Pretty good, I just didn't really like the kings and queens parts. I DO appreciate how they really just said "

Going on ten seemed to be exactly the right age for having fun.

The three girls look forward to their tenth birthdays, and all the new thrills that "being older" will bring. With the young king of Spain's coronation grabbing the headlines, the pals become royalty obsessed, and decide to crown their own Queen of Summer. Too bad some other girls have had the same idea.

Don't worry - despite some rough moments, fun times, love, and laughs always prevail.

It was coincidence I happened to read this the week of Trump's inauguration, and with it immediate actions taken against refugees entering the country (and, possibly, staying).

Written in the '40s, the book is based on Lovelace's Minnesota childhood around the turn of the century. When Betsy and Tacy go over the hill they find a warm and (once they have an in-road) welcoming community of Syrian immigrants. Lovelace sneakily and impressively brings together a gratifying resolution out of the episodic threads. It feels a bit "Father knows best," but the American-born parents are also kind, welcoming, and sensible towards the immigrants and their community.

Lovelace at one point emphasizes the Syrian immigrants' Christianity to deepen the readers' connection to the community, and while this feels quite dated, in the process she also highlights that other countries and cultures aren't monolithic, and refugees have complex and deep histories. These immigrants don't have much agency in the story, but Lovelace eludes to their complicated feelings about their multiple identities.

I also love that she ever so lightly and slyly skewers the value these American place on European monarchy, while staying true to the little girls' innocence. There's a Pollyanna air that also shows the book's age, but the girls are at times vivid characters, and the conflicts feel real and even stressful while remaining child-sized. When so much historical YA and children's fiction has kids resolving enormous conflicts, when these girls take on local bullies, it feels historically reasonable and also brave, and concerning for the reader. It just occurred to me: the conflicts are all with American-born characters--again, very low-key. And how lovely that one of the key arguments between the girls and their old sisters is much more nuanced than the predictable one about whose opinion "counts" in their popularity contest.

1942, its publication date, was certainly a time to assure native-born Americans that immigrants, especially not from Europe, were valuable and their equals.

For me, the creaking joints on this old book were mostly either charming or at least socially interesting.

Eighty years later, it was disheartening to see us here, again... I guess our president was reading other books as a kid.

Betsy, Tacy, and Tib all have two numbers in their ages now (that is, they are 10), so they have more freedom. They decide to walk all the way over the "big hill" in their small town to the location known as "Little Syria" because many Syrian refugees live there. I was pleased to see the Syrians not treated as "other" or inferior in any way by the author, although some kids in the book insult the Syrians by calling them "dago." (My husband, an eye-talian, doesnt' understand why this would be the insult of choice or Syrian, since it is usually used for Italians. I figure maybe the insulting kids are just stupid.)

It's definitely my favorite my book I really loved reading it

Another delightful book in the Betsy and Tacy series. I appreciate it that the girls are not sickeningly sweet, but that they learn and grow as they relate to others. In this installment they befriend a little girl who is a Syrian refugee and through her they learn some important lessons about kindness, forgiveness, and patriotism.

Again, an excellent installment of this series. This one deserves particular recognition for a very well done approach to diversity and cultural understanding.

This book had more of a storyline than the first two. I enjoy reading about the friendships of these three sweet girls, but could especially relate to the bond, competitions, and love of sisters.

This is the only Betsy and Tacy book I’ve read so I can not compare it to any other books in the series, but I can see why children loved the stories! This book fuels the imagination and mixes in elements of history, cultural awareness, and compassion.

I needed another comfort read and this delivered. This book starts as Betsy, Tacy and Tib are all turning 10, and I liked it because the tone of the adventures shifted a bit as they hit this milestone. Their horizons are broadening, and we see the three adventuring out into their wider community a bit farther. In this case, they spend more time exploring the big hill and going to Little Syria on the other side, where they meet and start to befriend their new Syrian/Lebanese neighbors.

I read these books around the same time I read the Little House series, but I have to say that these were my favorites then and they seem to have stood up much better to reread as an adult.

This book was a cute as the others, but for whatever reason, didn't quite grab me as much. Still a fun read, especially because I'm dedicated to the series, but this is probably my least favorite so far.

3.5 ⭐️


TW/CW:
Ethnic slurs (d*go), racism/xenomisia, ableist slurs (“deaf and dumb” towards a married deaf couple, not meant as an insult but still ableist).

Rep:
Syrian immigrants

I enjoyed this and appreciated the fact that it had a positive message for immigration but it did at the expense of saying that you ultimately had to leave behind your culture and completely assimilate to American ideals. That’s bullshit and offensive of course, but I did try to understand that this was written in 1942 and at that time it was probably very out there and shocking for an author to dare write this, especially in a children’s book. Some of the message and reactions I did like though, these girls are absolute sweethearts and I can’t wait for them to get older.