The Penderwick Sisters are back...back on their home turf of Gardam Street and up to their usual blend of sage wisdom and misguided shenanigans. This time around, the adventure isn’t all delicious mad thrills. Their much adored, widowed father is being pushed back into the dating scene by his sister. And no, the sister isn’t a vile conniving sibling. She is lovely Aunt Claire who has always had the best intentions of the Penderwick family at heart. However, lovely Aunt Claire’s new plan doesn’t sit well with the sisters. The possibility of a running-true-to-horrifying-clichés stepmother looms large on the horizon. And the girls want to avoid that at all costs.
And so commences the twisted “Save-Daddy” plan.In a YA literary world littered with mean-girl cliques, the unabashed wholesomeness of the Penderwick sisters is refreshing. Their worries are immediate and their solutions are borderline ‘killing-with-kindness’. Each sister brings her own unique personality to the story, be it Rosalind who wears the cloak of maturity with an air of insecurity......stubborn Skye who would prefer to watch the stars and dream of becoming an astrophysicist rather than feature as a love-struck dolt in a school play.....Jane, lost in her hazy writer world....and the innocent Batty with her red wagon and incorrigible dog. Woven into their fanciful plots are their own individual battles. The presence of new, likeable characters makes the book an engaging read. Romance wafts through the story like a breath of pine-scented air.
As always, Jeanne Birdsall effortlessly walks the tightrope between writing a perfect childhood tale and dealing with pertinent, realistic issues. A winner all the way. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See also : The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy
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