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The Betsy-Tacy Companion: A Biography of Maud Hart Lovelace

sharla scannell whalen

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Covers each of the Betsy-Tacy books and the autobiographical events from the series. Includes over 400 photos of Lovelace and friends and family members who appear as characters in these books.

515 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1,1991

This edition

Format
515 pages, Hardcover
Published
May 1, 1995 by Portalington Pr
ISBN
9780963078308
ASIN
0963078305
Language
English

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About the author

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sharla scannell whalen

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Community Reviews

Rating(4.1 / 5.0, 43 votes)
5 stars
16(37%)
4 stars
14(33%)
3 stars
13(30%)
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43 reviews All reviews
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Mystery99
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Fascinating reading for fans of the Betsy-Tacy series. I loved the photos of people and places. It is very detailed and I found some parts overwhelmingly meticulous (particularly who lived where), but the level of research that went into this book is amazing.
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NatsuofFairyTail
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Ultimately interesting to Maudophiles. I would have rated it higher if she hadn't dissed Aunt Dolly.
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Endless_Tragedy
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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I've been dying to read this for years and finally got my hands on a copy through inter-state library loan.

It was great in many ways, but the little mistakes and typos bothered me, especially when there was contradictory information about the "real people" behind the Betsy-Tacy books (a chapter would state something about one of the people, then another chapter would say the complete opposite about them).

Still, I'm extremely glad the authors did the research and took the time to write this. And the photos are priceless!
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Vishen7
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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I really enjoyed this book, and more than a decade after buying it, I still refer to it every so often, especially if I am re-reading a Betsy-Tacy book.

I do agree that it could have been better edited, but that's my only criticism.

I'm not sure why someone reviewed this and called it "depressing."
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shanerscott
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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As a Betsy-Tacy fan, I requested this book from ILL and was thrilled when my library located it for me. I loved learning more background of the 10 Betsy-Tacy books (plus 3 peripheral books), though it WAS more detail than I was looking for- so I read some sections of the book more quickly than others (did the dates match up with the actual calendar - i.e. was January 8 really on a Tuesday that year?; did Betsy/Maud really have the furniture she described in her bedroom? Is the schoolhouse still standing? etc), but I loved all the photographs of Maud and her friends and finding out how everyone ended up later in life. Fascinating.
This quote sums up the book perfectly, as the author is analyzing a tiny detail of the book series:
"If I have to explain why it is so amusing to analyze such trivia, you shouldn't be reading this book." I had to laugh when I read this sentence, but I decided I am a true Betsy-Tacy fan and am glad I read this whole book. The author did an incredible amount of research!
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ItsAngelAri
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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I love Maud Hart Lovelace and Betsy-Tacy. Maud is a great author who wrote such a wonderful series of book that unfortunately not enough people have read. I loved learning more about Maud and her family and friends. LOVED IT!
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AKFarhan
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Every true Maud Hart Lovelace fan should own a copy of this book and take it with you when you visit Mankato, Minnesota!
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crankyllama
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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I really wanted to like this book, because I liked Betsy-Tacy so much growing up, but this is so hard to read. Whalen jumps back and forth between reality and fiction, and my head just swam with all the different names and dates. I don’t need a summary and recap of the novels, I just want a biography of their author.
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