Gr 1-3-Samantha S. Van Dorf is the new girl in school. Her family is wealthy, so the narrator, a fellow classmate, postulates that her middle initial stands for ``Snob.'' After all, she wears a fur coat and fancy hats, and rides in the back of a long car instead of on the school bus. However, she finds out that Samantha is actually a nice person when she attends her birthday party and gets a chance to know her. The short sentences and plentiful, lively, full-color illustrations make this story an appropriate selection for newly independent readers. An amusing look at jealousy turned to friendship.-Lesley McKinstry, Findlay-Hancock County Public Library, OH