Happy Birthday, Samantha - Book Discussion

Hi everyone! I hope you all were able to read Happy Birthday, Samantha so we can discuss it today. If you don't have copies of these books going forward at home, you can check to see if a local library has them, and if no libraries have them, you can make an account at the Library of Congress's Internet Archive and check them out there.

Happy, Birthday Samantha is about Samantha's tenth birthday, and how her aunts Agnes and Agatha from New York City come to her birthday party. After pesky Eddie Ryland ruins the party, the twins take Samantha to New York City, and go on an adventure - only to discover their aunt Cornelia at a women's suffrage march.

When I was rereading this book, several things came to mind about the themes within, and both their historical context and what it means to be a girl in 2025. I don't want these posts to be too long, so I'll list my thoughts, and let you discuss these topics as well in the comments!

1. Despite being in the same state, there are a lot of differences from the smaller town of Mount Bedford to the sprawling New York City in terms of culture. Why do you think that is?

   From what I have gathered from the books so far, Mount Bedford is a very sheltered community, at least the wealthy parts. The characters from rich families seem to have more superficial concerns and don't know much about the rest of the world. Nellie and Uncle Gard are how Samantha knows as much as she does about the city, and even she doesn't know what's going on there much until Agnes and Agatha come into the picture.

2. Throughout the book, Grandmary insists on being set in her ways of believing women's suffrage is nonsense and that women shouldn't vote, but by the end of the book, changes her mind. Why do you think she changed her mind?

   From my personal life experience, I've tended to notice that people don't really care about a huge issue until they or someone they know cared about it. Once she saw that Cornelia really cared about the issue, and that Samantha was listening, I think that really opened Grandmary's eyes. Also, her being forced to listen and not in the sheltered part of New York also must have opened her eyes.

   
   

3. A big theme throughout the Samantha series so far is Samantha coming out of her shell of being a wealthy orphan and learning more about the world's injustices. How do you think she's been adapting to her new view of the world so far?

   It's been a gradual process for sure. There are still tendencies for Samantha to assume things about the world that are more simple than they actually are, as Samantha still comes from a privileged background in a time where access to information, especially for women, is hard to come by. But Samantha at this point in the series is a lot more educated than she was at the beginning, and that is thanks to her friends and the people around her.

   
   
   
   

4. Thanks to the women's suffrage movement, Samantha is among one of the first American Girl dolls who is able to vote - she is 25 when women get that right. Why do you think it took a long time for women to receive that right, if there are demonstrations for it 15 years before?

   It always takes a long time for the people in power to be comfortable with things changing. Change takes time, and change is never instant - it's a gradual process, with things happening little by little. But the length of time change takes to happen is always frustrating, no matter what you're fighting for, and especially if it's a basic right like women voting.

   
   
   
   

Next week, we will be reading Samantha Saves The Day!