Susan Shapiro is the best friend of Molly McIntire.
Personality[]
Susan, along with Linda Rinaldi, is Molly's best friend. She is described as a "cheerful dreamer." She is often hungry and in awe of anything fanciful and glamourous. She is not as practical as Linda or as much of a schemer as Molly, though she can come up with fanciful ideas such as when she suggested that Molly get a home perm to make her hair curly to perform as Miss Victory. She is very honest with herself and her friends (for examples she notices when Molly is jealous of Alison right away). She always speaks her mind, for good or bad.
In the Books[]
Meet Molly: An American Girl[]
Susan walks back home from school with Molly and Linda to discuss possible Halloween costumes. When she mentions a dress her sister gave her that she could use for Cinderella, Molly realizes she won't be Cinderella and says they should have more equal costumes. She joins the girls in making fun of Ricky's crush. She teaches her friends how to make paper flowers for their costume, and her costume is ruined as well as her friends when Ricky sprays a hose at them. She gets her revenge when she helps Molly toss Ricky's underwear and socks outside.
Molly Learns a Lesson: A School Story[]
Susan is the only one of Molly's friends who enjoys the idea of knitting socks, though she admits she has never knitted one before. She jokes that they're acting like spies, inspiring Molly that they should secretly collect bottle tops instead of knitting socks. Susan joins Molly and Linda the next day to collect the tops, which she has to wear two sweaters under her raincoat due to the weather. She later helps out the others with making the blanket.
Happy Birthday, Molly!: A Springtime Story[]
Susan is playing bomb shelter along with Molly and Linda. She thinks at first that Emily will be either one of the two extremes: raggy and starving like the kids in the magazines, or like a princess. But she does show a fascination for English life during the war, especially the bombing of houses, and she asks Emily often if she's seen any bombings. She later assumes that Emily is quiet because she's shy that she sounds so different.
Molly Saves the Day: A Summer Story[]
Susan attends Camp Gowonagin with Molly and Linda. The three girls are assigned to the same tent, Tent Six. She enjoys the campfires, sing alongs, and weinie roasts most, but is very bad at canoeing and comes in last during the canoe race, as she only paddles to one side rather than alternating her paddles.
Susan and Molly are both placed on the Blue Team. She refuses to sit in the front--because she'll be splashed--or the back--because the back does all the steering. She finally sits in the front, and as the canoe wobbles she complains she always gets the "tippiest" canoe. As they are on their way to the beach, Susan drops her paddle in the water and in reaching too fa to retrieve it tips the canoe over, sending her and Molly both into the lake. They are the only two on the Blue Team to not be captured.
Susan thinks the plan to throw worms on Linda is mean and she is reluctant to do so. However, she eventually goes along with the plan, though she's sweaty from digging in the dirt. She also insists that the front of the canoe is the "tippiest" part and goes in the back, but her zig-zag paddling make the canoe not go in a straight line. This is to their benefit; Susan decides she'll paddle the canoe while Molly goes up to free their teammates, and this distracts the Red Team long enough that the Blue Team escapes.
When the Blue Team is back at the boathouse, Susan loyally says Molly should be the new leader, since she though up the plan to free them and it worked, and she can probably think up another plan to win the Color War.
Changes for Molly: A Winter Story[]
Molly Marches On[]
She follows Molly when she leaves the trail so Molly wouldn't be breaking one of the rules of hiking. She ends up getting as lost as Molly and she drank all of her water, so she still ends up breaking two rules. Molly apologizes to Susan that she ruined the surprise for her as well, and Susan jokes that Molly could use her Sacajawea skills to find their way back to camp. This lead to the pair to discover a lake. She and Molly are reunited with the rest of the camp by the end and they both agree to name the lake 'Lake Sacajawea'.
Molly's A+ Partner[]
Susan and Molly write a report on George Washington for school to celebrate Presidents' Day. As they finish the report, Susan says she's glad that she didn't have to do a report on Lincoln because of how silly his hat looks. She suggests that she and Molly could do something different for their presentation, like wearing costumes and singing. Molly disagrees, but Susan says the typical way of presenting is boring. A few days later, Susan and Molly get into an argument about Susan's idea, but they make up the next day just before the presentation. The two present their report and Susan wears a costume resembling George Washington, acting out key points on the timeline Molly made. They end up getting an A+ on the report.
Molly's Puppy Tale[]
Molly and the Movie Star[]
Susan goes to the movies with Molly and Linda, taking their time to enjoy the theater before the movie started. Susan is noted to try a new candy at the movie theater every time, along with Linda.
After the movies, Susan goes over to Molly's house, and she asks why didn't Melody Moore tell the tall soldier before he left that she loved him and instead left him that note in his sock in his duffel bag. Molly explains that the letter was more romantic, and Susan states she was afraid the soldier was going to fall in love with the nurse with nail polish who kissed him before he left. Molly states that it would have never happened as the soldier fell in love with Melody when she performed that special salute, which Molly mimics. Susan sighs that Molly was so lucky and she couldn't believe she was really truly going to meet Melody Moore at the rally.
Susan invites Molly and Linda over to her house to listen to Melody Moore records, one time on Sunday, and after school the Friday before the rally.
A Spy on the Home Front[]
The Light in the Cellar[]
Clues in the Shadows[]
In the Film[]
Susan is played by Hannah Fleming.
Trivia[]
- Notably, Susan does not return to Camp Gowonagin camp in Chances and Changes: My Journey with Molly; it is not stated why she does not attend.
- Susan, like Linda, was not chosen to become Molly's Best Friend Character; instead Emily Bennett was chosen. This may have been for several reasons. One is that Emily shows a different aspect to Molly's stories since Linda and Susan don't have much of a variation from Molly's stories or lifestyle at all; furthermore it would have been complicated for American Girl to make two best friend dolls for one character (even though they later did so with Chrissa Maxwell, she is not a Historical Character).