Samantha's Winter Party

American Girl: Short Stories #5

by Valerie Tripp, Dan Andreasen (Illustrator)

When Samantha planned a party, she never planned on leaving her best friend, Nellie, out. In Samantha's Winter Party, Samantha and her friends plan a party with a gift exchange. But Nellie can't afford to buy presents. Find out how Nellie manages to surprise them anyway!

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After you read Samantha's story, learn how to make snow candles just like Samantha and Nellie might have made.

-from the back cover

Also includes a section on ice skating in the early 1900s.

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

47 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1999

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 5 out of 5]

"I think it's pathetic the way Nellie is always trying to keep up with her betters!"

Nellie is wonderful at skating and school, and she happens to be Samantha's very best friend.

But some of Samantha's school mates just can't understand why Samantha would choose to be friends with someone who works as a servant girl.

After one particularly vicious round of bullying, Samantha has a suggestion to help cheer Nellie up.

"Let's have our own special party next Friday!"

But that simple suggestion quickly spirals out of control when Samantha's other friends (good-naturedly) suggest a gift exchange with cocoa and cookies - things that are far beyond Nellie's simple budget.

Samantha tries to reign things in but nothing she does works. Can she prevent Nellie from feeling even more left out? Will Christmas be ruined?

This was an excellent short story for the Samantha collection!

Young Nellie is such a sweetheart and my heart just went out to her in this book. It isn't easy when you have less than your friends, and it's probably so much worse when there's such stringent class differences as well.

I really like how Samantha always tries to use her privilege as a way to help others up rather than put them down. And when she inadvertently causes a problem, she does her absolute best to help everyone.

Winter Party is definitely one of my favorite of the Samantha companion novels - mostly because of the description of ice skating at the end. Pure. Magic.

A Peek into the Past

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

Given the emphasis on skating in this book, unsurprisingly the Peek into the Past covers ice skating in 1904. We learn all about when skating originated, different popular skating techniques, how skates changed over the years, and famous women skaters.

From there we transition into a craft - Snow Candles! This one you need a layer of snow upon the ground and hot wax to make a uniquely shaped candle.

[Katja Labonté · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars. It’s a cute story. Not my fav American Girl Short, but good enough. Most of all, though, I HAVE ALWAYS LOVED THAT POND IDEA. I love it so so much. And I want to make those candles. And this little book makes me wanna dig up the Samantha books because I think I remember really liking them…??

Content: Bullying; bad-mouthing and sticking out one’s tongue to a bully.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

In which Samantha tries to do something nice for Nellie, but Nellie finds a better way to do it for herself.

I've said elsewhere that I think the hardest thing about the Samantha-Nellie friendship is showing why they're friends. Their class differences are frequently inconvenient for one or both of them, so why do they bother? Sometimes the answer is just that the fundamental fact of their friendship is, in the end, unshakable.

We don't often see much of Samantha's school friends, but they pop up from time to time, and they come off particularly well here. Ida, Ruth, and Helen have taken to Nellie just as Samantha has, and go out of their way to try to include her, which is lovely.

I think what bothers me most about this one is placing it in the timeline. In Samantha's Surprise, Sam's so excited bout Ida's party, it seems odd that she might have just gone to Edith's and hosted this one of her own - but perhaps parties never do get old.

Originally published in American Girl Magazine as "Nellie's Gift" in Nov/Dec 1995.


More Samantha babble:
Meet Samantha | Samantha Learns a Lesson | Samantha's Surprise | Happy Birthday, Samantha | Samantha Saves the Day | Changes for Samantha

Nellie's Promise

Samantha's Winter Party | Samantha and the Missing Pearls | Samantha Saves the Wedding | Samantha's Blue Bicycle | Samantha's Special Talent | Samantha's Short Story Collection

The Curse of Ravenscourt | The Stolen Sapphire | The Cry of the Loon | Clue in the Castle Tower

The Lilac Tunnel: My Journey with Samantha

[Marfita · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a short story published in a tiny book form from the series of American Girl books based on the dolls made by The Pleasant Company. And what a nice name for a company. The story is utterly unrealistic glurge (and so, I imagine, satisfying for a child) but is followed up by historical material, in this case, about the skating craze in the early 20th century. This review is just to point out how soppy I am. I was crying reading about Sonja Henie's tutu. It's not just an ejaculation from the Car Talk guys. Before Sonja Henie, women skaters did not perform jumps because it would show their knees, which would be obscene, I guess. Sonja competed as an eleven year old girl and therefore wore the short skirts appropriate to someone her age. Not hobbled by the long skirts women had to wear, Henie added spins and jumps to her program - only to land her in last place in the 1924 Olympics. By the next Olympics, either the judges had had a change of heart or there was a change of judges and Henie and her short skirt and jumps twirled away a winner. Now that would be a good story and that is what brought tears to my eyes.
Oh, and a craft activity follows the historical info making this tiny volume even more worthwhile.

[Bree · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review is from the perspective of a mother. Once you suspend the disbelief of the social intermingling of the classes, its a very cute story about the relationship between Samantha and Nellie. The Looking Back section is very insightful on women and skating, and the crafts make the short stories an excellent addition to a girl's library.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy these short stories about the various American Girls. This one takes us back to when Nellie was still a servent and Samantha is still living with her grandmother. It's winter and a party is planned - somewhat thoughtlessly - meant to include Nellie but comes very close to EXCLUDING her instead.

I liked the solution, and think the craft project sounds like a lot of fun to do.

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story, though I was surprised that Samantha's school friends all loved Nellie and wanted to hang out with her when she was still a servant. The looking back section had more about the history of ice skating than I ever thought I'd need to know.

[Marian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for this short story, simply because the scene at the end always seemed like it would have been beautiful.

[Alix · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was adorable 🥹

[Kara Kuehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a short, cute story!

Things to be aware of in “Samantha’s Winter Party”

Language:
Mild name calling including: “nincompoops”.

Additional Notes:
- A character wishes to punch another character.
- A character sticks out their tongue to another character behind their back.
- There is some bullying including calling someone’s choices “pitiful”.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think for the age it's presented for it is really a sweet read. I also enjoyed that a little history was added to the end. It helped to understand the story a little more.

[lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3.5/5 stars

[Hannah Beck · Rating 3 out of 5]

let your child learn why we should destroy capitalism

[Elle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would rate this one star, but that implies that it was a bad short story and that was not the case.
Samantha did the right thing in trying to help her friend and find a solution to the problem of Nellie not having money to buy gifts for the other girls.
In the end, Nellie uses her creativity to create a beautiful gift for the other girls.
Money does not always result in the best gift. Sometimes the best things are spending time with your friends and feeling loved.

[Sarah Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Samantha's empathy and kindness never shines through more than when she interacts with her friend Nellie, so I loved getting this additional short story that highlights their sweet friendship. Samantha is intuitive enough to understand that her friend is self-conscious she can't participate in a Christmas party in the same way as the other girls and kindly offers to help Nellie make presents. But despite her best efforts, her craft idea is a flop. This book ends up being a real redemption story for Nellie, because she finds a way to make the friends' Christmas party special in her own way and on her own terms, without needing the others' help.

I actually really loved that Nellie solves the dilemma of presents for her friends on her own terms. While Samantha was so kind to offer to help, it's nice for Nellie and her pride to be able to give something special to her friends of her own making.

The peek into the past section of this book was so neat! Ice skating is a big part of the plot of this story, as the girls all meet several times a week to skate together. In the historical section at the end of the story, we learn that this hobby was all the craze at that time period and it gave an overview of the history of ice skating going back thousands of years and the first evidence and through the first competitive ice skaters. I loved reading it and thought it added so much to my and my children's understanding and appreciation for this story!

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

After their days at Miss Crampton's Academy, Samantha and her friends head to Culpepper's Pond for ice skating. Nellie, an excellent skater, teaches the other girls to skate backwards and to perform figure eights.Snobbish Edith publicly invites everyone except Nellie to a party.Samantha and her friends show compassion toward Nellie whose parents have little money. Nellie goes forward to create a beautiful conclusion to this delightful holiday story by Valerie Tripp.

I appreciated the history of ice skating from "A Peak Into the Past" at at the end of this story.

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Samantha's Winter Party

The story revolves around Samantha and her friends ice skating. One of her friends is poor and is made fun of by other girls so Samantha decides to have a party. The problem is that everyone is to give gifts to the other, and the one girl has no money at all to give gifts. Samantha tries to help her make gifts, but that doesn't work.

The party is held and the girl has found a way to give everyone a gift at the same time.

The historical section of this book contains information on the history of women's ice skating.

[Rubi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Samantha decided to throw a special party for her friends and Nellie after Nellie was rudely told she wasn't invited to a party since she was a servant.
This made Nellie feel bad and Samantha tried to cheer her up but then felt worse when Nellie seemed sad that she wouldn't be able to participate in the gift exchange.
But who said gifts had to be bought? Some of the best gifts are handmade or even just our time. The girls friendship was beautiful and Nellie felt accepted and had something up her sleeve too. Cute story!

[Bulk Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a sweet story. I like that Nellie found a way to contribute to the party without her pride being hurt. The idea of hanging winter decorations around a skating pond is also extremely charming, and I wish I could do it myself. The insight into ice skating was also fun.

Didn’t love how Nellie blew off everyone at the pond and somehow didn’t realize they would take it the wrong way; there seem to be many misunderstandings when it comes to her character.

[Charlie - disableddaydreamer | itsbarbieparis (looking for mutuals) · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a fun samantha read, i enjoy the dynamic of her and her friends and how the story doesn’t mince the difficulties and where the friendship shines.


added in this read, the peek into the past is great in this one and income disparancy discussion in an age appropriate but curt way is done well.

[Mags · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my elementary school teachers gave me two of these little hardcover books, and I remember how elated I felt upon receiving them - Samantha has always been my favorite character in the American Girls Collection.

[Karol · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a good Christmas story. This short story centered around true friendship that demonstrated the rich and the poor can share the true meaning of giving despite their background. Kindness and thoughtfulness for one another doesn't reside in the pocketbook.

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's a really short story but it is also a good short story Samantha's friend Nellie learns that you don't have to have money to give the perfect gift. I believe that's a lesson we all must learn, even me. Christmas time is not about what you get or what you give but who spend time with.

[Rosario · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Nellie's ingenuity in this story and how she made a remarkable gift for all the girls despite her financial status. I am also fascinated by the early history of figure skating. Much props to Madge Syers and Sonja Henie for raising the bar in competitive figure skating!

[Gabby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Friendship can sometimes mean giving a gift with no financial value but a treasured experience or time together no matter your class, age or how you are seen by society. It is nice to see societal norms being challenged by this book, in a historical context.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice story with teaching opportunities connected with it.

[Sandra Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

samatha is wonderful in these storyes

[Katelyn Siebert · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good book samantha is one of my favorites

[Miri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Samantha and her school friends, along with Nellie plan a holiday party, but Nellie has no money to spend on gifts, can Samantha convince her to come to the party anyway?

[Megan Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

a wonderful book about friendship and skating. I enjoy reading it.