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Betsy in Spite of Herself
Maud Hart Lovelace Book Review

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Plot Summary of Betsy in Spite of Herself
"Readers may remember the Betsy-Tacy books for the younger set, with larger print, a different illustrator, and less complicated sentence structure. As Betsy grows older, the style of the books becomes more sophisticated. There is one book for each year that Betsy is in high school, and Betsy in Spite of Herself is an account of Betsy's sophomore year. The books have the feel of a first person narrative because the stories are semi-autobiographical. Some editions have end sections describing the real people that inspired the fictional citizens of Deep Valley, Minnesota.

At the beginning of her sophomore year, Betsy resolves to reinvent herself in an effort to become more alluring to the opposite sex. She is normally quite bubbly, but decides to be reserved and mysterious. At first, her plan fails miserably. However, she gets a second chance when she leaves on her first major vacation: a trip to visit her friend Tib in Milwaukee over Christmas break. Tib, a serious girl, is awed by Betsy's plan, and resolves to remake herself, too, resolving to be as nymph-like as her looks suggest. Betsy changes the spelling of her name to Betsye, uses large amounts of perfume, speaks softly, and takes care to always look polished. Upon her return, Betsy succeeds in winning over the aloof but handsome rich boy, Phil Brandish. After a few months as Betsye, however, Betsy begins to question the success of her makeover.
"
Katy Pape, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of Betsy in Spite of Herself
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book? - upbeat
Time/era of story - 1900-1920's
Kids growing up/acting up? Yes
Is this an adult or child's book? - Age 11-14
Age group of kid(s) in story: - high school
Loving/sexing? - guy chasing

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - student
Age: - a teen
Ethnicity/Nationality - White (American)
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - none

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 7 (a good amount)
City? Yes
Small town? Yes
Small town people: - nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee
Misc setting - fancy mansion

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death
Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog
Most similar books to Betsy in Spite of Herself
Heaven to Betsy by Maud Hart Lovelace
What Katy Did At School by Susan Coolidge
Hear My Sorrow by Deborah Hopkinson
Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan
When Christmas Comes Again by Beth Seidel Levine


Click here for more information about this book


Maud Hart Lovelace Resident Scholar Profiles

 TOP SCHOLAR:
  Katy Pape  

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