Betsy-Tacy

Best Friends ForeverThere 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. And one day, they come home to a wonderful surprise-a new friend named Tib. Ever since their first publication in the 1940's, the Betsy-Tacy stories have been loved by each generation of young readers.

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. 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. And they learn that they themselves wouldn't want to be anything else. Ever since their first publication in the 1940s, the Betsy-Tacy stories have been loved by each generation of young readers.

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. Ever since their first publication in the 1940s, the Betsy-Tacy stories have been loved by each generation of young readers.

The first four books in the beloved Betsy-Tacy series are ready to delight a new generation of readers-and to bring a grownup generation of readers back to the engrossing stories of their youth. Following the childhoods of Betsy Ray and her friends in the late 1800s and early 1900s, this handsome anthology collects the original Betsy-Tacy as well as Betsy, Tacy and Tib, Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, and Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown. Forewords by Judy Blume, Esther Hautzig, and Johanna Hurwitz, and illustrations by Lois Lenski, will make readers of all ages feel at home in the imaginative life of young Betsy Ray as she awakens to the challenges and triumphs of her home in quaint Mankato, Minnesota.

Betsy and the Great World: Betsy Ray is twenty-one and on the adventure of a lifetime: a solo tour of Europe! There's even a handsome Italian, Marco, who's going overboard for her-if only she could stop thinking about her ex-sweetheart Joe Willard. Betsy's Wedding: When Betsy's boat docks in New York, Joe is waiting there . . . with a ring! But she's going to learn that marriage isn't all candlelight, roses, and kisses. There's also cooking, ironing, cleaning, and budgeting- and will she be able to find time to forge a writing career?

Three of a Kind Betsy and Tacy are best friends. Then Tib moves into the neighborhood and the three of them start to play together. The grown-ups think they will quarrel, but they don't. Sometimes they quarrel with Betsy's and Tacy's bossy big sisters, but they never quarrel among themselves. They are not as good as they might be. They cook up awful messes in the kitchen, throw mud on each other and pretend to be beggars, and cut off each other's hair. But Betsy, Tacy, and Tib always manage to have a good time. Ever since their first publication in the 1940s, the Betsy-Tacy stories have been loved by each generation of young readers.

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.

Heaven to Betsy: Betsy Ray is loving every minute of freshman year at Deep Valley High-with new and old friends all around her . . . not to mention boys! But most intriguing of all is the one she and her best friend, Tacy, dub "the Tall Dark Stranger." Betsy in Spite of Herself: Betsy is at the center of every activity as a Deep Valley High sophomore-and suddenly, thanks to her old friend Tib, she's offered a golden opportunity for glorious transformation. But will she impress the special boy by becoming dramatic, mysterious Betsye-or would she be better off just being Betsy in spite of herself?