ALA Booklist

With the girls now in the winter of their sophomore year in high school, the Mother-Daughter Book Club continues to delve into classics and navigate growing up in ways that subtly mirror the trials of their literary companions. Here they read Maud Hart Lovelace's Betsy-Tacy series, a perfectly cozy match to the holiday season. A Secret Santa mix-up highlights tensions amongst the girls, stemming mainly from boy trouble and jealousy. The moms and daughters draw together as they work through issues like unemployment and a possible move. The multiple viewpoints and small-town simplicity that borders on quaintness remain the draws in this charming series.

Horn Book (Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2012)

As the holidays approach, the book club's plans for getaway fun go awry, leading to plot-furthering arguments and misunderstandings. The girls' choice of the Betsy-Tacy series seems timely as they navigate the issues (as usual, they're pretty small and bland) that crop up within their crowd. The story may encourage a new generation of fans to seek out Lovelace's books.

School Library Journal (Sat Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2011)

Gr 6-8 In this installment in the series, the five girls, now sophomores, and their mothers are reading Maud Hart Lovelace's "Betsy-Tacy" series. None of the girls is home for the holidays, as it turns out; two take a cruise, two stay at a fairytalelike inn, and one heads off to California. Parallels to the "Betsy-Tacy" books abound as the teens quarrel, make up, obsess about boys, and worry about a parent's unemployment and a possible move. Though they take turns narrating, their voices sound the same, and their world is filled with more delicious food, fabulous trips, cunning interior decoration, and cute clothes than a women's lifestyle magazine. This will be like candy for fans of Frederick's series, many of whom will be enticed to read Lovelace's books as well. Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library