Double Date

Pam & Penny Howard #1

by Rosamond du Jardin

Quiet, sensitive Penny Howard has always tried to be as much like her vivacious twin Pam as Pam wished- wearing the same clothes, and letting Pam arrange dates and choose their activities. But as the girls start their senior year at a new high school, in a new town, Penny resolves to no longer be a carbon copy of Pam.. To her surprise, she finds herself quietly cheered on by their mother, and their grandmother, and most happily for Penny, by Mike Bradley, the boy she was afraid Pam had chosen for herself.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Romance, Childrens, Classics

191 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

Rosamond du Jardin, née Neal, first wrote humorous verse and short stories for newspaper syndicates, then went on to sell approximately a hundred stories to such magazines as Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, McCall's and many other publications, abroad as well as in the United States. She also wrote five novels for adults before her first novel for teenagers, Practically Seventeen, which was published in 1949.

She was married to Victor Du Jardin on October 28, 1925. They had three children, Jacqueline Neal, Victor Junior, and Judith Carol, with whom she would later co-author Junior Year Abroad.

In addition to writing, Mrs. Du Jardin frequently spoke at schools, and students enjoyed meeting in person the creator of some of their favorite stories. Mrs. Du Jardin enjoyed her school visits, too, because she liked and respected teenagers as individuals and firmly believed that they are interesting, normal and dependable people.

Born in the small town of Fairland, Illinois, Rosamond du Jardin was two years old when her family moved to Chicago. She lived there and in the Chicago suburbs for the rest of her life.

Reviews

[Bren fall in love with the sea. · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK. I am attempting to write a review of this book, this book that I read, probably over 40 years ago, at least!

I have not reread it is an adult, so it is entirely possible that I will screw up and get some details wrong.

Even though it’s been decades upon decades, I can still remember like it was yesterday, sitting in my school library, the pages of this book opened in front of me, transfixed, reading all about Pam and Penny.

They’re twins. Pam is charming, glib, flirtatious, and extremely popular with the opposite sex.

Penny is quiet, gentle, and sweet.


But Penny has played second fiddle to Pam always. And in this book boys enter the equation. Penny falls in love for the first time, but what happens if Pam too shows interest in him?

There’s more to it than this, of course there is. But the relationship between the girls, a relationship that has unhealthy aspects, is a big part of it.

Naturally, I related to Penny. I was so much like her, It was eerie. I was incredibly shy as a kid. I didn’t speak a lot and I didn’t have many friends. I spent most of my time at the library, and it was only my senior year of high school that I spread my wings, a little, join the drama club, and became a little more of an extrovert.

So Penny was it for me and of course I disliked Pam. However, I am going to try to find this book and read it as an adult. I want to see if The Pam, in my memory is the same. Pam as the Pam in the book.


What I thought about her when I was a child, might be very different than when I think of her as an adult. I can tell you that it’s a beautiful with very memorable characters. If I am recalling correctly, the boy Penny falls for is Mike.


I definitely recommend this. It’s a breath of fresh air. I don’t know why I haven’t re-read it as an adult because I love reading books from childhood but I just haven’t gotten around to re-reading this one.

[Kelly Kosinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hilarious!! I remember reading this book as a kid! Lol

[Rebekah Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now that was fun. I don't normally get to read books where the main character is a twin, but since I grew up with best friends who were twins, I've always liked twins.
Penny and Pam are so different except in their looks. Their personalities are different and they like different things. But Penny has tried to copy Pam most of her life. Until they move, however. I didn't like Pam very much, and at first I wasn't sure if I liked Mike. But the ones to get married aren't who you might think it would be.

This is the first book in the series about the Howard twins, and I think I need to read more about them.

This is not a Christian book, so don't expect it. I don't remember any words that I would whiteout, but I did read it all in one afternoon, so I might have forgotten something.

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am utterly gutted that I didn't find this book in middle school when I found Shelley in The Luckiest Girl - I would have adored this book so much. I loved Penny and wanted to bitchslap Pam and I am definitely looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

As a side-note, I loved the fashions. Pam's lime green sweater and melon colored skirt? Awesome. And the girls' mom and grandmother? Equally awesome.

[Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for vintage teen romance, anyway, but of course I had to find this series because one of the protagonists is my namesake.

Pam and Penny are identical twins with very different personalities. Pam is carefree, boy crazy, and a bit shallow even for a teenager. Penny is studious, serious, and a bit socially awkward. (I'm so glad it was that way and not the other way around.)

Things get interesting when the two sisters get interested in the same boy, but really this is a coming of age story for Penny, who finally emerges from her sister's shadow.

The dating norms (e.g., girls playing hard to get, guys being obligated to pay for everything all the time) make it obvious that it comes from another era, but it's a charmer even today.

[Karen Plummer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Rosalind du Jardin when I was young and rereading this now was such a pleasure. Pam and Penny are twins, with Pam as the out-going, popular one and Penny being the quiet, shy twin following in her sister's wake. This year is different. A new town, a new school, and an exciting senior year inspires Penny to strike out on her own, pursuing her own interests and making friends of her own. It's tough at first, but Penny finds herself having fun, making friends, and falling for a young man who's crazy about her sister...or is he?

[Julie Christiano · Rating 5 out of 5]

A favorite book of my young adult childhood reading! Read the whole series with Lisbeth Ball and remember Penny and Pam fondly!

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Betsy I got to read this Pam & Penny romance for the first time since 8th grade and spent Saturday night commiserating with Penny and mad at Pam and Mike.

[Laura NC · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a favorite series when I was 12/13 years old and I’ve been curious to look back at them. So nostalgic. This is one of the “Malt Shop” series from the 40s and 50s that I loved to find at the library in the late 70s and early 80s. I also read series by Betty Cavanna and Leonora Mattingly Weber and they’re all on Internet Archive. Maybe I loved these because they reflect a stable family life, but the main characters sure were boy crazy.

[Dichotomy Girl · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

[Darla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful & charming! A new favorite of mine!!

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really old fashioned type book about two twin sisters. Pam is the more outgoing of the two, and Penny the more shy. The book tells the story of how the two girls make there way through their senior year. The book does focus a lot on boys, bin an old fashioned way.
I like the fact that the story focus's more on Penny than Pam, since I liked Penny a bit more. I didn't feel bad for her per seconds, but I just liked her character. Since a lot of books that have to do with the more outgoing of the twins, it was really good to see a change of pace.
I'd suggest 16-year-olds of today to read this book. They very well may get a different prospective of growing up.

[CLM · Rating 5 out of 5]

When twins Pam and Penny start a new high school, Penny wonders if she will be continue to be the shy, overlooked twin. Previously, she always followed her sister Pam in activities and depended on her for social life. Now determined to develop her own interests, she signs up for the school paper, where she gets to know Mike, the boy of her dreams. But her confident sister Pam wants Mike too - and Pam always gets what she wants... In the meantime, the twins' widowed mother and grandmother also start dating and making new lives for themselves.

[Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much less awful than I anticipated. I loved the fashions, I liked the old geezer who fell and broke his leg (that's hardly a spoiler) and though I felt the urge to throttle both of the twins multiple times, I ended up glad I read the book. I don't much like either Penny or Pam, though.

The opening was brilliant, but I didn't think du Jardin sustained that level of acuity of insight throughout. The fashion parts were so much fun.

[Cathy]

Read these books in grade school. Romance novels for kids. I remember having high hopes for high school dating. Boy, was I in for a surprise when I went to my first sock hop and not 1 guy asked me to dance.

[Gina House · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25🌟 What a treat! This is the first book I've read by Rosamond du Jardin and it was so much better than I thought it would be.

Reading about Pam and Penny Howard (twins) and their senior year at their new school was not only interesting and fun, but I loved that you were able to get a glimpse of what it's like to be a twin. This YA story was as enjoyable as Sweet Valley High (which I loved reading when I was a preteen), but with less drama (in a good way) and more cozy details.

Here's what I loved most:
❊ The family's home above a shop
❊ Interior design family business
❊ High school dating and activities
❊ Descriptions of early 1950s clothing and meals
❊ Betsy Tacy vibes (from their high school years)
❊ An all-women family (Celia, the twins' mother; Gran and the twins)

I was really happy to buddy read this book with my vintage book-loving friend, Andrea (@sorrythankyou79 on Instagram) and I'm excited to read the rest of the series with her. Love our bookish discussions!

Highly recommended if you love the older Betsy Tacy books, the 1950s, high school setting and relationships between sisters/twins. A light and charming book with excellent writing!

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a feel good teenage series from my mother's era that is very entertaining.

Pam and Penny Howard are identical twins living with their widowed mother and grandmother, both strong independent women. The little family has just moved to a new town and are starting school there. Pam is vivacious and outgoing and always has all the boys falling all over her. She is interested in a boy until she hooks him and then she loses interest. I did not like her much in this book. She was very shallow. Penny is studious, quiet, and thoughtful. She is very interested in Mike Bradley, a tall blonde handsome guy but he too is taken with her twin. Slowly Penny finds her niche and learns to stand on her own and not cave to her twin's wants.

This is the first book of a series. Rosamond Du Jardin knows teens well and her writing is great.

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Remarkably similar to the other Jardin title I just read: One of the Crowd. Or perhaps more accurate to say One of the Crowd is similar to this novel since Double Date was written first. I remember what it was like to be the shy girl who didn't easily make friends and never knew what to say to boys, so I appreciated Penny's struggles and applauded her eventual success at overcoming these challenges. I wasn't as taken with the characterization of Pam, the other twin. She seemed rather inconsistent to me: one moment shallow and self-centered and more than a little unscrupulous and the next concerned for Penny and her happiness. It wasn't always believable, but I enjoyed the story overall.

[Rose Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book again in 2020 - it's a classic and totally underappreciated. A widowed mom opens her own business and moves her twin teenagers to a new town. The tension between the twins, one outgoing and popular and the other quiet and shy who finds her way. As a teen, I related to the twins moving to a new town as an adult I am impressed by the mother and as a writer, I love Rosamond Du Jardin. She had a gift for understanding the human condition and spoke the truth. My daughter read the book too in 2020 and stated, "Mom, I did not expect to become invested in the characters." She asked, "How can a book that was written in 1952 have any impact on me?" But it did.

[Nancy Deusterman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was coming up on the summer I would turn from 10 to 11, and I had a deep and strong crush on the boy next door. I would jump up the stairs into the bookmobile that parked in front of our school, once every week or two, and thrill to grab up another Pam and Penny story of high school days and young love. 💞 I would read it in bed, under the little lamp clipped onto the head of my old fashioned iron bedstead, and dream of Danny. I am giving it the 5 stars I would surely have awarded it at the time. I couldn’t have imagined a better book right then.

[Denise Abbe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gingham curtains. Malts at the drugstore. Small-town high school with hayrides and skating on the pond. Twins, Pam & Penny, move to a small suburb outside Chicago where Penny tries to become her own person and not just a twin copy of Pam, the more vivacious one. This book (and the other 3 in the series) are my comfort food right around the start of school. Nostalgia for a perfect 50s innocence that never existed, but that I always wanted to.

[Maddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the Pam and Penny Howard series years ago when I found them in the library at my junior high school. I remember checking out Double Date and showing it to my mom. She told me she had read the series when she was younger and had probably checked it out from the same school library. After a summer of heavy reading material I wanted to revisit this series. It’s light and sweet fluff-like watching a classic sitcom.

[Brittani Koepke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this so much when I was younger that I wore out my mom's copy. I just read it again after 20 years, and I still love it! It's certainly geared toward teens, but it is cute, sweet, and a fun, quick read.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really needed a comfort book with all that's going on in the world. This book was dated when I first read it in the 7th grade but it has a warm, nostalgic feel. It kind of reminds me of a John Hughes film where the wallflower becomes a knockout.

[Anne Roark · Rating 5 out of 5]

first read this book as a young girl. i have enjoyed rereading it every now and then. well written and fun to read.

[Carol Glatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book back around 1973 - I was in 6th grade. The author and title stuck in my mind all these years. Loved this series.

[Bansley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series was a gift from Robin! I enjoyed reading all four books in the series for light, take my mind off things reading.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revisiting my childhood again.

[Monique Lebrocq · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in third grade.
Loved it! And never forgot it.
So I tracked it down.

[P Bright · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great start for an adorable series.