Lovely writing style and I love the mention of the early 20th century fashion and etiquette. This is my third Betsy book, as I started the series in the middle, and Betsy is slowly maturing--slowly--but she's just so petty, I find it difficult to relate to her.

I love this book. The Whole Betsy series are some of my most favorite books.

We are officially on the Betsy books that I KNOW I read, but I have ABSOLUTELY no recollection of anything that happens in them. Junior year finds Betsy acting ridiculously and Kiernan and I had just a spectacular time cheering for Betsy when she did something right and commiserating when she gets screwed unfairly and groaning and yelling at the book when she makes bad choices, which happens with reasonable frequency. I have come up with my own alternate melodies for the popular tunes of the turn of the 20th century and would be shocked to hear the real ones, I imagine, but there's a lot of singing.

. . . And OH the POSTCARD from JOE. Swoon.

A few favorite quotes:

It’s one of those memories that stand out like a photograph.

You couldn’t make sisterhoods with rules and elections. If they meant anything they had to grow naturally.

Folly was pretty well erased from their lives, but the consequences of folly were still with them.

‘“We’re growing up,” Betsy said aloud. She wasn’t even sure she liked it. But it happened, and then it was irrevocable. There was nothing you could do about it except try to see that you grew up into the kind of human being you wanted to be.

A discussion of what true friendship and realistic goals. With love, humor, and onion sandwiches in-between.

8/2015 stet

9/2012 As hard as this one is to read (because it rings so true) there are parts that I love as much as anything else in the series. This is the book which caused me to fall in love with Cab. And then the momentous scratching of the dance! And the postcard. There's a lot of growth in this book, and I love it though it's never going to be easy.

12/2009 This particular book makes me want to reach through the years and shake Betsy so hard her teeth chatter. She's lost nearly all the ground she gained in the first two years of high school, she's flitting from interest to interest, she's just not focused- and yet, and yet... I love her so. Also, in this volume we are introduced to that exciting specimen, the Perfectly Awful Girl- to wit:

"'Tony is suspended again,' Alice said.
'What happened?'
'I hate to say it, but I believe he came to school when he'd been drinking. He goes into the saloons sometimes with that fast gang he runs with.'
'He's going around with a perfectly awful girl.'"

But there is ultimately redemption:

"'I believe that's it,' she thought. 'And the bright side of it is that you never slip down to quite the point you started climbing from. You always gain a little...'"

Words to live by, indeed.

Noooooo! I finished it again. :( Love, love, love these books. Definitely to read over and over again. (and over and over and over...)

JOE YOU DELIGHTFUL TAR-SPREADING SNOB! WHERE DO YOU GET OFF SENDING POSTCARDS LIKE THAT?

In way of a review, I'll just tell you this. I just finished reading this book a couple minutes ago. I considered going straight on to the next in the series, "Betsy and Joe," which is right in front of me, but then decided - no, I'm just going to pause right here, and savor this one. That's all you really need to know.

This is the book where we have to watch Betsy as she buys into being popular, starts an exclusive sorority, ignores her best intentions, and finds out the hard way that "you ought not go through life, even a small section of life like high school with your friendships fenced in by snobbish artificial Barriers." And she and Joe have their first dance.YIPEE!!!
My favorite part though & flowers; then stay up all night trying to press and label each one, all for a botany project that they ignored all year long until it was due. Zalynn and I did exactly the same thing.

This one isn't my favorite, because Betsy falls back into foolish social pursuits and doesn't correct her course until too late. Nevertheless, so typical of a foolish, carefree teenager.

Rereading the Betsy-Tacy high school stories this fall; this is the one where Betsy starts a sorority with her friends during her junior year. The sorority monopolizes and dictates her junior year for better and for worse. Other highlights include Julia leaving home to attend the University of Minnesota. It's fun to read about what the U of M was like in the early 1900s. Betsy was a Junior is a hoot!