Molly's A+ Partner

American Girl: Short Stories #25

by Valerie Tripp, Philip Hood, Nick Backes (Illustrator)

Molly and Susan pair up to write a report about George Washington. When they start to disagree on the report, Molly thinks their grade--and their friendship--might be doomed. Luckily, Susan has a few surprises up her sleeve.

After you read Molly's story, make cherry cupcakes, just as Molly might have done to celebrate Washington's birthday.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Childrens, Fiction, Historical, Middle Grade, Short Stories, World War II

48 pages, Hardcover

First published March 31, 2002

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 · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I've been thinking," said Susan, "...You know what would be neat? Instead of just reading our report the way everyone else does, you and I could do something completely different."

Uh-oh. Molly was really excited to be partnered with Susan for their report on George Washington for their third grade class but not anymore. Susan wants to act out the report - in front of everyone - instead of reading it like normal.

Molly is not okay with this. At. All.

"Privately, she was horrified. She thought Susan's idea was perfectly terrible. Make wigs? Wear capes? ...everyone would laugh."

But Susan is nothing if not persistent and Molly ends up compromising with her about the acting bits. Even so, Molly dreads the presentation. And when a fight overtakes the girls, Molly must decide what's more important? Her friendship? Or keeping her head down?

Honestly, this one was really good but it felt a bit inconsistent.

Let me explain: In the main series, Molly is in tap lessons, she plays the flutophone with the class, and she's even part of a giant patriotic rally as the star...and suddenly she's shy and afraid to perform in front of her class?

I suppose that there's a difference between being part of a performance vs a two-person report but I would have liked the author to have addressed where these sudden nerves were coming from.\

Inconsistencies aside, I do think Molly's feelings are genuine. It can be really, really hard to take chances as a child - especially with the whole class watching (and possibly judging). It makes sense to me that she would feel nervousness and a desire to 'do the usual' for the report.

But I did like how this book showed how taking risks paid off and I really did like the report that Molly and Susan gave - it was fun, fresh, and rather interesting!

A Peek into the Past

Like all of the main and mini Molly McIntire books, this one has a mini historical section at the back called a Peek into the Past.

In this Peek into the Past, we learn about the how children during WWII would write reports on past presidents who had positive impacts on wars. In particular, we get information about George Washington and his impact upon the Revolutionary War. This expands a bit upon the information provided by Molly and Susan.

And finally, there's a recipe at the very end to teach us how to make cherry-nut cupcakes based on George Washington's cherry tree story (where he chopped down a tree and told his dad the truth)

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rereading as an adult. The story begins with Molly and Susan researching their report, which starts with the school library encyclopedias. Awww, encyclopedias - that's a nostalgia hit for me.

Molly spends the middle of this short story upset because Susan wants to try something new and different in presenting their report, while Molly is sure that the other kids will make fun of them. It fits right in with where Molly is in the first half of her series, wanting things to go back to the way they were before the war and being very uncomfortable with change. In that sense, Molly does have a conservative streak (small c), but in the end, she's delighted to be proven wrong.

Set around President's Day, so between Surprise and Birthday. Originally published in American Girl Magazine as "Good Partners," Jan./Feb. 1996.

[Theresa F.]

The secondhand copy of this book that I read had a note written in the back in pencil that said, "good book for friendship". I would say that this accurately captures both the plot and the theme. Over the course of a short story about the characters composing a school report, the author skillfully captures the ups and downs of friendship, from the camaraderie of teamwork to the disagreements that arise when even the closest of friends don't always see eye to eye. The book also subtly looks at the tricky subject of whether to trust your own judgement versus placing your trust in another person. I think we can all relate to the character Molly's fears of public embarrassment and ridicule in front of her peers.
Overall, I would say I can definitely see the value in this work, even though I'm outside the publisher's targeted age group.
Did I like it? I think the book was worth my time.
Would I reread it? Not sure.
Would I recommend it? Yes.

[Rubi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm totally with Molly on how hard it is to trust partners when it comes to important projects. But her partner really did work hard to make their presentation come to life for their class!
Good story on teamwork, friendship, and letting others do their passions as well.
Some ideas may seem strange but you never know, it could surprise you in the best of ways 😄
Our kids should do more in depth history projects tbh lol

[Meghan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Molly seemed out of character in this story.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is so cute and creative. Great story.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy the history that is intertwined in with the stories from the American Girl series. This is the first American Girls Short Stories that I have read. Quick, easy read that was a cute story.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

These short stories are super cute.

[Gwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this reminds me of something similar that happened for me, although it didn't go over quite as well. I liked Susan's costume.

[Christina Erickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I’m being honest, I am Susan. And Molly represents all of my enemies that I have now successfully won over in my adulthood.

[Marian · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's always nice to see Susan get a little bit of the spotlight with Molly. Molly and Susan are paired together for a project, but have vastly different ideas of how to present it.

Molly wants to go with the old standard of reading it, possibly with a timeline that she will then point to during particularly important parts.

Susan, on the other hand, wants to go all out and dress up like George Washington [the subject of their project] and re-enact certain scenes from his life.

Molly is mortified. Everyone will laugh AT Susan, certainly not with her, and after all the humiliation, they'll get a lousy grade on top of it all. No way, no how.

Susan's hurt that Molly thinks so little of her idea and has so little faith in her abilities. Their friendship might just be over if they can't work through the mess.

Very cute. I always wanted to swing more of Susan's way, but I was definitely a Molly. I knew full well the moment you stepped out of the box, you just left more of yourself exposed for ridicule.

[Bree · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review is from the perspective of a mother. I am reading the books to decided when they are age appropriate for my daughter.

Molly and Susan get paired up for a school project (were there really this many school projects in the forties?), and quickly realize that they have different ideas about what constitutes a good presentation. Molly obsesses a bit about Susan's different ideas, and it quite cruel in sharing her opinions, and it tests their friendship.

I think this book does an excellent job portraying friendships and worries for the target audience, but my disappointment is that Molly has to see Susan's good job on the presentation AND everyone else's approval of it, before she realizes that she was wrong and treated Susan poorly. I'd have been happier if they reconciled earlier.

[Bulk Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is a realistic look at group projects in school, which is both a positive and a negative. It's useful for children who may be on the brink of ruining their friendships due to these horrible assignments, but also, I don't enjoy reading about group projects.

I also found it odd that Molly, who is usually a "schemer and dreamer" full of ideas, is so dead set against Susan doing the report in a unique way. Suddenly, Molly is concerned with doing the project the same way everyone else is because she's afraid of being embarrassed. Which is relatable for many a kid, but strangely OOC for Molly.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Molly and Susan have paired up to write a report for their class on George Washington.

This book, although short and simple, really does spend some time on deep characterization, a surprise to me. Molly, who doesn't like change and would prefer to do things the way they have always been done, is challenged to be creative and do something different.

I like seeing Molly grow and change in the course of a book. I admire her for being daring, and for showing true friendship in trusting her partner to try something she would never do by herself. An excellent book!

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Molly and Susan team up to present a report on George Washington to the class. The more they talk about how they are going to do the report, though, the more they tend to disagree, to the point where their friendship seems over.

Molly wants to present a straight "just-the-facts-m'am" type of report, and Susan wants to act out the report. In the end they agree to a compromise and the report they give goes over extremely well, earning both an A+ for their project.

The historical section presents some information on George Washington.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book's lesson is about friendship and working things out after one has quarreled. It was a nice story with a good ending, but it wasn't terribly interesting. I would recommend if you were a fan of the American Girl book series.

*Taken from my book reviews blog: http://reviewsatmse.blogspot.com/2009...

[Miri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Molly and Susan are excited when they are paired up to write a report on President Washington, but Molly and Susan have very different ideas about how to do their report. Can they overcome their differences and present an A+ report?

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good way for kids to see a different perspective in each other and teamwork.

[Marya · Rating 3 out of 5]

If only my school reports were this entertaining. Thank God they didn't have PowerPoint in the 40s!

[Bailey Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute as always.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like this one that much because it didn't tell us all that much about Molly's era. I learned a lot about Washington but that's not part of Molly's historical era. And the story showed a lesson in friendship but it was very historical. I would've liked it to be more centered on WWII