The past few weeks, I've found myself rereading the Bety-Tacy books with a passion. I only own the first four in Michigan, but when I went home last week (more on that later), I picked up where I had left off and kept on reading til I made it through the last one. The first time I was introduced to these books was probably when I was about 5, which is how old Betsy is in the first book. (Subsequent books follow her through the rest of childhood, high school, and even through the first three years of marriage.) As I got older, I'd get the occasional Betsy-Tacy book for Christmas or birthdays until I had the whole collection. Although I didn't really appreciate some of the later books when I was younger, I was old enough for this reading to have been every age written about and could identify with her better overall. For that matter, I've always identified with Betsy probably more than any other literary character ever -- she was the second daughter, had straight bro