Casper is rereading Farmer Boy and asking for Little House on the Prairie. I just read something lauding Betsy-Tacy as a non-racist alternative to LHOP. I've never read them - is there much pioneer-ness in Betsy-Tacy? I have a recollection we have fans - who wants to pimp them to me?
It's not like she blew me off. She just left with another guy, that's all.
Riley ,'Conversations with Dead People'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
flea - Sep 09, 2013 2:01:02 pm PDT #21356 of 28374
information libertarian
Jessica - Sep 09, 2013 2:04:29 pm PDT #21357 of 28374
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
I loved Betsy-Tacy when I was a kid! But I don't remember much pioneering in them. They reminded me more of Anne of Green Gables, I think? Don't quote me though, it's been decades so my memories are beyond fuzzy.
Amy - Sep 09, 2013 2:14:48 pm PDT #21358 of 28374
Because books.
Isn't it worth it to let her read the books and then discuss the issues of racism?
flea - Sep 09, 2013 2:50:38 pm PDT #21359 of 28374
information libertarian
Oh, definitely, it is just takes some work for me! She hasn't had much of anything about westward expansion at school yet, and the Settlement of Ohio stuff dealt with native americans pretty mimimally. So I'd have to do more background (compared with, say, discussing slavery, which she knows a ton about.)
meara - Sep 09, 2013 4:29:50 pm PDT #21360 of 28374
Betsy Tacy I don't remember being pioneer-y at all, but I did love them.
Amy - Sep 09, 2013 4:37:04 pm PDT #21361 of 28374
Because books.
That's true, flea.
I don't think I read Betsy Tacy, but I did read Understood Betsy, which I loved.
Kat - Sep 09, 2013 4:58:27 pm PDT #21362 of 28374
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
I liked Betsy-Tacy, particularly how the sophistication of the books and the stories changed as she moved through the years. But it's not pioneery at all.
I loved LHOP.
megan walker - Sep 09, 2013 8:18:22 pm PDT #21363 of 28374
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
I loved LHOP, but I do agree with much of what my friend (a Betsy-Tacy fan) writes here: [link]
Connie Neil - Sep 09, 2013 9:18:20 pm PDT #21364 of 28374
brillig
I have not read the LHOP books nor Anne of Green Gables, and I only have a vague familiarity with the name Betsy-Tacy. I think I saw them as "girl's books" or maybe too rural (I grew up in the country, pioneering stuff held no magic for me). Elizabeth Enright was my writer, Depression and wartime urban life. I was enthralled with the Melodys and The Saturdays and the adventures the kids had in New York City.
Scrappy - Sep 10, 2013 7:54:14 am PDT #21365 of 28374
Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
I ADORE Understood Betsy. It's all about empowerment and empathy and brings to life cool olde-timey Vermont.