Betsy Was a Junior/Betsy and Joe

Betsy Was a Junior/Betsy and Joe

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Editorial Reviews

Betsy Was a Junior: It's the best school year ever, especially now that charming, funny Tib Muller is back in Deep Valley. But when her crowd gets into trouble, Betsy's best year could turn out to be her worst.

Betsy and Joe: Betsy always thought she and Joe Willard were made for each other—and now that summer's over and senior year's begun, it seems her dream is coming true! But her friend Tony Markham has come calling as well—and his intentions are definitely romantic.

Customer Reviews

Thrilled to see these back in print!

Reviewed by Melody Murray, 2009-10-08

Hooray! Betsy's junior and senior years in high school, all in one volume! Excellent series, wonderful characters. You will fall in love with this series- the Ray family is just delightful. Joe is quite the romantic hero, but me? I love Tony best.

My all-time favorite series!

Reviewed by ProfessorMom, 2009-10-05

I read Laura Ingalls Wilder and Anne of Green Gables, and loved both, but it was Betsy Ray who really stole my heart! I read each of the "high school and beyond" books over and over when I was in high school, and continued to read them into college and beyond. Betsy's life resonated with me -- from her concern over her social status to her love of writing; her house as a haven for other teenagers to her guilt over times she was not true to herself. I used her a role model -- sometimes of what not to do! (Procrastinate! Neglect what gives you joy, even if it isn't "popular." Keep your feelings hidden -- you'll end up at the most important dance of the year with the wrong boy!)

I learned that decisions have consequences, and that it was worthwhile to think things through a bit. The fact she "lived" so many decades before me didn't matter -- human nature doesn't change that much, and setting limits with boys, seriously considering basic faith beliefs, neglecting schoolwork, and gathering with friends for all kinds of good times (dancing, sledding, talking, plotting, ...) -- are issues that ring true at any time period!

I liked that she was a "typical teenager," with problems and silliness and fun times and worry and heartbreak and joy. I especially liked that Betsy was always, always available. She was a comfort read, she was a steady friend during the sometimes trying times of adolescence, and it was -- and is -- always wonderful to open the pages and walk into the Rays' house again. (Could you pass me a muffin? Oh, and some fudge!)

(And if you like reading about Betsy, make sure you read "Emily of Deep Valley" -- my personal favorite! -- and "Carney's House Party," too!)

How great they are back in print!!

Reviewed by M, 2009-10-04

I love these books! The books covering the junior and senior years of Betsy and her friends has meant a lot to me--and just having them back in my hands has been so fabulous! I even pulled it out the other night to read a section to my SON () as something he said made me think of an experience Betsy had - and it 'fit'! The author said it SO much better than I did-but the outcome was that my junior-in-high school son knew that I understood the situation his friend was in! I love these books--they are timeless!

My favorite of all the Betsy-Tacys!

Reviewed by Jennifer Davis Kay, 2009-10-04

The Betsy-Tacy books are my all-time favorites, and "Betsy Was a Junior" is my hands-down favorite of them all. (Every other B-T book is tied for second.) In this book, Betsy is in love - okay, she's in love in most of the high school books - but this time she's REALLY in love, with exactly the right boy - and guess what? He's got another girlfriend! What's a young lady to do? Fortunately for us, the readers, Betsy is not the type to lounge around in a (dull) funk - instead, she sets out to distract herself, and this book is full of the merriest highjinks of the entire series! Betsy forms a sorority with her seven BFFs, stays up all night making a herbarium, dates one of the most coveted high school boys, etc etc. - and yet. And yet. There is an undercurrent of sadness throughout the entire book that resonates with me so powerfully - for THIS is how *I* remember high school: loving someone who didn't love me back. As in all the B-T books, being a girl 100 years ago is not so very different from being a girl today. Oh, by the way - that boy Betsy loved? He's not going anywhere. (See: "Betsy and Joe.")

betsy and joe!!

Reviewed by M. Karotkin, 2009-10-04

These books cover Betsy and her crowd's last 2 years of high schools. Collectively, this part of the series is known as "The High School" books. These 2 are particular faves of mine. While I loved Heaven to Betsy (and is the first hard cover I have of the series), Betsy In Spite of Herself is not one of my faves. So I was very happy when she came "back to herself" in Betsy Was a Junior.

I grew up reading these books, beginning with Betsy-Tacy and the other childhood books. But this series is not just for kids or YA's; it's for everyone.

Only as a middle-aged adult did I realize how much I learned from these books and what a great influence they had on my life and still do.

I cannot recommend them enough!