Leave It To Beany

Beany Malone #3

by Lenora Mattingly Weber

The Malones are eager to meet their Irish cousin, Sheila McBride, but find that she is not as they had envisioned her. Beany's attempts to "improve" Sheila's appearance and personality miserably fail. Beany takes her "do-gooder" instincts and assists Eve Baxter, an advice columnist for the Call, in the typing of her column. Beany ignores Eve Baxter's admonitions and finds herself in trouble. Also at risk is Beany's relationship with the contentious Norbett Rhodes. Will Beany be able to find Norbett's lost charm bracelet and save their relationship. . .?

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens

266 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

Lenora Mattingly, though born in Missouri, lived most of her life in Denver, Colorado. In 1916 she married Albert Herman Weber and was the mother of six children.

Weber's first book, Wind on the Prairie, was published in 1929. From 1930 through 1962 she wrote short stories for magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post, McCall's, and Good Housekeeping. Her last book was published posthumously in 1972.

Lenora Mattingly Weber’s favorite topics included the Denver area, horses, and teenage girls. In 1943 the first Beany Malone book, Meet the Malones, was published. Beany Malone became Weber's most well-known creation, featured in 14 books and appearing as a minor character in the Katie Rose Belford and Stacy Belford series.

Reviews

[Amy]

I'm just starting this book, and have to say, the honesty of the characters is refreshing, and, considering the times, way ahead of the times. This book was written in 1950. Imagine a distant cousin coming into one's life and living at your house, who dresses in garish clothes, and doesn't seem to want to fit in to the college scene, such as it was in those days...apparently peer pressure existed then, too. Our book group decided to read Beany Malone books for our next get-together - Weber wrote 12 or so books about Beany and her family over a 25-year period.

[Kathleen Vincenz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these books. It is so great how all the elements work together. I also love how romance is making peppermint ice cream in the kitchen and accidentally brushing up against each other as you work. You can't tell me that images of romance like that aren't better than today's middle-grade/YA.

[Cherie Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read in which your heart grows warmer and warmer all the way through to the end. ♥️🍨

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one has some more serious issues in it than before, but Weber handles them with a deft and light touch. The Malone kids are so lovely, and I liked how the storyline with the cousin turned out though it was a bit painful at first.

[Hannah Garden · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Momma has good taste in young adult fiction.

[Reading with Cats · Rating 3 out of 5]

In which Marti Malone is once again an absentee parent, Beany is an insufferable idiot and her terrible boyfriend is a needy hot mess. And yet I inhaled this in a couple of hours.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found on the Internet Archive! A good comfort read and throwback to a more innocent age ... interesting, though, to note measles as a minor subplot. I guess this was written pre-vaccination.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, always-helpful Beany really sticks her foot into it this time. No one really needs the kind of assistance she thinks they do, and she greatly complicates her life in the process. Although poor Kay's mother plagues her daughter by making her dream dress for her non-existent date, I'd love to see that dress in real life. Would love to taste the peppermint stick ice cream Norbett is so fond of. Would love to spend a day in the warm, bustling Malone household.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Beany - but just tell Norbet right off that you lost his bracelet. And if he gets mad, then ditch him!
I remembered the cousin so well, and as an adult, I just feel so sorry for her. Beany is so young and worries too much about changing people - when really they are happy how they are. Despite being frustrated, I did enjoy this book.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 3 out of 5]

Usually, a comedy of errors story has me squirming the entire time, but this was funny and clever, despite the vicarious embarrassment. The multiple plot threads tie together with strong themes and life lessons at the end.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Malone family return in this third entertaining entry in Lenora Mattingly Weber's fourteen-volume Beany Malone series, as eponymous teenager Beany finds herself in hot water again because of her penchant for trying to make people happy by managing their lives for them. All is not smooth sailing as the Malones look forward to welcoming their distant Irish cousin Sheila McBride to their home, only to find that she isn't quite what they expected. Beany, determined to make this orphaned relative happy, instead drives her away by trying to change her (starting with her unsuitable blue dress). On the outs with her boyfriend Norbett Rhodes, with whom she quarrels after losing the charm bracelet he gave her, Beany also get into trouble by going behind the back of the advice columnist she is assisting, and publishing a letter and response in the newspaper that she shouldn't. The fallout from this decision—an abandoned baby now in her care—leads to more trouble and upset. Father Martie Malone, in the meantime, is once again called away, in order to work on a news story on the Navajo Reservation, while Johnny Malone continues to work to make elderly former newsman Emerson Worth's dream of sharing the early history of Denver a reality, only to find that honors won may come too late...

Originally published by Thomas Y. Crowell in 1950, and then reprinted in this paperback edition by Image Cascade Publishing in 1999, Leave It To Beany! is an engaging follow-up to its two predecessors. Although I wouldn't say I found it quite an appealing as Meet the Malones or Beany Malone —something about the wartime and immediate post-war settings of those earlier books lent them pathos—it was nevertheless quite fun to read. Of course, there were moments of discomfort here, chiefly in the way in which Beany and, to a lesser extent, the other Malone siblings were so oblivious to Sheila's unhappiness—but there were also plenty of moments of humor. One is never in much doubt as to the happy conclusion of each sub-plot, but it was still a pleasure to watch everything unfold, and to follow along as all of the quandaries into which Beany has gotten herself are eventually straightened out. My only critique, and it is a similar one to that I made in my review of Beany Malone , is that although the author depicts some very real emotional trauma here, in the form of Johnny's response to the death of Emerson Worth, I felt that the resolution was a little too rushed, a little pat. Deeply cast down by his loss, and grieving for some time, Johnny is suddenly fine, and his old self again, when Kay comes over on St. Patrick's Day. Of course, this kind of malt shop novel is meant to be mostly happy, I think, presenting a positive take on children and teenagers confronting challenges and overcoming them, so perhaps what I perceive as a rushed narrative in this regard, a too quick resolution to any truly negative emotional elements, is just a feature of the sub-genre. However the case may be, despite this criticism I nevertheless enjoyed this third visit with the Malones, and look forward to reading about their road trip in the next installment, Beany and the Beckoning Road .

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sweet vintage series. Great character development and values, and interesting (if sometimes a bit far-fetched) plot lines. Reminds me of the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace, which I loved as a tween and teen.

[Treasure Island Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good-hearted Beany takes on the renovation of a distant Irish cousin, Sheila McBride, with unexpected results.

[Jeanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beany gets into trouble because she knows what's right for everyone, save herself. This was still a sweet read for summer, but not a favorite of the Beany Malone books.

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5. Beany goes too far once again, and I’m very tired of her neglectful father, but I really enjoy all of the period details. And I find that I want to know what happens to everyone in the book.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is just fun YA literature, but set in a different time period for sure. The wording, the responsibility that the family took on and just even the straight forward way they dealt with animal death being briefly mentioned was so fun.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought Kay and her mother were moving to be with her father? This one was hard to put down. I really wanted to find what would happen with ‘penniless and desperate.’ It was almost a mystery angle. A very fun read. It’s amusing (and kind of sad) how their dad is always leaving. I disliked Mrs. No-Complaint, but maybe we’re supposed to? Johnny’s sudden turnaround was a little too sudden—as was Norbett’s. And how did Beany get the measles again if she already had them? Poor, Beany. Always trying to help people and working so hard. She deserves more credit for her sweat and tears. Her heart is always in the right place.

[Melody · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Beany is obnoxious, Mary Fred is clueless, Johnny is abstracted, Dad is absent, the housekeeper is stupid, the cousin is stiff-necked but multiply-wronged, the advice columnist is a crusty old saint with a heart of gold, the old guy is a demented and pitiful thing except when he's being noble, the boyfriend is a dork, the girlfriend's mother is clueless, the plot is a cardboard cut-out. I knew exactly where we were going. Hell, I even knew where the confounded bracelet was. But still, I read the whole thing.

[Meg W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like all Beany Malone books it is slightly painful to read. She gets into scrapes and doesn't get out until the end so I can't put it down until everything is right again. Never liked her boyfriend, nor when she thinks she can take things into her own hands without advice. Over all though it was another good Beany Malone book.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda want to slap Beany for the way she treats Sheila, though I love how Emerson Worth steps in.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

reread from HS

[Alexa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guessed right away where the bracelet was!

[Margaret]

Re-read this Fall.