Might be more engrossing to a middle-grade reader, but considering that it was full of freshman hijinks and social events for 14-year-olds, it was much too long for me. Wouldn't have minded if it had been short like the preceding books. I did like the sisterly bond that grew and strengthened between Betsy and Julia. ( )

I've been on a rereading spree lately. That's what happens when you finally have the space to get your books out of storage after 3 years. And, wow, was Betsy boy-crazy! I didn't remember that.

But what I did accurately remember was the love letter this series is to a simpler and, maybe, easier time of living that included a generation that had grown up without war and without the hustle and bustle of technology. A generation where you could (horror of present day horrors) send your 14-year-old daughter off home with the milkman for 2 weeks in the country without batting an eye or wondering what ulterior motives he might have. I thoroughly enjoyed that part. And now I find myself wondering... was it really that idealistic? Was it really so possible to "go with" a boy without the kisses and the pregnancy talks, etc? Or is it conveniently edited from all the tales?

I will probably never know. ( )

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). ( )

i am enjoying the books more as Betsy grows older. This is my first time reading them and I am able to read them all in order which is very interesting. ( )

I rather liked the first four books of the Betsy-Tacy series. This one was ok, but not all that charming. I think the problem is that Betsy and Tacy have gotten a little older, 14 to be exact. They're beginning high school. High school girls, it seems, are primarily worried about their personal looks, their dresses, and how to fascinate boys and capture beaux for themselves.

So, while it was an interesting slice of life from 1906, the year my father was born, it didn't hold all that much interest for me. I'm not likely to continue on with Betsy-Tacy. I loved the first few books when it was just kids playing in the streets or dreaming up fun projects. But once romance rears its ugly head, I begin to be lost. I guess that, being an elderly, repressed Calvinist, I'm not much of a romantic.
( )