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Betsy Was a Junior/Betsy and Joe (Betsy-Tacy #7-8)

4.55 of 5 stars 4.55 · rating details · 363 ratings · 38 reviews

Betsy Was a Junior: It's the best school year ever, especially now that charming, funny Tib Muller is back in Deep Valley. But when her crowd gets into trouble, Betsy's best year could turn out to be her worst.

Betsy and Joe: Betsy always thought she and Joe Willard were made for each other—and now that summer's over and senior year's begun, it seems her dream is coming tru...more

ebook, 640 pages

Published April 26th 2011 by William Morrow Paperbacks (first published 2009)

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Sep 19, 2011 Cheryl in CC NV rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Well, I'm going to stick with these. But gosh Betsy and her big sister Julia are indulged. And it shows. I do not like Mrs. Ray - she's doing her best to teach them to be materialistic and shallow. Everything's lace this and feathers that. And let's form a high-school sorority so we can be even more exclusive than an ordinary club. And let's not try to get to know Tony for who he is, or to be honest with him, because obviously the only thing that should matter in his life is what Betsy thinks sh...more Well, I'm going to stick with these. But gosh Betsy and her big sister Julia are indulged. And it shows. I do not like Mrs. Ray - she's doing her best to teach them to be materialistic and shallow. Everything's lace this and feathers that. And let's form a high-school sorority so we can be even more exclusive than an ordinary club. And let's not try to get to know Tony for who he is, or to be honest with him, because obviously the only thing that should matter in his life is what Betsy thinks should matter, which is, mainly, Betsy. Julia's broken at least a dozen hearts and everyone still thinks she's wonderful.

Betsy doesn't even really care to know her two oldest friends. Tib, the most competent and fearless girl in the whole school, took Betsy's advice (that Christmas in Milwaukee) to be cute and flirty and delicate, and she's still doing it - not being true to herself, or to the boys either, at all. And Betsy and Tib think that Tacy is in trouble because she doesn't want to date yet - but they don't really listen to her, or respect her.

I adore Margaret. I do hope we get to learn what direction her adult life takes.

Sure, Betsy has a good heart. But she's utterly heedless. If she does learn about someone else's challenges, like not being able to buy the latest fashions or being ill, she thinks about it for a few moments at a time over the course of a few days, as if it's a dime novel she's reading, and then she goes on her merry way disregarding the reality that most people face. Mr. Ray is a good man, but I think he should have worked a bit harder to instill his values in his wife and older girls.

Ok, that's my rant about the characters and content. The writing style is graceful and engaging; the plot develops naturally and (mostly) plausibly, the supporting characters are individuals. It's not a bad book - but it's one that's very hard for me to actually like.

ETA: I just read a biography of another possible role model for girls, from history... Did you know that Georgia O'Keeffe is actually a few years *older* than Betsy and her gang? Feminism has quite an interesting history.... Wideness and Wonder: The Life and Art of Georgia O'Keeffe (less)

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Mar 01, 2012 Florinda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm incapable of doing one of my ordinary review posts about the Betsy-Tacy books. For one thing, they're re-reads, so I really can't approach them with fresh or objective eyes. It's been at least thirty years since I last read them, though, and now that the four high-school novels and two "grown-up" Betsy books are back in print, I was very excited to have the chance to revisit them...and, of course, to see if the magic was still there.

Returning to Deep Valley, Minnesota, and Betsy Ray's high-s...more I'm incapable of doing one of my ordinary review posts about the Betsy-Tacy books. For one thing, they're re-reads, so I really can't approach them with fresh or objective eyes. It's been at least thirty years since I last read them, though, and now that the four high-school novels and two "grown-up" Betsy books are back in print, I was very excited to have the chance to revisit them...and, of course, to see if the magic was still there.

Returning to Deep Valley, Minnesota, and Betsy Ray's high-school years after so many years away was quite enlightening for me. For one thing, I was struck by how much I still remembered about the books - not just major plotlines and characters, but oddball, episodic details about what happened in each of them - and reading the novels already knowing that "oh, and after this is when Betsy does such-and-such" didn't take anything away from the experience.

It occurred to me that when I originally read Maud Hart Lovelace's novels, I was aware that they were set in the past, but now Betsy and Tacy's high-school years of 1906 to 1910 are literally a century ago. Realizing all the changes in the world just since my own high-school years ended in 1982, and adding those on top of the preceding 80 years, turn-of-the-20th-century Deep Valley seems like another world entirely - and in many ways, it was. But coming back to the stories now, with the perspective of having lived a few more years, it also occurred to me that in many respects, they're both modern and timeless.

Other things I discovered in getting back together with Betsy:
She's responsible for my affection for fiction series that follow characters chronologically (from Betsy Ray to Harry Potter? Who knew?)
She shaped my hopes and expectations for my own high-school years, 70 years later - it's not her fault mine didn't go the same way and I never had a Crowd
She was a genuine "popular" girl, in a time when that was based on one's personality and on being friendly and likable (and that probably explains, at least in part, why high school was different for me)
Vera Neville's illustrations in the high-school books were a major influence on my style of drawing during middle and high school (in those days, I was constantly sketching as well as reading, and thought of myself as an artist rather than as a writer).

The quality of writing doesn't tend to stand out for me as much when I read youth fiction, unless it's poor quality - and Lovelace's books are not of poor quality. I'm better equipped to consider that now than I was when I originally read the Betsy-Tacy books, though, and I did notice the writing more this time - a few minor quirks and peculiarities jumped out at me at times, most arising from the fact that these books were written in the 1940s about the early 1900s. The stories are well-crafted and the characters are vivid. It's enjoyable seeing Betsy gain self-awareness and confidence over the course of her four years at Deep Valley High School, trying to learn from the setbacks and having lots of fun when things are going well. There's depth to these stories that escaped me the first several times I read these books, and I can appreciate that much more coming to them as an adult (I may be older than Betsy's parents by now, come to think of it!).

I hope girls today - middle- and high-school girls in particular - are able to appreciate Betsy Ray; I'd like to think at least some of them can. I hope women who never met Betsy while they were young take these new editions as the opportunity to get to know her. And for women like me, who did have the joy of growing up with Betsy, Tacy, and Tib, I have to say that it's wonderful being reunited with such old and well-loved friends.(less)

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Jun 22, 2012 Eli rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Betsy and Joe first: Oh, Joe. I don't like you. I'm not a Tony Shipper, either. But Betsy and Joe was a ginormous "What You Don't Want" list for a potential husband. Shuts down when angry? Check. Won't let you explain? Check. Immediately believes the worst? Check. Immediately finds someone else to date? Check. With bonus jealousy and refusing to even be civil post breakup. But they're so cute together (when they work) that I forgive the character for being wayyy too difficult to like. He finally...more

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May 09, 2011 Jasmine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Has there ever been a more romantic postcard than

"Did anyone ever tell you that you're a good dancer? Joe."

No. I didn't think so.

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May 16, 2013 Joann rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

No matter how old I get, part of me will always be Betsy Ray. (Another part will always be Anne of Green Gables, but that's another series for another time.) Every few years I go back and revisit old friends, and every time I can't quite believe that these books were written almost 75 years ago. Fashions change, distractions change, sexual mores certainly change (how cute to read about existential angst over...holding hands!) but Betsy, Tacy, Tib and their Crowd always drive one thing home...bei...more

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Nov 04, 2010 Hannah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Betsy was a Junior... and a fabulous one at that!! I so loved Betsy's hilarious adventures in this book. Betsy's life changes as her older sister Julia heads off to college, and Betsy realizes that maybe forming strict clubs (like her Octo Deltas) is shutting out possible friendships with other lovely girls - and boys like Joe Willard. Sometimes I just want to tell Betsy - "don't do it!!!!" But that's what makes Betsy so awesome - she's SO REAL.

In Betsy and Joe, Betsy finally begins "going with"...more

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Oct 28, 2010 Anna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

BETSY WAS A JUNIOR:

Betsy makes a lot of plans for her junior year and has a lot of great ideas that don’t always turn out like she planned. She plans to “go with” Joe Willard, her rival in the annual Essay Contest, but he’s seeing the rich and beautiful Phyllis Brandish, the sister of Betsy’s ex-boyfriend, Phil. So she attends dances and parties with the silent but handsome Dave Hunt. When her sister, Julia, starts her freshman year at the University of Minneapolis and decides to join the Epsilo...more BETSY WAS A JUNIOR:

Betsy makes a lot of plans for her junior year and has a lot of great ideas that don’t always turn out like she planned. She plans to “go with” Joe Willard, her rival in the annual Essay Contest, but he’s seeing the rich and beautiful Phyllis Brandish, the sister of Betsy’s ex-boyfriend, Phil. So she attends dances and parties with the silent but handsome Dave Hunt. When her sister, Julia, starts her freshman year at the University of Minneapolis and decides to join the Epsilon Iotas, Betsy and her best friends, Tacy Kelly and Tib Muller (who just moved back to Deep Valley from Milwaukee), start their own sorority, the Okto Deltas. However, the exclusivity of the Okto Deltas may have been exciting and mysterious to start, but the consequences threaten to ruin Betsy’s junior year.

BETSY AND JOE:

Betsy and Joe Willard, her longtime rival in the school’s Essay Contest, began corresponding the summer after their junior year. Betsy and Joe have a love of reading and writing in common, but while Betsy is outgoing and living a basically carefree life, the orphaned Joe must work several jobs to pay for the room he rents. As their relationship takes off, Betsy’s personality rubs off on Joe, and he begins taking part in class activities, sharing them with Betsy.

However, Tony Markham, Betsy’s first crush who has become more like a brother in the years since they were freshmen, takes a romantic interest in Betsy. He hangs out with a rough crowd, but he begins to change under Betsy’s influence — and Betsy is afraid that saying no when he beats Joe in asking her to a dance will push him away. Betsy must choose whether to ruin a good friendship or upset Joe.

***

Lovelace writes with a fondness and a tenderness for her past and for her family and friends. I love the glimpses of life at the turn of the century — the music, the fashion, the courting customs, the old traditions. And I especially love the happiness and closeness of the Ray family and the innocence of Betsy and the Crowd. There is a seriousness to Betsy Was a Junior that isn’t in the previous books because, for the first time, Betsy realizes that she and her friends are growing up. Life can’t always be fun and carefree, and that’s a lesson we all have to learn at some point.

Lovelace does a good job showing Betsy’s transformation into a young woman and Joe’s evolution as his fondness for Betsy grows. Betsy, Tacy, and Tib are typical girls when it comes to clothes and boys, although their conversations about the opposite sex often turn toward marriage — which is not on the minds of most 18-year-old girls today. Despite Betsy’s feelings for Joe, however, she is determined to pursue a career in writing, and her family and friends provide much encouragement. Betsy and Joe’s budding romance is sweet and very innocent. I know that has a lot to do with the time in which the story takes place and the year it was published (1948) — and some might argue that such a courtship isn’t realistic today — but it was a breath of fresh air to read a book about young love that is more about common interests than sex.

Full reviews on Diary of an Eccentric here and here.(less)

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Jul 14, 2010 Kiirsi Hellewell rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

No matter how many times I've read these books, I want to step in every time Betsy makes a mistake with Joe and scream, "Don't do it! You'll regret it!"

But Betsy's mistakes are part of the reason people love her so much. She is deeply human, not a perfect girl, and we can relate to her so easily. Every girl is Betsy...or Tacy...or Bonnie, Winona, Alice, Irma. Betsy's friends, her Crowd, her loving family and her beloved town of Deep Valley feel like home.

These books will never grow old.

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Dec 14, 2010 Jeri Schille rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is an old-fashioned book about a girl in high school that still manages to be timeless with her worries about school, boys and her looks, etc. I loved it's simplicity and also its wisdom--which seems to repeat itself throughout the generations. What was relevant in her life--such as fitting in, what career path to choose, who likes whom, popularity, family connections and love-- in 1910, is still relevant today. Cute, light and fun.

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Feb 22, 2010 Chelsea rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, classic, fiction, recced

I read all four of the high school books in one gulp, so they blend together quite nicely for me, but I do know that I liked this particular collection better than the previous two. I enjoyed watching Betsy grow up.

I'm excited to get my hands on the final books in the series, because I'm curious to see how Lovelace handled her ambitious, intelligent female main character as compared to how LMM handled hers...

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Oct 24, 2010 Renee added it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2010, new, read-2011, reread

Awesome. I loved seeing Betsy's increasing maturity and rleationship with Joe. I missed her sister Julia and the way they intereacted, though as the oldest sister in my family I it was interesting reading the tales of the one left behind. I love the world gone by that Lovelace created anew in these books, and I'm itchin to get my hands on the next ones!

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Feb 11, 2010 Teri rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Teri by: Ann's Book Club choice for Feb. 2010

Shelves: 2010, children-young-adult, bookclub-2010

The last six books of the Betsy-Tacy series were reprinted Sept of 2009. I am glad they chose to print two books together. I missed enjoying these wonderful books in my childhood, but adore them now. "Betsy Was a Junior" and "Betsy and Joe" are Betsy's junior and senior year in high school. I have enjoyed the forewords and biographical information in each book. Love these books so much! They make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. A nice feeling in the world of today.

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Oct 04, 2010 Natalie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, historical, young-adult, romance

Oh man! I didn't think Betsy could get any better but her Junior year in high school is so funny and charming that I couldn't put it down. And then I started "Betsy and Joe" and of course, I had to keep turning pages to find out how Betsy and Joe get together. Soooo good!

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Jun 02, 2013 Kathy Cowie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, with-the-girls, middle-grade

Yes, we finally finished this book! (Well, this was actually two books in one.) We have lived with Betsy now since she was five years old, and the girls and I have laughed and cried along with her, all the way through High School. (mostly laughed). If you have a daughter and you haven't read this series with her, or at least given it to her as a gift, you should. It is like an semi-urban Little House on the Prairie. I never read it as a girl, not sure why it never passed under my radar. But an a...more

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Dec 30, 2010 Linda Hayakawa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think these coming of age books - although set in 1910 - 1918 - are as relevant today to young people as ever. Beautiful, heart-warming stories based on the author's life and friends. I read them first in high school and am rediscovering them now.

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May 11, 2011 laaaaames rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to laaaaames by: Jasmine

Shelves: favorites

You guys, Tib's back! This makes her the Stacey McGill of Deep Valley, am I right? AM I?

Joe Willard is one of the swooniest guys in literature, seriously. Considering he's based on Hart Lovelace's husband, she was quite a lucky lady, guys.

(read: 34 and 35)

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Nov 23, 2010 Kari rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Betsy Was a Junior made me cringe in junior year self-recognition. It definitely marks a big step in Betsy's maturing, though I missed the carefree antics of Betsy, Tacy, and Tib's earlier years.

Betsy and Joe bored me a bit...until the end.

Both had some great passages and one-liners, and it's Betsy Tacy so I'm going to enjoy it regardless.

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May 11, 2010 Shelley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, re-read, youth, my-childhood

Read for the 1910/2010 high school graduation. I think I love these more with every reading, and that's pretty impressive.

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Dec 01, 2010 Book Club Girl rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

These are the final two books in Betsy's high school years - her junior and senior years and they are amazing.

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Nov 01, 2010 Meredith Henning rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic-lit, violet-and-me

Such a great book, love the combo editions! This was a nice finish to the high school years...

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Jan 26, 2010 Holly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own-book

Hmmm....What can I say about these books? They do get a tiny bit repetitive, but I love them anyway. If you haven't read a Betsy-Tacy book, you really should give one a try. One nice thing about them is that Maud Hart Lovelace seems to have written them with the idea that you could pick up any book in the series and not be lost if you didn't read them in order. She gives history, descriptions of places, characters, etc. in every book.

I think Betsy and Joe is my favorite one in the series. Maybe...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Luisa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children-s-book-club, 2011

If you know me well, you know how much I love "period novels." This pair of books, part of the Betsy-Tacy series, are two of my favorites so far. I have two left to read in the series, and I'm waffling between wanting to read them right away and saving them so I don't finish the series so quickly.

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Jun 08, 2010 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An absolutely mindless and delightful read. What a fun way to start my summer!!

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Jan 18, 2010 Candi rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, ya

I can't believe I read these books as fast as I do, I just cannot put them down.

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Mar 05, 2012 Chloe rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

These are super!

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Jun 27, 2012 Kay rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Betsy and Joe is my favorite so far!

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Jan 07, 2011 Posie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Betsy-Tacy fans

Shelves: 10-11-school-year

These are two more great Betsy-Tacy stories. Read them!

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Sep 30, 2011 Jehnie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, fiction

I adore these books.

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May 07, 2013 Holly Adamson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

These two books are gems...love them to pieces. Maud, a writer who I love lots.

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Sep 03, 2012 Caroline rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, 2012

Betsy was a Junior
Betsy engages in much silliness but learns a valuable lesson about the flaws of the Greek system. (Finished 5/13/12)

Betsy and Joe
I flew through this and was sorry to finish. Escapism, yes, but these books just made NPR's top 100 YA books list. 60 years after publication the magic is still there.

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About Maud Hart Lovelace

Maud Hart Lovelace was born on April 25, 1892, in Mankato, Minnesota. She was the middle of three children born to Thomas and Stella (Palmer) Hart. Her sister, Kathleen, was three years older, and her other sister, Helen, was six years younger. “That dear family" was the model for the fictional Ray family.

Maud’s birthplace was a small house on a hilly residential street several blocks above Mankat...more

More about Maud Hart Lovelace...

Books by Maud Hart Lovelace

Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill (Betsy-Tacy, #3)

Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown (Betsy-Tacy, #4)

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Betsy Was a Junior/Betsy and Joe (Betsy-Tacy #7-8)

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