Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill (Betsy-Tacy #3) by Maud Hart Lovelace

★★★★½

*** Warning: This review contains spoilers!! ***

Isabelle continues to give each Betsy-Tacy book 4 stars. She can't really articulate, and I can't really figure out, why 4 and not 5.

I am REALLY glad I read the first few chapters of this book with Isabelle. Early on, the three girls are talking about a boy who is "horrid" because he called a Syrian a "dago". To be honest, I had to look up the word. Apparently, it is an ethnic slur for a person from Italy, Spain, or Portugal. (So, actually, the boy isn't even using the word correctly!) I'm sure the word probably wasn't as taboo when the book was written, but we ended up with an unexpected learning moment. I brought to Isabelle's attention a previous unexpected learning moment we had had, when Ken and Isabelle read Little Town on the Prairie together and we had a bit of a discussion about the use of the word "darkie". In this case, it is clear that the word "dago" is meant to be derogatory, and the girls seem to know it's a bad word, so it's not exactly the same as the Little Town example. But, it was similar in that the book introduced an offensive word that I would not have chosen to teach my child, and I wanted to make clear that these days, it is not at all acceptable to use such a word.

So, overlooking the bad word (which is basically why I didn't give this book 5 stars), most of the rest of book was as delightful as the previous two books. I found it particularly amusing that even before there were boy bands and movie stars, little girls always had it in them to create fan clubs and crush on celebrities!

There is an incident of truly malicious bullying, and I actually thought it was very well-written. Though I'm not sure it's wise to put yourself physically in harm's way, the girls certainly did the right thing by trying to help, and I like the anti-bullying message that young readers can take away.

I was also impressed with the way the book handled Little Syria. The author did a great job showing how the Syrian immigrants were different, but that "different" does not at all mean "bad", and in fact, the girls found it fascinating and fun to meet new people and learn new things. Especially considering that the book was written in 1942, I liked the positive representation of immigrants and a foreign culture.

It was interesting to come across the term "Mohammedans". It was another learning opportunity, and I talked with Isabelle a bit about Islam and how we now call followers of Islam "Muslims".

I thought the big "quarrel" was a true-to-life depiction of the feelings and behaviors commonly involved in a quarrel among girls, especially sisters. I even felt a bit of apprehension, really wanting the girls to work everything out! Happily, the resolution was beautifully executed.

The book ends with a heavy dose of patriotism, and young readers might realize that being American shouldn't be taken for granted. Others - particularly immigrants - consider it an honor just to be an American! In that respect, I was reminded of In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, another great read.