It's Betsy-Tacy Convert Week!!! Go Philos! Go Zets! Let the Games Begin!

I can't believe it's finally here -- on Tuesday, September 29th, the Harper Perennial Modern Classics editions of Heaven to Betsy and Betsy in Spite of Herself, Betsy was a Junior and Betsy and Joe, and Betsy and the Great World and Betsy's Wedding are on sale! The have forewords by New York Times bestselling authors Laura Lippman, Meg Cabot and Laura Lippman and feature original cover art illustrations by the amazing illustrator Vera Neville, who brings Betsy into young adulthood from Lois Lenski's endearing childhood illustrations. In addition, they feature back matter excerpted from Sharla Scannell Whalen's amazing Betsy-Tacy Companion, with wonderful background material on Maud Hart Lovelace and the friends and family she wrote about in her beloved series.

As part of the reissue celebration, this week (and probably next) has been deemed Betsy-Tacy Convert Week! More than 200 people have signed up (via this blog and Facebook) to use this time to find and convert a new reader to the world of Betsy-Tacy -- and to make things interesting, they've been divided into two teams, Zetamathians and Philomathians -- the two rival societies at Deep Valley High School. Converters will post their stories here in the comments (as well as on Facebook, Twitter, and everywhere else). At the end of these two weeks I will tally up how many Zets and how many Philos made converts (based on comments posted here) and the winning team will win a paver stone in their name outside of Maud Hart Lovelace's childhood home!

I can't wait to see the comments pile up! There are also Betsy-Tacy parties planned in various locations, and there may be one near you, see below! There have also been so many online and print features, just in the last week alone, that demonstrate how much people love Betsy-Tacy, once they've been introduced! Check it all out below!

 

Betsy-Tacy Parties!
9/30 Aliso Viejo, CA, at the Aliso Viejo Library
10/3 Mankato, MN, at the Betsy Tacy Houses
10/3 Mesquite, TX, at Borders
10/23 Bainbridge Island, WA, at the Library
10/29 Waltham, MA at More Than Words**NEW!
11/7 Highland Village, TX, at Barnes and Noble
11/8 St. Paul, MN, at the Red Balloon Bookshop
2/16/10 Wellesley, MA at the Wellesley Booksmith
4/17/10 Dallas, TX, at the Dallas Heritage Village

Blog and Newspaper Features, just in the last week!
Six Boxes of Books -- Depraved Deep Valley - Top Ten Ways Deep Valley High is Like Gossip Girls!
Here in the Bonny Glen -- Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill
Booking Mama (and Booking Daughter) -- Betsy and Tacy Books #3 and #4!
Mankato Free Press -- Betsy-Tacy's Back!
Book Chatter and Other Stuff -- Betsy-Tacy Review
Joelle Anthony -- In Celebration of Betsy-Tacy
My Books. My Life -- Betsy, Tacy and Tib Review
Lauren Mechling -- Betsy-Tacy Giveaway!

Now bring on the comments:
Zet, Zet, Zetamathian! Philo, Philo, Philomathian!

Comments

[Mary Kay Andrews]

I was lucky enough to get the adorable reissued Betsy-Tacys. Love, love, love 'em. The illustrations add so much to the story, and the forewords were wonderful too. Just started the last one last night, and I dread finishing them. Maybe somebody could ghost-write Betsy's Hot Flash,or Betsy Gets Down-Sized From the Minneapolis Tribune. Nah.

[Greta Huls]

I got my copy of Heaven to Betsy/Betsy in Spite of Herself and dithered over who should get it: a girl in our American Girl Club? at church? at my daughter's school? my nieces? So many choices! I finally settled on my co-worker Nancy Shumaker, who is the Canon for Children's Ministries here in The Episcopal Diocese of Arizona.

Not only does she have two granddaughters just the right age but she travels the state going to churches to assist with their children's programs.

I told her about the books and about my blog http://episcayune.blogspot.com/2009_08_01_archive.html and she was delighted to hear about a non-threatening way for kids to learn about the Episcopal Church. I even published my blog as a story on her webpage, http://children.azdiocese.org/dfc/newsdetail_2/657

I gave Nancy her copy of Heaven to Betsy/Betsy in Spite of Herself on Saturday. She was thrilled and can't wait to spread the word about Betsy-Tacy!

(Don't worry, I'll make sure copies make their way to girls in our American Girl Club, church, my daughter's school, and my nieces!)

Go Philos!

[Lillian]

So delighted to hear from a lawyer in Andover, MA that she had found (and was impressed by) the new edition of Betsy and the Great World/Betsy's Wedding on the New Release trade paperback table at her local Barnes & Noble!

[Ti]

Your excitement is contagious! After reading that first book it's hard not to get excited! I am also thrilled that my daughter, who turns 6 on 10/7 is able to read some of the words on her own now. No "see jane run" books for her!

[Wendy D]

This Philo is giving the book to my husband's boss's daughter who turns 10 this week. Her reaction is TBD,

[Sarah M.]

I did not know about the Betsy-Tacy Convert Week, what fun. I had already planned a "Maud Hart Lovelace Reading Challenge" so I thought I'd spread the word in case you or anyone you know is interested. I just found your blog the other day.

http://libraryhospital.blogspot.com/2009/09/maud-hart-lovelace-reading-challenge.html

[Lucy Schmidt]

I received the book and even though it was extremely difficult for this PHILOMATHIAN to part with it, I passed it on to my best friend. She had never heard of the Betsy-Tacy series and after I explained the whole situation to her, was totally thrilled and anxious to start reading right away. Sadly, we were at work, so it had to wait, but I'm very excited to hear from her once she starts reading the best books ever! She already wants to attend the next convention.

[Jill Schmidt]

I gave the book to one of my closest friends, Sara. Sara has just started her new job as a literacy tutor with the St. Paul public school system, so hopefully she will be able to convert some young readers as well! I think all fellow Philomathians will agree that this conversion should receive double points for its potential ripple effect :-)

Sara said that she is very excited to read the Betsy Tacy series, as all of her friends have been talking about them for years, and now she will finally understand our romantic references to Joe Willard!

Go Philos!

[Mary G]

Go ZETS!

I just wrote up a blog article (http://vahilltopfarm.blogspot.com/2009/09/books-maud-hart-lovelace-challenge.html) about the MHL Reading Challenge and the B-T books generally ...

I'm going to convert my almost 10yod (and we'll be knitting some specially designed items while we read to each other). We're going to spend the month of October (altho we'll "cheat" and start today!) reading all the B-T books ... if I don't have a convert by the end of that spree ...

ZET, ZET, ZETAMATHIANS!

[Paula in MN]

ZET!ZET!ZETAMATHIAN! I introduced these books to my dd10 last year, so when I got this one in the mail she thought it was for her. No such luck. I've given it to my niece. I can't believe my sister never told her about these books! My niece has been testing all week, so won't start reading until this weekend. I know she'll love them as much as we do!

[Barbara]

This ZETAMATHIAN is sending her copy off to her best friend. It just happens to be her birthday this week--what better present than a new book addiction! :)

[katie in MI]

Philo! Philo! Philo!
My copy went to a co-worker with two girls (one freshman and one in 4th grade). They started listening to B-T after my crazed and giddy reports about Convention. After Claire and Halle finish HTB/BiSoH, they plan to give it to 3 sisters in their neighborhood. Whoot!

[Darsa M.]

PHILO PHILO PHILO!

I have been reading YA author Sarah Dessen's blog for a few years now and have always thought she would really enjoy MHL's Betsy-Tacy series. When this challenge came about, I emailed Sarah and asked her if I could send her my Convert Copy of Heaven to Betsy/Betsy in Spite of Herself. She replied, "I have actually never read the Betsy-Tacy books, although I have heard about them a lot, especially from Meg Cabot's blog. I'd love to read one of them and I'm sure Sasha would as well, when she is ready."

I sent the book, along with a copy of Betsy-Tacy and some information on the BT Society, to Sarah last week. I'll post her response when it happens!

Also, I lent the BT Treasury, along with Heave to Betsy, to a friend of mine who used to love the books but hadn't read them in a while. Her fifth grade daughter (who doesn't often read for pleasure on her own) picked up the Treasury off of the stairs and has been reading it and loving it! So you can put me down for two!!

[Kelly M.]

PHILO!

My copy is going to one of my son's 5th grade classmates. I told her about the books and she is excited to read it!

[Betsy J]

ZET! ZET! ZETAMATHIAN!

My copy went to two sisters (ages 13 and 11) who are the daughters of a good friend of mine. They are homeschooling now and are avid readers. They are making their way through the Little House series (and associated projects - fun!) so may take a bit to read BT but I'll keep checking in with them.

[siriuslysnapeys.livejournal.com]

This ZETAMATHIAN happily handed her copy of HTB/BISOH to her co-worker ELIZABETH, for her daughter, BETSY. :) Mom knew of my life-long love of Betsy and Maud, so it didn't take much explaining. As her Betsy is in 4th grade, I told her that a part of me thought she might want to start with Downtown, but that we had these LOVELY new dual editions of the high school books and so I (and Harper!) wanted to give them to her. She seemed touched, and I shall report back if a convert has been made.
Susan

[Michelle B.]

PHILO! PHILO! PHILOMATHIAN!

I gave my copy to a 5th grade neighbor girl whose mom bemoaned the lack of "clean" books for that grade level. They both seem excited!

[Michele B.]

I gave my copy to a friend to give to her daughter. At school they have a program called D.E.A.R. which stands for Drop Everything and Read which they do during teacher prep periods. My friend said her daughter was scrambling for books and had been re-reading old favorites, and I figured a re-reader was a good target. I'll post back again when I hear what she thought. But meanwhile...go Philos!

[Laurie BZ]

I mustered my wits and called the mom of our babysitter (aged 15, sophomore) and said I would be bringing the book over for her and her sister (age 11 or 12). The mom said she did not think they had read these books. I hope that they will tell me what they think!

Go Philos!

[Sue]

PHILOS RULE!

My book is on it's way, round robin style, to six moms of nine young girls who are in my internet mom group who have been hearing me wax poetic about BT for years and agreed to give Betsy a try. It should arrive in the hands of the first family today, I hope to have at least a couple of converts out of this group.

GO PHILOS!