A Winning Spirit: A Molly Classic 1 (American Girl Beforever Molly Classic, 1)

I bought this for my new first grader. It is challenging enough to be a stretch, but not so difficult that she is overly frustrated. She is enjoying the story a lot! I enjoyed these books as a girl. It's fun to share them with my daughter.

love this book.My daughter love the story of it.. that allowed her to read it.

Very interesting book for young children.

"A Winning Spirit: A Molly Classic 1" is a book about the life and adventures of 9 year old Molly McIntyre. This book is set in the United States during the time of World War II. Molly is the second youngest of the four McIntyre children. Her father, a doctor, is stationed in England and his absence is keenly felt by Molly and her family. Her mother is very active at the Red Cross and they have a cook/housekeeper. Each chapter tells a different story about Molly's life and the challenges of wartime living, i.e., having a victory garden to grow your own vegetables, scarcity of things like butter and sugar, talking about bomb shelters, etc. This is an interesting glimpse at a time when Americans at home were asked to participate in "the war effort" and what that meant for a young child and her family. The chapters are short (about 10-15 pages), so this would work well as a chapter book for young readers. Molly is an engaging character and the author does a good job with writing her in a way that is relatable. She has two best friends, Susan and Linda. The reader will finish this book feeling like they know Molly, and wanting to hear more about her adventures. There is an adorable American Girl doll named Molly that is the inspiration for this book.

Molly McIntire was one of my favorite American Girls when I was a child and I'm so happy that a new generation will be going on adventures with her with the release of this book. This book is a new edition where it binds up the first three books in Molly's series into one volume. There aren't any illustrations from the previous versions of the books in this volume.A Winning Spirit features three stories of Molly McIntire starting in the fall of 1944 and going ending in December 1944.-The first story (what would have been Meet Molly in the original series) shows Molly and her friends trying to have fun during Halloween. But things go bad when Molly's brother plays a Halloween trick on them and they vow revenge on him. Will things go too far?-The second story (what would have been Molly Learns A Lesson) has Molly's class having to come up with a project to help with the war effort. Allison, the rich girl in Molly's class, comes up with an idea but Molly is determined to do things her way. Can the girls work together in the end?-The third story (what would have been Molly's Surprise) shows Molly's family learning that war means you can't always have the Christmas you remember having but you can still have a memorable Christmas in the end. A sweet surprise awaits Molly's family on Christmas day.The volume ends with a little peek inside Molly's world during World War II.This is a great introduction for children into Molly's world and I highly recommend it to any American Girl fan.

Molly McIntire who was born on April 22, 1934 was a Depression and WWII baby. The bulk of her formative years take place during WWII and the upheavals the world is experiencing because of this. Molly, always eager to pitch in and generally cheerful attitude is determined to make a difference for the better in the world. She enlists the support of her older sister Jill, who was born in 1929 and brother Ricky, who was born in 1931 and younger brother Brad, who is barely past toddlerhood. Unflaggingly persistent, Molly more or less sees WWII as an annoyance until the warfront hits closer to home. Determined to be generous, Molly puts her persistence to work and does indeed make the world a better place. is growing up while the world is at war. Although the fighting is far away, life is full of changes and challenges. But Molly, with hope in her heart and pride in her country, is determined to make a difference. The first volume of Molly's stories shows how Americans on the home front pitched in during World War Two.

For those who grew up reading American Girl stories, "A Winning Spirit" is the first three Molly books reprinted in single book form with chapters. The first few chapters are the "Meet Molly" story, where we meet Molly and get a sense of her world and growing up during WWII. The second few chapters are the "Molly Learns a Lesson" story, where we see Molly and her friends participating in helping the war effort. The final chapters are "Molly's Surprise," where see Molly and her family celebrate Christmas, despite the hardships around them.Molly was always one of my favorite characters, and the stories are timeless. I have to say that the original books are still my favorite, because of the illustrations and the history lessons at the end of each. In this Beforever version, there aren't illustrations and only a short, 2-page history section in the back that doesn't contain as much information and doesn't have any of the historical pictures.That said, I can't recommend the American Girl historical series highly enough!

My daughter enjoys American girl dolls and books. This one is a new favorite for her. She has the molly doll and likes to act out the chapters of the book. I’d say it’s 3rd-5th grade reading level but younger or older girls would likely enjoy it as well.