Middle Grade Review: Penderwicks in Spring

 

Title: The Penderwicks in Spring

Author:  Jeanne Birdsall

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, 2015. 339 pages.

Source:   Library

Publisher's Summary:

Springtime is finally arriving on Gardam Street, and there are surprises in store for each member of the family. Some surprises are just wonderful, like neighbor Nick Geiger coming home from war. And some are ridiculous, like Batty's new dog-walking business. Batty is saving up her dog-walking money for an extra-special surprise for her family, which she plans to present on her upcoming birthday. But when some unwelcome surprises make themselves known, the best-laid plans fall apart.

My Review:

I have been following this series since I stumbled on the first book (published 2005) not long after the second was published (2007). We read the first book to our boys, and we all loved it. By the time I got the second book, the boys had moved on to other kinds of books, but I devoured it and waited with bated breath for the 3rd (2012). Now, at last, Ms. Birdsall has come out with a 4th book in the series, and we have to make some adjustments.

For three books, the focus was on the three oldest Penderwick sisters, who were just at the beginning of the teen years. Along the way, their long-widowed father remarries, but nothing much changes in the family from the reader's perspective. Now we have jumped ahead about 5 years, and our eyes and ears on the family are Batty's, with a bit of young Ben--the step-brother who joined the family when Mr. Penderwick married, and with whom the very young Batty of earlier books was much taken. (Note: it must be very strange for Ben, the lone male with 5 sisters).

The older girls still matter, and their stories are still important, but they are all filtered through Batty's perspective, and are secondary to her story. I had just finished listening to the audio of the first book, so I had a particularly hard time at first with the idea of Batty being nearly 11, and having the half-sophisticated reasoning skills of the child approaching her teens. She still feels younger than Jane feels in the first book, though they are the same age, though in many ways she is clearly mature and responsible (she is most like the Older Penderwick Sisters when caring for her 2-year-old sister).

I think each book has delved a little deeper into serious issues (the first one used the girls' motherless status more as a plot point than as something that matters; by the 3rd we are dealing with their best friend Jeffrey's abandonment by his father, a rift that is not handled tritely). Now we get to the full weight of the family history, and it is Batty who has to bear that weight, and the effect on her is profound, and depicted so well by the author that I could feel the weight of it myself while reading. The book still has much of the light and delightful feeling the first captured, but there are some real things going on here, and I'll not deny I shed some tears on Batty's behalf.

Ms. Birdsall tied up a lot of loose ends at the end, but I think not too much so to allow for a 5th book, which I dearly hope will not take her another 3 or 4 years to write.

Recommendation:

Read the series in order, but READ THE SERIES! Kids and adults. Just read it.

Full Disclosure: I checked The Penderwicks in Spring out of my library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher in exchange for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Audio Book Review: The Penderwicks at Point Muette

 

Title: The Penderwicks at Point Mouette, by Jeanne Birdsall.  Audio Book read by Susan Denaker.

Publisher: Listening Library 2011; original Published Knopf Books, 2011, 295 pages

Summary: 

In this third book of the Penderwick family saga, the family is separated when the father goes to England on a honeymoon with the new Mrs. Penderwick and her toddler, Rosalind (the oldest and very responsible sister) goes to New Jersey with her best friend, and the remaining sisters (and Hound) go to Maine with Aunt Claire.  Joined by their friend Jeffrey, the Maine contingent has a series of catastrophes and adventures, all reported in Birdsall's inimitable humorous style.

Review:

I love this series.  We read the first book (The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy) several years ago (when our boys were still young enough to read such books to) and I've devoured each book as it came out.  So listening to this was a repeat, but listening is always different from reading, too.

The Penderwick books are well-written, amusing stories that nonetheless have real stakes and fully-realized characters.  Even without the marvelous reading by Susan Denaker, I could tell who was speaking almost every time, just from what they said and how they said it.  And they act very consistently within their characters.  The books are a delight to read, and I think that this one competes with the first for best in series.  (The middle book, The Penderwicks on Gardam Street, is somewhat less appealing to me for a variety of reasons, though still a great read).  I love the summer-vacation feel of this book and the first book.  When the sisters travel, anything can happen (and does).  

Now, because I've been neck deep in my own writing while listening to this book, I got to thinking last night about structure and plot.  Especially I was thinking about stakes.  That is, what are the stakes for the main characters, and what makes them something we care about?  In this case, the most central character is Skye, who is thrust unwillingly into the role of OAP--Oldest Available Penderwick (adults don't seem to count as far as the sisters are concerned).  For her, the stakes are huge: it is her responsibility (as she sees it) to make sure that all of them, especially 5-year-old Batty, return alive and in one piece.  Having a good time would be a nice bonus.

Birdsall sets the stakes, then ramps up the difficulty with one humorous, yet real, catastrophe after another.  And in the end, the stakes climb highest for Jeffrey, in a twist that's not hard to spot coming, but still works well.  The smaller crises--injuries, love, and golf balls, not to mention the destruction of the list that tells Skye everything she needs to know about taking care of Batty--kept me fully engaged.  But the bigger crisis put an extra twist on the story and gave it a real point.

Mission accomplished: high stakes, without horror, life-threatening danger, or even vampires.  I'm impressed and inspired.

 Full disclosure: I borrowed a copy of  The Penderwicks at Point Mouette  from the (digital) library.  I received nothing from the author or publisher for my review, which is my honest opinion.  The opinions expressed therein are my own and those of no one else.