Samantha Learns a Lesson - Book Discussion

Hi everyone! I hope you all were able to read Samantha Learns A Lesson 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.

Samantha Learns A Lesson is about how, after learning that Nellie is being bullied because she is in second grade at the age of nine years old, Samantha decides to teach her best friend so she can move up to the third grade. Meanwhile, there is a speech contest going on about progress in America in Samantha's class, and after writing a speech about factories, Samantha learns a lesson from Nellie as well about how factories are really like - and speaks out about their true conditions.

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. Right from the get-go, the differences between Samantha's academy, where wealthy young ladies attend, and Nellie's public school, where the rest of society attends, is clear. What are the differences, and what does it have to do with Samantha's social status?

   The biggest difference that jumped out at me regarding Samantha's academy and Nellie's public school is the teachers that are in each school. While Samantha has a kind teacher, Nellie has to deal with a class that makes fun of her, and a teacher that does nothing about it. This could be because private academies, just like private schools today, pay teachers more and are able to hire more experienced teachers, but it could also be because different things were expected of students in private academies versus public schools in society - after all, Nellie is a servant, and Samantha is the one being served.

2. Samantha is told that factories make America stronger because they make cheap things quickly for Americans to enjoy, but what the adults don't tell her is that factory conditions are horrible. Do you recall something that you were taught in school, but learned the truth about outside of it?

   I'm from North Carolina, which was a state that was pro-slavery during the Civil War. Because of that, our education about the Civil War always leaned more towards the details of battles, while not humanizing the struggles that the enslaved went through. Luckily, through reading Addy's books, I was able to understand that the Civil War wasn't about "state's rights", but it was about the "right" to OWN LITERAL HUMAN BEINGS as property.

3. Edith, a girl in Samantha's class, is prejudiced towards Nellie because of her social class, and chastises Samantha for hanging out with her. What were the attitudes surrounding the lower class in 1904, and how do you think they are similar today?

   The attitude back then was that the higher-class shouldn't humanize their servants, shouldn't interact with them much, shouldn't play with them. In the beginning of the book, Eddie's mom is complaining about Samantha hanging out with Nellie, and last book, Grandmary had to be swayed to accept Samantha's friendship with Nellie. Nowadays, it's less spoken out loud, but there is still a certain stigma about people in richer areas hanging out with and helping the poor.

4. The Looking Back section of the book details how college, even for wealthy young ladies like Samantha, wasn't something most girls did. How do you think the culture surrounding women being educated has changed since 1904, and how have they stayed the same?

   I'm a college student. I'm a girl. That wouldn't be possible in 1904, and the expansion of the education that girls receive - all the way through high school and college degrees - is the biggest difference between 1904 and today. However, women still have to work hard at their education to be taken seriously, especially in certain fields. My college film classes were mostly men a few semesters ago, and they always made fun of me and the other girls in the class. But we worked just as hard, if not harder, and we know that it is a privilege to have an education, especially when college is so expensive.

Next week, we will be reading Samantha's Surprise!