I solemnly swear on the Penderwick Family Honor that I will only tell you what you really want to know about this excellent book.

The Penderwicks are back!

That would be all four Penderwick sisters, in order from oldest to youngest: Rosalind, Skye, Jane and Batty. It would also include their large and lovable dog Hound, and their dependable father Martin, a botany professor who likes to spout Latin phrases.

I first met the Penderwicks last year in Jeanne Birdsall's debut novel simply titled The Penderwicks. I was completely taken by the old-fashioned feel of that warm and funny family tale, which won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. I've been looking forward with great anticipation to the just-released sequel The Penderwicks on Gardam Street.

Having just finished it, I can say without hesitation that the sequel carries all the charm, and maybe even a bit more fun, than the original. If you were a fan of the first, you'll definitely want to pick this up to find out what the Penderwicks are up to now.

An Autumn Story

The original Penderwicks was a summer tale set during vacation time. We got to know the girls as they explored a new house and new friends. The meandering tone of the story matched well with the long, meandering days in which it was set. With the sequel, however, we finally get to see the girls and their father at home on Gardam Street, the suburban Massachusetts street on which they live. It's autumn and school-time. The crisp, leaf-blown days and the inevitable responsibilities that come with tackling school papers and projects set the tone for this story, which fittingly feels more tightly plotted.

The book actually begins with a prologue which takes place over four years before the main action of the story. If you've read the original Penderwicks, then you know that Mrs. Penderwick passed away when Rosalind was eight and Batty was just a baby. (That's not really a spoiler; it's information given in the first chapter of the first book.) The prologue of The Penderwicks on Gardam Street begins in the days before Mrs. Penderwick's death. She's been ill with cancer and knows she might not make it much longer. She's concerned that her beloved Martin will find himself lonely in the coming years, and so will her girls. So she writes a letter and makes the girls' Aunt Claire promise to give it to Martin four years later.

I recap the prologue because it's of immense emotional importance to the entire rest of the novel. The main story begins with Aunt Claire delivering on her promise, which puts the whole family into a bit of an emotional spin. Mr. Penderwick finds it hard to resist his late wife's plea or his sister Claire's encouragement that he begin to date again. Claire exacts a promise from him that he will at least try, that he will in fact attempt at least four dates. The girls ostensibly go along with the plan, since they don't feel they have much choice, but they're all alarmed that their father's dating might lead to marriage and land them with a dreaded stepmother. Twelve year old Rosalind is especially worried, since she has taken on a lot of responsibility in the house and for her younger sisters. She calls an emergency MOPS meeting (MOPS = "Meeting of Penderwick Sisters") so they can launch a "Saving-Daddy Plan."

If the book sounds overly heavy, I assure you it's not. The premise does involve very real emotions and the serious business of a lonely man's heart and four motherless daughters, but it's written with a light touch. The Penderwicks are a warm, loving family. The girls are exceptionally bright and relentless in their creative ideas to make sure that their father's dates all fail. They don't go to slapstick extremes (a la the children in Nanny McPhee) but they do make it almost painfully obvious that they're just not ready for this new phase of their father's life. Since the quiet, scholarly Mr. Penderwick would much rather spend an evening with a quiet book than be forced through the torture of a date, he's an easy mark for their schemes, even when he doesn't quite realize just how deep their anxieties run. He ends up plotting a few of his own schemes (where do you think his daughters get the creativity?) which leads to a lively and funny conclusion in which all of the Penderwicks discover lessons in honesty and new courage to face the future.

Four Sisters: Four Wonderful Characters

One of the elements I enjoyed about Birdsall's writing in the original novel, and which I continued to be impressed by here, is the way she can keep one main story involving all the girls moving forward...and yet manage to spin smaller, viable subplots for each of the girls in her own right. It helps make each girl's character come even more vividly to life, as we spend time with them as individuals.

If most of the emotional weight in the original Penderwicks felt carried by Skye, the second daughter, I think Rosalind, the oldest, carries more of it here, though just slightly. That might tilt this second novel a bit more toward the older end of the age range, though younger girls will still find plenty to laugh over and relate to.

Rosalind is now in 7th grade. To her chagrin, she finds herself no wiser about love than she was before the summer, despite weathering her first ever crush on an older boy. Worse yet, in addition to worrying about a potential stepmother, she finds herself constantly bickering with Tommy, a fellow 7th grader and neighbor. She and Tommy have been friends since they were kids and they've always gotten along, so why are things suddenly different between them? He's just as annoying as he's always been, with his constant football drills and his obnoxious table manners, so why does Rosalind suddenly find herself feeling awkward around him? She wishes she had a grown woman to talk to, but she's mad at Aunt Claire for pushing her Daddy into this dating scheme and she even finds herself upset with her late mother...enough that she has to put her picture away for a while.

Skye is up to her usual hi-jinks. She and Jane, the next eldest Penderwick, share a room and a soccer team, but no two girls could be more different in their personalities. Skye loves science and math and keeps her side of their room painfully neat. She likes to climb onto the garage roof and just watch the world go by with her binoculars. She also has a towering temper, which gets her into trouble on the soccer field. Although she doesn't understand Jane, she's fiercely loyal to her (as befits the tough but tender Penderwick bond). Jane loves drama, has written four novels starring an intrepid girl named Sabrina Starr, and keeps her side of the room as messy as can be. She thrives on imagination.

As Birdsall lets us know, in a wonderful revealing character moment: "Though she (Jane) was ten, all certainty of magic had not been squashed out of her...Rosalind was too old for magical adventures, Batty too young, and Skye had given up on magic the day she discovered long division." Jane and Skye might not agree about magic, but they have mutually discovered the uncomfortable truth that if they switch certain homework assignments, they often get better grades. When Skye writes Jane's science essay and Jane pens Skye's play for history class, they set off a funny yet painful chain of events that ends up tying into some of the main lessons learned about honesty.

Batty continues to be her wonderful preschooler self, adorable and curious, constantly begging for stories, always playing with faithful Hound. Batty befriends their new neighbor, a young widow named Iantha and her toddler son Ben. She's also a little bit terrified of a man she sees sneaking around their neighborhood. He wears sunglasses and looks like an insect, so she dubs him Bug Man. Her sisters grow weary of her Bug Man fears, but even they come into play in the witty finale.

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street is satisfying from first to last. The dialogue is snappy, the characters well-drawn, and the emotions ring true. The girls have faults -- bouts of temper and (in this book) bouts of deception -- but their wrong actions have consequences. And in the end they (mostly) learn their lessons. There are a couple of "mysterious" elements of the plot that will likely work well for young readers but are completely obvious to older readers, who will see the very happy ending coming from a mile away. No matter...this book was not written with me in mind, and I still thoroughly enjoyed the ride, even if I could negotiate some of the twists and turns in the journey with absurd ease.

It's a great sequel. 8-12 year olds (girls especially) and families with children of all ages will enjoy this book. I promise. On the Penderwick family honor.

~befus, 2008

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street
by Jeanne Birdsall
Alfred A. Knopf, 2008
ISBN 9780375840906

Fans of the first book will be happy to know that Jeffrey, the Penderwicks' summertime friend, makes a couple of cameo appearances in this book too. Even Churchie and Cagney get a couple of mentions!











Recommended: Yes