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Jan 06, 2008

Debbie rated it:

Maud Hart Lovelace is one of my all-time comfort authors. I discovered the Betsy-Tacy books when I was high school, so I never read the younger books - I just stuck with the older ones, which follow Betsy through high school into her world travels and then marriage.

Betsy Ray and Tacy Kelly met at Betsy's 5th birthday party and have been best friends ever since. They live in the picturesque small town Deep Valley, Minnesota in the early 1900s (high school class 1910). Part of the char More...

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Oct 22, 2007

Carmen rated it:

This is the first book in the series of "older" Betsy even though it is actually the 5th book in the series. Heaven to Betsy is one of the most characteristic of this loved series. If you haven't read any of the others, you'd still enjoy it! Betsy and Tacy enter the wider world of the Deep Valley High School, the "Crowd," sings around Julia's piano, fudge, Heinz's . . . full of gentle humor, vivid characterization, and affection. It's Betsy Ray's freshman year at Deep Valley More...

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Aug 10, 2007

Alison rated it:

i got my first Betsy-Tacy-Tib book from my next door neighbor. i was in the fourth grade. she only had sons.

i've read almost all of the books in the series but i really only care about the one's that cover betsy's high school years.

these books are amazing because they were written in the 30s and 40s about a girl in the 1910s, yet the family was pretty progressive. one of their daughter's went through a religious conversion, one of their daughter's went off to europe to s More...

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Mar 08, 2009

Jessica rated it:

I love, love, love this series and have since I was little. I bought all the Betsy books when I found out I was pregnant just so my little girl would be able to easily read them too. I know, that may have been a bit early, but I adore these books so much that I just couldn't wait. Plus it gave me the chance to re-read them. I love these books because Lovelace captures the emotions, anxieties, and dreams of a young girl so very well, and the turn of the century setting is a very comforting, c More...

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Mar 21, 2011

EmmaLee rated it:

This is the only book in the series our library has, so I read it first. I would like to read the rest in the series. It is a nice fluffy story (the introduction by Anna Quindlen does point out the feminist leanings of the books, which was kind of neat) but I think it fits the mindset of a normal 14 year old girl with the boy crazyness and the emphasis on looks. But after that it is way shallow. Betsy is so popular with the boys and girls, and her house is the main hangout and her older sist More...

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Jul 05, 2009

Francesca rated it:

I can't even begin to express how much I LOVE this series of books. I discovered them at my school's library when I was in elementary school, and instantly fell in love. I have read them over and over again throughout the years, and they still hold up.

The series starts with the book "Betsy-Tacy" and is about two little girls (5 years old at the time) called Betsy and Tacy. The books take place at the turn of the century in Minnesota and are just wonderful stories of growing More...

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Nov 02, 2010

Krista added it

I find that returning to childhood favorites during times of stress soothes my frazzled nerves. Lovelace's books have had that effect on me ever since I discovered them on the shelves of Kingston Elementary School during the 1980s. This book follows Betsy through her freshman year at Deep Valley High School, from academics to friendships to a couple of blossoming romances. She contends with moving away from her childhood home, the struggle of balancing schoolwork (and her love of writing) with a More...

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Jun 08, 2011

Elaine rated it:

I liked this book about Betsy's freshman year in high school. She is a bit boy-crazy, but it is old-fashioned-innocent boy-craziness. The biggest problem for me is the use of a ouiji board. At that time, it was considered an innocent parlor game, but I think much of the time people aren't aware that something popular and seemingly "innocent" actually can be quite dangerous. However, I think this is a good way to introduce this topic to your girl and discuss choices we make. Betsy has a More...

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Nov 18, 2009

Lizz rated it:

I've learned from this book that vast amounts of fudge and cocoa do not lead to expanding waistlines or blemishes. I've learned that it takes a lot of courage to be yourself and less to go with the flow and do what is expected of you. But sometimes, you really learn a hell of a lot more by going the second route. And finally letting your little shine is much sweeter because of it. I learned that finding yourself is a journey and one best done with someone who knows you well and loves you anyway. More...

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Sep 02, 2009

Ellen rated it:

When I turn the calendar page to September each year, I always get a hankering to read Heaven to Betsy and the other three books that take Betsy, Tacy, and their friends through high school in the first decade of the twentieth century.

Maud Hart Lovelace's Betsy is an aspiring writer. She is also warm hearted and gregarious, with a close group of friends. Her desire to be popular and her crush on a new boy in town war with her ambition to win the school's essay contest.

De More...

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Oct 19, 2011

Torea rated it:

The books I remember best were about Betsy, Tacy, and Tib in grade school; Heaven to Betsy regales the reader with stories from their freshman year of high school, modeled on the turn-of-the-century Minnesota small town Maud herself recalled so fondly.

I was nervous that upon rereading the stories would not hold up -- that, rather than giddily enjoying the characters I had grown up loving, I would be dismayed at provincialism or outdated views of gender, etc., etc. But I should have had More...

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Jul 08, 2009

Abigail rated it:

In a bittersweet moment at the close of Heaven to Betsy, Betsy reflects on her childhood home on Hill Street, which she was loathe to leave, and which now seems to belong wholly to the past: "And yet, even as she spoke, she knew that she did not wish to come back, not to stay, not to live. She loved the little yellow cottage more than she loved any place on earth, but she was through with it except in her memories." That sense, of leaving behind childish things, is continually evoked i More...

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Jan 20, 2010

Heidi rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Sep 05, 2009

Deva rated it:

Heaven to Betsy introduces us to Betsy just before she begins her freshman year of high school, and takes us through the ups and downs of that first year. This is one of my two favorites of the entire series (the other being Betsy and the Great World). If I start listing everything I love about this book you’re going to get something like “Miss Mix creates stylish new outfits and Mr Ray makes onion sandwiches and there are picnics and the Crowd and Halloween and Carney and Tony and JOE!” and the More...

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Aug 03, 2008

Shelley rated it:

I remember reading this for school, the assignment being to read any book we liked, find words we were unfamiliar with and look them up. Having read these books before, I had a pretty good idea of what everything meant, so I had to pick really unusual ones. As I read, I remembered picking pompadour, Gibson Girl and spoony. I can't remember if that last one was in the dictionary, but I really doubt it!

This book was thoroughly charming. I enjoy Betsy, Tacy and the Crowd and Mrs. Ray re More...

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Oct 12, 2009

Lisa rated it:

I’ve been afraid to read/re-read this, and I procrastinated for a long time. I loved the first four books so much. I have a memory of reading this and Betsy in Spite of Herself when I was young (the only two in this series I knew about and read) and I never re-read them or searched out other companion books so I’m thinking I only liked them at best, and at worst thought they were just okay, and didn’t really like or love them. I didn’t remember this as I was reading so I’m treating reading this More...

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Aug 20, 2010

Megan rated it:

High School in 1906 is so fun!
You learned Latin and Greek History. There were also essay writing contests( About the US role in the Philippines) , chaste glances across a crowded room, live-in maids and Christian Endeavour!
Actually Maud Hart Lovelace does make her High School years sound incredibly fun in these books. Though I had to keep reminding myself not to romanticize the past too much. Sure times were good in Deep Valley Minnesota in 1906, but how about Chicago? Not so much.

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May 30, 2009

Claire rated it:

I know there's much more to say than this, but this was my first foray into the older Betsy books -- I read Betsy-Tacy when I was little, but not with the deep affection that many others did -- and my overwhelming impulse was to live-blog it. I don't think I loved it as much as I would have if I'd read it over and over when I was younger, as I did with Gene Stratton Porter's books, but I kept cracking up and wishing I had somebody next to me on the train to read parts out loud to.

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 11, 2012

Kricket rated it:

in which betsy begins high school! i was a little dubious about making the transition to teen fiction with maud hart lovelace, but i needn't have worried. i just loved this installment, and lovelace is spot-on in her descriptions of homesickness, the excitement of new friends, and what it feels like when the boy who used to like you likes another girl. (that cad!) "heaven to betsy" makes me want to put my hair up in a pompadour and sing around the piano.

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Jun 04, 2011

Katie rated it:

I had to find out what happened to Betsy-Tacy-and Tib as they grew up. I'm a sucker for these kinds of series! What a delight to discover them now! Very much like Anne of Green Gables in that the series follows Betsy into adulthood. But also more in the feel of the movies like "By the Light of the Silvery Moon" with Doris Day and Gordon MacRae. This particular book is Betsy's freshman year of high school and her larks with her "Crowd".

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Apr 24, 2010

Caroline rated it:

"The hills were white now; she and Tacy couldn't go up to their bench. Betsy's old house was rented, and about the time she left the Kellys, the lights would go on in the windows.

At this hour, often, the sky was the color of a dove's breast. The snow which all day long had sparkled in the sunshine looked pale. Walking homeward, looking up at the sky, and around her a the wan landscape, she felt an inexplicable yearning. It was mixed up with Tony, but it was more than Tony. It wa More...

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Feb 09, 2011

Alex added it

This book was recommended to me by the school librarian. When I first looked at it I thought it might be silly but very quickly I was wrapped up into the life of Betsy Ray and her worries over her curls! It follows her through her freshman year (same grade I'm in now) which made it very interesting to read. I love reading and this book made me smile, laugh, or cry on every page.

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Dec 26, 2009

Monica added it

I believe I may have read the first couple as a kid, but definitely not the later ones. Although enthusiasts recommended I read them all, I decided this one seemed like an interesting place to drop in (as I got a new edition with this and the next book bound together).

Enjoyable, but I'm trying to understand the obsession. I'm guessing it is a combination of true charm (I can see that) and nostalgia?

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 09, 2012

Dixie rated it:

I read this series back in High school and rebought them for myself recently. I remember loving Betsy and the way she always wanted to be a writer and the fact that her friends and family cheered each other on so completely. I still love them, and was surprised to find that she lived, (Maude Hart Lovelace) in the same area as Laura Ingalls Wilder, my other childhood "friend"

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Jun 03, 2010

Talai rated it:

This is a book I know I would have loved as a tween and wish I had known about them. That said, I also loved reading this as an adult. I thought that Betsy's mannerisms were delightful and her thought process brought me back to the feelings I had with my first crush. A great book to anyone who wants a light read and likely appeals more to the female audience.

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Apr 21, 2008

Carly rated it:

This series of books by Maud Hart Lovelace are one of my all time favorites! They are semi-autobiographical childrens books, but I find myself enjoying them even now as an adult. They follow Betsy and her friends Tacy and Tib from their early school days through marriage at the turn of the last century. Reading them when I was younger I not only loved the characters, but loved the look into life in the early 1900's, a time of dresses and parties and model T's.

Heaven to Betsy is More...

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Dec 20, 2011

Leslie rated it:

Delightful! At first, I found them too saccharin for my taste but when I realized that it was the life of Maud Hart Lovelace, I had much more of an appreciation. I read this at the suggestion of my eldest daughter who reads it frequently. She is not that girly so I was surprised. Entertaining and fun discussions ensued.

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Oct 20, 2009

Tracey rated it:

Children's fiction/Christian. Cute series appropriate for children & tweens. This book is from the middle of the series, where Betsy (Bettina) begins to "go with" boys (generally in the company of her other school friends) at the start of her high school years. Themes: tolerance (of other Christian denominations), scholarship (Betsy learns the importance of studying hard).

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Nov 25, 2009

Linda rated it:

I love Maud Hart Lovelace. In my opinion the Betsy/Tacy books are right up there with Anne of Green Gables. I really love this series. I want to live in Minnesota in 1908. Of course it would be really cold and they don't have a lot of modern conveniences which I enjoy but these books make it seem just fine. What a wonderfully simple time. Love these books.

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Jun 13, 2011

Ro rated it:

Another great Betsy-Tacy book. I love how Maud creates her characters (probably helps that they are based on real people!) The version I read had a "Betsy is a Feminist" foreword, and I found it humorous in that context that Betsy didn't like Algebra. I think all good feminists should like Algebra. Other than that, a fun book.

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