Understood Betsy (original 1916; édition 1999)

00009199

Slow read. It was fun to see Betsy mature and read about the individuals she lived with. ( )

Oh, I like that. The Putneys are a very clever lot. It's great watching Betsy flower - though it does require narrator intervention to point out a lot of it (more told than shown). For that reason, I liked the Wolf Pit and the fair better than the earlier unfoldings, though those are lovely too. I meant to read it and be done, but I suspect I'll be rereading this - it's quite like Eight Cousins and The Little Princess, both favorites. And a lovely ending - a trifle convenient, but in a realistic way. ( )

I first read this when I was about nine, one summer at my grandparents farm in Maine. I felt like my life was just like Betsy's, because I was in a place that was just like the description of the farm she was on. Except I wasn't an orphan and had umpteen zillion parents, grandparents, and siblings, and cousins around. And a television. And a car. Okay, I was actually nothing like Betsy, but I loved the book, and when I reread it yesterday I still loved it. ( )

Match found in the German National Library.