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Feb. 18th, 2009 07:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
verity83Book 19: Betsy in Spite of Herself, 328pp
As I anticipated, I didn't enjoy this one all that much, although to be fair it *did* improve along the way.
I'm not sure if it's because I missed out on the whole teenage/high school culture or what, but I just can't relate to a bunch of frivolous, silly teenagers acting the way they act in this book. So concerned with hair and clothes and flirting with boys and all that.
I did find it a bit confusing with all the characters at the beginning and apparently the Rays moved. I missed a book or two since the library doesn't have the whole set.
I was glad that in the end Betsy grew up and matured to a point where she knew she could just be herself and didn't have to do silly things just to impress.
I did discover in the notes in the back of the book that Winona of the later books was based on a different girl from the Winona in "Downtown". No wonder I felt betrayed, in that case. Oh well. Apparently there is a book called Winona's Pony Cart where she is based on the girl that inspired the Winona I like. I may have to see if I can find that one.
Oh, and another thing that turned me off as a teen was the illustrations. I found that they still bother me. It's not just because I like Lois Lenski's art in the first four books... and it's not that the art in these is bad, per se. It just seems flippant and fluffy and changes the entire mood and even seems to affect the characters.
Oddly, although the later art is more realistic, for what it's worth, I find that the simplicity of Lois Lenski's art seems far more approachable. I wonder why she didn't illustrate the rest of the series.
One more Betsy book available to me, and then I can move on.
As I anticipated, I didn't enjoy this one all that much, although to be fair it *did* improve along the way.
I'm not sure if it's because I missed out on the whole teenage/high school culture or what, but I just can't relate to a bunch of frivolous, silly teenagers acting the way they act in this book. So concerned with hair and clothes and flirting with boys and all that.
I did find it a bit confusing with all the characters at the beginning and apparently the Rays moved. I missed a book or two since the library doesn't have the whole set.
I was glad that in the end Betsy grew up and matured to a point where she knew she could just be herself and didn't have to do silly things just to impress.
I did discover in the notes in the back of the book that Winona of the later books was based on a different girl from the Winona in "Downtown". No wonder I felt betrayed, in that case. Oh well. Apparently there is a book called Winona's Pony Cart where she is based on the girl that inspired the Winona I like. I may have to see if I can find that one.
Oh, and another thing that turned me off as a teen was the illustrations. I found that they still bother me. It's not just because I like Lois Lenski's art in the first four books... and it's not that the art in these is bad, per se. It just seems flippant and fluffy and changes the entire mood and even seems to affect the characters.
Oddly, although the later art is more realistic, for what it's worth, I find that the simplicity of Lois Lenski's art seems far more approachable. I wonder why she didn't illustrate the rest of the series.
One more Betsy book available to me, and then I can move on.
