Re-read 1/08 (well, I've re-read this book TONS of times, but now I'm going to start keeping track here, I think).

Re-read 4/11.

Re-read 7/12.
Re-read 9/13.
Re-read 10/16.

Maud Heart Lovelave's book Heaven to Betsy is a perfect continuation of the Betsy tasty and tib children's books that I enjoyed when I was younger. she was able to stay true to the characters of the girls while they become young ladies in the 1800s from the thoughts of dresses and parties. it wonderfully historically accurate cause it is based on the real experiences that she had growing up in this era, all of the people in the book are based on her real friends and family that she had and new. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed Louisa may Alcott's little men or little women, it is sweet wholesome, and takes you to a different world.

“How do you like high school?… I think it’s just Heaven. Heaven to Betsy!” But “when they fell to talking she was always surprised anew by how different [her high school friends] were from herself…They expected to marry and settle down, right here in Deep Valley.” However, “When Betsy and Tacy and Tib talked about their future they planned to be writers, dancers, circus acrobats.” They follow in the footsteps of their mother’s feminist example. When Mrs. Ray set her heart on receiving a brass bowl to display in her parlor window to which Mr. Ray was adamantly opposed (because he had already purchased a mink stole), “She bought it herself…That brass bowl and I were meant for one another.”

In the first two books, Lovelace counters the stigma of childlessness; in the third book, Lovelace refutes racism; in the fourth book, Lovelace tackles sizeism, and in Heaven to Betsy, Lovelace addresses faith and feminism. “My mother was a Baptist, and that’s why I’m a Baptist…Is that a good reason for being a Baptist?...come to think of it, I don’t think that it is…We aren’t going to decide this on the basis of what people will say…the poorest guide you can have in life is what people will say…you are almost women, and personally I’m glad to discover that you’ve given some thought to religion…The most important part of religion isn’t in any church. It’s down in your own heart. Religion is in your thoughts, and in the way you treat other people. It’s honesty, and unselfishness, and kindness. Especially kindness.”

Betsy “was religious only when she prayed, and when she wrote poetry, and when she talked with Tacy about God and Heaven. Her religion had nothing to do with the Baptist Church…perhaps she…was not cut out to be a Baptist…She loved the kneeling down to pray and the standing up to praise…It was amazing to Betsy that a ‘teen-age girl could pray just like a minister. She didn’t use a prayer book, either…She made it all up out of her head…When she prayed alone like that, it seemed to her that she could hardly bear the painful sweetness of life…It was amazing how light and free she felt, after she prayed.” As with friendship and faith, “Writing filled her life with beauty and mystery, gave it purpose…and promise.” Maud Hart Lovelace’s Heaven to Betsy is simply divine!

Absolutely darling! I just love books like this where you watch the characters grow up living their regular lives. I’m astounded by how perfectly she captures the mind of a fourteen year old girl - when your world is small but every occurrence in it feels so big. A complete delight.

I have mixed feelings about this book in the series. I didn’t like that a Ouija Board was used so much throughout the middle of the book, especially by young teens, although I know at the time period, things of the occult were very common. I also didn’t like how boy crazy Betsy seemed, but I do like how it ended and Betsy did mature through the book. I liked the development between the sisters, they all seemed to enjoy one another more.

This Betsy-Tacy book turned out to be a slog for me. It was filled with parties and shallow flirting, both of which I find tedious and boring, in life and in books. So I just yawned through the whole book and couldn't wait to get to the end. Knowing Betsy as well as I do, I'm quite sure that she's not a shallow person. She's simply going through a shallow phase (as most 14-year-olds do) and I still have high hopes for the rest of the series.

Finally got around to reading this and ahhh I love it, it's just the cozy, historical slice of life that I love!

Betsy and the crowd are a lot of fun but I really love the relationships within Betsy's family the most, so much warmth and humour.

I'm trying to pace myself and not steamroll my way through all of these now!

I don't think I had actually read this one before and I learned this one was kept outta libraries because Betsy and Julia converting from Baptist to Episcopalian was considered CONTROVERSIAL.

I adore these books. Thanks to my sister for insisting I read them for book group.

This was a super fun book! :D I say this every single time I read a book from this series, but I'll say it again: I think this book is my favorite so far!

4.5 stars! Would recommend for 12+

Certainly not the first time I read this!! perfection, as always. Betsy muses to herself about how different her and Julia's plans are from Carney and Bonnie's - they plan to be wives, while Betsy and Julian plan to explore the Big World. Betsy eventually comes to realize that everyone has the things that they love, and hers is writing and should be her focus.

Delightful, fun, and really feminist for its day!

I loved the first 4 books in this series and have been meaning to finish the sequels for myself, knowing my girls won't be as interested as the genre changes quickly from JF to YA. Betsy is a freshman in highschool in this book and she is very angsty. I had most recently read Emily of Deep Valley by the same author which is so much better than this book! However, I can appreciate that Heaven to Betsy is part of the development in the story of Betsy's life. It's just not my favorite to read during the stage of life I'm in right now.

Update after sleeping on it: This book is clearly written for early teens, not a mom in her mid-thirties. I think the author did quite a just job of showing a teen as a teen and I am excited to see her develop as a character in the next books in the series.