The Penderwicks Book Review

Book Review
Title: The Penderwicks
Author: Jeanne Birdsall
Awards: National Book Award Winner, 2005

When I first started reading The Penderwicks, I thought immediately of Estes' Pye and Moffat series, as well as Eagar's "Magic" books. I had to doublecheck the copyright date to ensure that the book was indeed just published in 2005. Birdsall was obviously influenced by those books and it shows (in a good way in The Penderwicks).

Similar to those classics, The Penderwicks chronicles the adventures of a family of kids and their friends. In this case it is the four Penderwick sisters: Rosalind, age twelve - the dependable one; Skye, 11 super smart and quick to temper, Jane, 10, the imaginative writer, and Batty, 4, shy but with her own strengths as well. There is also their dog Hound, the girls' father and a few friends they make on their three week summer vacation.

The Penderwick family's adventure starts when they have to make a last minute change in their vacation plans and end up rentig a cottage in the mountains sight unseen. The cottage turns out to be a guest home on the estate of the huge Arundel Mansion.

The girls become friends with Cagney the 18 year old gardner (who Rosalind quickly develops a crush on), Jefferey the son of the Mrs Tipton the estate owner, Churchie, Arundel's housekeeper, and Howard the tomato man.

The principle bad guys are Mrs. Tipton herself and her boyfriend Dexter Dupree, as well as an angry bull.

The characters are quirky and interesting; the kid's adventures are exciting but lighthearted enough, and all turns out well for everyone in the end. I truly enjoyed this book.

He was thinking about plants

Quote of the week:

Rosalind looked over at her father in the driver's seat. His glassses were slipping down his nose and he was humming his favorite Beethoven symphony, the one about spring. Rosalind knew this meant he was thinking about plants - he was a professor of botany - instead of about his driving.

- Jeanne Birdsall, The Penderwicks

The Ancient ghosts woke up

Quote of the week:

Jenna decided to go to her room and read. Jenna liked her own company and she loved wandering around the Palace, especially at night when candles cast great shadows across the corridors and many of the Ancient ghosts woke up.
- Angie Sage, Physik

I see something in you

Quote of the week:

Frieda smiled at him and he didn't find the deep wrinkles in her face so frightening anymore. "You're not like the others. I see something in you, a kind of brightness I don't want to be smothered. You're curious. You want to know about things. I've been watching you. You're a good listener too: You'll hear things no one else can. And this is far more important than your size, Shade."

- Kenneth Oppel, Silverwing

Personalized books for father's day

Looking for a unique Father's day gift? MadLuck Books offers the following personalized books that could be perfect for dear old dad:

My Fishing Adventure: The adult version of this classic story is a humorous tale of a dream of winning the local fishing contest.
Mike and Larry opened their cold beverages and started some serious fishing. As usual, the bites were incredible! Unfortunately, only the mosquitos and flies enjoyed the action.




My Golf Adventure: Golfers fo all ages will delight in reading their personalized golfer profile. "Every time I hit the golf ball, my stress level goes down. This certainly justifies why I hit so-o-o many shots"




Baseball's Unsung Hero: Your armchair athlete will suddenly be called upon to save the big game.
Mike stopped on his way to the car to pitch a few balls at the bulls-eye painted on the broad side of the barn.

Some things you can just know

Quote of the week:

I'd be lying if I said that given a choice, I wouldn't rather know than not know. But there are some things you can just know for no good reason other than that you do, and then there are other things that no matter how badly you want to know them, you just can't.
-Sarah Weeks, So B. It