Betsy in Spite of Herself

I loved these books as a child and an adolescent, and my daughter and granddaughter have loved them as well. I just began reading the high school titles again, and I am blown away by the amount of history and culture that are included in a highly readable form. In this title, Betsey visits Tib, and her German family, now living in Milwaukee. Ms. Lovelace has woven a great deal of pre-WW I history into this excusiAL. That history, of course,plays out to the history of WW II---and WW II was going on when she did her writing. As an English teacher who tries to keep current on Young Adult Literature, I am realizing how important the YLA of each age is, and the extent to which it can mark the culture of a time. What really blows me away is the sudden realization that Betsey, in real years based on the setting of the book, was the same age as my grandmother. That brings a patina of reality to many childhood memories!

Growing up a child of the 70s, I read all the Betsey-Tacey books over and over again. I found this one when I was just entering Junior High school. I was so excited to find she grew up too, and had adventures with BOYS (but just as pals, of course!). Reading it, I was gratefully lost in her world. I think this series is highly under-read today, as I find many youngsters have not heard of them. But they are truly one of the best series for children I've ever found.

No more than a year ago my best friend, Tacye, introduced me to this wonderful series. For a book to read on Friday night I bought Betsy In Spite of Herself. Two sentences got be hooked on the series for good. When Betsy said, "Where is romance? Is it in these unwritten pages?" I was a gonner. I'd fallen in love with two sentences. But, if the sentences are by Maud Hart Lovelace isn't that reason enough to fall? Betsy In Spite of Herself is a lovely story about issues that we deal with still 80 years later. I loved when Betsy took her trip to Milwaukee. Tib was so much fun to read about! Most of all I loved the chapters where Betsy turns from Betsy to Betsye to Betsye to Betsy. Now you have to read it! Go on! It great!

Betsy in Spite of Herself is a chronicle of Betsy Ray's sophomore year of high school, in which she decides to shed her wholesome image in favor of a more Dramatic and Mysterious one. This involves putting her hair up into a pompadour, wearing green, spraying herself with perfume, and a host of other beauty regimens. Although these efforts allow her to ensnare rich, handsome Phil Brandish, Betsy soon discovers that she's pretty bored acting as a trophy girlfriend. By the end of the book, she's back to scribbing in notebooks, acting silly with Tacy, and penning ridiculous songs for the school recitals. Of course, she doesn't ENTIRELY abandon her new-found womanly wiles...after all, there's that cute Joe Willard to think about... This book includes a thrilling description of Betsy's Christmas holidays with the Tib's family in Milwaukee. As beautiful as this city is, though, it's still no match for Deep Valley. Fortunately, Tib is hatching some secret plans to return to her childhood home, much to the delight of Betsy-Tacy readers everywhere. Of course, you shouldn't read this book without reading the preceeding books in this series. WARNING: once you enter the beautiful world of Betsy-Tacy, you will be hooked for life!!!!