What's up with the title?
Not much, Shmoopers. Samuel's one of the central figures of the story, and much of the beginning of this book focuses on his perspective.
So who is this Samuel guy? Well, for the full rundown, you should definitely check out his Character Analysis. But for now, we'll just tell you that he's a super famous Israelite who was a priest, prophet, and judge. In fact, he's the last judge in Israelite history.
Although Samuel plays an intricate role in Israelite history, he's not the major player of the book. We believe that award goes to the once shepherd and future king David.
"But Shmoop, why is the book named after Samuel?" you ask. "Great question!" say we.
Our guess is that while David is the main player, no one can argue that without Samuel, the book wouldn't exist and David would never be king. See, he's the one who's charged by the Israelites and their God to find their kingdom a king. And he's got advice, insight, and prophecies that shape key events throughout the book. If that doesn't give him title credit, we don't know what does.