Gr 1-3-Samantha S. Van Dorf is the new girl in the class in this beginning reader written by Kathryn Cristaldi and illustrated by Denise Brunkus (Random, 1994). One of the other children in the class, the narrator of the story, immediately dislikes Samantha, who is wealthy and wears fancy clothing, and decides that the "S" in her name stands for snob. When the entire class is invited to Samantha's birthday party, the narrator and Samantha becomes partners for the party games. In the end, they get to know each other and become friends. This simple story is narrated clearly and slowly by a young narrator who uses different voices for each character with varying success. There are occasional faint sound effects, like children laughing or playing, and instrumental background music at times. The story is read with and without page-turn signals. The accompanying paperback has bright and expressive illustrations on a white background. A good choice for newly independent readers.-Teresa Wittmann, Westgate Elementary School, Edmonds, WA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.