Between These Pages

Memory is such a fickle thing. I had remembered this one as not particularly good, but it turns out I like it very well, and it’s absolutely one where I long to be a part of Betsy’s world.

This is the book where Betsy’s penchant for telling stories evolves into a passion for writing. She’s set up with her own little special writing desk, mails a story off to a magazine and even has a poem unexpectedly published. But the best part is how her parents handle Betsy’s voracious reading (an absolute must for aspiring writers). Her mother learns that Betsy has been reading dime novels (we’re expected to know that dime novels are at best melodramas and at worst far too racy for a young girl). Rather than punishment, her parents arrange for her to go to the library on her own every other Saturday. She’s given money so that she can eat her lunch at a nearby bakery and then return to the library for the afternoon. It sounds like heaven to me! It’s in this book that Betsy meets Miss Sparrow, a librarian who helps her find all the best books.

I’m jealous of Betsy’s library trips, but also of her Christmas shopping trip with her friends. Each year the girls go to town with a dime. They go in and out of all the shops and pick what they’re getting from each (never mind that they’re just imagining). Finally at the last stop, the toy store the girls spend their dimes to pick out ornaments. It’s a lovely tradition.

So what’s not so great? Well, a main character Mrs. Poppy is quite large. And this is referred to rather frequently throughout the book, particularly in statements that she’s pretty for someone so fat or graceful for someone her size. It’s a bit awkward. Also, part of the story revolves around a performance of Uncle Tom’s Cabin which means there are several references to blackface. Remembering that these books are set at the turn of the century, blackface would have certainly been expected, especially in a performance of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. But unlike the girls’ experience with the Syrians in Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill where the girls clearly overcome their prejudice, the racism inherent in blackface is never discussed by them, and is in fact condoned. This can be seen when they attempt to put on their own play in place of going to see Uncle Tom’s Cabin and one of the girls plans to black her face and dance like Topsy. It is likely that modern readers will not know what blackface is, but it’s good to know what they’re reading about.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – The girls read dime novels and although we never know their content, the titles lead us to believe they might be a bit smutty; that and the fact that Tacy’s father burns one when he finds her reading it.  The girls are beginning to notice boys.  Older sister Julia has a boy to walk with her and carry her books and help her upstairs.  Although Betsy and Tacy declare that going around with boys makes them sick, Tib admits that she likes a boy.  During a ride in an automobile Tib is nestled against an older lady’s bosom.  Mrs. Ray gives Mr. Ray a kiss as thanks for her Christmas present. Betsy writes a horrid story (more on it below) and the main character sees husbands and wives kissing.
Profanity – gosh, Lord-a-mercy
Death, Violence and Gore –  Mr. and Mrs. Poppy had a daughter Minnie who died.  When Betsy finds out she doesn’t know how to say she’s sorry.  Betsy writes a truly luridly awful story about a girl whose head comes off in a bobsledding accident, but who is still alive and carries her head about. It ends well though, she meets a boy who does some type of ritual which clamps her head back on and they go on to get married and have children.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Again, girls play with empty cigar boxes.  A boy sings a song called Brown October Ale. Tib owns a Schlitz beer calendar.  The Poppies own a collection of beer steins and one of pipes.
Frightening or Intense Things – Uncle Tom’s Cabin is performed as a play and is the subject of much discussion, including mention of the deaths of various characters, a bloodhound chase and a flogging scene.  To be honest, I think most of my knowledge of Uncle Tom’s Cabin is from this book which is a bit shameful.

I’ve been feeling rather inadequate about my reviews of this series. That somehow my inadequacy as a reviewer will make it so you won’t have any interest in these books; that you’ll stay away until I’m done with the set, waiting for something better to come along. So it’s probably best that you know that much of my insecurity is stemming from the fact that the set I own comes equipped with forewords. Forewords written by famous people. Famous authors. Like Judy Blume and Ann M. Martin, Joanna Hurwitz and Anna Quindlen. What could I possibly say that they couldn’t say better?

True confessions of inadequacy aside, this book (the third in the series) starts off a bit slowly. I was never terribly interested in the girls wild adoration of the soon-to-be crowned King of Spain (but then again, it’s not like I had any experience close to that. William and Harry were babies, BABIES I TELL YOU when I was growing up. There were no dashing 16 year old princes or kings running about). Also, the part about Little Syria always confused me a bit. This reading (especially the afterword) sorted things out for me a bit. My student readers have sometimes complained that the beginning was boring but stuck with it after some gentle nudging and all reported back that they were glad that they did.

More than the first two, this book has a cohesive story that runs throughout rather than functioning as a set of smaller stories about the friends. This book is really about acceptance. Much of this book is the girls’ exploration of a community on the other side of the Big Hill. It is called Little Syria although its occupants are Lebanese (stay with me here, evidently Lebanon was part of Syria back when these books took place). The Lebanese in this story are Christian and have come to America because their homeland is predominantly Muslim (called Mohammedan in the story) and the Turkish Muslims in particular (yes, Lebanon is part of Syria, but Syria is part of the Ottoman Empire, it’s a lot to keep straight!) are oppressing Christians. The girls initially have a negative reaction to these people: They speak loudly! harshly! strangely! A boy at school has been chased by one who was carrying a knife! But they soon learn to communicate without shared language and befriend a little girl. They discuss hearing kids call the Lebanese people “dago” (Racist slur alert! The girls do point out that this is an unacceptable thing to say.) At one point, boys from their school are bullying the little Lebanese girl. Betsy, Tacy and Tib get right in the middle of it. Dresses are torn, costumes toppled and big sisters eventually step in and fend off the bullies.  The girls eventually end up even convincing grown-ups that the Lebanese are not to be feared or shunned.   Also, although brief, there is a mention of the girls visiting a deaf-dumb neighbor. There is nothing intentionally hurtful in the use of this term, it speaks more to the age of the book. The girls have learned to communicate with the woman using finger-spelling, and visit her in hopes of getting her to sign a petition.

Again, this is on a 3-5 grade reading level, although younger children may enjoy it as a read aloud.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – The girls declare they are in love with the King of Spain and that Tib should marry him and become queen.  They talk about how older sister Julia likes ordinary boys who walk you home and carry your books.  At one point Julia struggles into her underwear (just part of a scene about getting dressed).
Profanity – “Gee whiz,” “Gee whitakers,” “Double darn,” “dago” is repeated throughout – it is an racial slur intended to cause pain to the Syrians.
Death, Violence and Gore – There are rumors about one of the Syrians chasing a boy with knives.  There is a scuffle when the boys tease the Syrian girl, they take off her kerchief and pull her braids. The Syrian girl lives with her father and grandparents because her mother passed away.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – The little girl’s grandfather smokes a hookah pipe.  It is called a narghile or a hubble bubble pipe in the book.
Frightening or Intense Things – Tib gets the grippe (the flu) but it is only mentioned once in passing.

Betsy-Tacy and Tib starts three years after Betsy-Tacy. The girls are now 8 and their circle has expanded to welcome little blonde Tib. While I certainly looked most like Betsy, I envied Tacy’s beautiful red ringlets and associated with her role as bashful best friend, but Tib was an entirely new creature to me. Beautiful and aware of it without being vain, Tib is the most down-to-earth of the girls, often questioning Betsy’s wild flights of fancy. For the reader, she’s a welcome relief. Just when you feel things will go a bit too far, Tib’s there to remind you that it’s make-believe, because again, most of the fun is courtesy of the girls’ imaginations. Whether they are ruining their dresses and pretending to be beggars (a game that earned them some stern lectures about lying) or building houses in the basement out of firewood, these girls know how to have a good time. There’s practically no whining about being bored.

Of course, sometimes the age of the book shows just a bit. After building the basement firewood house, Tib’s father tells her brother Freddie that he may grow up to be an architect. When Tib asks if she too can be an architect, her father tells her she can’t, that she “will be a little housewife.” Betsy and Tacy are miffed, but more because they picture Tib as a dancer rather than outrage that she can’t be an architect. Later in the book the girls discuss what they want to do when they grow up. Tacy wants to get married and have babies. Tib wants to be a dancer or an architect and Betsy wants to be a writer.  It should be noted that although Tib’s father is discouraging about a career, and Tacy doesn’t want a career, that Betsy’s desire to be an author (which was certainly ahead of its day at the turn of the century) is never discouraged by her family or friends.

A few other things that parents and teachers should be aware of: at one point the girls are left alone and use the stove to mix up and cook an Everything Pudding (yes, as gross as you imagine); towards the end they decide to get up a Christian Kindness Club so they can go to Heaven. They all have different religions (although all Christian) and there are some thoughts on sin (Tacy volunteers that you are born bad – Catholic much?) and penance that you may want to discuss. The girls basically decide to put a pebble in a bag pinned to their dress every time they’re bad, but rather than motivate them to behave, the game just makes them more mischievous because it’s fun to put pebbles in their bags!

Again the reading level on this falls somewhere between 3-5th grade, although for read aloud you could go younger.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – Matilda says “Gott in Himmel” which translates to God in Heaven, but unless your children speak German, you don’t need to worry. Tacy says “Gol darn.”
Death, Violence and Gore – None.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – Tacy catches diphtheria. It is a fairly serious case and her family is quarantined. This gets Betsy on a morbid sort of tear where she announces that if any of the girls died, they’d need something to remember her by, which then leads to making lockets and filling them with locks of each other’s hair. It ends comically with tragic results coming only for their hair.