Betsy Allen Books in Order

Ranch-raised Prudence Foster struggles to fit into her wealthy cousin Cecily's Pennsylvania social world. When family tragedy reverses their circumstances and brings Cecily to the ranch, both girls must reconsider their assumptions and learn to understand each other.

Claire Farrell visits family in Williamsburg while pursuing her fascination with a young theater performer. As his shallow character becomes apparent, a thoughtful young architect offers a different kind of companionship and challenges her ideas about affection.

Sent to relatives' Pennsylvania farm during World War II, Janey initially dislikes her unfamiliar surroundings. A runt cocker spaniel gives her a purpose, and her determination to raise a show dog begins to change how she handles responsibility.

After her mother's death, shy Julie Ferguson balances school with farm work and raising collie puppies alongside her father. Her bond with Sonny and a growing interest in art offer ways to face loneliness and develop confidence.

Judy and her brother investigate a mix-up involving spaniel puppies, trying to understand how the confusion occurred. A remark from the postman becomes an important clue in their efforts to piece together the small canine mystery.

Diane enters her fifteenth year expecting new social adventures, but getting braces on the day of her first big party threatens her confidence. Everyday setbacks become urgent personal crises as she navigates the uncertainties of growing up.

Quaker teenager Sally Brinton visits relatives near Richmond in 1859, then returns to Pennsylvania with a sharper awareness of slavery. Her involvement with the Underground Railroad brings adventure and danger as she tries to help people from Virginia.

Sixteen-year-old Meg Sanderson feels overshadowed by her glamorous older sister Joanna, especially when both admire Alan Rudolph. Navigating jealousy and uncertainty, Meg begins to discover how confidence and individuality might offer more than imitating her sister.

Fifteen-year-old Suzanna Scott expects a lonely summer in Philadelphia while money is tight and her father is ill. Time with the lively Ballantine family and their horses challenges her self-pity and gives her opportunities to become more responsible.

Fifteen-year-old Theodora hopes to become a dancer despite opposition from family and friends. As training demands sacrifices and brings both success and failure, she must decide whether the ambition is worth giving up other parts of her life.

Athletic Loretta Larkin envies a popular classmate until an airport's essay contest offers a chance to win flying lessons. Learning to pilot an airplane gives her a new challenge and reshapes her expectations about confidence, popularity, and romance.

Loretta wins flying lessons through an essay contest and discovers an absorbing new life at the airport. Her growing interest in aviation also changes how classmates see her, bringing unfamiliar social opportunities alongside the demands of learning to fly.

Connie Blair's art-school studies take a mysterious turn when a fancy-dress ball is disrupted by a purple-cloaked skeleton and defaced artwork. Rivalries among ambitious students complicate her investigation as she tries to identify the person behind the incidents.

While modeling at a Philadelphia department store, Connie Blair investigates expensive accessories that disappear and reappear. With suspicion threatening her stylist aunt, Connie and a young display employee search for the culprit behind the increasingly troubling events.

An advertising assignment takes Connie Blair to New Mexico, where she joins a young archaeologist searching for a mysterious man linked to historical treasure. Strange behavior at an inn and interference around an abandoned mine deepen their investigation.

Kate Vale spends a summer painting furniture at Peter Hunt's Cape Cod art colony, hoping to prove her commitment to art school. New friendships and attraction to a young fisherman complicate her growing appreciation of dependable companion Bill.

Traveling to Bermuda on advertising business, Connie Blair meets David Scott and learns that part of his late aunt's manuscript is missing. Clues accumulate aboard ship and on the island, drawing her into an increasingly tangled investigation.

A young girl in Camden, New Jersey, struggles to understand what place she wants in the world during World War I. Her search for direction leads toward nursing and a growing sense of purpose through caring for others.

Connie Blair arranges an advertising photograph of fur coats at Philadelphia Zoo. An escaped gorilla and a stolen mink coat disrupt the assignment, leaving Connie to investigate the strange events surrounding the planned campaign.

Boston teenager Kathy McCall is bewildered when her affectionate older brother suddenly becomes hostile, especially as his admired school-paper editor notices her. Changing relationships and adolescent moods test the patience and humor of the entire McCall family.

The Sanford family inherits a Nantucket house and opens it to summer boarders to supplement their income. New guests, including a French exchange student, and the discovery of an old diary add interest to their shared undertaking.

Vacationing with her twin sister in Florida, Connie Blair encounters a traveler protective of his brown bag and suspicious strangers near an island resort. An unexplained attack draws her into a mystery that makes their holiday increasingly dangerous.

Jody leaves New York for a year at school in Switzerland, uncertain whether independence is worth losing her father's companionship. The prospect of unfamiliar people, another language, and possible romance complicates her anxious anticipation of life abroad.

Jane Howard considers neighbor Ken Sanderson a friend, then feels unexpectedly jealous when her younger sister begins dating him. New school interests and an English boy help Jane reconsider her feelings and her changing understanding of herself.

Connie Blair's investigation of a silver theft becomes urgent when her twin sister Kit disappears, apparently mistaken for her. What began as a puzzling case now demands finding the culprit before the confusion places Kit in still greater danger.

After her mother moves the family to Vermont to run a skiers' guesthouse, Angela longs to learn the sport despite their limited money. Her determination brings new challenges on the slopes and the possibility of first love.

Diane Grahame joins her parents on a European business trip while uncertain about romance at home. Meeting young Londoner Peter Crowell aboard ship adds flirtation and rivalry to a summer of travel through unfamiliar cities and cultures.

Maggie Page, the teenage daughter of a television star, hopes to establish a theatrical identity independent of her father's fame. Experiences in Paris and new romance accompany her struggle between fitting in and pursuing her own ambitions.

Connie Blair receives a research assignment at an old mansion in historic Philadelphia, expecting a professional task rather than personal danger. The house draws her into a baffling mystery that puts her investigative instincts and safety to the test.

Andrea Pierce receives a scarlet-sailed boat for her Cape Cod vacation but doubts she can learn to handle it. Lessons with Mike bring friction and challenge her insecurity as she develops the determination needed to sail competitively.

Young Arne lives in Hammerfest and dreams of seeing more of Norway and the world beyond. A fishing trip with his uncle toward the Arctic and a family visit to Bergen introduce him to contrasting places and experiences.

Quaker Hannah Trent and privileged Nancy Shippen experience the American Revolution from very different positions in Philadelphia society. Hannah's growing awareness of wartime suffering and her assistance to Washington's spy Mark Allen intertwine friendship, conviction, and romantic hope.

Sixteen-year-old Fancy Jones accompanies her father's archaeological expedition to Peru, expecting adventure and romance. The group's devotion to ancient artifacts challenges her preoccupation with appearances and forces her to reconsider both her priorities and the young man she admires.

This photographic account introduces young readers to Lucho's everyday life in Peru through his home, school, and work. Visits to a brickyard and the market in Cuzco provide glimpses of the routines and responsibilities surrounding his family.

This children's nature guide organizes wildflowers by season, pairing names and descriptions with detailed illustrations. It explains how the plants grow, compares them with garden flowers, and introduces readers to creating a wildflower garden of their own.

A girl moves with her family to South America for a year and must adjust to an unfamiliar school and country. New surroundings challenge her expectations, while the experience of settling abroad brings changes for the entire family.

Jenny, whose mother is Japanese and father American, visits a demanding grandmother in the United States. Attention from a Kansas City boy and conflicting cultural expectations force her to navigate prejudice while trying to remain true to herself.

Seventeen-year-old Victoria leaves the South for Boston, hoping to escape the shadow of her flirtatious widowed mother. A part-time job and a graduate student's attention build her confidence, until her mother's arrival threatens that new independence.

Ten-year-old Chico lives near Antigua, where his family grows and picks coffee on volcanic slopes. Photographs accompany a portrait of village life disrupted when an eruption forces them to leave home and search for work in another community.

This photographic account introduces Carlos, a Mexican boy, and his burro. His experiences provide a child's perspective on life in Mexico, combining a narrative centered on the boy with images that place him within his surroundings.

Eleven-year-old Nobuko, known as Noko, is a capable student and tomboy living in Tokyo. This illustrated account follows her family life and frustrations with expectations for girls, presenting the tension between traditional customs and a changing Japan.

Eleven-year-old Doug lives in Australia's Outback and attends a small school with his siblings and Aboriginal children. His experiences introduce life in the region, including a difficult situation in which knowledge shared by an Aboriginal friend becomes essential.

Chicago teenager Carlie Copeland visits her uncle's drought-stricken cattle ranch in the Australian Outback. A bank robbery and stolen travelers' checks bring suspicion to the property, forcing Carlie to investigate if she hopes to clear her relatives' names.

Bored while awaiting a visit from the French premier, Tavi and another boy take a boat out for an adventure near Bora Bora. Their trip leaves them stranded overnight, turning an escape from routine into an unexpected island ordeal.

Teenage Brooke and her brother struggle to understand their parents' estrangement as divorce changes their family life. The story follows the disruption through the children's perspective, focusing on the emotional difficulties created when the adults they depend on separate.

This illustrated account introduces nine-year-old Ali, who lives in Aswan, through a narrative intended for young readers. His experiences offer a child's perspective on Egypt, placing an individual boy at the center of a look at life in the country.

Demetrios, a young boy in Greece, provides the focus for a photographic account contrasting the country's contemporary life with its cultural past. His experiences with school and travel introduce young readers to another way of living and learning.

This introduction explains wool's properties, benefits and limitations, along with the animals that supply it. It follows the material from fleece through sheep raising, spinning and weaving, showing how a natural fiber becomes part of an important industry.

Seventeen-year-old Dizzy visits Marrakech with her roommate Felicia, whose father works there as an oil consultant. Felicia's abduction turns the visit into a dangerous journey into the countryside, where the search becomes entangled with her father's work.

Seventeen-year-old Mindy Hubbard has no plan after failing to gain admission to college. A summer job in her cousin's dress shop introduces her to the fashion business, offering a new direction through work and visits to New York and Paris.

After finishing high school in New England, a seventeen-year-old girl returns to her home on Grenada and begins a new job. Her work draws her into a dangerous mystery involving development interests and smugglers, complicating a summer meant to precede college.

Seventeen-year-old Kim travels through East Africa with her conservation-minded grandmother and becomes concerned about leopard poaching. Repeated encounters with suspicious travelers prompt her to investigate the illegal skin trade, despite warnings from the safari's professional guide to avoid danger.

Sixteen-year-old Kristy spends Christmas with her family in an Irish castle, where a suspicious death disturbs the holiday. Legends of a ghost roaming the tower and concerns about river pollution complicate her investigation, along with her interest in a local student.

This introduction to Morocco explores the country's landscape, past, cities, and people. Its account of culture and economic life gives young readers a broad view of a North African nation and the communities that shape it.

Art student Ellen looks forward to summer work at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts and friendships with young artists. When a valuable Greek gold bracelet is replaced by a convincing imitation, she becomes entangled in the investigation of its theft.

Young Ernest recounts life with Petey, his Great Dane, after moving from a farm to a housing development. Parades, school events and neighborhood schemes repeatedly go awry as the oversized dog's behavior creates problems for his owner and their community.

During her high-school years in the 1920s, a girl with a physical disability struggles with fear and feelings of rejection. The story follows her efforts to gain confidence and find acceptance while facing the social challenges of adolescence.

Sixteen-year-old Sarah and her mother manage the family farm while the men fight in the Revolutionary War. Caring for wounded British soldier James challenges Sarah's patriotism when her initial hostility gives way to feelings for a man she considers an enemy.

Lisette Paul accompanies her photographer father to Bangkok, where he is working on an art book. Staying within the palace grounds gives her unusual access to royal life, then draws her into a crisis involving the illicit trade in national treasures.

Her father's illness creates financial problems that force Jo Redmond to abandon her college plans. Using old kennels on the family property, she starts boarding dogs for vacationing neighbors, discovering the practical demands of running a business while managing teenage relationships.

Promising dancer Teddi Baldwin must decide how much she will sacrifice for ballet. Cheerleading, dating and boarding school with her best friend compete with training, while her attraction to a new instructor adds another complication to choosing her future.

Orphan Eliza Foster escapes an unpaid servant's life in Massachusetts and joins young women sailing to Seattle under Asa Mercer's leadership. The historical novel follows their long voyage around South America as Eliza searches for schooling, independence and a home.

Jan Nelson and her family travel to Vezelay to restore an inherited cottage, only to encounter break-ins and suspicious attention from villagers. Learning of an old murder in the attic draws Jan into searching for the valuable object connected to the crime.

Anne moves in with her grandmother in Florida and enjoys meeting a friendly surfer named Swifty. Discovering her grandmother's alcoholism changes the visit, forcing Anne to confront a family problem and consider how she can help someone she loves.

Eighteen-year-old Anne Dalton spends a school year in Florida with her grandmother, a recovering alcoholic, while struggling with loyalty to her divorced mother. A hurricane during her mother's visit brings their family tensions together with an urgent need to help others.

Seventeen-year-old Valerie Kelton leaves her difficult home for her boyfriend Ben Steele's more relaxed household. Staying longer than intended and taking two jobs brings new independence, but seeing Ben's less appealing side complicates her hopes for their relationship.

Expelled from boarding school, sixteen-year-old Charlotte cannot face returning to her mother and stepfather. Taking a job as a groom at a financially struggling Devonshire manor offers a different life, with responsibilities and adventures far removed from her former school.

Sixteen-year-old Cindy Foster devotes most of her time to her horse, Banner, until newcomer Tad sparks a romance on Martha's Vineyard. Banner's injury pulls her attention back to the stables, forcing Cindy to weigh competing needs and affections.

This illustrated introduction explains how seashells form and grow, and how the mollusks inside them feed, move and defend themselves. Practical guidance on collecting accompanies information about commonly found coastal shells, encouraging young readers to explore the subject themselves.