On September 22, close to 30 of us gathered to discuss Betsy Was a Junior, the spirited account of Betsy’s third year at the Deep Valley High School. I (BTS Executive Director Jennifer Davis-Kay) noted that this is the series’ most controversial book – the one that fans are likely to say is their least favorite, due to “the sorority stuff,” Betsy’s bad decisions (and her least interesting beau), and, most especially, THE STOVE incident.

But for me, all of that is what makes this book especially rich! To coin the words of another great writer, the heroines of Maud are essentially human. We learn and grow through our mistakes and bad choices. I adore witnessing Betsy’s journey toward becoming the fine human she yearns to be.

As Meg Cabot writes in her Foreword, “It wouldn’t be Maud Hart Lovelace if everything went according to plans. But Betsy crashes and burns SO spectacularly in Junior that the novel quickly becomes one of my favorites of all time.”

My co-host for this discussion was Elle Rupert – though “co-host” is a misnomer, as Elle wrote all the questions, chose our final activity, and led the entire evening. I was a relaxed lady of leisure, and it was a joy to be a participant in my own group!

We covered a lot in 90 minutes, but here are some of the Gaston-approved high points.

What do we think of Betsy declaring that she would be going with Joe? Why is there an assumption that he is “hers,” which is repeated later by Carney?

Carla: We all kind of thought that, after their meeting at Butternut Center. It’s clear that this boy is going to be important

Elizabeth: She feels proprietary toward him based on that initial connection, I think

Hildy: In English class, they have a deep connection – they clearly belong together

Rita: Yet, once again, Betsy’s plans don’t leave any room for what JOE might want

Betsy! What do you mean you’re going to be the “kind of girl” that a boy would like? HELLO??? GIRL? Didn’t we JUST learn this lesson sophomore year?

Jen: Maybe her truest self is a girl who wants to be what her guy wants her to be!

Mary M: That is exactly why this is my least favorite book. I just can’t deal with all of her bad decisions. Not that I was a perfect teenager who never made bad decisions, but you can just see all of this coming . . .

Elle: I LOVE her bad decisions!

Elizabeth: Her bad decisions make for a great story (and certainly are true to life), but wow do I read about them with a big cringe!

Kate: I think it’s less that she’s trying to change herself and more that she wants to be the best version of herself that she can be

Why do we think Maud picked Phyllis (or someone like Phyllis) for Joe to date?  

Jen: Phyllis is new; she doesn’t know he’s the boy whose pants didn’t match his jacket last year

Susan: I always picture Phyllis as a barracuda! He’s a good-looking guy, he looks good with her, and she just nails him

Diane: Phyllis serves as almost a “finishing school” for Joe – gives him more self-confidence, smooths that chip on his shoulder. I wonder how much Joe is aware that she’s a good [pre-Betsy] choice. All roads lead to Betsy!

Paula: I think Phyllis is one of those women who always needs a guy – and we all know women like that

Hildy: Maud had to keep Joe and Betsy apart just to create some drama. It would have been dull if they had “gone steady” throughout the high school years

We know that Phyllis is unlikable, because Betsy tells us she doesn’t like her and we tend to believe Betsy. But what proof do we actually see of Phyllis being unlikable? 

Rita: Phyllis made it clear at Irma’s party that she wasn’t interested in further involvement. It’s less that she was unlikable – she didn’t like them!

Elle: That’s a really nice way to put it!

Jennifer: It’s EXTREMELY rare that Betsy outright states that she doesn’t like another character. And at Irma’s party, Phyllis is obnoxious about farmers

Elizabeth: I can imagine she wasn’t particularly happy to move to a small town, and that would have impacted her liking folks

We briefly stopped to take a photo, as I posed the thought that had been dancing in my head: Do we think Joe and Phyllis were spoony? Dawn then scolded me: “Gosh, Jen, plant the thought in our heads of Joe spooning with Phyllis and then want us to smile for the photo! Eek!” We did discuss this, though, starting with a group definition of “spoony”: holding hands and maybe kissing.

Show of hands: Do you think they were spoony?

[About half the room raised their hands, a quarter said no, a quarter weren’t sure]

Jen: Phyllis was kicked out of Browner for staying out late with a boy! I can see her slipping her hand into Joe’s and a startled Joe going along with it. But I think that’s it

Dawn: I think Joe would want to be the perfect gentleman he would have read about in books

Diane: Betsy and Joe started kissing senior year

Paula: Joe was very comfortable with lots of public kissing and hair toppling when he met up with Betsy in NYC!

How would the story have been different if Joe were interested in a different girl, such as Irma?

Carla: I would have been devastated – although I think Irma gets treated unfairly. She’s sweet. She doesn’t want to hurt people. She dated Phil all through junior year, till he graduated

Theresa: Irma is kind of like Dolly Parton . . . getting attention for her body, but very sweet and liked by all (except the jealousy part)

Jennifer: Irma gets a bad rap. But yeah, we simply could not have lived through that. We can’t have any Crowd girls thinking, “I know what his kisses are like” !!

What’s up with Margaret? Why is she portrayed as so quiet and awkward?

Carla: She’s in awe of her older sisters, and I see her as sort of a Beth March – a homebody who likes being at home with the adults and her animals. Once she hits high school, she’s actually more like her sisters [with same-age friends and a boyfriend]. I think she’s a late bloomer

Janet: I see Margaret as an “old soul”

Kate: In high school, she is no longer in Julia and Betsy’s shadow, and this may allow her to bloom

Jennifer: And she’s totally away from Deep Valley. She gets to reinvent herself

Paula: Margaret is six and eight years younger than her siblings. In childhood, that’s a generation! And she’s an introvert in a house of extroverted girls

Nancy: I know that these books are very autobiographical, but I do wonder if Maud is also making craft choices to present the characters as three distinct types

Elle: Such a good point! We need these girls to be different and to intersect in different ways

As always, there was a lively conversation in the chat, including whether Betsy was an introvert or extrovert, who Julia’s high school friends are, the appeal – or not – of Dave Hunt, what kind of girls Delos dated before Maud 😮, and whether your behavior can actually be labeled “mean” if being mean wasn’t your intention.

It was a perfectly glorious evening – good talk and great insights! Many thanks to Elle for her brilliant planning and leadership. I can’t wait for Part 2!

We concluded the evening with a hilarious game of “Kiss, Marry, or Write Off?” Elle presented three options, and we had to choose which option we liked enough to kiss – just once!, which we would pledge our troth to forever, and which WOULD NO LONGER BE PART OF THE SERIES. The twist: the items weren’t always people!

Here are the choices Elle offered:

• Joe, Dave, Tony
• Three key scenes: “the old pill” incident, forgetting the pet party, Betsy learning that she’s not being picked for Essay Contest
• Ray traditions: Sunday Night Lunch, Christmas, Murmuring Lake
• Okto Delta activities: Progressive Dinner, initiation, football games
• Phyllis’s auto, Dandy, Betsy’s rowboat
• Boys spreading tar, Betsy getting a curling iron, Okto Deltas getting their pins
• Les Misérables, Vanity Fair, Ivanhoe
• “Howdy Cy,” “Mi chiamano Mimi,” “The Cat Duet”
• Silent Dave at Murmuring Lake, Pennant-Erecting Dave, “I’ll take you to the next dance” Dave

It was so much fun!