Welcome to Molly's World · 1944: Growing Up in World War Two America

The American Girls Collection

by Catherine Gourley, Jodi Evert (Editor), Camela Decaire (Editor)

Provides an in-depth look at life and historical events in America during World War Two.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Childrens, World War II, Picture Books, Historical, American History

58 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1999

About the author

As a nonfiction author speciailizing in social history, Cathy spends a great deal of time researching the past. Her research has taken her into the belly of a whaleship on an icy January morning in Mystic, Connecticut, deep into a coal mine in Northeastern Pennsylvania, to tenement buildings on New York City's Lower East Side, and even into the Secret Annexe in Amsterdam where Anne Frank and her family hid from the Nazis during World War II. But she also researches the archives of old newspapers and digs for insights to people's past lives by reading their diaries and letters.

Cathy is also the national director of Letters About Literature, a reading promotino program of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. Additionally, she is the principal curriculum writer for The Story of Movies, a visual literacy initiative of The Film Foundation, Los Angeles and New York City.

Prior to returning home to Northeastern Pennsylvania in 1997 to write full-time, Gourley was the editor of special projects for Weekly Reader Corporation. In this position also she edited Read, a literature magazine for middle school students. In addition, Gourley spearheaded the relaunching of the Barnard College Young Adult Biography Series in 1996-97, working both with Barnard College and the series publisher, Conari Press, Berkeley, CA.

Gourley's first published book was a historical novel, The Courtship of Joanna, that explored the experiences of Irish immigrants who worked in the anthracite coal mines of Northeastern Pennsylvania in the 1880s. This adult book was nominated for the Carl Sandburg Award through the Chicago Public Library and was a finalist for the Jefferson Cup fof excellence in historical fiction.

Radio was the media venue for her first work of fiction, a short story title “Breaker Boy” which she adapted for broadcast on national public radio in 1986 through an award from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

Cathy's hometown is Wilkes-Barre, PA. But she has lived and worked in a number of states: Ridgway, PA, where she first began publishing her short feature stories, Corpus Christi, Texas, where her freelance writing career got started; Chicago, Illinois, where she published her first book, a historical novel titled The Courtship of Joanna; Essex, Connecticut, where she worked as an editor for Weekly Reader's Read magazine. She returned to Northeastern Pennsylvania in 1997 to write full-time.

Reviews

[Katt Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

With so many illustrations and stories, you don't feel at all like you're being taught about WWII. Really love this series and found this book wonderful. I wish that they hadn't discontinued Molly and hope they bring her back someday so I can go back and explore her world all over again with doll in hand. :) Just enough facts, just enough pictures to make this whole book work really really well. Very highly recommended, especially while homeschooling!

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really thought this was a fantastic resource for WWII information for children. I even learned a thing or two from this. The book has large spreads with lots of pictures and blurbs based on different topics pertaining to life during the early 1940s. You do not need to be interested in American Girls at all since this is only very loosely related back to Molly from American Girls.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the World books. This one was very heavy on the war things, even in everyday life. But that really makes one understand how much the war affected everything; even the normal things, from underwear to your dog. Had a good overview of the European theatre, but needed more on the Pacific side.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generally does a pretty decent job of summarizing life on the homefront. The coverage of the Holocaust doesn't sit comfortably with me, though. The subject is entirely absent from Molly's books, which is somewhat understandable. They're homefront stories set in a nominally Christian household, after all. But the World books often have a much larger scope than what the girls themselves would have experienced. And really, there was just one thing about the two pages dedicated to the Holocaust that made me actively uncomfortable: there's a picture of a young girl wearing a yellow star, and she isn't identified. I'm sure her name is known, and so is what happened to her. I just feel like it would have been so much more powerful if she'd been identified by name and we'd been told what had become of her, whatever that might have been.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good overview of WWII with lots of photos, quite a few that I have not seen before . A bibliography would have brought it up to 5 stars. The story on page 25 is taken from the movie " A Journey for Margaret," starring Robert Young and Margaret O'Brien. They changed a couple of names ( for instance, the little boy is named Peter in the movie, which came out in 1942) The movie is worth watching if you are interested in WWII on the homefront.

[Gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like learning about how things were during World War II and after. I enjoyed this book more than the actual Molly books.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 8 year old read this, but was pretty upset by the pages on the atomic bomb. I should have preread it first!

[Hanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 rounded up
This was interesting, very focused on WW2 and how it literally was in every part of life back then
The section on the baseball league was great

[Margaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love American Girl and Molly's character, and this book is full of so much great context and extra info and pictures. Any child who loves the Molly character will love this book.

[Erin Becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Does a good job of portraying everyday life for people like Molly and her family (white, small-town, middle class American Christians). Excellent source of information, if that's the population you're interested in learning about. Black Americans are mentioned in two sentences about job inequality. There are a few pictures that include Black Americans but no attention given to the roles Blacks played in the military and civilian roles during the war. Japanese Americans get three sentences and no pictures. Detailed information about clothing styles, children's toys, and entertainment. A full spread about women's professional baseball during the war, as well as spreads about women pilots, and army nurses. Good information, if the reader is aware enough of what's missing to take it with a grain of salt.

2025 update - Bumping my rating from 3 to 4 stars. This book does such a good job of making the time period real and tangible for kids. There's so much fantastic information, and the mix of information, narrative from real people, artwork, and artifacts is just so spot on. I do wish they had spent a spread on the Japanese American WW2 experience (there would have been plenty of space if they had cut down on one of the multiple spreads that take place in Europe, Japan, and Egypt). but I simply can't justify a three star rating for a book that's this good.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a long time since I've read or reviewed any American Girl books. I love them as a teacher for the same reasons that I loved them when I read them as a young girl: they are interesting and give a picture into every day life. I could imagine myself as Molly, worrying about my father at war and trying to help my busy, overworked mother.

This nonfiction companion to the Molly's WW2 American girl story was a pleasure to glance through. I felt that everyday life was well described, though I would have liked to have seen more about rationing and coping with a new way of living. The War in the Pacific was briefly but accurately noted; I wish that the book included more balance on this issue

[Savvy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unlike the American Girl stories, this book isn't a fictional story: it's a collection of history from the 1940's. Sorted into different categories such as "Toys" and "Victory Gardens" and different stories such as that of Sadako Sasaki, a girl who developed Leukemia after the Hiroshima bombing and tried to fold 1,000 paper cranes in accordance with an ancient Japanese legend. I read this book at about age ten, and I loved every page. I would recommend this to older American Girl fans simply because it is just history, not an American Girl story. But, young or old, the content is appropriate (there aren't any details or pictures I would say are unsuitable for kids), and even adults will enjoy this collection of World War II era History.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all of the Welcome to ___'s World books, I definitely learned the most from this book. I never completely read the entire six-book Molly series, so I was still a bit fuzzy about why Molly was called an American Girl on the Home Front. I didn't really understand what the home front was or the origin of the name, and what life was like on the home front. Reading this book was truly educational because I had no clue on most of the things it talked about, so I genuinely enjoyed learning about life on the home front. I loved this book because of that. Molly's not my favorite character, and neither is the time period, but I did enjoy learning something I didn't know for a change. History and AG fans should love this book as well as all the books in the Welcome to ___'s World collection.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an excellent book to introduce kids, or adults, to many aspects of life during WWII. I read the book to my 5 year old, who has a particular interest in WWII, and my 3 year old girls, and the information, for the most part, was appropriate for them. There are some heavier details-- D-Day, concentration camps, bombing of Japan-- and I did exclude a few bits of info the sake of the kids, but I wouldn't need to edit it if they were a couple years older. I appreciate that none of the photos showed gore or death, but still give a good idea of what things were like.

From the 5 year old: I think that the book is a little bit fun and scary and only a little bit boring because, well, I'm not sure... My favorite part is that it told some about Molly McIntire.

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can tell just by looking at my bookshelves that I've read this book quite a few times because it no longer has the hardcover front and back as seen in the picture that shows up on Goodreads. At some point, the binding fell apart and I had to tape what was left. I really do like these Welcome to ____ World's book as companions to the fiction books. I still keep mine on my bookshelf amongst my history books. I feel like they validly belong there. They're a great starting point to more information. Recommended!

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an American Girls book, but I checked it out from the library for my son who was studying World War II in school. This was the best book in the library about World War II for his age group (4th grade). Once I could get him past the girly cover, I think he enjoyed flipping through it. I also enjoyed reading it. I liked the combination of photos, drawings, facts, stories, and glimpses into life in America at the time.

[Annalise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting, like the other ones.

[Cws]

J940.5 Gou

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second time checking out. :-)

[Amanda Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really great set put out by AG in the late 90s. These were oversize books, very informative, and useful for school projects and such.

[Mary Foxe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this as a kid. It was a great way to introdution girls to the history behind their beloved books.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every one went to work helping with the war effort.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting book of facts and history during WW Two made for kids.

[Shani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative, but not one of my favorites.