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Betsy Byars books

Betsy Byars
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Books: 38 | Review: 0 | Avg rating: 3.87
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website
http://www.betsybyars.com/
genres
Fiction , Paranormal Fantasy , Science Fiction , History & Biography , Mystery & Thriller , Picture Books , Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction , Humor , Food & Cookbooks , Memoir & Autobiography , Graphic Novels & Comics , Middle Grade & Children's , Young Adult Fiction , Fantasy , Poetry , Nonfiction , Historical Fiction

Read Books by Betsy Byars

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The Pinballs (2004)

It didn’t surprise me to read that Betsy Byars has received more letters about The Pinballs than about any of her other books. Of all her books that I have read, The Pinballs is one of my favorites. I love the three main characters. The plot is perfectly balanced. Even the writing style immediate...

The Pinballs (2004) by Betsy Byars
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The Night Swimmers (1983)

Retta, Johnny and Roy are the night swimmers: three children whose father leaves them alone while he performs as a singer."Byars has the uncanny ability to know the secret lives...the outward postures, and the exact words her characters would surely use."-- "The New York Times Book Review."A Bost...

The Night Swimmers (1983) by Betsy Byars
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The Summer of the Swans (2005)

Award: NewberryMy TakePuberty is hitting Sara hard and Byars is absolutely brilliant in her depiction of the angst and drama of a young teen with the frustrations about her father and her impatience with her little brother---this rings so true of sibling relationships! Her intense sense of right ...

The Summer of the Swans (2005) by Betsy Byars
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The Two-Thousand-Pound Goldfish (2000)

I usually like this author's work, but this book really dissapointed me. Warren is a young boy who daydreams of the horror movies he hopes to one day make. His daydreams help him escape his real life that consists of a eco-terrorist, missing mom, a older sister who really doesn't pay attention to...

The Two-Thousand-Pound Goldfish (2000) by Betsy Byars
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The TV Kid (1998)

Lennie is addicted to television. Even reruns are more exciting than real life, and Lennie likes to pretend he?s the one experiencing the drama. But Lennie?s daydreams lead him into a real situation that could cost him his life?and suddenly he?s in trouble more terrifying and dangerous than anyth...

The TV Kid (1998) by Betsy Byars
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A Blossom Promise (1989)

For the Blossom family it's the best day of their lives -- and the worst. Maggie, out west with her mother, is about to become the newest Blossom on the rodeo circuit. And now that the rain has finally stopped, Junior can at last visit his friend Mad Mary in her cave in the woods.These two weeks ...

A Blossom Promise (1989) by Betsy Byars
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Coast to Coast (1994)

Birch and her grandfather grab the chance of a lifetime to fly cross country in his old Piper Cub plane. A spirited intergenerational adventure between a girl and her beloved grandfather from the Newbery Medal-winning author of Summer of the Swans, The Night Swimmers, and the acclaimed Blossom fa...

Coast to Coast (1994) by Betsy Byars
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Tarot Says Beware (1997)

Madam Rosa, the eccentric local fortune teller, has been brutally murdered, and the case has everyone baffled. Herculeah has a pretty good idea who the killer is, but someone else has a vision too -- and wants to make sure Herculeah won't be around to see the future. "Byars grips the reader from ...

Tarot Says Beware (1997) by Betsy Byars
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The Dark Stairs (2006)

Herculeah knew something was up. She could feel it in her hair from the very first moment she saw her father, Police Detective Jones, enter the yard of Dead Oaks, the local mystery mansion. Her sense of danger deepened when she encountered the creepy, hollow-toned man who hired her mother to inve...

The Dark Stairs (2006) by Betsy Byars
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Wanted... Mud Blossom (1993)

The fifth book about the Blossom's was a hoot - because we listened to it as a book on tape, and we acually listened to it first. It's fun to hear all the characters come to life. In this book, Vern's friend, Michael, convinces him to trespass in Mad Mary's cave. Mad Mary herself is missing, and ...

Wanted... Mud Blossom (1993) by Betsy Byars
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The Cybil War (1990)

This is my 10 yr old little brother's favorite book. I get so excited that he loves to read! He kept talking about this one and how much he liked it, so I bought him a copy for his birthday. He asked me if I would like to read it too, so I did. It was a cute little story about two best friends wh...

The Cybil War (1990) by Betsy Byars
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The Blossoms and the Green Phantom (1988)

Junior Blossom has finally created the ultimate invention--the Green Phantom. It's big, black, Day-Glo green, and it's beautiful! All it needs is the secret ingredient.The whole family makes a promise to ensure that Junior's invention will be a success, a Blossom promise that can never be broken....

The Blossoms and the Green Phantom (1988) by Betsy Byars
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The Cartoonist (1987)

The only time Alfie feels at peace is when he's drawing pictures in his attic room, away from his unhappy family and the outside world. So when his mother makes other plans for the attic, Alfie barricades himself in. 9 black-and-white halftone illustrations.

The Cartoonist (1987) by Betsy Byars
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Rama, the Gypsy Cat (1976)

Set in the early 19th century, Rama wanders away from his gypsy mistress, takes an inadvertent trip down the Ohio River, and is nursed back to health by a young boy. Perhaps he will stay but a flood changes the landscape and Rama heads west.

Rama, the Gypsy Cat (1976) by Betsy Byars
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The 18th Emergency (1981)

I enjoyed this but wondered if it might be a bit slow-moving for the average young reader. Most of the book focuses on Mouse's fear as he waits for retailiation from the school bully after he labeled a Neanderthal poster with the bully's name. The story only covers about two and a half days, b...

The 18th Emergency (1981) by Betsy Byars
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Keeper of the Doves (2004)

I am borrowing a lovely review by Carol Hurst:Betsy Byars' newest book Keeper of the Doves is the deceptively simple story of one turn of the century family during one summer. Accessible to kids from fourth grade up, it speaks gently but packs a punch. The story revolves around words and their po...

Keeper of the Doves (2004) by Betsy Byars
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McMummy (1995)

What's big, green, grows in a greenhouse . . . and walks? McMummy, a huge plant pod with a strangely human shape. Alternately scary, funny, and poignant, McMummy is Betsy Byars at her best.

McMummy (1995) by Betsy Byars
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Dead Letter (2006)

When Herculeah discovers a mysterious letter inside the lining of a secondhand coat, she suspects it's a desperate cry for help. If so, what happened to the person who wrote it? Herculeah thinks she knows the answer. What she doesn't know is that someone is watching her-someone who will do anythi...

Dead Letter (2006) by Betsy Byars
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King of Murder (2006)

Together with her best friend and reluctant sidekick Meat, Herculeah Jones meets famous mystery author Mathias King, aka The Murder King, who based a novel on a unsolved local stabbing. Could he be responsible for the crime?

King of Murder (2006) by Betsy Byars
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The Burning Questions of Bingo Brown (1990)

"Bingo Brown fell in love three times during English Class." When I read this first sentence, I knew I was in for a treat. Of course, I was the same age as Bingo at the time, sixth grade, and over the course of the next several weeks, I fell in love with Bingo, myself. I devoured everything Byar...

The Burning Questions of Bingo Brown (1990) by Betsy Byars
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The House of Wings (1972)

Thanks to my friend and colleague Cindy, I have a small handful of Betsy Byars books with which to kick off my summer reading. I enjoyed the heck out of The Eighteenth Emergency with its parade of quirky characters. This short novel, House of Wings, is a different creature entirely. Young Samm...

The House of Wings (1972) by Betsy Byars
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Beans on the Roof (1990)

George Bean always wants to play on the roof of his apartmentbuilding. But only his older sister Anna can sit there, because she's writing a roof poem. Anna may be the first Bean to be in a book if the poem wins a contest at school.George decides to write a roof poem too. Soon all the Beans are o...

Beans on the Roof (1990) by Betsy Byars
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Bingo Brown and the Language of Love (1991)

Melissa, the girl Bingo loves, has moved to the end of the world: Bixby, Oklahoma. Cici, a big blonde with a big crush, is moving in on Bingo. Billy "Worm Brain" Wentworth is stuck on Cici - and on getting Bingo to transform him from Rambo to Romeo. Life as a heartbreaker is hard...but leave it t...

Bingo Brown and the Language of Love (1991) by Betsy Byars
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Bingo Brown's Guide to Romance (1994)

I received this book from Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for a review.Well I didn't know this was the last book in the series. That wasn't mentioned in the Netgalley description. Kind of sad with that, because now at times I was just confused. There are some explanations, but a lot is just stran...

Bingo Brown's Guide to Romance (1994) by Betsy Byars
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The Glory Girl (1985)

Anna Glory, the one non-singing member of a gospel-singing family, feels left out, like her misfit Uncle Newt, until the day the family bus is involved in a terrible accident.

The Glory Girl (1985) by Betsy Byars
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Little Horse on His Own

The storm raged around him. There was rain and tiny stones of ice. The only thing about Little Horse that moved was his heart. It had never beat so fast. Finally, the sounds of thunder grew more distant. The rain stopped. There was no more lightning. The only sound he heard now was water dripping...

Little Horse on His Own by Betsy Byars
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18th Emergency

There was a small round hole in the plaster by the front door, and Mouse had once drawn an arrow to the hole and had written DROP COINS HERE BEFORE EXITING. He went out the door, looking down at his feet, taking the steps one at a time. He was trying to be late for school now that his efforts not...

18th Emergency by Betsy Byars
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Not-Just-Anybody Family

the policeman told Pap. Pap threw up his hands to protect himself. “No more reporters. I’m not talking to no more reporters.” His old head wagged tiredly from side to side, begging for mercy. “Me either,” said Vern who was sitting beside him. “This is not a reporter. It’s a lawyer.” Pap’s head sn...

Not-Just-Anybody Family by Betsy Byars
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House of Wings

He looked out the window. On this side of the house the weeds grew thickest, and here his grandfather had put discarded items—an old rusted truck with no tires, a sink that held enough water for a birdbath, wooden crates, broken chairs, an old iron bed. Closer to the house was a small garden, and...

House of Wings by Betsy Byars
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Blossom Promise

Mad Mary said. “I can’t!” Junior sobbed into her ragged clothes. “Junior!” “I can’t, I just can’t!” She pushed him back so he had to look at her. He closed his eyes and shook his head blindly back and forth. He held her clothes so tightly that the old cloth ripped in his hands as he swayed. “Juni...

Blossom Promise by Betsy Byars
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Burning Questions of Bingo Brown

Bingo stood in the doorway to the kitchen in his WØRDS t-shirt. His parents put down their coffee cups and turned to look at him. “Be honest now.” “I thought you had decided to wear Mozart Freak,” his mom said. “Mom, I told you last night it wasn’t special enough. Wait, you haven’t seen the back....

Burning Questions of Bingo Brown by Betsy Byars
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Night Swimmers

His side of the mattress was lower than usual. He flipped over and said, “Johnny?” In the light from the living room he saw that the other half of the bed was empty. “Johnny!” He got up. He hated to be alone and he sensed that Johnny had not just gone to the bathroom or the kitchen. He stumbled i...

Night Swimmers by Betsy Byars
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Glory Girl

Pac Man.” “No, it’s my quarter—I asked for it—and I’m playing Galaxians.” The Glory family had stopped to eat on the way home from their performance at the Central High Auditorium. Mr. and Mrs. Glory were sitting in a booth, tiredly leaning on their arms. Mr. Glory had not spoken since his final,...

Glory Girl by Betsy Byars
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Blossoms Meet the Vulture Lady

Pap asked. Junior said, “No.” “Fool coyote trapped himself, squeezed into a henhouse, swallowed a couple of hens, and couldn’t squeeze out. And, Junior, the coyote never even got close to where your trap was at. You never even stood a chance of trapping anything but yourself and Mud.” “I know tha...

Blossoms Meet the Vulture Lady by Betsy Byars
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Herculeah Jones Tarot Says Beware

He peered around the drugstore. The mime was halfway down the block. Just the sight of that black suit, those white-gloved hands caused Meat to shiver. He took a deep breath. He squared his shoulders. He turned the corner, prepared to duck into the nearest doorway if necessary. It wasn’t. The sid...

Herculeah Jones Tarot Says Beware by Betsy Byars
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Cartoonist

TREE asked. He had been waiting for Alfie. He was leaning against the lone schoolground tree, his foot propped on a root. He seemed part of the landscape. “Nothing,” Alfie said. A line of boys and girls were waiting to board the school bus. One of the boys called, “What’d she do to you, Alfie?” “...

Cartoonist by Betsy Byars
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Two-Thousand-Pound Goldfish

“I wouldn’t call being buried under a thousand feet of leaves a little problem.” WARREN WAS BREATHING THROUGH his open mouth, and his throat was getting so dry he didn’t think he would be able to speak when his turn came. He shifted uneasily. His brow wrinkled with a troubling thought. If his tur...

Two-Thousand-Pound Goldfish by Betsy Byars
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Blossoms and the Green Phantom

The blue light was flashing, but Pap didn’t see it. Pap was asleep, and this time it was a deep, dreamless sleep. Pap was snoring. He awakened with a snort when both policemen shone flashlights directly into his face. His eyes opened. He was instantly blinded, and he put one trembling hand up to ...

Blossoms and the Green Phantom by Betsy Byars

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