 |
|
Title: Betsy in Spite of Herself (Betsy-Tacy)
ISBN: 0064401111
Author:
Maud Hart Lovelace
Publicate Date: 1980-04-02
Publish: 1980-04-02
List Price: $6.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Paperback
 |
|
|
|
|
Amazon Lowest New Price: $40.00
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $13.85
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Customer Review: |
|
1: The most real Betsy-Tacy book
How many girls try to remake themselves as teenagers, only to find the whole thing come crashing down? Betsy- or Betsye- seems to know from pretty early on that Phil Brandish isn't really right for her, but she keeps on pursuing him and trying to be someone else. Betsy without writing or the fun times she was used to? Hardly! She learns some big lessons this year.
|
2: Historical significance of Betsey-Tacy-Tib
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!
|
3: "Squeaky clean" delight for girls
This is the book I quote when I'm selling the Betsy-Tacy series to high school girls. I warn them that after "Betsye" changes her style and hooks her targeted male, she has to break up with him because he's moving too fast--and wants to HOLD HANDS! The girls who respond to that end up adoring the series and coming to me for more reading guidance. YES!!
|
4: What happened?
I'm going to be put in the doghouse for saying this, but what kind of weird book is "Betsy, In Spite of Herself?"When I was younger, I loved the Betsy-Tacy books, about when the two were little girls, but recently, when I read this one I just cringed! Betsy, the sweet imaginative child, has turned into a flirt as she enters high school--and her sister Julia is far worse. This was a big disappointment. I truly pity Tacy, having to put up with Betsy. Oh, Tacy...remember her? (She doesn't have a major role in this book.) I would still recommend this to the Betsy-Tacy fans however, just to complete your collection.
|
5: Books you'll never forget!
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.
|
|
|
|
|
