Listen to my “On Books” interview with Steve Bertrand from WGN Chicago.
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The most enjoyable book I’ve read this month is one I probably should have read a long time ago. “Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill” is part of the “Betsy-Tacy” series by Minnesota author Maud Hart Lovelace. Written in the 1940s, the books depict a fictionalized version of Lovelace’s childhood in Mankato in the early 1900s.
I read the book to write a recent column (“Betsy-Tacy books show the humanity in our immigration story,” Minnesota Star Tribune, Feb. 12, 2026). It was a charming read, one characterized by clever characters and engaging storytelling.
Though likely intended for young girls, I was struck by how much I might have enjoyed the book when I was in this age group. I remember enjoying “The Little House on the Prairie” at this time in my life. But that story was driven by the decisions adults made. Betsy and Tacy make the critical decisions in their stories, and that subtle difference is very empowering to a kid.
One of their decisions was to befriend an immigrant girl, instead of teasing her like one of their classmates.
Anyway, the column caught the attention of Steve Bertrand at WGN Radio in Chicago. This week, I appear on his podcast “On Books” discussing the Betsy-Tacy books and Minnesota history. Check it out!
One response to “Talking immigration and literature for WGN ‘On Books’ podcast”
When my wife was a professor at Minnesota State Mankato, we lived in the Betsy Tacy neighborhood and I would walk our dog past the two houses and go up to the top of “the big hill” where one could look down on Mankato, the Minnesota River and North Mankato on the other side. Governor Walz lived in that neighborhood when he taught at Mankato West High. The Lebanese, who had come from the Ottoman Empire vilayet of Syria would become specialists in this country as restauranteurs and candy makers. They’re all over the Midwest. America had a true “open border” before the racist 1924 law closed the borders to most immigrants. Note that Hibbing had very few immigrants who came after 1924. A column on that change would be an appropriate subject .