Customer Reviews

Betsy and Joe (Betsy-Tacy)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have read and loved every book of Maud Hart Lovelace's Betsy-Tacy series. But this book stands apart as a wonderful touching story. Betsy, at a small town high school, has always liked and been fascinated by Joe Willard, a proud orphan boy who is as talented a writer as she. Though they have their ups and downs, Betsy and Joe end up together in the end, like any good romantic story, and figure out they loved each other all the time. It just takes a wonderful story for them to find their love, which blossoms in the literary style and wonderful description of this enchanting story.

My mother's hometown is the real Deep Valley, and I have loved these books for as long as I can remember. My grandmother and I spent a summer vaction tirelessly hunting down out of print, hardcover copies of all the high school books. They were, and remain, my very favorite young adult literature. I read them over and over because the invoke memories of a less frenzied time. I strongly recommend them for anyone.

Betsy and Joe finally come together . . . and even then things don't always go smoothly! Full of tendeness and humor. Deep Valley at its best.

i am a 14 year old from chicogo and i got really into all of the betsy-tacy books. i read them all three times. i'm not kidding, they were that good. i think that maud hart lovelace has created a series of masterpieces that are perfect for any girl who loves to laugh, and even cry, over a good book.

My mother read the Betsy-Tacy series to me as a child and i've read them myself over and over again. Although I'm now in college I still enjoy them every time. I recomend this series to everyone! There's something about Betsy that just holds you to the books.

this is the culmination of the Betsy series. It is the zenith of youth, the crux of Betsy's life: she and Joe finally get together, merging two souls and creating a new life. This book is very sweet, creating an accurate portrayal of life at the turn of the century. Betsy makes you laugh, cry, and rejoice as she finds happieness. It is a tale of childhood delights progressing to mature happiness and fufillment. A great read.

I also love this book and the entire Betsy Tacy series and want to let everyone know that all six books from Heaven to Betsy through Betsy's Wedding will be back in print in September 2009! They will come in three 2-book omnibus editions: Heaven to Betsy/Betsy in Spite of Herself; Betsy Was a Junior/Betsy and Joe; Betsy and the Great World/Betsy's Wedding. They will have forewords by Laura Lippman, Meg Cabot and Anna Quindlen, respectively! Here's a link to Betsy was a Junior/Betsy and Joe.Betsy Was a Junior/Betsy and Joe (P.S.)

I read Laura Ingalls Wilder and Anne of Green Gables, and loved both, but it was Betsy Ray who really stole my heart! I read each of the "high school and beyond" books over and over when I was in high school, and continued to read them into college and beyond. Betsy's life resonated with me -- from her concern over her social status to her love of writing; her house as a haven for other teenagers to her guilt over times she was not true to herself. I used her a role model -- sometimes of what not to do! (Procrastinate! Neglect what gives you joy, even if it isn't "popular." Keep your feelings hidden -- you'll end up at the most important dance of the year with the wrong boy!)

I learned that decisions have consequences, and that it was worthwhile to think things through a bit. The fact she "lived" so many decades before me didn't matter -- human nature doesn't change that much, and setting limits with boys, seriously considering basic faith beliefs, neglecting schoolwork, and gathering with friends for all kinds of good times (dancing, sledding, talking, plotting, ...) -- are issues that ring true at any time period!

I liked that she was a "typical teenager," with problems and silliness and fun times and worry and heartbreak and joy. I especially liked that Betsy was always, always available. She was a comfort read, she was a steady friend during the sometimes trying times of adolescence, and it was -- and is -- always wonderful to open the pages and walk into the Rays' house again. (Could you pass me a muffin? Oh, and some fudge!)

(And if you like reading about Betsy, make sure you read "Emily of Deep Valley" -- my personal favorite! -- and "Carney's House Party," too!)

These books cover Betsy and her crowd's last 2 years of high schools. Collectively, this part of the series is known as "The High School" books. These 2 are particular faves of mine. While I loved Heaven to Betsy (and is the first hard cover I have of the series), Betsy In Spite of Herself is not one of my faves. So I was very happy when she came "back to herself" in Betsy Was a Junior.

I grew up reading these books, beginning with Betsy-Tacy and the other childhood books. But this series is not just for kids or YA's; it's for everyone.

Only as a middle-aged adult did I realize how much I learned from these books and what a great influence they had on my life and still do.

I cannot recommend them enough!

I read these books as a child and reread them to this day. The first four books, Betsy Tacy, Betsy Tacy and Tib, Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown are wonderful for a girl age 5 and up. The books progress in reading level as they go, as well as in themes. The final six books in the series, just reissued in 3 2-book volumes, are absolutely amazing. They are Heaven to Betsy/Betsy in Spite of Herself; Betsy was a Junior/Betsy and Joe; Betsy and the Great World/Betsy's Wedding and are great for a girl age 9 and up. We follow Betsy through four years of high school, with dances, rides in autos, boys and hijinks. Then she's off for a year of travel in Europe just prior to the outbreak of WWI and then she returns home to marry her high school sweetheart and begin on her writing career. Lovelace based these books on her own upbringing in Mankato, Minnesota and they are simply wonderful. This summer I traveled to Mankato for the Betsy Tacy Convention and saw Betsy's, Tacy's and Tib's house. I cannot wait to read these with my own daughter, but in the meantime, I will continue to reread them. They are my literary equivalent of comfort food. Fans include such bestselling authors as Meg Cabot, Laura Lippman, Anna Quindlen, Nora Ephron, Judy Blume, Nancy Pearl, Joyce Maynard, and Mary Kay Andrews!