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jgurniak's review against another edition
5.0
I've lost count on how many times I read this as a kid.
domarisdione's review
2.0
I read most of the American Girl books that were published through the mid-1990s, and am happy to see they're still doing stories for these characters - it's a nice, easy introduction to US history.
dianametzger's review
5.0
Read to Isabel; This one was a total gem. The story had unexpected surprises and a fun atmosphere and felt equal parts relatable and historic.
levelstory's review
One of my issues with the Molly books is how playfully it treats war. It encourages this strange ignorance in a book catered toward teaching young girls lessons. Ignorance is not a good lesson. While that same ignorance still plagues parts of this fifth book in the Molly series, it is largely toned down due to the focus on being at summer camp. This is easily the best book in the series thus far. Molly grows as a character, shows personality, and is able to connect her experience to the time period and the war. Though a bit heavy handed with it's metaphors, this book does what the others failed to do which was make Molly likeable and interesting as a character. She seemed less the spoiled brat and more the adventurous child. It was a welcomed change.
thewordwitch's review
4.0
The more I read Molly, the more and more I feel like I know why I identified with her the most out of the American Girls I read when I was younger. Part of it is because she was the closest to my own timeline - the hijinx, the love of Halloween (Meet Molly) and the fear of having to do anything in front of a classroom (Molly Learns a Lesson). But another reason is because I, like many 9 year old girls, was kind of self-centered, and I really wanted to be a hero and win everything. At the time, Molly's tactics didn't seem shady, because Linda did her dirty by blowing the whistle, but now as an adult (and a teacher), maybe Molly went a little too hard.
I also really wanted to go to a camp like Molly did, and have that whole wild experience, but my mom would never let me because of my allergies. So as a kid, I definitely lived vicariously through Molly's camp adventures.
On another note, this book has a lot of patriotic themes to it, and when I was younger, I definitely was proud to be American and I felt the same thrill for our country that Molly did. Rereading these books now has been hard, since I've been questioning what it means to be an American and what that looks like in the current political landscape and the one of recent years. So, that has colored these books in a different light for me. (Side note: Is Molly a boomer? Man oh man is that something to process.)
I also really wanted to go to a camp like Molly did, and have that whole wild experience, but my mom would never let me because of my allergies. So as a kid, I definitely lived vicariously through Molly's camp adventures.
On another note, this book has a lot of patriotic themes to it, and when I was younger, I definitely was proud to be American and I felt the same thrill for our country that Molly did. Rereading these books now has been hard, since I've been questioning what it means to be an American and what that looks like in the current political landscape and the one of recent years. So, that has colored these books in a different light for me. (Side note: Is Molly a boomer? Man oh man is that something to process.)