I liked this story so much and wish I would have found it years and years ago. Someday Emily will be an old friend, but for now I'm still new to the crowd.

This is one of those classic, coming-of-age stories with a sweet, unassuming girl who overcomes her challenges and finds her happily-ever-after. It was very "Little Women" and "These Happy Golden Years" to me. The best part was that it made me want to improve myself. Emily is such a good example, I'll definitely be sharing her with my daughter when she's a few years older.

I'd recommend this to anyone that likes those lovely old classics, and especially to girls, maybe ages 11-15. It's such a far cry from modern YA fiction, but the problems Emily has to face and overcome are the same girls still face today.

I liked this book a lot better than I thought I would! I remember being a recent graduate from high school and working through decisions about what I wanted to do, who I wanted to spend time with, and who I wanted to be. I felt like this book captured that experience really well.

Also, the best line of the book: "He ate seventeen cookies and said they were delicious." I cracked up.

I'm stealing my friend's rating system for books.

Educational: 3 (the culture of the time period and the Syrian communities)
Emotionally impactful: 4 (captured real feelings of growing into yourself)
Enjoyment: 4

Emily of Deep Valley is Maud Hart Lovelace's standalone novel from the Betsy-Tacy series, though it is set in Betsy's Deep Valley and is often thought to be one of her best.

It's interesting how my perspective changes as I age and as I become more well-read. When I was in high school and college, I thought almost nothing of the cultural, religious, and political background of novels like this, and like Anne of Green Gables, to choose a more widely-known example. Now I can clearly see the ways in which society was being transformed during this time period, and I feel more able to accurately trace the path from that to where we are today.

I liked this story pretty well, and I liked Emily, but I can clearly see the creeping tendrils of the ideologies that are destroying our culture today.

A good friend brought me this book because it's her favorite and she just knew I would love it too. What a great kind of friend to have, right?! Now that I know what I've been missing I can't believe I made it to my 30s without ever having read any Maud Hart Lovelace. Emily of Deep Valley is simple and beautiful story about a girl who goes from feeling left out and left behind to finding a purpose through serving and making a difference in her community. I absolutely love Emily! Her character is written with a heartfelt honesty that brought me right back to what it felt like to be an insecure teenager with a hopeless crush. Her transformation into a confident young adult made me want to cheer.

Read it or Delete it Challenge: Read it

This was the only book out of the 7 covered in Mitali Perkins' Steeped in Stories: Timeless Children’s Novels to Refresh Our Tired Souls that I hadn't read yet (she also wrote the intro to this edition!), and it was one I was interested in anyway so I decided to pick it up now before reading the nonfiction book.

And I'm really glad I did! Very sweet and cozy, with some great underlying themes. I love Emily's growth, and the message that not everyone's fulfilling life will look the same.

And I really love the way Emily starts connecting with the local Syrian immigrant community and realizing how badly they've been treated by most of Deep Valley's residents (and actually doing something about it!) This was originally published in 1950 and is set during 1912/13, so I was pleasantly surprised by how thoughtfully a lot of these aspects were handled. It's definitely not perfect - for instance, readers today would (rightly) not find charming the nicknaming of Kalil and Yusef, instead of the white characters actually using their real names - but other parts felt surprisingly modern, like the way Emily is determined that the Syrian women should have the same opportunities to learn English as their husbands and be able to mix more in the community if they wish, rather than being stuck at home because they don't have a translator.

I think I would have liked the romance to have a little more development, but I loved Emily's realization that her previous crush is actually...not that great.

So if you're prepared for some of the more "of its time" elements, I would recommend this book! Some loveable characters, important messages, and an engaging story and protagonist.

CW: Grief, xenophobia, racism, bullying

While I enjoyed the premise of this book, it doesn't particularly stand out for me. I have not read the Betsy-Tacy books, so I wasn't invested in the location or the characters. It was sweet and interesting, but it didn't grab me by the heart and refuse to let go like Anne of Green Gables does.

I can't recommend this book more highly. It's lovely but also timely. An escape from our world, but reminds you that people can be good and thoughtful and kind. Plus, there are little cameos from the Betsy/Tacey/Tib books that I know you all loved.

Set in the same Deep Valley that Maud Hart Lovelace made familiar to her readers, this stand-alone novel features a heroine who's a little more subdued than the vivacious Betsy Ray. It has its own gentle charm, though, and is a must-read for anyone who enjoyed the Betsy-Tacy books.

This was a re-read and I enjoyed it even more this time. On the first page Lovelace tells us that the year is 1912! How amazing that this story remain fresh even 100 years later, with the caddish boy who trifles with Emily's affections for his own vanity and the good boyfriend who accepts her and appreciates her down to the old fashioned wax flowers in her grandfather's parlor.

This was such a good story—nostalgic in the best way, with realistic, well-drawn characters. I loved that the heroine is “restfully quiet” and “builds her life out of what materials she has.” And it’s not surprising that a novel framed by Memorial Day grave-tending would win my heart.