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There was a great article last weekend in the Wall Street Journal about the Betsy-Tacy books, described by Meg Cabot as "a delicious series of novels set in turn-of-the-century Mankato, Minnesota."
These were my favorite books as a kid (I desperately wanted to be Betsy, the main character) and I have read them many times since. The series starts at a fifth-grade reading level and gets a little more advanced as Betsy grows older. We Betsy-Tacy fans are are a small but very passionate bunch.
The author, Maud Hart Lovelace, grew up in Mankato (known as Deep Valley in the book.) A few years ago I was sent to Minneapolis to interview Pat Benatar for Rolling Stone (one of my rules, outlined in my first book, is to interview rock stars outside of New York or Los Angeles if you can - you avoid hordes of press, and the rock star may actually be glad to see you.) I brought along my sister Dinah to keep me company. After I interviewed the delightful, flinty Pat, I persuaded Dinah to drive me to Mankato, where Maud's house (the basis for Betsy's house) still stood, as well as the house of Maud's best friend Frances, on whom Tacy is based.
Dinah understood my obsession and kindly took the wheel while I explored the Betsy-Tacy hot spots of Mankato, including the Big Hill that Betsy and Tacy used to Climb. I was of course winking back tears the entire time.
Oh, I remember loving those books. I didn't read the ones later in the series, but my mother brought home the first four or five from the library for me, and I devoured them.
Did you ever read Elizabeth Enright's books "The Saturdays" "The Four Story Mistake" "Then There Were Five" and "Spiderweb for Two"?, I read those books so many times I had entire passages memorized. I so longed to live with three siblings in a rambling country house with undiscovered secrets and acres to explore.
Posted by: kayla | October 07, 2009 at 03:59 PM
Nothing grips like a childhood series- mine ranged from "The Five Little Peppers" to Trixie Belden. Such excitement with each new book! Oh, and the Bobbsey Twins!
Posted by: Shawn | October 07, 2009 at 07:42 PM
Hi Jancee,
It's me - the Joanna with the Consumer Reports-filing dad who wants to see a guest blog from your dad about the new Penney's in NYC. Okay, I think we had the same childhood. This is getting weird - I don't think I've ever known anyone (other than my mom) who read (and loved) the Betsy, Tacy and Tibb books like I did. LOVED. And those perfect and beautiful illustrations by Lois Lensky? Come on! Those were the best.
I love that you visited MHL's childhood haunts...that is so fantastic.
On a related note, I happen to live in the very neighborhood in Portland, OR that was the setting of one of my other early favorites: the Ramona books, by Beverly Cleary. The local library even leads a tour that covers her stomping grounds.
Finally, on another related note...if you're a Judy Blume fan (quite the opposite end of the spectrum from Betsy and Tacy, I realize), thee is a fantastic event happening in NYC on the 19th - a tribute to her/35th anniversary of the National Coalition Against Censorship: http://www.ncac.org/Celebration2009
Sorry for the long-winded comment, and thanks for the Maude Hart Lovelace props and reminding me of something that I once loved but hadn't thought about in a sow's age.
Best,
Joanna
Posted by: Joanna Miller | October 07, 2009 at 10:20 PM
Yes! Those were great books.
There's one episode that continues to stick in my mind, for some reason: where they meet a girl whose family had emigrated from Syria to Minnesota (as you do, apparently). That and the illustrations of her headgear.
I remember having no idea what or where Syria was.
Posted by: evie b. | October 08, 2009 at 10:07 AM
Dear Jancee:
Enjoyed your description of your visit to Deep Valley! Wish you had been able to come to the convention in July. Instead, do try to join the NY Chapter in our Violent Study Club some time.
http://www.klitzner.org/BT/index.html
Posted by: Constance | October 28, 2009 at 10:05 PM