Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown by Maud Hart LovelaceMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
One of my favorite books ever. As I mentioned in my review of Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill I thought that it would be hard for me to watch them grow up and yet still be little kids, at least until high school. I was wrong. I feel like that book was just an awkward transition book for me. I was still coping with the fact that they're not little kids anymore, but they're not quite grown either. This book was different. Even though they were still only twelve and not in high school yet, I found this story not sad because they had already grow up in a way. There was no awkward dolly playing with yet love affairs like the previous. I felt like in this book I could just sit back and read.
This book focused a lot on Victorian society, which I liked a lot. It catered to my deep love for reading books that deal with ideas and inventions that the characters consider amazing (or unamazing depending on if it's historical or dystopian). When you read about, say how novelic it was to see a "horseless carriage" or use/own a telephone it makes me just brim up with happiness at the simplisticness of society, and gives me a deeper understanding of feelings/thoughts during that time period.
Really, this book just follows Betsy, Tacy, Tib, and a little bit of their newfound side friend, Winona, through the downtown area and all the marvelous things and experiences they discover there. Betsy goes to a library and eats lunch out at Heinz's Restaurant all by herself, they all got to a matinee and act in one, they ride in a horselss carriage, they use and own telephones, they go to parties and visit the wealthiest woman in Deep Valley, Mrs.Poppy, and they go Christmas shopping! The girls go throughout society, and it's like their first exposure to this whole new world.
There is no more doll-playing or game inventing, only the wonders of downtown.
Overall, this book was a joy for its (unusual for the series before this point) societal glimpses. My favorite so far because they finally grew up and their adventures are now more exciting (and easier to connect) with than ever! I'm sure Heaven to Betsy will exceed all my expectations with its even more relatableness and sophistication!
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