A boy (who happens to have two dads) needs to do a school presentation on a trailblazing woman. “That’s Betty!” he immediately thinks, referencing television star Betty White.
His teacher isn’t so sure, asking if he’d rather choose someone more “traditional.” One of his dads, who is White, feels the same, although the other, who has medium-brown skin and black hair, thinks it’s a great idea.
The boy, who has medium-brown skin and black wavy hair, nevertheless heads to the library to research “the world’s greatest person” (which feels a little too hyperbolic). While he’s there, a mysterious blonde woman in a hat and sunglasses approaches him and tells him she overheard him speaking with the librarian about his project. “I just happen to be an authority on that broad,” she says. “Broad” is an unfortunate word choice; while it might fit White’s persona, young readers may not understand that “broad” is generally an offensive word today.
The boy and the woman discuss White’s life, including her support for a Black colleague and her devotion to animal welfare, as well as her many acting roles and awards. The woman gives him her phone number in case he has any more questions.
The boy remains nervous about the presentation, and one dad again points out that he could still do a report on “someone more traditional.” The other, however, encourages him to do “the one you love, about Betty.”
The boy calls the woman from the library, worried that his presentation will be “too different.” She says that she, too, was “untraditional,” but that she had to believe in herself and follow her dreams.
The next day, the boy gives his presentation, dressed in a blonde wig and pearls, and holding a small Emmy replica. The presentation is a hit—and the woman at the library even shows up to praise him. As the woman drives off, the boy suddenly realizes, “That’s Betty!”
The book was obviously written before White’s death in December 2021, but even if we imagine it took place before that, the two grown-ups’ hesitancy about the presentation feel like a false problem; White did things that were untraditional at the time, but equating the boy’s “too different” (but in fact fairly ordinary) present-day presentation about White with the actually untraditional things White did rings hollow.
Much of the boy’s dialogue feels stiff and unnatural, too. For example, in speaking of the Betty White shows he likes best, the boy says, “The first of my favorites was a very influential TV series from the 1970s called The Mary Tyler Moore Show—a feminist sitcom that showed women could do anything a man could do.” About The Golden Girls, his other favorite and his dads’, he says, “The show ran for seven seasons and showed that older people have full, meaningful, hilarious lives.” All true—but the descriptions sound like encyclopedia entries, not like something an elementary school boy would say.
Fans of Betty White may appreciate this book, but others may prefer to pass.
Bonus fun fact: In one scene, the dads are reading the boy a story before bed. The title isn’t shown, but the cover illustration clearly indicates that it is Papa, Daddy, and Riley, another book about a two-dad family (and from a different publisher, no less; I wonder if the editors of That’s Betty at Henry Holt/MacKids even recognized the reference).
