''Heaven to Betsy'' (1945) is the fifth volume in the

Betsy-Tacy The ''Betsy-Tacy ''books are a series of semi-autobiographical novels by American novelist and short-story writer Maud Hart Lovelace (1892-1980), which were originally published between 1940 and 1955 by the Thomas Y. Crowell Co. The books are n ...

series by

Maud Hart Lovelace Maud Hart Lovelace (April 25, 1892 – March 11, 1980) was an American writer best known for the Betsy-Tacy series. Early life Maud Palmer Hart was born in Mankato, Minnesota to Tom Hart, a shoe store owner, and his wife, Stella (née Palmer) ...

. ''Heaven to Betsy'', describing Betsy's first year in

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, is written for an older age group than the earlier ''Betsy-Tacy'' books. The book, along with the entire ''Betsy-Tacy'' and ''Deep Valley'' series, was republished in 2000 by

HarperTrophy HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Corp ...

with a new cover art illustrated by Michael Koelsch.

Background

The events of the novel span Betsy and Tacy's freshman, or ninth-grade, year of school. A major character is added to the series' cast when Betsy meets Joe Willard, an

orphan An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...

working for his aunt and uncle in their store at Butternut Center. The story differs from the first four books, by expanding the Betsy-Tacy-Tib circle to "The Crowd," a group of boys and girls that frequently meet at Betsy's house. Although Joe Willard was based on Maud Hart Lovelace's husband, Delos Lovelace, the book concentrates more on Betsy's adventures with the Crowd, including her self-described first love, Tony Markham, and the effect of the Crowd on Betsy's burgeoning talent for writing.

References

Betsy-Tacy 1945 American novels Novels set in Minnesota Novels about writers 1945 children's books Thomas Y. Crowell Co. books Books with cover art by Michael Koelsch {{1940s-child-novel-stub