Samantha's Surprise - 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's Surprise is about how Samantha is looking forward to Christmas, but her plans are ruined when her Grandmary makes her miss out on all the fun things about Christmas - gingerbread houses, parties, the like - because Uncle Gard's friend Cornelia is coming to visit. However, Cornelia and Samantha are able to bond, and Samantha finds a surprise of her own as she learns more about herself.

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. Let's start by addressing the elephant in the room - after writing the first two books with an emphasis on class differences, Susan A. Alder was replaced by Maxine Rose Schur for this book, and Nellie plays a less important role with much less commentary on the historical conditions of the time. What do you think was lost from the book due to this decision, and why would you think Alder was replaced?

   The biggest thing I think was lost from Samantha's Surprise that was in the other books so far was that there was a lot less to learn about different people in 1904 versus wealthy white people. In the first two books, the main plot had been Samantha waking up and learning more about the working class, as well as the struggles of people of color, but this book painted a much more rosy view of the time period, which is probably what Pleasant Company was looking for when they hired a different author to write this book and let Susan Alder go.

2. Samantha has to lose a lot in this book from her expectations of a perfect Christmas, due to her Grandmary wanting the house perfectly clean for Cornelia's arrival, only for Samantha to learn that Christmas isn't just about things, but about the memories you make with your loved ones. How do you think Christmas was commercialized to people like Samantha in this time period?

   Christmas had always been a time to spend with family, but as wealth and industry started coming to the United States, retailers and wealthy people alike started using it as a more commerical time. They started making it more about gifts than anything else, ignoring the reason why we celebrate Christmas and the memories shared with others in favor of fancy gifts.

3. At first, Samantha isn't happy with Cornelia, but by the end of the book, accepts her and Uncle Gard's relationship. This is partially due to Cornelia showing Samantha that women can be more than just what her Grandmary thinks they are - what lessons do you think Samantha learned from Cornelia?

   Samantha learned a lot from Cornelia in this book, but I feel like the biggest thing she learned from her was self-acceptance. She is growing up in a society that tells her to act one way, to not misbehave because she is a wealthy woman in high society. So many times throughout the series, Grandmary has told her "no" or discouraged her, but Cornelia is an adult female presence in Samantha's life that can help her be okay with herself.

   
   

4. Throughout the book, Samantha worries that her Grandmary won't get her a new doll because she gave her old one to Nellie. How do you think people deal with feeling unaccepted by their loved ones due to differences in opinion?

   It's always hard when loved ones don't accept you, whether if it's that you believe different things, love different people, or act different than you expect. There's a lot of self-loathing at first, like what Samantha goes through (even though she did the right thing by giving Nellie her doll!), but once they're able to find acceptance, like Samantha found in Cornelia and Uncle Gard, they're able to become more confident in themselves, stand their ground, and even get what they wanted in the end - like how Cornelia, not Grandmary, got her the doll she wanted.

   
   

Next week, we will be reading Happy Birthday, Samantha - just in time for Samantha's birthday!