Molly's Short Story Collection

American Girl: Short Stories

by Valerie Tripp

In this keepsake collection, Molly McIntire's resourcefulness helps her keep hope alive on the home front. Molly is growing up while the world is at war. She desperately misses her dad, a doctor who is overseas helping wounded soldiers. But being patriotic means making the best of all the changes in her life.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Childrens, Middle Grade, Short Stories, Fiction

215 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2006

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]

This is a lovely collection of the short stories from the Molly series - complete with full-color illustrations throughout and sections that provide historical content as well. Highly recommended!

Molly Takes Flight - ★★★★☆

"Molly felt as if change had wooshed through her life and set everything spinning."

There's been so much change that Molly can't wait for the same summer vacation to wash over her - stargazing, swimming, playing with the farm animals - but even that has changed. Aunt Eleanor is trying to join the WASPs (an all female group of piolets) and her parents (Molly's grandparents) feel strongly against it. When the world feels so horrible, how can Molly stand to let another person go?

Molly and the Movie Star - ★★★★☆

"Melody Moore is a very famous movie star. She's coming to our town ... she'll sing and dance and make everybody feel patriotic..."

Molly is so excited to be chosen as her class representative to give a war bond to Melody Moore during a rally. And then Molly comes up with a brilliant idea while watching a Melody Moore movie at the theater. The movie star sends a secret note to a soldier in a sock and Molly decides to do that with the class's War Bond money...but the next morning the sock is missing!

Molly Marches On - ★★★★☆

"Everyone, including her own friends Linda and Susan, was ruining the nature hike."

Molly and her two best friends, Linda and Susan, are first-time campers and there's talk all around camp about a mysterious hike that ends in a grand surprise. Molly is so excited to travel through the woods like Sacagawea - strong, silent, and surefooted - but she gets really annoyed by the other girls in her group. At the first fork of the road, Molly decides she'd rather go the opposite way to the rest of the girls and off she sets...into the woods...alone. What could possibly go wrong?

Molly's A+ Partner - ★★★★☆

"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.

Molly's Puppy Tale - ★★★★☆

"I'd do anything for Bennett. I love him. And he loves me best of anyone in the world."

Owning a dog is a BIG responsibility but Molly feels ready to take it on. She loves how Bennett relies the most upon her and always wants to be by her side...only one problem. Bennett seems to have other ideas. Molly doesn't want Bennett to like anyone more than her and decides to take full responsibility for Bennett. But as the weeks wear on, she begins to realize that taking care of a puppy is a lot of work for one ten-year-old girl.

A Final Note:

I was rather torn on whether to buy the individual short stories or purchase the collection version, but ultimately went with the collection of short stories because it was easier for me to obtain all of the books and it would look neater on my shelves.

And for the most part, these do match really well with the individual books for the short stories - they both have full color illustrations and the Peek Into the Past sections.

However, the one disappointing factor is that the collection books are missing the fun 'extras'. Below are the crafts that are present in the individual books but not in this collection:

Molly Takes Flight - instructions for how to make a stargazer using an oatmeal container.
Molly and the Movie Star - a guide for creating a 1940s inspired movie night
Molly Marches On - a guide for trail marking, that Molly was *supposed* to use to follow the right trail
Molly's A+ Partner - a recipe for making cherry-nut cupcakes
Molly's Puppy Tale - a recipe for making simple dog treats

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) - ★★★★☆

[Panda Incognito]

This was on my Thrift Books wish list for months, and they finally got a nice copy in inventory! I was so excited to get this in the mail, and rationed it out to reread only one short story per day. They were lovely, and I enjoyed the illustrations, detailed historical notes, and childhood nostalgia.

[Sierra Reyelts]

Fun classic Molly vibes. I liked the Puppy Tale one cuz we got to see how having a puppy (ie Bennett) is for Molly. I also liked the Molly Takes Flight one cuz it explained the inspiration for certain plot points in the Molly movie that aren't in the original 6

[Sally]

This is an excellent collection for letting people, especially young girls, learn what it was like to grow up in a middle-class family during World War II. At the start of the collection Molly is 9 and dealing with an older sister and brother as well as a younger brother, as well as her mother her works and missing her father who is serving as a doctor in England. During the course of the stories she goes to summer camp, shares a room with an English girl sent over to the US for her safety, takes part in a patriotic pageant, and had a Christmas without her father. Nicely written with good detail.

[Brenna]

After finishing the Molly Story Collection, my son wanted to read "Clues in the Shadows" and this one as our next read alouds as he recognized Molly on the cover. He liked this book and I enjoyed the short story format as we could read one complete story in a sitting. I actually liked Molly's character better in this book, maybe it was the shorter format. Also, this book has possibly my FAVORITE Mrs. Gilford moment in it (I had to read that part more than once, my son liked it too).

[Karol]

Sweet collection that touches on WWII. Wasp's, War Bonds, movie stars, military dogs, and pieces of American history.
Molly learns about responsibility, following directions and team work while she processes the actions of the people in her life.

[Rubi]

Not my favorite American girl. Three if the stories were okay, and loved 2 of them. Reviewed them individually. The Looking Back sections though were always worth the read! Lots of history and fun life lessons.

[Kelly]

A beautiful bound collection of the short stories all previously released separately. Quick to read, but easy to do separate. The "Looking Back" sections are included for each story. Sadly, the craft/activities for each are removed.

[Nicole]

this was a good book about when the WW2 was happening!!!

[Bryn Salamon]

Queen

[Kelly]

Sweet little stories, which fascinating history tid-bits!

[Cassy]

Molly's Short Story Collection took me a while to finish because I was reading it while my son played outside. It was actually the perfect book for that. It was not something I would get completely sucked into, but it was simple and cozy enough that I could keep an eye on my little one while still enjoying my reading time.

I have started doing what I am doing with the Harry Potter series and going back to reread some of the childhood books that I loved growing up. The American Girl books are another set that I have always thought were wonderful, especially the original books. Now that Mattel has taken over the brand, it all seems to have become a bit much for me. I still have a soft spot for the original stories, though.

These short stories were written by the original author, Valerie Tripp, and I think she did a wonderful job with them. I had actually never read these particular stories before, so this was a new experience for me. I loved the simple, cozy way she described Molly's life and what everyday life was like during WWII. There is something about reading these stories as an adult that makes me appreciate them even more. They introduce history in a way that is easy to understand without making it feel like you are being taught a history lesson.

I also love that these books can be enjoyed by children while still giving adults something to appreciate. As someone who loves history, I find myself noticing details and thinking about the time period in a completely different way than I did as a child.

I really hope that if I ever have a girl, she will enjoy these books as much as I did and still do. There is something pretty special about being able to pass along the books you loved as a child and hopefully create those same memories for the next generation.

[Anna]

I wish they had these when I was a little kid! I always wanted more stories than the 6 books available in the series!

[Sesana]

Re-read: I liked this a lot more the second time around, when read right after the Central Series. The story about Aunt Eleanor is my favorite, of course.

[Amanda Kay]

Very glad to have this little set for all of Molly's books. Her short stories are small glimpses into her WWII life. I've always thought Molly's puppy tale was adorable.