Betsy-Tacy Convention 2025, Part 2

Breakfast on Saturday was back in the Convention Center and there were muffins. I had brought two books from home for the book exchange and placed Madensky Square by Eva Ibbotson on the table (don’t worry, it was a duplicate copy). I was delighted to run into Cindy Jett and her daughter Shelley, and my respect for Shelley increased when she insisted her mother would like Madensky Square and took it for her. I don’t think Cindy is the sentimental type but you can’t go wrong with Ibbotson!

Betsy's telephone (more or less)

The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis #1954Club #Narniathon21

Title: The Horse and His Boy
Author: C.S. Lewis
Publication: Puffin, paperback, originally published in 1954
Genre: Juvenile fantasy/series
Setting: South of Narnia

Description: Shasta, a poor fisherman’s son in Calormen, Narnia’s traditional frenemy, is used to the abuse he gets from his alleged father, Arsheesh, but when a Tarkaan (great lord) demands hospitality and offers to purchase Shasta, he is afraid it might be out of the frying pan, into the fire.

Betsy-Tacy Annual Ornament Exchange

Every year for the past 13 years the Betsy-Tacy listserv has done an ornament exchange to commemorate the famous shopping expedition made by Betsy, Tacy and Tib in Chapter 10 of Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown. First organized by Elizabeth K and then taken over by energetic head elf Betsy Sundquist as a sort of Secret Santa, it is an event that is anticipated with great pleasure by Betsy-Tacy fans. The idea is to send an ornament that is somehow tied into a BT event or character. Some years I have very clever ideas and some I can barely get my sadly ordinary ornament mailed in time to be received by Christmas. For several years, I have included my nieces in the preparation. Although they have not read *all* the books, they were very familiar with Betsy and Tacy from an early age and have enjoyed choosing ornaments and composing notes to their recipients.

This year my ornament sender was incredibly creative! My package was addressed to Emily Webster, the heroine of Emily of Deep Valley, who comes to terms with missing out on a traditional college education when she becomes involved in Deep Valley activities as an adult. Among other things, she befriends the Syrian community, which begins when two boys, Kalil and Yusef, offer to sell her frogs' legs. When Emily realizes that these lively outgoing boys are having a hard time with their American-born classmates, she is determined to help them make friends with children their own age. When she visits their family, she is overwhelmed by the lavish hospitality.

My ornament package, which arrived most appropriately on Christmas Eve, actually included four small glass bowls full of the delicacies offered to Emily by the Syrian families: raisins, dates, nuts, and chocolate beans: Under these carefully wrapped glass bowls (which we unwrapped and immediately sampled) were three beautiful nested boxes (both my mother and I love little boxes so I can't wait to use these). My family watched with interest as each layer was revealed - my nieces and I often open our ornaments together but my parents had never participated in this holiday ritual before:

Inside the pretty boxes was a frog ornament, reminiscent of the frogs' legs sold to Emily Webster by Kalil and Yusef.

Here is the final decorated tree in my living room. After positioning it, I went outside to make sure the lights were visible from the street. Next year, I may try it in another room right in front of a window.

For thos unfamiliar with the Betsy-Tacy books, Emily of Deep Valley is more of standalone title about one of Betsy's younger friends. It is back in print, in a lovely new edition with a forward from Mitali Perkins, a talented author who has been a delightful recruit to the Boston area Betsy-Tacy fans. Even if you haven't read the other Betsy-Tacy books, Emily of Deep Valley will appeal to teen and adult readers who love a good coming of age story.

Legacy Place

There is a beautiful new Borders in Dedham called Legacy Place, where I went recently for an Anita Shreve reading. Although I have enjoyed her books for years, I had not known she attended Dedham High School (followed by Tufts) and lives in Massachusetts. She looked much more glamorous now (due to Oprah-related success, no doubt), reading from her new book, A Change in Altitude, than when I had first met her in 1992, when she was the relatively unknown author of Eden Close. At that time NAL hosted a lunch for her to which I was invited as the New York sales rep and she signed Strange Fits of Passion, then new, for me. Later, I became a huge fan of Where or When, and included it as one of my top ten in an article for Romantic Times. Anita was very pleasant and gracious to the large group of fans who lined up to have their books signed. She recommended some favorite authors and books, including The Transit of Venus, which several in the audience tried to buy in the store without success, and I have now recommended to my book group.

In fact, I was eager to use some 40% off coupons Borders had sent me for the store opening but this lovely new store did not have any of the books I wanted to buy! No Betsy-Tacy (horrors), which I wanted for my dentist's daughter; nothing by Lauren Snyder, although Any Which Wall was newly out in paperback, very appropriate for summer reading; nothing by Mitali Perkins although her new book, Bamboo People, is garnering great reviews and word of mouth. The store's computer purported to have one copy of The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages but no one could find it. So much for a book that won an armful of awards! While a pleasant young woman duly offered to order any of these books for me from Borders.com, she explained that she could not honor my coupons, and while I understand that Borders is in great financial difficulty it should not allow a customer to leave empty handed. Even a token 10% off an order for these books at Borders.com would have been a good customer service move because of course I did end up ordering them elsewhere. I wish I were still in touch with the children's buyers for Borders because they are missing out on some viable titles.
I tried to think of something else to buy and certainly the store was full of lovely books (especially the history and cookbook sections) but as I am hoping to move this summer it did not really make sense to buy a nonessential that I would simply have to pack.