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A review by lisavegan
Betsy and Joe: A Betsy-Tacy High School Story by Maud Hart Lovelace, Vera Neville
5.0
I love that the girls eat!!! There is no anorexia, no eating disorders.
I think that this book covering Betsy’s senior year of high school is my favorite of the 4 high school Betsy-Tacy books, this despite the fact that I generally detest love triangles in novels. I especially loathe them when, as here, there is a lack of communication between the people involved. I know the mores and constraints of the time didn’t permit Betsy to do as I most would have liked, but I do feel communication could have been vastly improved. I admit that at times I was irritated with both Betsy and Joe.
I love both Tony and Joe, although I admit I have basically rooted for Joe for Betsy. I do like my orphaned and quasi-orphaned characters!
This book, as is typical of all the Betsy-Tacy books, is superbly written, and Lovelace is a gifted storyteller, one who’s brilliantly perceptive about following the main characters from ages 5 to 18; I can’t wait to read the next couple of books, and the companion books too.
The Rays are a wonderful family. I would have sunk comfortably into these books and gotten much vicarious enjoyment had I read them as a girl. I think this book made me laugh and made me sadder and happier than any of the previous high school books.
I want to know what happens with one particular character, but a Goodreads friend, one of those who introduced me to these books, says "It is a source of endless debate." So, now I am even more motivated to want to get together with other Betsy-Tacy fans and hear what they think. I have some ideas. I know what I wanted to happen but I guess it doesn’t, which is too bad.
My public library has this book only in an edition combined with [b:Betsy Was a Junior|7901|Betsy Was a Junior (Betsy-Tacy, #7)|Maud Hart Lovelace|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165651581s/7901.jpg|10923] but I was able to get this edition from inter-library loan. I’ve already put [b:Betsy and the Great World|7891|Betsy and the Great World (Betsy-Tacy, #9)|Maud Hart Lovelace|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165651517s/7891.jpg|10913] on reserve, a book my library does have.
I think that this book covering Betsy’s senior year of high school is my favorite of the 4 high school Betsy-Tacy books, this despite the fact that I generally detest love triangles in novels. I especially loathe them when, as here, there is a lack of communication between the people involved. I know the mores and constraints of the time didn’t permit Betsy to do as I most would have liked, but I do feel communication could have been vastly improved. I admit that at times I was irritated with both Betsy and Joe.
I love both Tony and Joe, although I admit I have basically rooted for Joe for Betsy. I do like my orphaned and quasi-orphaned characters!
This book, as is typical of all the Betsy-Tacy books, is superbly written, and Lovelace is a gifted storyteller, one who’s brilliantly perceptive about following the main characters from ages 5 to 18; I can’t wait to read the next couple of books, and the companion books too.
The Rays are a wonderful family. I would have sunk comfortably into these books and gotten much vicarious enjoyment had I read them as a girl. I think this book made me laugh and made me sadder and happier than any of the previous high school books.
I want to know what happens with one particular character, but a Goodreads friend, one of those who introduced me to these books, says "It is a source of endless debate." So, now I am even more motivated to want to get together with other Betsy-Tacy fans and hear what they think. I have some ideas. I know what I wanted to happen but I guess it doesn’t, which is too bad.
My public library has this book only in an edition combined with [b:Betsy Was a Junior|7901|Betsy Was a Junior (Betsy-Tacy, #7)|Maud Hart Lovelace|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165651581s/7901.jpg|10923] but I was able to get this edition from inter-library loan. I’ve already put [b:Betsy and the Great World|7891|Betsy and the Great World (Betsy-Tacy, #9)|Maud Hart Lovelace|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165651517s/7891.jpg|10913] on reserve, a book my library does have.