read the books for work, I actually enjoy most of them.
Samantha is an orphan being raised by her Grandmary in Mount Bedford, New York, but eventually moves into live with her Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornelia in New York City. Upon arriving in the city, Samantha learns that her dear friend Nellie, also an orphan, has been sent to live with her Uncle Mike in the city as well. However, the girls are being raised in different financial situations. Samantha becomes concerned as she does not hear from Nellie as Nellie told her she would. Samantha moves to find what has happened with Nellie.
The Samantha series is a great adventure for girls who love more adventure but also enjoy stories of friendship. Samantha rejects Grandmary's ideas of the "proper young lady" and tends to find herself in situations that help her to help her friends.
I would recommend this book to younger girls, or girls who are struggling with reading. The language used is challenging enough to improve them, but not so challenging that they would not understand it.
I would use this book to help students who are struggling by showing them that not all texts are superbly difficult, but are enough to help them advance. The adventures that Samantha finds herself on are sometimes scary and sometimes fun. Girls today would be able to relate to Samantha's need to help everyone.
Samantha is an orphan being raised by her Grandmary in Mount Bedford, New York, but eventually moves into live with her Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornelia in New York City. Upon arriving in the city, Samantha learns that her dear friend Nellie, also an orphan, has been sent to live with her Uncle Mike in the city as well. However, the girls are being raised in different financial situations. Samantha becomes concerned as she does not hear from Nellie as Nellie told her she would. Samantha moves to find what has happened with Nellie.
The Samantha series is a great adventure for girls who love more adventure but also enjoy stories of friendship. Samantha rejects Grandmary's ideas of the "proper young lady" and tends to find herself in situations that help her to help her friends.
I would recommend this book to younger girls, or girls who are struggling with reading. The language used is challenging enough to improve them, but not so challenging that they would not understand it.
I would use this book to help students who are struggling by showing them that not all texts are superbly difficult, but are enough to help them advance. The adventures that Samantha finds herself on are sometimes scary and sometimes fun. Girls today would be able to relate to Samantha's need to help everyone.
November 18, 2024
Oh, I just love Samantha so much, but I did have some issues with this book in particular.
First of all, it’s Samantha’s birthday at the beginning of the book. It’s mentioned later that Nellie is living and working nearby so why wasn’t Nellie invited to Samantha’s birthday party? That bothered me.
Okay, I know American Girl combined the last 3 books of the original series into one book (which I am not a fan of), but the transitions were a bit rough. They tried to tie it all together, but I just don’t think it worked.
For example, Chapter 9 ends with summer’s end, and chapter 10 starts with Valentine’s Day preparation. That’s a long time in between those chapters!
My last bit of criticism is the summer portion (the middle story) was a bit too dramatic. I just didn’t think it needed to be as dramatic as they made it.
Things to be aware of in “Lost and Found:”
Language:
- 1 “dumb”
- 1 “stupid”
- 1 “gosh”
Name calling including: “ninnies,” and nincompoop.”
Additional Notes:
- A character is called “fat”
- A character disobeys a rule after encouragement. There is no remorse and we are never told if it was found out.
- A boy insults a girl saying, “You eat like a horse.”
First of all, it’s Samantha’s birthday at the beginning of the book. It’s mentioned later that Nellie is living and working nearby so why wasn’t Nellie invited to Samantha’s birthday party? That bothered me.
Okay, I know American Girl combined the last 3 books of the original series into one book (which I am not a fan of), but the transitions were a bit rough. They tried to tie it all together, but I just don’t think it worked.
For example, Chapter 9 ends with summer’s end, and chapter 10 starts with Valentine’s Day preparation. That’s a long time in between those chapters!
My last bit of criticism is the summer portion (the middle story) was a bit too dramatic. I just didn’t think it needed to be as dramatic as they made it.
Things to be aware of in “Lost and Found:”
Language:
- 1 “dumb”
- 1 “stupid”
- 1 “gosh”
Name calling including: “ninnies,” and nincompoop.”
Additional Notes:
- A character is called “fat”
- A character disobeys a rule after encouragement. There is no remorse and we are never told if it was found out.
- A boy insults a girl saying, “You eat like a horse.”
June 7, 2015
As with other books in this collection, I enjoyed the story and feel it has some valuable lessons for young girls. My critique of this book as it's companion, however, is that there are plot holes. Samantha is given a doll pram by her uncle. In the course of the story, she leaves the pram in a park. We never see if she returns for it and finds it gone. In fact, we never hear of the pram again!
November 9, 2016
I love the original books, but while one volume instead of three is more convenient, there was absolutely no call for removing the illustrations except allowing Matel to sell more, by changing which if Samantha's outfits was "in the book". Good thing I've still got my classic editions!
August 24, 2016
The American Girl books are very good. I have read this one twice now.
February 5, 2017
Again, two distinct stories in one book. I don't like that...the stories were OK, but the mostly unrelated story thing is annoying.
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July 10, 20162nd
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February 19, 2019read it 2 times it is like 3 books in 1 do to story lines!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews