Maud Hart Lovelace Quotes

“Maud Hart Lovelace creates a charming world of happiness, love, and beauty as she describes the lives of Betsy and Tacy, two little girls growing up as friends.”

“There are lots of children on Hill Street, but no little girls Betsy’s age. So when a new family moves into the house across the street, Betsy hopes they will have a little girl she can play with.”

“Sure enough, they do—a little girl named Tacy. And from the moment they meet at Betsy’s fifth birthday party, Betsy and Tacy becoms such good friends that everyone starts to think of them as one person—Betsy-Tacy.”

“Betsy and Tacy have lots of fun together. They make a playhouse from a piano box, have a sand store, and dress up and go calling.”

“Two young friends meet just as they are about to start school. Apart from the absence of cars and the fact that however rural your home might be 5 yr olds don’t go off alone together these days...”

″ So, hats off to that goody-goody, Betsy, and her land of dress-up, floating on feathers, and magical tea parties.”

“What was wrong with being a goody-goody? As a child who hated getting in trouble, I did whatever was necessary to keep the adults happy, and never once saw the inside of the principal’s office.”

“Betsy Ray sat in a rowboat which was anchored in Babcock’s Bay, two watery miles opposite Murmuring Lake Inn, where the Ray family had been spending the summer.”

“In her freshman year, too, she had had a heartache over losing the Essay Contest. Every year the two societies into which the school was divided competed for a cup in easy writing.”

“Phil Brandish had been the great outstanding triumph of Betsy’s sophomore year. She had tried that year to acquire a new personality, to act Dramatic and Mysterious, and in this role she had captured Phil Brandish’s interest.”

“Betsy, Tacy, and Tib are twelve—old enough to do lots of things...even go downtown on their own. ”

“There they see their first horseless carriage, discover the joys of the public library, and see a real play at the Opera House. ”

“They even find themselves acting in one! Best of all, they help a lonely new friend feel at home in Deep Valley—the most wonderful place in the world to grow up.”

“Betsy was sitting in the backyard maple, high among spreading branches that were clothed in rich green except at their tips where they wore the first gold of September. ”

“Three branches forked to make a seat, one of them even providing a prop for her back. To her right, within easy reach, was another smaller crotch into which a cigar box had been nailed. This was closed and showed on the cover a plump coquettish lady wearing a Spanish shawl.”

“From this lofty retreat Betsy had a splendid view. It did not look toward the Big Hill where she and her friends Tacy and Tib had had so many adventurous picnics.”

“Sitting in her maple, she was aware of the town, spread out below, of Front Street where the stores were, of streets lined with the houses of people she did not know, of the Opera House, the Melborn Hotel, the skeleton of the new Carnegie Library, and the High School that her sister Julia and Tacy’s sister Katie now attended.”

“Lifting the lid of the cigar box, Betsy took out a small tablet. It said on the cover, “Ray’s Shoe Store. Wear Queen Quality Shoes.” She took out a pencil, short and well tooth-marked, and chewed it thoughtfully.”

“She had progressed no further when a scratching sound caused her to look down. A red ringleted head was rising toward her. ”

“The visitor was Tacy who lived across the street and had been her dear friend for many years. Seven, to be exact, for Betsy and Tacy had started to be friends at Betsy’s fifth birthday party, and now they were both twelve.”

“Betsy, Tacy, and Tib can’t wait to be ten. After all, getting two numbers in your age is the beginning of growing up—exciting things are bound to happen.”

″ Foreign people should not be treated like that. America is made up of foreign people.”

“The book is about the adventures of three young girls - Betsy (Elizabeth) Ray, Tacy (Anastacia) Kelly, and Tib (Thelma) Muller - as they grow up in early twentieth-century Minnesota.”

“They spend the day in New York City enjoying many of Joe’s favorite places, but more importantly renewing their love.”

“And they do! The girls fall in love with the King of Spain, perform in the School Entertainment, and for the first time, go all the way over the Big Hill to Little Syria by themselves.

“There Betsy, Tacy, and Tib make new friends and learn a thing or two. They learn that new Americans are sometimes the best Americans.”

“When the girls climb the ‘big hill’ and go into the forbidden territory of Little Syria, they are doing so for self-interested reasons.”

″ But the real adventure, the true learning experience, happens when the girls befriend the Syrian/Lebanese neighbours who have recently become part of the Deep Valley community.”

“When the girls stand up against the bullies who are bothering their new friend Naifi, Tib’s dress gets torn. But Tib’s mother assures them she is glad that Tib defended her new friend, even at the expense of her best dress.”

“The three friends celebrate their tenth birthdays, fall in love (all together) with the young King of Spain, and visit Little Syria - the colony of Lebanese immigrants just outside of Deep Valley.”

“Mrs. Kelly did not seem to notice the grown-upness. She took Betsy’s round red cheeks in her hands and said, ‘It’s five years today that you and Tacy have been friends.”

“In this installment they befriend a little girl who is a Syrian refugee and through her they learn some important lessons about kindness, forgiveness, and patriotism.”

“Betsy returns to New York from her European trip, where Joe Willard is waiting for her. He wants to take her to Tiffany’s and buy an engagement ring, but the more practical Betsy suggests he buys a wedding band instead.”

“With younger sister Margaret’s help they find the perfect newlywed’s home. Betsy struggles with her first forays into cooking, but eventually becomes a very good cook - and even has fun making some of Joe’s favorite foods! ”

“Betsy takes a train to Minneapolis, where her parents and younger sister are now living. She breaks the news of her engagement to her family, who are surprised that Joe wants to marry Betsy without first asking her father and without having a job in Minnesota.”

″ Her father is very upset. He thinks that Joe should have a job. When Joe arrives at the train station, Betsy tells him that her father is uncomfortable about him not having a job. ”

“Several happy months later, Joe’s widowed aunt asks to live with them & Joe tells her yes, although Betsy resents her coming. Joe is aware of her feelings.”

“He immediately drives from newspaper office to newspaper office before finding a job on a publicity campaign to help the people of Belgium (who were the victims of atrocities during World War I).”

“This is the first serious difference of opinion in their marriage. Betsy wants to agree with Joe but cannot help feeling bitter until she has an epiphany & realizes that Joe’s generosity is one of the things she loves about him.”

″ Betsy’s father respects Joe’s go-getter attitude and allows the wedding to proceed. Joe and Betsy live with her parents while looking for an apartment to rent.”

“In the end she enjoys Joe’s aunt’s company and her wonderful stories, especially when Joe begins working the night shift writing headlines for the newspaper.”

“Meanwhile, Betsy and Tacy unite to try to find a husband for Tib. They introduce her to Mr. Bagshaw (a colleague of Harry’s), who quickly falls in love with Tib. He proposes & Tib turns him down.”

“Betsy and Tacy are relieved, having realized that if she had married him, Tib would have moved to NYC. Betsy then introduces Tib to Rocky a “Tramp” journalist they meet at “The Violent Study Club”.”

“But Rocky is terrible to Tib, even ridiculing her in front of friends! Finally Tib ends the relationship with Rocky & he leaves! Eventually Tib meets a kind & handsome soldier while ice skating and they fall in love.”