Making Friends With Betsy

Happy Wednesday Everyone,

When I was growing up I read Maud Hart Lovelace's Betsy-Tacy Books: 

Betsy-Tacy

Betsy Tacy & Tib

Betsy-Tacy Go Over Big Hill

Betsy-Tacy Go Downtown

Heavens To Betsy

Betsy In Spite Of Herself

Betsy Was A Junior

Betsy And Joe

Betsy And The Great World

Years later, I found Betsy's Wedding and finally got to see Betsy happily married and settled.

I now own all the books, including Betsy's Wedding and have read them at least once through, if not more since I got them a few years back.

Growing up there were other series I got into, but I don't think I've read those series as much as I've read this one.

To me, there's something incredibly personal about the fact that the characters and events bear a strong resemblance to the author, her friends and events in the author's life. It's part of the appeal. You feel like these characters are real. You want to be their friends. You want so badly to walk the sidewalks of Mankato and visit Minnehaha Falls. Names and street names have been changed for the books, of course, but the similarities are still there. Some re-prints of the novels (such as some of the editions I own) even have the parallels between the author's life and that of her characters.

In any case, if you haven't read the Betsy-Tacy books I think you're in for a treat. The writing is straight forward and simple. The characters are fun and feel real. History comes alive (The last 2 books--Betsy And The Great World and Betsy's Wedding cover the beginning and the USA's entry into World War I). There's not a lot of suspense in these books, but I don't read them for the suspense. There's a certain something about them...I don't know how to explain. I just know that several of my sisters and I read them, loved them, and re-read them. And, I'd read them again, no problem.

Have you ever read a series that you've read so much that now the characters are like old friends?

Have A Whimsical Wednesday!