Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill

by Maud Hart Lovelace

Betsy, Tacy, and Tib are almost ten, and they just can't wait to be grown up. One by one, the girls turn ten and celebrate their new maturity.

While there are several mini-plots, a good portion of the novel concerns itself with a neighborhood in Deep Valley known as "Little Syria." It is there (over the big hill) that the girls will learn about another culture and make a new friend, Naifi.

While the story is Lovelace's usual combination of wholesome and sweet, the whole Little Syria bit is just a little strange. What's even stranger is that it is based on reality. Mankato, Minnesota actually had a settlement of Lebanese immigrants in MLH's time. Amazing.

8/30/10