Forgotten Favorites: The Golly Sisters

It's been 25 years since The Golly Sisters Go West, the first in a series of three early readers by Betsy Byars, was published. The stories center around May-May and Rose, sisters who travel west in a covered wagon, putting on song-and-dance shows along the way. Like most siblings, the sisters squabble occasionally, as in one chapter when the two can't agree which one will go on stage first. By the time they decide to enter at the same time, the audience has gone home. The dogs remain, however, and so May-May and Rose perform for them. Betsy Byars plops her plucky heroines into all kinds of scrapes and for each one provides an unexpected and funny resolution. The cartoony illustrations by Sue Truesdell add to the humor. The other two books in the series are The Golly Sisters Ride Again and Hooray for the Golly Sisters! All three are highly recommended.