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Stars In The Sky: A Tribute To Betsy-Tacy
Heavens to Betsy

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margareita metermaid
10/10/09

In reply to Stars In The Sky: A Tribute To Betsy-Tacy
Oh Sadie, you have made my week, and possibly my year. Betsy Tacy COMPANION??? I never knew. I just read the series over and over again since I first tricked my dad into buying me the first one at age 8. He asked me if I knew who the author was and if they were good books, and I said 'oh of course', tho i had never heard anything about them before. I just loved the cover art and little pics of Betsy Tacy and Tib. Here's hoping the companion is not out of print like the last four in the series were when i was trying to find them as a kid....
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No Luck
10/09/09

In reply to Stars In The Sky: A Tribute To Betsy-Tacy
When I was in first or second grade I decided to write a Betsy-Tacy musical. Of course I only got as far as the first song (about Betsy wishing for a best friend), but I still remember exactly how it went! Thanks for bringing up the memory. I should go back and re-read a book or two.
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formergr
10/10/09

@No Luck: When we were about 8 and 10 years old, my sister and adapted Betsy, Tacy, & Tib as a play, and acted it out for our parents and neighbors (I haven't read the books since then, but remember a dramatic scene with a sledding accident and snow, with the snow represented by a white sheet).

Except we spent our summers in Germany (where my mother is from), so our neighbor were of course German, and now when I think back to this, they must have been so confused!!
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Edited by formergr at 10/10/09 9:01 AM formergr was starred formergr was unstarred

Tikitacky
10/09/09

In reply to Stars In The Sky: A Tribute To Betsy-Tacy
Thank you, Sadie. I, too, get weirdly choked up when I try to explain the Betsy-Tacy universe to the uninitiated. These books, simply put, are my version of Xanax. Whenever I'm overwhelmed, or need comforting, I crack open one of these books. Friendship issues? Betsy Was a Junior. Mad I don't have the funds for travel? Betsy and the Great World. Man trouble? Betsy and Joe. (At my wedding, text from B&J stood in for a bible reading. No, really.) This world of onion sandwiches, Tony Markham, skating parties and secret societies is just...swoon. I have a two-year-old daughter, and I'm counting the days until I can introduce them to her. I don't care if she grows up to be a republican pundit on Fox news as long as likes these books.
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YourScreenplaySucks
10/09/09

In reply to Stars In The Sky: A Tribute To Betsy-Tacy
I might have read one of these - is there a book in the series where Betsy decides to make herself over into someone mysterious & glamorous and a major part of her plan is to start wearing more green & wearing her hair in a pompadour?

I remember this plot very well because I remember deciding that I too wanted to make myself over into someone glamorous & mysterious. My hard-won advice to young Jezebels as easily influenced by books as I was: a jr. high school student in the 1990s who wears a pompadour doesn't look glamorous. She can, however, look mysterious, but mainly in the "Oh, who's that poofy-haired freak over by the lockers?" sort of way.
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smoakes
10/09/09

@YourScreenplaySucks: Yes, that was Betsy in Spite of Herself. Betsy also realized that maybe trying to be someone she wasn't was a bad idea.
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Sadie
10/09/09

@YourScreenplaySucks: I think we all tried finding "rats" after this, and discovered they were available in only ancient and suspect small-town drugstores!
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TheFormerJuneBronson
10/09/09

In reply to Stars In The Sky: A Tribute To Betsy-Tacy
I need information. In what order are they? And how many altogether?
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smoakes
10/09/09

@TheFormerJuneBronson:
The little kids books: Betsy-Tacy;
Betsy-Tacy and Tib;
Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill;
Winona's Pony Cart (Betsy isn't the star of this one); Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown
The teen books: Heaven to Betsy; Betsy in Spite of herself; Betsy Was a Junior; Betsy and Joe; Carney's House Party (Betsy isn't the star of this one but it might be my favorite); Emily of Deep Valley (Betsy isn't the star of this one); Betsy and the Great World; Betsy's Wedding
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TheFormerJuneBronson
10/09/09

In reply to Stars In The Sky: A Tribute To Betsy-Tacy
I never read these. I think I might have to. For some reason, reading about high schoolers of the past is one of my very favorite things to do. Though because I'm like this, I'll have to read the whole series.
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Ultraprison!
10/09/09

In reply to Stars In The Sky: A Tribute To Betsy-Tacy
Betsy, Tacy, and Tibb! I'd forgotten all about this book... oh my gosh, I love it so much.
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Plum-Pie
10/09/09

In reply to Stars In The Sky: A Tribute To Betsy-Tacy
Am I the only one who finds themself opening Amazon in another tab before even finishing Sadie's book posts?
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TheFormerJuneBronson
10/09/09

@Plum-Pie: Um, no. I got as far as "High school in the 19-teens? I wonder if they're still in print..."
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Plum-Pie
10/09/09

@TheFormerJuneBronson: They are and old copies are v cheap on Amazon UK (i.e. they must be in the US too.)
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Rooo sez BISH PLZ
10/09/09

@Plum-Pie: It's like hypnosis.
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Plum-Pie
10/09/09

@Rooo sez BISH PLZ: But they keep being good! I'm reading one currently about the wives of famous Victorians and it's brilliant!
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otherginger
10/09/09

In reply to Stars In The Sky: A Tribute To Betsy-Tacy
So odd. Betsy and Joe was the first I read in this series, and after that I devoured them (my mom and her sister had the whole series). Aunt Betsy said she resented Tib for showing up and spoiling the twosome when she was a little girl. I loved the sense of the pre WWI world - had some of the same feeling that All of A Kind Family had.
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Anne is Spiderman
10/09/09

@otherginger: I LOVED All of a Kind Family! I can't find anyone else who read them, ever.

Books like these are just so incredibly awesome. I want to live in them.
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Sadie promoted this comment Anne is Spiderman was starred

Sadie
10/09/09

@Anne is Spiderman: YES, All of a Kind is also terrific; the later books lost me a little, sadly. Which is to say I only re-read them, like, four times.
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girlleastlikelyto
08/24/09

In reply to Heavens to Betsy
I'm so glad to know other women my age read the Betsy books! My love for books about early-20th-century girls with writing aspirations made me something of a misfit when I was a kid.
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pmarble
08/24/09

@girlleastlikelyto: I loved every single one of them. I was at a lake resort in Minnesota this afternoon, and I mentioned to my sister that the lodge reminded me of the place the Rays went every summer.
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Sadie
08/24/09

@pmarble: Murmuring Lake!
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pmarble
08/24/09

@Sadie: THANK you!
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colormeroutine
08/24/09

In reply to Heavens to Betsy
I have never heard of this series. I have a feeling I am missing out. Someone enlighten me
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Crabby Cakes
08/24/09

In reply to Heavens to Betsy
Mr. Crabby was born in Mankato! I feel a sudden urge to acquaint myself with the place of his birth.
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Dictator for Life
08/24/09

In reply to Heavens to Betsy
Can they also teach us how to do our hair in Betsy's pompadour? I've always wanted to know.
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LaComtesse
08/24/09

@Dictator for Life: If it's anything like the hair I had to have when I played Dolly in "Hello Dolly" then here's what you do...

1) Get pantyhose
2) Cut off half a leg
3) Stuff half of it with stuffing (like you'd put in a teddy bear)
4) Tie off either end near stuffing: like a sausage link
5) Take remainder of nylon and tie ends together so it's a circle.
6) Flip front section of hair over face
7) Put newly fashioned crown over the rest of your hair like a headband
8) Flip front section of hair over nylon crown: you'll have a nice bump in your hair.
9) Fidget with the back so it kinda looks like a bun

VOILA.

I would like to thank my mother for this ingenious contraption.
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