Betsy Haynes

"I got to put my scaredness under my feet and stand on it," she told herself firmly.

Slave Girl tells the story of Cowslip, an orphaned slave in the beginning years of the American Civil War, sold at 13 to pay her owner's debts. Told in the 3rd person, the reader is given a window into the mind and heart of an incredibly brave and compassionate girl, as she grows in experience and wisdom. Dreadful, but common to to the American slave experience, events happen, one after another: the steady show more diet of fear, loss of loved ones, glimmers of hope, dashed hopes, brutalities, humiliations of the most cruel & unusual kind...along with succinct explanations of slave culture, if I may call it that...to laugh, to keep one's face blank as a wall.

Published for Scholastic in 1973, this is a gem. I appreciated the understated, yet easy to understand, depictions of Cowslip's life and world. Betsy Haynes, the author, has respect for her material and for her readers. show less

This book is deeply weird! It's about a girl and her friends who seek revenge against and bully a popular girl, to the point where the girl leaves school for a few days and they think they've driven her to die by suicide. The MC kind of learns a lesson, -ish? The humorous part of the story is that the MC sees stuff happen on soap operas and her vivid imagination leads her to believe those things are happening in real life. This part kind of reminds me of It All Began With Jane Eyre by Sheila show more Greenwald. But a lot of this is not really so funny, like the MC worries that her friend Melanie is anorexic because she goes on a crash diet and loses 12 pounds and only eats a hard boiled egg for lunch, or nothing at all. The eating disorder idea is supposed to be really outlandish and another example of the MC's imagination running away with her. But, yeah, could someone please help poor Melanie?? Then there are some genuinely poignant parts, such as the MC can't remember her father and dreams up a twin sister to comfort herself, and she writes her father a letter saying she's dying to get him to contact her, and it turns out her father is an alcoholic and that's why he never is in touch. So the whole book is sort of a mish mosh. But I did enjoy reading it, and just like the main character, the author has a vivid, fertile imagination! show less

Another goodie and oldie from the 1980s, though it was actually the 90s when I read this way back in... IDK. I think I was a tween? It has the kind of after-school special feel to it (these were big in the 80s and 90s) about two middle-school girls (normally they don't get along) who come across an abandoned baby.

Many of the books I read in the 90s are now fuzzy as I was just a kid, but I remember in this one the baby was abandoned (but with the intention of being found/rescued) because the show more mother was being abused and wanted her baby to be safe. Pretty cheesy, but eh. show less

I had a review for this one up but I think Goodreads glitched or something, because it's not here now. The book was adorable, hilarious, and I loved every second of it. The ending was sweet and I felt bad for the original turkey so glad the family decided to change their mind. The way parents think to raise children in positive ways stuns me sometimes. The lightning and nod to Frankenstein had me laughing aloud. Throw in the traumatized bully and this gets even better. What fun.