DOWNTOWN by Maud Hart Lovelace Chapter VII - A TRIP TO THE LIBRARY.

To celebrate the last day of my birthday week I am going to do a recap of the most perfect chapter in all of literature!

It begins early in November. I just checked a 1905 calendar and the second Saturday was November 11. So today is the 114th anniversary of this spectacular day!

Betsy decides to wear a pretty hat (pictured) and her regular stockings - no hood, leggings and overshoes for our fashionable girl! She grabs Julia's fancy pocketbook and says goodbye to everyone on Hill Street. Tacy is her final parting. Tacy, as usual, is a brick and makes Betsy feel good about going by herself.

The library is described as a "small white temple" and there is a cage in the center. Betsy cases the joint as she has never been in a library before. Imagine being able to pinpoint the first time you were ever in a library! There is a mole covered woman with messy hair in the cage. I am not kidding - that is how she is described. We know that she is a LOVELY young woman with a "cozy" face - but the mole and the hair are mentioned... This is Miss Sparrow. And it is one of the best days of Miss Sparrow's working life because she is about to meet a girl who was born to be in a library!

They discuss "the classics" and Betsy learns the wonders of the children's room. There is a picture of THE ISLE OF DELOS in the room and that is a sweet easter egg for those of us who know the name of the love of Maud's life. There is a bit of hand-selling books from Miss Sparrow and then Betsy sits by the fire to read.

Betsy is the picture of mindfulness as she looks around to appreciate where she is right now. When the lunch whistle blows she comes back to real life from her books and heads out to dine.

She goes to Bierbauer's bakery and has a bologna sandwich because we are soul mates! There is a cute bit about her wondering if people aren't surprised to see a young girl her age eating alone. She smiles at everyone who looks at her and is smiling most of the time. So adorable, this early independence.

My favorite line - "Betsy returned to her chair, took off her coat and hat, opened her book and forgot the world again." Story of my life!

Betsy had been hoping it would snow so that she could go to her dad's store and catch a ride home with him, but she is attacked by strange boys armed with snowballs. Her vain decision to not wear winter clothes and carry a pocketbook come to bite her in the butt as she gets pommeled. At one point "snow oozed down the collar of her coat" which is the most horrible thing about winter, bar none.

Luckily Mrs. Poppy and Sunny Jim find her, They talk of revenge and Tib and Mrs. Poppy invites her to the hotel where she lives to dry off. This sets off a chain of events that make this the sweetest read of them all.

UP GOES THE CURTAIN by Janet Lambert

I can't even begin to describe how much that picture of the Tempo edition disturbs me. Why must it be askew? I love the hardback cover, though. Penny's dress is to die for and Josh is dreeeeeamy! He has lots of bones in his face according to Tippy in PRACTICALLY PERFECT which I am currently reading. Spoiler: I now love Tippy. She barely shows up in this one, which is thoughtful of her.

Let's get started, shall we?

It starts up with a really sweet set piece where Penny meets, Letty, who is waiting tables in New York City while her husband is away at war. They strike up a very exposition-y conversation wherein we learn that Penny has a role in a BROADWAY PLAY!! She begins rehearsals in three week and is lonely because the rest of the fam (who she describes to Letty - and the reader) is at Fort Knox. Letty asks why she doesn't just go visit for those weeks and Penny, realizing that Letty is a genius, makes plans to meet up with her when she returns. 

Terry Hayes makes an appearance, but is surprisingly non-amorous and noncommittal about meeting up with her at Knox where he is also heading. The reason becomes clear when Penny meets his new gal-pal the vixen, Marcia McMain. Or as I call her Louise 2.0. She's dreadful.

INTRIGUE ALERT!! Okay, I'm just going to break it down. Marcia is a spy, Penny catches her. If it weren't for Penny Parrish, we might have lost WWII, just saying. The story is surprisingly tight and it really got me thinking about female spies working for the Axis in the US and how you never hear about them. I did some investigation and found very little. And also, Lambert can write suspense. Who knew??

So Penny goes back to NYC with Carol because Dave and Colonel Parrish are getting called up. It's sad. But Letty helps. She has been living on her own since her Joe left and is a trouper. She helps Carrol keep a stiff upper lip and is soon living at the apartment with Pen and Car. (The scene where we see Penny show up at the diner to take Letty out to dinner from Letty's perspective is really adorable. And moving. Well done, Janet.)

Then there is some stage drama - Penny tries to make friends, people gossip. There's a funny gay boy playing her romantic interest who keeps trying to upstage her. (No, of course it isn't said outright, but come on...) And then there's Josh. Not only does he seem to dislike Penny, he also hates AMERICA! He gets mad when Penny stands at attention for the national anthem. What a jerk. He's not even in the service!

The play goes to Boston, Terry comes to visit and doesn't propose because he knows Penny has her defenses down and would say yes. He's a good boy. They open on Broadway and Penny is a hit. Huzzah! There is some nonsense with her costar that causes a fight between Josh (he's the stage manager, I think) and Mr. Goss, the director and Josh gets fired for sticking up for Penny!

That's it, our girl goes after him and cracks him like a nut. Turns out he grew up poor in a theater family. His mom died young, his dad was a flake and Mr. Goss is his "Uncle Dad" his dad's best friend who essentially raised him. He worked in the theater and was getting a name as a respected director. When the war started he went to the army and wanted to fight like a real man, but ended up directing shows, like a sissy. Lambert, to her credit, has Penny put forth some propaganda about how keeping morale up is as important as battle. He ends up going bonkers and gets kicked out, hence he hates the army. And by extension America and Penny. Til now.

They bond, Carrol has a baby and Michael gets shot down over Germany. 

Do you remember Michael? He is the one from West Point of whom I said "I am almost sure he is going to die in the war because somebody has to and we like him but ultimately don't care what happens to him. But I could be wrong." And there you have it, I am a genius.

I shall leave you with that cliff hanger. Gosh, I wonder what happens.