Customer Reviews

Heaven to Betsy/Betsy in Spite of Herself

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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!

Betsy Ray and her friends are in high school now. This volume covers Betsy's freshman and sophomore years in Deep Valley High School, and comes with bonus information about the author and the real life originals of the characters.

Boys, clothes, gossip, teachers, who's in and who's out, putting off your schoolwork, dances, food, and other forms of fun fill their high school days. Who will Betsy go out with on any given weekend? Who will ask her to the dance first? What will she and her friends get up to on their own?

Will Betsy be true to herself as a writer, or try to act different to attract boys? Will it work?

All this is set in the first decade of the 20th century, when cars and phones and such were new. People walked most places they wanted to go, or took the train. Clothes were made to order by seamstresses. But even if they looked different, people don't change much. This is the best picture of how high school feels that I know of.

So come live through it with Betsy, Tacy, Tib, Irma, Winona and more. Not to mention Tony, Cab, Phil, LLoyd, and a host of others.

The first two novels in the high school books are big favorites of mine. When I was in high school, my parents got a divorce and my mom and I moved to a small apartment and my life changed immeasurably. But I could always count on Betsy and the members of her crowd to help me deal with the immense upheaval I was going through. Reading these for the first or the fiftieth time you realize that the more things change, the more they stay the same. When you're 14, (in 1906 or 1982) you have HUGE all-encompassing crushes, and you have the best friends you'll EVER have, and every little change is a LIFE-CHANGER (or at least, that's how it feels!). Read these books and no matter how old you are, you'll return to them again and again because they're that soothing.

I am so excited that the Betsy Tacy high school books are out in these beautiful new editions. They are my absolute favorites from my years as the sort of girl who was constantly reading under the desk in school. They really hold up as an adult as well. The stories are as funny and romantic and warm as anything being written today. They also have a kind of timelessness that make them feel modern in spite of being half a century old. Harper Collins hits the nail on the head calling them Modern Classics. I have always considered myself an honorary member of Deep Valley High School Class of 1910 - and now, thanks to the re-issues, readers today can have that same experience!

I've loved the Betsy-Tacy Series since I was a preteen in the late 50s. My sister introduced me to the books, high school and beyond originally, and I still have her copies of all the books. I buy new copies whenever they're in print to give to friends and pass along the joy I feel when I read and re-read Maud's stories of her childhood in Mankato MN (aka Deep Valley). Wonderful stories with all the joys and fears we all feel when entering high school and life beyond. I think my favorite book in the series is Betsy and the Great World, especially after my own trips to the Great World many years ago. The warmth and love of the friendships, especially between Betsy, Tacy and Tib, are what I hope everyone can also experience in their own lives.

Nothing in the world makes you feel better than a Betsy-Tacy book, and, in my opinion, Heaven to Betsy is the best of them all, although every other Betsy-Tacy book is a close second.
A male friend of mine who read the whole series describes Lovelace as the American Proust. You are THERE with Betsy and her family in Deep Valley, Minnesota, starting in 1897 and concluding 20 years later.
Along the way you relive a happy childhood and with Betsy and her friends--and then go on to a typical adolescent teenage period, before the last two books, which include Betsy's adventures in the Great World and, at last, her marriage and early wedded life to the guy she's loved since the day she met him.
Home schoolers and their parents love these books. The quality of the writing is unsurpassed, the values are superb and these girls are great role models, without being in any way boring--they are altogether too human for that.
You want laugh out loud funny? Read a Betsy-Tacy book.
You want a few tears and a lot of empathizing?
You want nostalgia, and love, and joy? Lovelace delivers them all, in spades.
Amazing, accomplished women all over the world love these books. Don't miss out on one of the greatest pleasures life can afford--an introduction to the world of Betsy Ray.

This book actually contains TWO of the books from the original 10-book series, which follows Betsy Ray from age five through her early twenties. Though Betsy enters high school in 1906, her trials, joys, worries, and successes are actually timeless. The first four books in the series, though delightful and beautifully written, are written more simply, and with younger children in mind (though don't miss them!) With Heaven to Betsy, however, the fifth book and the first of the four high school books, the writing style changes somewhat and would appeal to almost anyone age ten to 100. Truly, the writing is just excellent. These are books that I have read over and over again, beginning at age ten or so; I just love them. The first four books (starting with Betsy-Tacy) would be great read-alouds for younger girls, and the later ones would be terrific beach or airplane fare (or to give someone for a cold winter's night read by the fire). Give them a try!

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!)

Is your family not as wonderful as you'd want them to be? Do you yearn to hang out with a warm, supportive, yet not gooey group of girls and young women? Then grab these books! I read them as a kid and re-read them as an adult. Did Maud Hart Lovelace turn me into a writer? Maybe she did. From the very first book in this series--Betsy-Tacy--to the last-- Betsy's Wedding--Miss Lovelace creates characters you can care about, and who their families clearly support (most of the time). Though written many decades ago, the Betsy-Tacy books support girls who want to be opera singers, writers--anything. They accept their kids' religious yearnings too.
Lovers of Ramona Quimby and Junie B. Jones will find kindred spirits in Betsy, Tacy, and Tib in the younger books, and those looking for romance will be equally satisfied by the older books. Try reading a few samples of these books in the "Look Inside" feature, and if you can resist them, I'll eat a raw onion sandwich for dinner tonight!

Oh, how I love Betsy-Tacy! While the first four books in the series are fabulous, I love the high school books best of all. In "Heaven to Betsy," our heroine has entered adolescence - partying with her friends, neglecting her schoolwork, crushing on various boys, yearning to be popular. Did I mention the story is set 100 years ago?! In "Betsy In Spite of Herself," Betsy longs for a make-over, to be different and mysterious, a goal that culminates in an all-nighter with pal Tib, as the girls map out their new personalities. Betsy's world is as fresh and timeless in 2009 as it was in 1909. Her lifelong friendship with Tacy is a beautiful model for girls of any age. These are perfectly grand books, and the new editions are simply gorgeous. Happy reading!