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The Penderwicks #4
The Penderwicks in Spring
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Middle Grade & Children's (2015)With over one million copies sold, this series of modern classics about the charming Penderwick family, from National Book Award winner and New York Times bestseller Jeanne Birdsall, is perfect for fans of Noel Streatfeild and Edward Eager.
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.
Filled with all the heart, hilarity, and charm that has come to define this beloved clan, The Penderwicks in Spring is about fun and family and friends (and dogs), and what happens when you bring what's hidden into the bright light of the spring sun.
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.
Filled with all the heart, hilarity, and charm that has come to define this beloved clan, The Penderwicks in Spring is about fun and family and friends (and dogs), and what happens when you bring what's hidden into the bright light of the spring sun.
369 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 24, 2015
About the author
Jeanne Birdsall
27 books1,309 followersJeanne Birdsall grew up in the suburbs west of Philadelphia, where she attended wonderful public schools. Jeanne had lots of great teachers, but her favorites were: Mrs. Corkhill, sixth grade, who encouraged her intellectual curiosity; Mr. Tremonte, eighth grade algebra, who taught Jeanne to love and respect math; and Miss Basehore, second and fourth year Latin, to whom Jeanne (and Mr. Penderwick) will be forever grateful.
Although she first decided to become a writer when she was ten years old, it took Jeanne until she was forty-one to get started. In the years in between, Jeanne had many strange jobs to support herself, and also worked hard as a photographer, the kind that makes art. Some of Jeanne's photographs are included in the permanent collections of museums, including the Smithsonian and the Philadelphia Art Museum. Her work can be seen in several galleries, including the R. Michelson Galleries in western Massachusetts.
Jeanne's home now is with her husband in Northampton, Massachusetts. Their house is old and comfortable, full of unruly animals, and surrounded by gardens.
Although she first decided to become a writer when she was ten years old, it took Jeanne until she was forty-one to get started. In the years in between, Jeanne had many strange jobs to support herself, and also worked hard as a photographer, the kind that makes art. Some of Jeanne's photographs are included in the permanent collections of museums, including the Smithsonian and the Philadelphia Art Museum. Her work can be seen in several galleries, including the R. Michelson Galleries in western Massachusetts.
Jeanne's home now is with her husband in Northampton, Massachusetts. Their house is old and comfortable, full of unruly animals, and surrounded by gardens.
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December 20, 2025deciding to finish my childhood favorite series as a cry for help
July 9, 2014
Originally posted here at Random Musings of a Bibliophile.
The Penderwicks is not just one of my favorite ongoing series; it is one of my favorite series of all time. I'm always astounded by the depth of emotion and diverse, realistic relationship dynamics Birdsall is able to capture with these characters. The Penderwicks in Spring surpassed my expectations even though they were astronomically high already. It is now my favorite, having edged out The Penderwicks on Gardam Street.
Minor spoilers for first three book are in this review. If you haven't read this series, get started:
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street
The Penderwicks at Point Mouette
Spring is coming to Gardam Street and Batty and Ben Penderwick couldn't be more excited. The season is bringing with it anticipation and new opportunities. Nick Geiger, the Penderwicks' neighbor, is returning home on leave from the Army after being at war. Both Skye and Batty have approaching birthdays bringing Jeffrey and Rosalind to Gardam Street twice within several weeks. And Batty has a newly discovered talent she can't wait to share with her family at her party. In order to prepare for extra music lessons, Batty has begun a dog walking business. Ben's just happy to have his hero back on the street, a male he can bond with when he's surrounded by sisters. But then everything starts to fall apart. The car dies. Jeffrey and Skye are locked in a battle over the status of their relationship. Rosalind brings home a boy from college who none of the younger Penderwicks (or their parents) like. When Batty begins to hope her birthday will be less stressful than Skye's, she overhears a revelation that leaves her devastated and alone. Ben knows something is wrong, but doesn't know what or how he can help. As Batty's eleventh birthday approaches, she falls more and more silent and her family becomes greatly concerned. Batty needs to find the courage to turn to them for help, but given what she now knows, how can she?
Batty is officially my favorite Penderwick. Before it was always Rosalind followed closely by Skye. Batty and Jane were both likeable, but not as interesting to me. One thing that has always impressed me about Birdsall's writing is how well she grows the kids from book to book, but the first three all took place within a year of each other. The Penderwicks in Spring jumps ahead five years form Point Mouette. Each of the original characters maintain the basics of the personalities we have come to love, but they are older now. Batty is still painfully shy. Introverted and far more reserved than her older sisters, she is always trying to escape from the groups of teenagers constantly in her house. She escapes into the world of her music and by helping with Ben and the newest Penderwick, Lydia. Her heart is huge. She is incredibly sensitive. She's a happy little girl though who loves life and everything in it. And then she doesn't anymore. I'm floored by how well Birdsall wrote this. This is one of the threads of the Penderwick story that needed to be dealt with. The relationship between Skye and Batty has always been fraught. Seeing it from Batty's point of view is heartbreaking, particularly after she overhears Skye reveal a devastating opinion that opens up a pit of grief and heartbreak in Batty she didn't ever realize she was caring around. I cried so much for this little girl while reading, but it was a cathartic and good sort of crying-just as Batty's crisis is a good cathartic devastation for the entire Penderwick family. This was tricky because Skye is a great favorite of many readers. Birdsall could have left her looking like quite the selfish and cold-hearted sister. But life and family is never as black and white as that, and the way Birdsall finessed and resolved the situation is nothing short of beautiful. I love when I can feel so in tune with characters in a book that their struggles and triumphs become real to me and feel so much for them. All the Penderwicks are important and present for this story, but Batty is the star and she truly shines.
Skye and Jane are now at the end of high school. Their sisterly bond is as strong as ever and they still foil each other in the same wonderful ways they did when they were younger. Jane has a constant group of friends over, many of them boys so she can observe and write about them in her stories. Skye is focusing on graduation and going to college. She has her friends from soccer. Jeffrey's relationship with the family is still strong, but he and Skye are having trouble and it spills into his relationships with everyone else. (This is particularly devastating for Batty.) Rosalind is in college, but still manages to be the responsible, loving, focused, older sister. Despite her infatuation with a pompous windbag of an upperclassman that distracts her for a bit, she is still willing to listen to and help her siblings.
There is a great deal of fun and humor injected into the book via the two youngest Penderwicks. Ben, now seven, finds himself often exasperated by all the girls in his life. His bond with Batty is strong though and they complement each other in a similar way to Skye and Jane. They are a strong team. Lydia is the newest addition to the family. Two years old and as adorable as can be, she adds a wonderful new voice to the family dynamic.
It is interesting to me that my two favorite books in the series are the ones that take place at the house on Gardam Street, and not during the summer vacations. I think a large part of this is due to the presence of the Geiger brothers. (Tommy, also away at college and no longer Rosy's boyfriend, isn't in it that much, but is mentioned often.) Nick is amazing though. His older brother concern and care for Batty and Ben is incredibly touching. He is one of my favorite parts of this book. And I really like how Birdsall shows the importance of community and neighbors through their relationship. Martin and Iantha are amazing parents, but even the most amazing of parents miss thing, particularly when they have six kids.
Basically this is as good as it gets when it comes to MG fiction. I flagged so many pages with excellent quotes. I love the characters, the relationships, the way Birdasall was able to balance humor and grief, and the way she made this so emotive without resorting to cliches or manipulating of emotions.
This is the penultimate book in the Penderwick series. There will be one more. The wait for it will be hard, but man Birdsall tells such wonderful stories. I love that her publisher gives her the time she needs to get them perfect.
I read an ARC received by the publisher, Random House Children's, at ALA Midwinter. The Penderwicks in Spring is available March 24.
The Penderwicks is not just one of my favorite ongoing series; it is one of my favorite series of all time. I'm always astounded by the depth of emotion and diverse, realistic relationship dynamics Birdsall is able to capture with these characters. The Penderwicks in Spring surpassed my expectations even though they were astronomically high already. It is now my favorite, having edged out The Penderwicks on Gardam Street.
Minor spoilers for first three book are in this review. If you haven't read this series, get started:
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street
The Penderwicks at Point Mouette
Spring is coming to Gardam Street and Batty and Ben Penderwick couldn't be more excited. The season is bringing with it anticipation and new opportunities. Nick Geiger, the Penderwicks' neighbor, is returning home on leave from the Army after being at war. Both Skye and Batty have approaching birthdays bringing Jeffrey and Rosalind to Gardam Street twice within several weeks. And Batty has a newly discovered talent she can't wait to share with her family at her party. In order to prepare for extra music lessons, Batty has begun a dog walking business. Ben's just happy to have his hero back on the street, a male he can bond with when he's surrounded by sisters. But then everything starts to fall apart. The car dies. Jeffrey and Skye are locked in a battle over the status of their relationship. Rosalind brings home a boy from college who none of the younger Penderwicks (or their parents) like. When Batty begins to hope her birthday will be less stressful than Skye's, she overhears a revelation that leaves her devastated and alone. Ben knows something is wrong, but doesn't know what or how he can help. As Batty's eleventh birthday approaches, she falls more and more silent and her family becomes greatly concerned. Batty needs to find the courage to turn to them for help, but given what she now knows, how can she?
Batty is officially my favorite Penderwick. Before it was always Rosalind followed closely by Skye. Batty and Jane were both likeable, but not as interesting to me. One thing that has always impressed me about Birdsall's writing is how well she grows the kids from book to book, but the first three all took place within a year of each other. The Penderwicks in Spring jumps ahead five years form Point Mouette. Each of the original characters maintain the basics of the personalities we have come to love, but they are older now. Batty is still painfully shy. Introverted and far more reserved than her older sisters, she is always trying to escape from the groups of teenagers constantly in her house. She escapes into the world of her music and by helping with Ben and the newest Penderwick, Lydia. Her heart is huge. She is incredibly sensitive. She's a happy little girl though who loves life and everything in it. And then she doesn't anymore. I'm floored by how well Birdsall wrote this. This is one of the threads of the Penderwick story that needed to be dealt with. The relationship between Skye and Batty has always been fraught. Seeing it from Batty's point of view is heartbreaking, particularly after she overhears Skye reveal a devastating opinion that opens up a pit of grief and heartbreak in Batty she didn't ever realize she was caring around. I cried so much for this little girl while reading, but it was a cathartic and good sort of crying-just as Batty's crisis is a good cathartic devastation for the entire Penderwick family. This was tricky because Skye is a great favorite of many readers. Birdsall could have left her looking like quite the selfish and cold-hearted sister. But life and family is never as black and white as that, and the way Birdsall finessed and resolved the situation is nothing short of beautiful. I love when I can feel so in tune with characters in a book that their struggles and triumphs become real to me and feel so much for them. All the Penderwicks are important and present for this story, but Batty is the star and she truly shines.
Skye and Jane are now at the end of high school. Their sisterly bond is as strong as ever and they still foil each other in the same wonderful ways they did when they were younger. Jane has a constant group of friends over, many of them boys so she can observe and write about them in her stories. Skye is focusing on graduation and going to college. She has her friends from soccer. Jeffrey's relationship with the family is still strong, but he and Skye are having trouble and it spills into his relationships with everyone else. (This is particularly devastating for Batty.) Rosalind is in college, but still manages to be the responsible, loving, focused, older sister. Despite her infatuation with a pompous windbag of an upperclassman that distracts her for a bit, she is still willing to listen to and help her siblings.
There is a great deal of fun and humor injected into the book via the two youngest Penderwicks. Ben, now seven, finds himself often exasperated by all the girls in his life. His bond with Batty is strong though and they complement each other in a similar way to Skye and Jane. They are a strong team. Lydia is the newest addition to the family. Two years old and as adorable as can be, she adds a wonderful new voice to the family dynamic.
It is interesting to me that my two favorite books in the series are the ones that take place at the house on Gardam Street, and not during the summer vacations. I think a large part of this is due to the presence of the Geiger brothers. (Tommy, also away at college and no longer Rosy's boyfriend, isn't in it that much, but is mentioned often.) Nick is amazing though. His older brother concern and care for Batty and Ben is incredibly touching. He is one of my favorite parts of this book. And I really like how Birdsall shows the importance of community and neighbors through their relationship. Martin and Iantha are amazing parents, but even the most amazing of parents miss thing, particularly when they have six kids.
Basically this is as good as it gets when it comes to MG fiction. I flagged so many pages with excellent quotes. I love the characters, the relationships, the way Birdasall was able to balance humor and grief, and the way she made this so emotive without resorting to cliches or manipulating of emotions.
This is the penultimate book in the Penderwick series. There will be one more. The wait for it will be hard, but man Birdsall tells such wonderful stories. I love that her publisher gives her the time she needs to get them perfect.
I read an ARC received by the publisher, Random House Children's, at ALA Midwinter. The Penderwicks in Spring is available March 24.
May 25, 2023
Who knew I'd be reviewing all of the books of The Penderwicks series?
Not me.
But, here we are, at book # 4, a story which is centered around the oldest daughter of the original Penderwick bunch, Batty.
Batty happens to be my favorite character, so this was the easiest read, of all of the books, for me, and my 12-year-old daughter, as usual, gives it five stars (though this is the first book in the series where she wavered on it), but, as usual, I need to get a few things off of my chest.
Things I want to get off of my chest:
#1: Why do the modern children in this series say things like, “How now, Mercutio?” and “And your mother, is she in good health?”
#2: Why did the author name three out of five daughters in the family after characters from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE? Yes, I love Jane Austen, too, but naming a baby after “Lydia Bennet,” especially after she already had an “Elizabeth” and a “Jane," was, for me, teetering toward the ridiculous.
#3: Why do authors who don't have children or apparently don't spend any time with children, always think that two and three-year-old kids use their name in the third person? (“Lydia is hungry.”) I have three kids, four nieces, two nephews, and I've been a babysitter, a nanny, and a teacher, and I've never heard a single kid do this before. Plus, Lydia can't get her personal pronouns straight, but she speaks English, Latin, Spanish and French??
#4: Why did Ms. Birdsall write, on page 138 of the hardcover edition, that the “magnolia blooms shivered in the unexpected cold” in April, in Massachusetts? I'm much farther south than she is, and our magnolia blooms just started blooming in mid-May, so I looked it up and, sure enough, “magnolia trees bloom in the state of Massachusetts in the month of June.”
#5: WHAT is the time period of these stories??? They were written from 2005-2018, yet the kids speak like characters from a novel by Charles Dickens, yet the small children are legally required to ride in carseats, and YET the kids are referencing “Star Trek The Next Generation” like it's a current show. I actually like historical fiction, and it would be cool for me to think of these kids as “90s kids,” but why make the time period so cryptic?
Okay, I'm done with my complaints. Thank you.
Nonetheless, I will contribute that:
Yes, I was worried about Batty, so alone in her grief,
and Yes, I did like the “fast forward,” in time, so we could meet up with the kids at older ages (whatever year it is),
and Yes, I love Jeffrey, and I'll be curious to find out what happens for him and Skye, in book #5.
Oh, and Yes, I hope they get more dogs, too.
Not me.
But, here we are, at book # 4, a story which is centered around the oldest daughter of the original Penderwick bunch, Batty.
Batty happens to be my favorite character, so this was the easiest read, of all of the books, for me, and my 12-year-old daughter, as usual, gives it five stars (though this is the first book in the series where she wavered on it), but, as usual, I need to get a few things off of my chest.
Things I want to get off of my chest:
#1: Why do the modern children in this series say things like, “How now, Mercutio?” and “And your mother, is she in good health?”
#2: Why did the author name three out of five daughters in the family after characters from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE? Yes, I love Jane Austen, too, but naming a baby after “Lydia Bennet,” especially after she already had an “Elizabeth” and a “Jane," was, for me, teetering toward the ridiculous.
#3: Why do authors who don't have children or apparently don't spend any time with children, always think that two and three-year-old kids use their name in the third person? (“Lydia is hungry.”) I have three kids, four nieces, two nephews, and I've been a babysitter, a nanny, and a teacher, and I've never heard a single kid do this before. Plus, Lydia can't get her personal pronouns straight, but she speaks English, Latin, Spanish and French??
#4: Why did Ms. Birdsall write, on page 138 of the hardcover edition, that the “magnolia blooms shivered in the unexpected cold” in April, in Massachusetts? I'm much farther south than she is, and our magnolia blooms just started blooming in mid-May, so I looked it up and, sure enough, “magnolia trees bloom in the state of Massachusetts in the month of June.”
#5: WHAT is the time period of these stories??? They were written from 2005-2018, yet the kids speak like characters from a novel by Charles Dickens, yet the small children are legally required to ride in carseats, and YET the kids are referencing “Star Trek The Next Generation” like it's a current show. I actually like historical fiction, and it would be cool for me to think of these kids as “90s kids,” but why make the time period so cryptic?
Okay, I'm done with my complaints. Thank you.
Nonetheless, I will contribute that:
Yes, I was worried about Batty, so alone in her grief,
and Yes, I did like the “fast forward,” in time, so we could meet up with the kids at older ages (whatever year it is),
and Yes, I love Jeffrey, and I'll be curious to find out what happens for him and Skye, in book #5.
Oh, and Yes, I hope they get more dogs, too.
Read
November 8, 2013It's three in the morning and I'm a mess. I didn't think that this book would have that kind of power over me. Well, maybe I kind of did, but some unexpected and expected things happened and I don't even know quite what to think about some of them-or whether I should give this book five stars, or four stars, or one star. My heart hurts.
Now there will be spoilers.
When you get a new book in a series, your fear is always that it will be different from the ones you know and loved before. It's even worse if there's a longish period of time between books, because it feels like you missed out on so much and your characters, that you know inside and out, aren't yours anymore. They're different, they're older, and you don't know what to expect from them. It's like you're in an alternate universe. In fact, the only reason I know this isn't fanfiction is the writing skill. Knowing it isn't fan fiction makes it even scarier somehow. You can't dismiss these ideas as something some one came up with but you can forget about them if you want to, no, these ideas are canon.
Scary.
It started out all right, though it did take a little bit to get used to Batty not as a little kid. It was weird, I'm not gonna lie. I'm trying not to think about it too much. Also Ben. Ben uses full sentences now? What? I kinda just imagined him as Carl from The Walking Dead (season one or two) the whole time, so I didn't get too weirded out with him. Then bam! there's Lydia. I love Lydia. She is awesome and hilarious and if you like princesses then you go girl. It's hard to believe she's real, though.
All this was hard for me to wrap my mind around, but it was nothing compared to how I felt about Skye and Jane and Rosalind. Jane was herself, I guess, but I saw so little of her it was hard to tell. I wanted more Jane. You can't just take Jane away from me like that. Rosalind was more unfamiliar what with Oliver and no Tommy(!). And Skye...don't even get me started. She was unrecognizable. Absolutely and totally unrecognizable. It was scary. Skye was saying, "Where is my best friend?" All the while, I'm sitting here, in shock or crying, thinking, where are you, Skye? Where have you gone? +cue sobbing+
Something I really disliked was the only Batty and Ben narration. No Rosy. No Jane. No Skye. I understand that this is a kids' book, but it's so freaking deep already that that honestly kind of astonished me right now. I felt really boxed in and trapped by the only Batty and Ben narration. I felt like I was missing important parts of the story, or parts that I would have liked to be in on. But nooo. I do admit that if the story was this deep without their narration, I don't know what it would be with it.
The story was good, well, no. It was really torturous for me. If you don't already know this about me, I'll tell you right now: I am a person that loves ships. When I find people to ship, I stay with it and am very invested in it. I want good things to happen to it. I want it to float, not sink. I'll tell you one more thing:
I ship Skyeffrey like there's no tomorrow.
Enough said. You get it. But I'll talk about the situation some more, because I feel the need to write about it. It all started when I started shipping them. It was that scene in Point Mouette where Jeffrey asks Skye if she thinks they'll ever get married. She says good grief has Jane been getting to you with all her crazy talk, and he says maybe, and he says he misses her and she says she does too, and that was it for me. I have since gone back and reread all the first three books many times, and I have found so much evidence of their undying love for each other. Their hedge meeting was kismet. Meant to be. And this book would be the clincher. The moment when Skye goes, "I loved you from the very first day!" and the happy Taylor Swift plays in the background while they kiss.
Apparently, this was too much to ask, because all my dreams were crushed and I'm hearing Wake Me Up When September Ends over and over in my head. "Summer is gone and past, innocence can never last..." Yeah, go ahead and rub it in my face. Anyway, so I had high hopes for this book. Spring! Happiness! New love! Sorry, says Jeanne Birdsall. You're getting Wake Me Up When September Ends.
My hopes were okay about one sentence into any mention of the Skye Jeffrey situation. Skye asked Ben about friendship turning into love and I stopped reading right there to let myself fangirl. Yes! Your friendship is turning into love! This book is great! And then I read the next sentence, and the next page. It all slipped downhill from there. Skye doesn't actually like Jeffrey back? What the -bleep- is this nonsense? She'll come around. We still have a good 250 pages to go. But as the pages wound down, I began to have my doubts. Jeffrey is writing music for her. Unrequited in D Minor. Get with him already! Skye told Jeffrey not to visit. How rude! But he's coming for her birthday. Yay! Romance will happen then!
NOPE what happens then is screaming fighting perfect storms, Jeanne just made all the tables turn. Rose gardens filled with thorns that stabbed my shipper heart. Skye! Jeffrey loves you he loves you he loves you.
Let him love you. Let him love you and be your friend and don't be afraid. Because I think Skye is afraid of love and what happiness will do to her. Let yourself love him and be happy, Skye. Why can't you understand how lucky you are to have someone who cares that much and would be the best boyfriend ever? You know. He's your best friend.
LOVE HIM.
Since Skye can't do that (#$@&), she kicks him out at one in the morning. And Batty hears the whole thing and is depressed because of her mother. Jeffrey leaves. I'm crying. I'm furious at Skye. Batty is a mess. Everything is awful. Oliver sucks and I just want Rosy and Tommy to get back together, okay? Nick is fantastic fantastic fantastic but Batty and I are depressed so none of it matters.
Batty is a turmoil of emotion and nobody does anything but Ben is nice and Batty used to be able to sing but now she can't because of sadness. Skye isn't even that sad. Does she really not love Jeffrey after all? It breaks my heart. I thought they weren't supposed to do this in children's books. And then the end comes and Batty is better which is good but I'm not because what happened to my ship? It is riddled with bullet holes. Rosy and Tommy are on their way back to awesome but it's not as good because I can't see it from Rosy's perspective...
And the Skye Jeffrey thing is still not resolved and there's only a few pages left and what happened at the high school graduation? It's over. There's one last book, one last hope to cling on to.
I WILL GO DOWN WITH MY SHIP.
Yes, I do understand that you can't force love. But we could have gotten out of this situation easily without taking a knife to to my heart. Yes, I do know that things hurt in life. But do we need to have our childish fantasies dashed for these fictional characters' sake? I'll suffer through life, but just let me have my fictional characters.
It is in moments like these when I wonder how a piece of writing can do this to me. If people ask me why I have a hole in my heart, and I say, "it was this book I read..." they will wonder how. Writing has power, y'all. I am suffering. The struggle is real.
WHAT SHOULD I RATE THIS BOOK???
Now there will be spoilers.
When you get a new book in a series, your fear is always that it will be different from the ones you know and loved before. It's even worse if there's a longish period of time between books, because it feels like you missed out on so much and your characters, that you know inside and out, aren't yours anymore. They're different, they're older, and you don't know what to expect from them. It's like you're in an alternate universe. In fact, the only reason I know this isn't fanfiction is the writing skill. Knowing it isn't fan fiction makes it even scarier somehow. You can't dismiss these ideas as something some one came up with but you can forget about them if you want to, no, these ideas are canon.
Scary.
It started out all right, though it did take a little bit to get used to Batty not as a little kid. It was weird, I'm not gonna lie. I'm trying not to think about it too much. Also Ben. Ben uses full sentences now? What? I kinda just imagined him as Carl from The Walking Dead (season one or two) the whole time, so I didn't get too weirded out with him. Then bam! there's Lydia. I love Lydia. She is awesome and hilarious and if you like princesses then you go girl. It's hard to believe she's real, though.
All this was hard for me to wrap my mind around, but it was nothing compared to how I felt about Skye and Jane and Rosalind. Jane was herself, I guess, but I saw so little of her it was hard to tell. I wanted more Jane. You can't just take Jane away from me like that. Rosalind was more unfamiliar what with Oliver and no Tommy(!). And Skye...don't even get me started. She was unrecognizable. Absolutely and totally unrecognizable. It was scary. Skye was saying, "Where is my best friend?" All the while, I'm sitting here, in shock or crying, thinking, where are you, Skye? Where have you gone? +cue sobbing+
Something I really disliked was the only Batty and Ben narration. No Rosy. No Jane. No Skye. I understand that this is a kids' book, but it's so freaking deep already that that honestly kind of astonished me right now. I felt really boxed in and trapped by the only Batty and Ben narration. I felt like I was missing important parts of the story, or parts that I would have liked to be in on. But nooo. I do admit that if the story was this deep without their narration, I don't know what it would be with it.
The story was good, well, no. It was really torturous for me. If you don't already know this about me, I'll tell you right now: I am a person that loves ships. When I find people to ship, I stay with it and am very invested in it. I want good things to happen to it. I want it to float, not sink. I'll tell you one more thing:
I ship Skyeffrey like there's no tomorrow.
Enough said. You get it. But I'll talk about the situation some more, because I feel the need to write about it. It all started when I started shipping them. It was that scene in Point Mouette where Jeffrey asks Skye if she thinks they'll ever get married. She says good grief has Jane been getting to you with all her crazy talk, and he says maybe, and he says he misses her and she says she does too, and that was it for me. I have since gone back and reread all the first three books many times, and I have found so much evidence of their undying love for each other. Their hedge meeting was kismet. Meant to be. And this book would be the clincher. The moment when Skye goes, "I loved you from the very first day!" and the happy Taylor Swift plays in the background while they kiss.
Apparently, this was too much to ask, because all my dreams were crushed and I'm hearing Wake Me Up When September Ends over and over in my head. "Summer is gone and past, innocence can never last..." Yeah, go ahead and rub it in my face. Anyway, so I had high hopes for this book. Spring! Happiness! New love! Sorry, says Jeanne Birdsall. You're getting Wake Me Up When September Ends.
My hopes were okay about one sentence into any mention of the Skye Jeffrey situation. Skye asked Ben about friendship turning into love and I stopped reading right there to let myself fangirl. Yes! Your friendship is turning into love! This book is great! And then I read the next sentence, and the next page. It all slipped downhill from there. Skye doesn't actually like Jeffrey back? What the -bleep- is this nonsense? She'll come around. We still have a good 250 pages to go. But as the pages wound down, I began to have my doubts. Jeffrey is writing music for her. Unrequited in D Minor. Get with him already! Skye told Jeffrey not to visit. How rude! But he's coming for her birthday. Yay! Romance will happen then!
NOPE what happens then is screaming fighting perfect storms, Jeanne just made all the tables turn. Rose gardens filled with thorns that stabbed my shipper heart. Skye! Jeffrey loves you he loves you he loves you.
Let him love you. Let him love you and be your friend and don't be afraid. Because I think Skye is afraid of love and what happiness will do to her. Let yourself love him and be happy, Skye. Why can't you understand how lucky you are to have someone who cares that much and would be the best boyfriend ever? You know. He's your best friend.
LOVE HIM.
Since Skye can't do that (#$@&), she kicks him out at one in the morning. And Batty hears the whole thing and is depressed because of her mother. Jeffrey leaves. I'm crying. I'm furious at Skye. Batty is a mess. Everything is awful. Oliver sucks and I just want Rosy and Tommy to get back together, okay? Nick is fantastic fantastic fantastic but Batty and I are depressed so none of it matters.
Batty is a turmoil of emotion and nobody does anything but Ben is nice and Batty used to be able to sing but now she can't because of sadness. Skye isn't even that sad. Does she really not love Jeffrey after all? It breaks my heart. I thought they weren't supposed to do this in children's books. And then the end comes and Batty is better which is good but I'm not because what happened to my ship? It is riddled with bullet holes. Rosy and Tommy are on their way back to awesome but it's not as good because I can't see it from Rosy's perspective...
And the Skye Jeffrey thing is still not resolved and there's only a few pages left and what happened at the high school graduation? It's over. There's one last book, one last hope to cling on to.
I WILL GO DOWN WITH MY SHIP.
Yes, I do understand that you can't force love. But we could have gotten out of this situation easily without taking a knife to to my heart. Yes, I do know that things hurt in life. But do we need to have our childish fantasies dashed for these fictional characters' sake? I'll suffer through life, but just let me have my fictional characters.
It is in moments like these when I wonder how a piece of writing can do this to me. If people ask me why I have a hole in my heart, and I say, "it was this book I read..." they will wonder how. Writing has power, y'all. I am suffering. The struggle is real.
WHAT SHOULD I RATE THIS BOOK???
October 2, 2013
8 July 2021
I can't think of another book that addresses depression in a child. Grief as the reaction to loss comes up fairly often, but not so much despair. Here is a child overwhelmed and unable to ask for help, and a loving family bewildered and puzzled.
Of course, problems are resolved, confusion is cleared up, and all comes right in the end. It's wonderfully comforting because the mood is so realistically awful for a while. Cathartic as hell.
***
2 May 2015
Neither of the girls wanted to read this because they can't bear to think of their beloved Penderwicks growing up and moving on. They want Batty to remain four forever, in her wings, with Hound. I understand the inclination, although I don't share it. That children grow up and face new situations is a good thing. We experience loss, we grieve, we move on; this is what it is to be human. Or maybe I'm just heartless. Well, not entirely. I did in fact laugh aloud at points, and I cried a little, very quietly. Growing up is hard for kids and parents, but sometimes it is lovely, and marvelous new things come out of it. Soon to join the others on my Beloved shelf.
Library copy
I can't think of another book that addresses depression in a child. Grief as the reaction to loss comes up fairly often, but not so much despair. Here is a child overwhelmed and unable to ask for help, and a loving family bewildered and puzzled.
Of course, problems are resolved, confusion is cleared up, and all comes right in the end. It's wonderfully comforting because the mood is so realistically awful for a while. Cathartic as hell.
***
2 May 2015
Neither of the girls wanted to read this because they can't bear to think of their beloved Penderwicks growing up and moving on. They want Batty to remain four forever, in her wings, with Hound. I understand the inclination, although I don't share it. That children grow up and face new situations is a good thing. We experience loss, we grieve, we move on; this is what it is to be human. Or maybe I'm just heartless. Well, not entirely. I did in fact laugh aloud at points, and I cried a little, very quietly. Growing up is hard for kids and parents, but sometimes it is lovely, and marvelous new things come out of it. Soon to join the others on my Beloved shelf.
Library copy
July 16, 2014
"Listen to me, Batty. Dogs die. People die. Guinea pigs die! We do the best we can while they're alive, and then they die anyway. Right?"
Heavy stuffy, especially for a beloved children's series that typically features more cheerful subject matter. Yet these words are a catharsis for young Batty Penderwick, who has been weighted down with self-imposed guilt for (she believes) being the reason loved ones have died. From the beginning of the book, when newest Penderwick sibling Lydia insists on telling everyone she meets that "Goldie put Frank in a box" (the class guinea pig died), through Batty's sorrow over the (recent, off-page) death of their beloved dog Hound, to a devastating secret Batty overhears regarding her mother--even to the fact that dear Nick Geiger, home from the war but briefly, will be returning to danger on the battlefield--Death looms large in this Penderwick installment.
Perhaps for this reason I did not enjoy it as I did the previous Penderwick books. Admittedly, "Gardam Street" was not my favorite, but I adored the first two books and like to picture my Penderwicks in cozy conversation around their home, or running along carefree in the sunshine on the beach at Arundel. Though the books have always contained some weighty subjects, too, this one just felt more like a dark cloud sometimes and I hadn't bargained for a depressed Batty in this installment.
I also hadn't expected the giant time-warp; several years have passed since the last book. Batty is ten now, and Rosalind is away for her Freshman year in college. Skye and Jane are rather preoccupied with boys (Skye trying to avoid them, Jane surrounded by many admirers). Ben features prominently in this story, and sometimes we have his POV. Two-year-old Lydia tags along sometimes and while I have nothing against Ben or Lydia, I missed the original Penderwick quartet. Mostly, though, it is Batty's story. And she isolates herself in so much of it (from a happy secret surprise to the dark burdens she carries) that it didn't really feel in the spirit of the usual Penderwick togetherness, either.
All of this is perhaps more personal taste than anything against Bridsall's writing which is still top-notch and the reason I give it four stars. Still, at times this was quite a slog for me to get through and I only stayed with it out of loyalty to the Penderwicks. I would perhaps try the next book (if there is one) and see what tone it takes. Batty is an interesting character but I missed all the sibling dynamics from the originals. I am glad to say that, for any Jeffrey fans out there, he still seems as wonderful as ever and I'm glad he still made a few appearances!
Heavy stuffy, especially for a beloved children's series that typically features more cheerful subject matter. Yet these words are a catharsis for young Batty Penderwick, who has been weighted down with self-imposed guilt for (she believes) being the reason loved ones have died. From the beginning of the book, when newest Penderwick sibling Lydia insists on telling everyone she meets that "Goldie put Frank in a box" (the class guinea pig died), through Batty's sorrow over the (recent, off-page) death of their beloved dog Hound, to a devastating secret Batty overhears regarding her mother--even to the fact that dear Nick Geiger, home from the war but briefly, will be returning to danger on the battlefield--Death looms large in this Penderwick installment.
Perhaps for this reason I did not enjoy it as I did the previous Penderwick books. Admittedly, "Gardam Street" was not my favorite, but I adored the first two books and like to picture my Penderwicks in cozy conversation around their home, or running along carefree in the sunshine on the beach at Arundel. Though the books have always contained some weighty subjects, too, this one just felt more like a dark cloud sometimes and I hadn't bargained for a depressed Batty in this installment.
I also hadn't expected the giant time-warp; several years have passed since the last book. Batty is ten now, and Rosalind is away for her Freshman year in college. Skye and Jane are rather preoccupied with boys (Skye trying to avoid them, Jane surrounded by many admirers). Ben features prominently in this story, and sometimes we have his POV. Two-year-old Lydia tags along sometimes and while I have nothing against Ben or Lydia, I missed the original Penderwick quartet. Mostly, though, it is Batty's story. And she isolates herself in so much of it (from a happy secret surprise to the dark burdens she carries) that it didn't really feel in the spirit of the usual Penderwick togetherness, either.
All of this is perhaps more personal taste than anything against Bridsall's writing which is still top-notch and the reason I give it four stars. Still, at times this was quite a slog for me to get through and I only stayed with it out of loyalty to the Penderwicks. I would perhaps try the next book (if there is one) and see what tone it takes. Batty is an interesting character but I missed all the sibling dynamics from the originals. I am glad to say that, for any Jeffrey fans out there, he still seems as wonderful as ever and I'm glad he still made a few appearances!
July 12, 2016
Life just doesn't get any better than the Penderwicks. There are no books that I want to savor as much as these. Jeanne Birdsall can take as long as she wants to finish writing the fifth and therefore final book of the series. This family only exists on written pages, and I want to stay with them always. I laugh out loud with them, and my heart breaks with them. Bringing to life such a quality family takes time.
Jeanne Birdsall is a master at transforming the ordinary into something extraordinary. This latest and fourth tale has a lot of music in it, so that is partly what makes it my second favorite after the first one. Batty is the Artist of the family. I fear explaining too many examples of why I LOVE this story, due to spoiling it for others. I also think many of us can sympathize with Batty's enjoyment of good books but dislike of analyzing them. Analyzing is for college literature courses, and book reviews are for sharing treasures (or trash).
As usual, Birdsall mentions many other classics, including works of fiction (such as The Phantom Tollbooth ), film (including Star Trek: The Next Generation ), and a fair amount of music. This is a great way for the pre-teens who are reading it to be introduced to other current and classic books and songs, to the films that their parents enjoy, to Broadway (no belting allowed!), and also in a positive way to symphonies and opera. Even I, as an adult, am motivated to go look up these songs and other books.
I finished reading this book on my birthday, and I had heard Beethoven's Ninth Symphony on the radio earlier in the day (though the radio version's conductor somehow managed to make Beethoven DULL; the great Herbert von Karajan's "Ode To Joy" is linked below and is what Batty received). What a lovely coincidence with this book in which Beethoven's symphonies and Batty's birthday are significant to the plot. I am now the same year as Birdsall when she published her first book after intending for life to be a writer. She is my hero in many ways!
Things that I project will be resolved in the fifth book: From the front cover to the last page of Spring , we find an emotional maturity separation between the adolescent Penderwicks and the youngest three (Batty, Ben, and Lydia) that has a lot to do with romantic entanglements.
I cannot imagine anyone ever being disappointed on any page of the Penderwicks stories. That this fourth was published in 2015 is all the more incredible. These stories are timeless: a child could have understood and cared for them fifty years ago, if they had existed then. We of the 2010s are most blessed by this family! In fact, if you are someone who isn't living in a well-functioning family, these books will picture for you what family means.
Herbert von Karajan's Beethoven's Ninth "Ode to Joy" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfrAX...
Here you go: start at minute 2:50 to find out which book influenced Jeanne Birdsall as she began the story of the four Penderwicks sisters. Then read all of The Penderwicks again and make note of the parallels... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC2GQ...
Jeanne Birdsall is a master at transforming the ordinary into something extraordinary. This latest and fourth tale has a lot of music in it, so that is partly what makes it my second favorite after the first one. Batty is the Artist of the family. I fear explaining too many examples of why I LOVE this story, due to spoiling it for others. I also think many of us can sympathize with Batty's enjoyment of good books but dislike of analyzing them. Analyzing is for college literature courses, and book reviews are for sharing treasures (or trash).
As usual, Birdsall mentions many other classics, including works of fiction (such as The Phantom Tollbooth ), film (including Star Trek: The Next Generation ), and a fair amount of music. This is a great way for the pre-teens who are reading it to be introduced to other current and classic books and songs, to the films that their parents enjoy, to Broadway (no belting allowed!), and also in a positive way to symphonies and opera. Even I, as an adult, am motivated to go look up these songs and other books.
I finished reading this book on my birthday, and I had heard Beethoven's Ninth Symphony on the radio earlier in the day (though the radio version's conductor somehow managed to make Beethoven DULL; the great Herbert von Karajan's "Ode To Joy" is linked below and is what Batty received). What a lovely coincidence with this book in which Beethoven's symphonies and Batty's birthday are significant to the plot. I am now the same year as Birdsall when she published her first book after intending for life to be a writer. She is my hero in many ways!
Things that I project will be resolved in the fifth book: From the front cover to the last page of Spring , we find an emotional maturity separation between the adolescent Penderwicks and the youngest three (Batty, Ben, and Lydia) that has a lot to do with romantic entanglements.
I cannot imagine anyone ever being disappointed on any page of the Penderwicks stories. That this fourth was published in 2015 is all the more incredible. These stories are timeless: a child could have understood and cared for them fifty years ago, if they had existed then. We of the 2010s are most blessed by this family! In fact, if you are someone who isn't living in a well-functioning family, these books will picture for you what family means.
Herbert von Karajan's Beethoven's Ninth "Ode to Joy" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfrAX...
Here you go: start at minute 2:50 to find out which book influenced Jeanne Birdsall as she began the story of the four Penderwicks sisters. Then read all of The Penderwicks again and make note of the parallels... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC2GQ...
February 14, 2014
I was first introduced to the Penderwicks when I was in 4th grade and my family was going on a vacation that involved a long car ride. I don't remember what time of year or where we were going, but I remember my mom telling me to pick out some audiobooks to listen to on the trip. And while my parents listened to some deathly boring nonfiction (it was about cod. Like, the fish. I don't know why I remember that), I got out my little personal CD player and listened to the first Penderwicks book. I loved it so much that I re-listened to it on the way home, and read it at least twice more in 4th/5th grade.
Then I moved to a new town before starting 6th grade. It was unfamiliar and lonely, but guess what? That library also had a copy of the Penderwicks. And, lucky me, it wasn't too long before the second one was out, so I had that to read as well. And when I was in high school and the 3rd one was published, I bought it without even looking up the summary because I knew I would love it. So of course I was delighted when this one was announced.
Unfortunately this one let me down.
I did not at all enjoy the decision to age up the characters and make Batty and Ben the main characters. Imagine if JK Rowling had skipped straight from Prisoner of Azkaban to Deathly Hallows, and written it from the point of view of Ginny Weasely: that's what this was like. My favorite characters (Jane, Skye) were relegated to the background and a whole cast of characters (friends, a new Penderwick, etc.) were introduced and they just weren't strong enough. I felt too disconnected from too much of the book to care about what was happening. Reading the other Penderwick books was like going on vacation; this one just made me kind of sad, like when you drive past a house you used to live in and it's been repainted.
Anyway. I still gave it 3 stars because it's the Penderwicks, and if there's another book after this, I'll still read it, because I am nothing if not loyal. Now: time to re-read the first three books so I don't get completely disillusioned.
Then I moved to a new town before starting 6th grade. It was unfamiliar and lonely, but guess what? That library also had a copy of the Penderwicks. And, lucky me, it wasn't too long before the second one was out, so I had that to read as well. And when I was in high school and the 3rd one was published, I bought it without even looking up the summary because I knew I would love it. So of course I was delighted when this one was announced.
Unfortunately this one let me down.
I did not at all enjoy the decision to age up the characters and make Batty and Ben the main characters. Imagine if JK Rowling had skipped straight from Prisoner of Azkaban to Deathly Hallows, and written it from the point of view of Ginny Weasely: that's what this was like. My favorite characters (Jane, Skye) were relegated to the background and a whole cast of characters (friends, a new Penderwick, etc.) were introduced and they just weren't strong enough. I felt too disconnected from too much of the book to care about what was happening. Reading the other Penderwick books was like going on vacation; this one just made me kind of sad, like when you drive past a house you used to live in and it's been repainted.
Anyway. I still gave it 3 stars because it's the Penderwicks, and if there's another book after this, I'll still read it, because I am nothing if not loyal. Now: time to re-read the first three books so I don't get completely disillusioned.
October 25, 2013
*4/8/15*
After waiting for 4 years, I finally read it, and loved, and it was all over in one day. And now the wait is back for at least another 2 years.
I thought going in that the book being narrated by only Batty and Ben would bother me, but I actually liked it. We still got to hear about the other sisters, just not as much.
Ok. About Skye and Jeffrey. I have shipped them since who knows when, and if they don't get together in the last book I'm going to be so mad.
Pre-reading:
Jeanne Birdsall said that it takes her 3 years to write a book...
The Penderwick's at Pointe Mouette came out in 2011, and it's now 2014...
if my (very diffcult) math is correct, THE 4th BOOK SHOULD COME OUT THIS YEAR!
But... there's still no title, cover, or any other new infomation about it.
Just give it to me! Please?!
January 28, 2014
The Penderwicks are my favorite series of books. I have literally grown up with Rosalind, Skye, Jane, and Batty! I was Jane's age when the books first came out and I will be her age when the last book comes out. Every car trip includes listening to the Penderwicks, which me and my sister can recite from heart! This book has been long anticipated, can't wait to read what Mrs. Birdsall has in store for America's favorite family. These books will become classics for the future generations! Counting down the days:-)
April 3, 2015
I was really disappointed by "The Penderwicks in Spring". I was expecting them to be little, like in the other books (which I adore) but instead they had aged five years! Why? Now it's only Batty and Ben, my least favorite characters! And Sky and Jane are (for me) barely in it. I'm all mixed up about what's happening in the story. It doesn't have the same Penderwick charm as did the other books. I can't say I didn't like it but it still isn't the rare diamond in the sea of rocks to me. It's just a pebble, a little shinier than the others, but not enough to make it a jewel.
August 28, 2020
I didn't think I was going to enjoy a story with Batty as the main Penderwick, but boy oh boy was I wrong. I laughed. I cried. I just loved this so much!
April 18, 2016
There's good reason why every Penderwicks novel was considered a prime candidate for the John Newbery Medal. In an era of kid lit dominated by contemporary ideology and character archetypes, Jeanne Birdsall's series pushes back against that gently but firmly, refusing to be about characters who all espouse the same contemporary values. The Penderwicks has been favorably compared to Eleanor Estes's Moffats series, Elizabeth Enright's books about the Melendy family, and Edward Eager's Tales of Magic, among other youth classics of yesteryear. The timelessness of the Penderwicks series comes from its characters, setting, and stories, all of which could belong to any American era, more or less. We can all see ourselves somewhere in the Penderwick family: as no-nonsense Skye, who deals with people straight-on but rarely reveals her true feelings; as writerly Jane, whose mind churns constantly to turn everything around her into stories, a wordsmith whose fertile imagination supplies her with endless ideas to write about; as the only boy in the family, second-grader Ben, who affably goes along with most of what his sisters ask of him but insists on tending to his own interests, as well; or as timid, heartsick Batty, who heaps the worries of the world on her slender shoulders without complaint, expressing her innermost self through the gorgeous singing voice she inherited from her deceased mother, a voice that freely flows only so long as Batty has joy in her heart from which to sing. There are Penderwicks galore to identify with, including a few I haven't mentioned, but The Penderwicks in Spring focuses on Batty, now almost eleven years old.
Several years have passed since the previous book, The Penderwicks at Point Mouette, and the family is somewhat spread out these days. Rosalind is away at college studying Latin, while Jane and Skye are in their late teens, preparing to depart for institutions of higher learning in the next two years. Another Penderwick child has been born, now two-year-old Lydia, who bears the same fiery red hair as Ben and their mother Iantha, stepmother to Batty and the other Penderwick girls. When a new music teacher joins the faculty at Batty's school and pulls her aside to inform her she has extraordinary vocal talent, Batty is elated. None of the Penderwicks seemed to have inherited her mother's golden voice until now. Batty could surprise the family with a private concert on her upcoming eleventh birthday, if she can find a voice instructor to hone her singing a bit before then. The new music teacher will do nicely in that regard, and Jeffrey is visiting from Boston soon. Batty can reveal her singing talent to him and ask him to help; after all, Jeffrey has been friends with the Penderwicks for years, and he's a serious music student at college. There's no one Batty would rather learn from than Jeffrey.
"Some secrets buried away in boxes are peacefully forgotten, just as we hope they'll be. But some refuse to stay in their boxes, popping out at the worst possible times. And then there are those...that linger and fester, gnawing away from the inside out."
—The Penderwicks in Spring, P. 208
The charmed prelude Batty imagines leading up to her birthday concert goes wrong quickly, mostly in little ways. When Rosalind returns home for a visit, she brings a boyfriend that none of the other Penderwicks like. They preferred when Rosalind was in a relationship with Tommy Geiger from next door, but that ship has apparently sailed. At least Tommy's brother, Nick, is home for a few weeks from his stint in the army. The Penderwicks love Nick Geiger, and he'll play a pivotal role in this book. Though Jeffrey also returns on cue to spend time with the Penderwicks, his connection to them is more tenuous than before. Jeffrey makes no secret that he wants more than friendship with Skye, but she's rejecting the notion of romance for now, busy enough keeping up with her schoolwork. Skye sends Jeffrey packing more than once out of frustration with his unrequited courtship, not giving Batty any chance to have a conversation with him about becoming her music mentore. Then comes the night when Batty overhears a conversation that jars her world from its axis, smothering the joyful singing sprite within and banishing her to an oubliette of sorrow and aloneness she never knew existed. The Penderwicks and their close friends have rebounded from distressing circumstances on several occasions, but this problem may be unfixable, a hurt too deep to recover from. It will take the close-knit affection and unconditional loyalty of more than just Batty's parents and siblings to reconstruct the course of her life as she perceived it up to now, blissfully unaware of the grief that lay waiting to ambush her when she grew old enough to understand. But the Penderwicks are all about banding together and loving each other when it's hard, when love feels more like a chore than a natural effusion. The merry singing sprite within Batty has gone gravely silent in the face of her sadness, but its harmonious voice can be regenerated. All it needs is a little hope to jumpstart its joie de vivre.
There's a lot of good to The Penderwicks in Spring, a story with a tremendous variety of characters who care deeply about their family and friends even when they don't show it well. Not a single character feels contrived, as if they wouldn't occur in real life, and that's a noteworthy accomplishment for a novel so packed with people. The story's emotional gravity comes primarily from the suddenness and enormity of Batty's crisis after she overhears The Conversation, and it makes us as sick to our stomach as she feels, that stubborn knot pushing against her insides continuously and painfully, not letting her draw full breath. It's stressful, but it allows those of us who have felt that way before to identify with Batty's affliction and crave relief on a visceral level, so it feels that much more wonderful when it finally comes. Living with a knot in one's stomach is a torment no one deserves. Batty has to come to grips realistically with her part in the passing away of a couple of loved ones in her life, her mother and her faithful canine friend, Hound, and it will take truth to clear those hurdles. Who better to deliver truth than Nick Geiger, a military man who cares for Batty and the other Penderwicks more than he ever explicitly states? He is distant enough to objectively speak to Batty's guilt over the death of her loved ones, particularly Hound, whom she stayed close beside every day until his doggy heart gave out. "Listen to me, Batty. Dogs die. People die... We do the best we can while they're alive, and then they die anyway." Straight talk from Nick might be just what the doctor ordered after all Batty's suffering. We can't prevent loved ones from perishing—they're flesh and blood creatures, destined to eventually leave us—but we can hold them near while they remain, not letting anything get between us while we have them. Love without reserve and don't take those you care about for granted, that's the Penderwick way. The Penderwicks in Spring is a fitting celebration of that.
I consider many authors to be blessed fixtures in the kingdom of children's literature, like miniature cities on hilltops shining their brave light up into the cavernous universe. Jerry Spinelli, Cynthia Voigt, Patrick Ness, Rachel Field, Oscar Wilde, Aesop, Louisa May Alcott, Howard Pyle, Ingrid Law, Hugh Lofting...the list could go on practically forever. Jeanne Birdsall is one of those luminous hilltop cities, too, a creative artist whose importance to her readers cannot be overestimated. Like the previous installments in the series, The Penderwicks in Spring is a work of heart and hope that leaves an indelible mark on the landscape of literature. I give it at least two and a half stars, and wouldn't object to three. The Penderwicks will be special to me the rest of my life.
Several years have passed since the previous book, The Penderwicks at Point Mouette, and the family is somewhat spread out these days. Rosalind is away at college studying Latin, while Jane and Skye are in their late teens, preparing to depart for institutions of higher learning in the next two years. Another Penderwick child has been born, now two-year-old Lydia, who bears the same fiery red hair as Ben and their mother Iantha, stepmother to Batty and the other Penderwick girls. When a new music teacher joins the faculty at Batty's school and pulls her aside to inform her she has extraordinary vocal talent, Batty is elated. None of the Penderwicks seemed to have inherited her mother's golden voice until now. Batty could surprise the family with a private concert on her upcoming eleventh birthday, if she can find a voice instructor to hone her singing a bit before then. The new music teacher will do nicely in that regard, and Jeffrey is visiting from Boston soon. Batty can reveal her singing talent to him and ask him to help; after all, Jeffrey has been friends with the Penderwicks for years, and he's a serious music student at college. There's no one Batty would rather learn from than Jeffrey.
"Some secrets buried away in boxes are peacefully forgotten, just as we hope they'll be. But some refuse to stay in their boxes, popping out at the worst possible times. And then there are those...that linger and fester, gnawing away from the inside out."
—The Penderwicks in Spring, P. 208
The charmed prelude Batty imagines leading up to her birthday concert goes wrong quickly, mostly in little ways. When Rosalind returns home for a visit, she brings a boyfriend that none of the other Penderwicks like. They preferred when Rosalind was in a relationship with Tommy Geiger from next door, but that ship has apparently sailed. At least Tommy's brother, Nick, is home for a few weeks from his stint in the army. The Penderwicks love Nick Geiger, and he'll play a pivotal role in this book. Though Jeffrey also returns on cue to spend time with the Penderwicks, his connection to them is more tenuous than before. Jeffrey makes no secret that he wants more than friendship with Skye, but she's rejecting the notion of romance for now, busy enough keeping up with her schoolwork. Skye sends Jeffrey packing more than once out of frustration with his unrequited courtship, not giving Batty any chance to have a conversation with him about becoming her music mentore. Then comes the night when Batty overhears a conversation that jars her world from its axis, smothering the joyful singing sprite within and banishing her to an oubliette of sorrow and aloneness she never knew existed. The Penderwicks and their close friends have rebounded from distressing circumstances on several occasions, but this problem may be unfixable, a hurt too deep to recover from. It will take the close-knit affection and unconditional loyalty of more than just Batty's parents and siblings to reconstruct the course of her life as she perceived it up to now, blissfully unaware of the grief that lay waiting to ambush her when she grew old enough to understand. But the Penderwicks are all about banding together and loving each other when it's hard, when love feels more like a chore than a natural effusion. The merry singing sprite within Batty has gone gravely silent in the face of her sadness, but its harmonious voice can be regenerated. All it needs is a little hope to jumpstart its joie de vivre.
There's a lot of good to The Penderwicks in Spring, a story with a tremendous variety of characters who care deeply about their family and friends even when they don't show it well. Not a single character feels contrived, as if they wouldn't occur in real life, and that's a noteworthy accomplishment for a novel so packed with people. The story's emotional gravity comes primarily from the suddenness and enormity of Batty's crisis after she overhears The Conversation, and it makes us as sick to our stomach as she feels, that stubborn knot pushing against her insides continuously and painfully, not letting her draw full breath. It's stressful, but it allows those of us who have felt that way before to identify with Batty's affliction and crave relief on a visceral level, so it feels that much more wonderful when it finally comes. Living with a knot in one's stomach is a torment no one deserves. Batty has to come to grips realistically with her part in the passing away of a couple of loved ones in her life, her mother and her faithful canine friend, Hound, and it will take truth to clear those hurdles. Who better to deliver truth than Nick Geiger, a military man who cares for Batty and the other Penderwicks more than he ever explicitly states? He is distant enough to objectively speak to Batty's guilt over the death of her loved ones, particularly Hound, whom she stayed close beside every day until his doggy heart gave out. "Listen to me, Batty. Dogs die. People die... We do the best we can while they're alive, and then they die anyway." Straight talk from Nick might be just what the doctor ordered after all Batty's suffering. We can't prevent loved ones from perishing—they're flesh and blood creatures, destined to eventually leave us—but we can hold them near while they remain, not letting anything get between us while we have them. Love without reserve and don't take those you care about for granted, that's the Penderwick way. The Penderwicks in Spring is a fitting celebration of that.
I consider many authors to be blessed fixtures in the kingdom of children's literature, like miniature cities on hilltops shining their brave light up into the cavernous universe. Jerry Spinelli, Cynthia Voigt, Patrick Ness, Rachel Field, Oscar Wilde, Aesop, Louisa May Alcott, Howard Pyle, Ingrid Law, Hugh Lofting...the list could go on practically forever. Jeanne Birdsall is one of those luminous hilltop cities, too, a creative artist whose importance to her readers cannot be overestimated. Like the previous installments in the series, The Penderwicks in Spring is a work of heart and hope that leaves an indelible mark on the landscape of literature. I give it at least two and a half stars, and wouldn't object to three. The Penderwicks will be special to me the rest of my life.
April 13, 2014
The Penderwicks are back for another adventure. This book takes place several years after the last. Batty is now almost 11, Ben 8 and there's a new Penderwick - two-year-old Lydia who rules the roost! It's spring in Massachusetts which means lots of things Batty hates: book reports, teenagers swarming the house, memories of Hound who died 6 months ago. Spring also brings the return of Rosalind from college and Skye and Batty's birthdays. Batty is looking forward to having a heart-to-heart chat with Rosy. She's always been able to tell Rosy everything. Before Rosy comes home, Batty discovers a delightful secret about herself and plans to tell the rest of the family on her birthday. Before that can happen, she needs to find a way to earn money. Batty sets up PTW (Penderwick Willing to Work) and finds herself unexpectedly becoming dog walker to an oversized Dauchshund and a funny looking dog named after a plant. She has mixed emotions about her new job. How can she take care of other dogs when she couldn't keep Hound alive? That's one of the things she needs to talk to Rosy about. Just as Skye's birthday rolls around, an unexpected and unwelcome visitor arrives to shake things up. By the time Batty's birthday arrives, she'll feel much older than 11.
Warning! Read this book with tissues handy. Right away in the first chapter I cried. I know exactly how Batty feels about Hound and how much she misses him. Anyone who knows the pain of losing a beloved animal companion will understand Batty. Then the plot turned light and fun until an unexpected reveal in the middle. I cried a lot more before I was done with the book. There are lots of great literary references in this book. Do read Dragonfly Pool or adults may like A Song For Summer. The Penderwicks are all here in all their quirkiness. I love them all and they feel like family. My only minor quibbles were that Lydia's verbal skills are exceptional for a 2 year old, more than my younger niece's, which seems impossible and in Massachusetts teens aren't allowed to drive other kids in the car (I think, unless the law changed again since my cousins learned to drive). I laughed at the descriptions of New England spring. It was so great reading this book at this time of year when the weather goes from sleety winter to summer warm and back again in less than 2 weeks. It made the book feel more realistic.
Batty is an interesting, complicated character. I could relate a lot to her. She's the shy Penderwick in a family of extroverts and she feels emotions deeply. She's pragmatic about her dead mother, for all intents and purposes Iantha is her mother. Yet Batty is curious about the mother she never knew and feels that loss more than she's willing to admit. She's kind and caring, a bookworm (but hates ruining books by doing reports on them) and very sensitive. I cried a lot with her and for her in this book.
Ben is the other main character in the novel. He's obsessed with rocks (another scientist in the family perhaps?) and wants to make movies with his best friend Rafael. Ben's relationship with the Geiger brothers is very sweet. They're good guys to allow him to obsess over them that way. OK it feeds their egos but it's nice, especially of Nick, to spend that much time with Ben. Ben is sweet and rather uncomplicated. He's stuck in the middle between his older sisters and baby sister and sometimes that gets to be a burden. As far as little brothers go, I really liked him.
Skye and Jane are exactly the same. I felt bad for Skye and for the rest of the family that her relationship with Jeffrey is so complicated. Jane is as boy crazy as ever and always searching out new characters to put in a book. She's the comic relief, along with little Lydia and Ben's friend Raf.
If you love Little Women, Jane Austen's novels, the Ramona series, the Moffats, the All of a Kind Family and other classics from the golden age of children's books, you'll love the Penderwicks too. Start with the first book and read them in order.
slight spoiler
Warning! Read this book with tissues handy. Right away in the first chapter I cried. I know exactly how Batty feels about Hound and how much she misses him. Anyone who knows the pain of losing a beloved animal companion will understand Batty. Then the plot turned light and fun until an unexpected reveal in the middle. I cried a lot more before I was done with the book. There are lots of great literary references in this book. Do read Dragonfly Pool or adults may like A Song For Summer. The Penderwicks are all here in all their quirkiness. I love them all and they feel like family. My only minor quibbles were that Lydia's verbal skills are exceptional for a 2 year old, more than my younger niece's, which seems impossible and in Massachusetts teens aren't allowed to drive other kids in the car (I think, unless the law changed again since my cousins learned to drive). I laughed at the descriptions of New England spring. It was so great reading this book at this time of year when the weather goes from sleety winter to summer warm and back again in less than 2 weeks. It made the book feel more realistic.
Batty is an interesting, complicated character. I could relate a lot to her. She's the shy Penderwick in a family of extroverts and she feels emotions deeply. She's pragmatic about her dead mother, for all intents and purposes Iantha is her mother. Yet Batty is curious about the mother she never knew and feels that loss more than she's willing to admit. She's kind and caring, a bookworm (but hates ruining books by doing reports on them) and very sensitive. I cried a lot with her and for her in this book.
Ben is the other main character in the novel. He's obsessed with rocks (another scientist in the family perhaps?) and wants to make movies with his best friend Rafael. Ben's relationship with the Geiger brothers is very sweet. They're good guys to allow him to obsess over them that way. OK it feeds their egos but it's nice, especially of Nick, to spend that much time with Ben. Ben is sweet and rather uncomplicated. He's stuck in the middle between his older sisters and baby sister and sometimes that gets to be a burden. As far as little brothers go, I really liked him.
Skye and Jane are exactly the same. I felt bad for Skye and for the rest of the family that her relationship with Jeffrey is so complicated. Jane is as boy crazy as ever and always searching out new characters to put in a book. She's the comic relief, along with little Lydia and Ben's friend Raf.
If you love Little Women, Jane Austen's novels, the Ramona series, the Moffats, the All of a Kind Family and other classics from the golden age of children's books, you'll love the Penderwicks too. Start with the first book and read them in order.
slight spoiler
Read
July 11, 2014I love this series, and I loved almost everything about this book. It is so beautifully written, I sank right into it in the first couple of pages and was carried all the way through with a feeling of deep comfort. It could easily stand on its own, but of course it's even more fun to have read the earlier books beforehand. I looooooved Batty and Ben, the two younger Penderwicks who get to be PoV characters this time round. And oh, did I sob at the climax of the book - I can't remember the last time any book made me cry so hard! - but it was just the right kind of sobbing, and the most perfect ending, too.
There was just one subplot that I didn't like, but it made me so uncomfortable that I have to mention it here. One of Batty's older sisters, Skye, is best friends with Jeffrey, who is almost an honorary Penderwick by this point in the series. The whole family has loved him for years. Unfortunately, now that they're both 18, Jeffrey has decided that he's in love with her, and she's not interested...and the way the book handled that issue was kind of disturbing to me.
Skye has told Jeffrey very, very clearly that she's not interested in him in that way, and that he needs to stop trying to pressure her into a romantic relationship. She's said it in every way possible, with no possible way to mistake her message or her sincerity. He agrees that if he comes to stay in her house for a planned visit, he won't bring up romance. But when he brings it up anyway as soon as he gets her alone, and refuses to stop when she tells him to - he tells her that he "can't help" himself because she's too beautiful - and then, finally, when she's tried her best to shut him down and failed, she tells him that, in that case, he needs to leave...everyone in the book is irritated at her. Because she, alone, has deprived them of the fun of having Jeffrey hang out with the family.
I completely understand why her younger siblings would feel that way. But I was really disturbed that there wasn't a single contradictory perspective given. Even her dad says she's going to have to think hard about the harm she's doing to the family by "banning" Jeffrey. Not a single adult says that Jeffrey will have to think hard about his own behavior or that he will have to learn to respect her boundaries. I understand that a teenage boy might not understand the concept of boundaries, especially based on his own family issues, but her parents are adults, who surely ought to know better. And there's one scene in particular, when Jeffrey's cornered her alone at night in the dark without anyone else around (although Batty is secretly listening in) where I started to find his behavior really creepy, as he interrogates her about whether she's been lying to him and is secretly in love with anyone else... and if not, then she's supposed to give him a good-enough reason for not being romantically interested in him or anyone else.
And I thought, as I read that scene: GET AWAY! NOW! I was so glad that she made him leave, even as I did genuinely feel sorry for her little sister's loss of a cherished older-brother figure. But I was so disturbed that neither of Skye's parents stood up for her when talking about the situation with the other kids, and that not a single character in the book ever says or even thinks that Jeffrey's behavior is unacceptable, and that he needs to respect the fact that Skye has said NO. It's a really creepy message, particularly as I'm very worried that Skye will end up getting together with him in Book 5 as a "happy ending", based on some clues that have been dropped. (I really hope I'm wrong about that!)
That was only one subplot, though, and all the others were so wonderful and cozy and compelling and heartfelt and just all around fabulous that I still loved the book as a whole. Batty's story in particular - the main story of the book - was heartwrenching and beautiful and PERFECT. I'll definitely be re-reading this in future for Batty and Ben and Lydia and all the rest, and I will absolutely be reading Book 5 as soon as it's out!
But I couldn't review the book as a whole without talking about that one issue along the way.
There was just one subplot that I didn't like, but it made me so uncomfortable that I have to mention it here. One of Batty's older sisters, Skye, is best friends with Jeffrey, who is almost an honorary Penderwick by this point in the series. The whole family has loved him for years. Unfortunately, now that they're both 18, Jeffrey has decided that he's in love with her, and she's not interested...and the way the book handled that issue was kind of disturbing to me.
Skye has told Jeffrey very, very clearly that she's not interested in him in that way, and that he needs to stop trying to pressure her into a romantic relationship. She's said it in every way possible, with no possible way to mistake her message or her sincerity. He agrees that if he comes to stay in her house for a planned visit, he won't bring up romance. But when he brings it up anyway as soon as he gets her alone, and refuses to stop when she tells him to - he tells her that he "can't help" himself because she's too beautiful - and then, finally, when she's tried her best to shut him down and failed, she tells him that, in that case, he needs to leave...everyone in the book is irritated at her. Because she, alone, has deprived them of the fun of having Jeffrey hang out with the family.
I completely understand why her younger siblings would feel that way. But I was really disturbed that there wasn't a single contradictory perspective given. Even her dad says she's going to have to think hard about the harm she's doing to the family by "banning" Jeffrey. Not a single adult says that Jeffrey will have to think hard about his own behavior or that he will have to learn to respect her boundaries. I understand that a teenage boy might not understand the concept of boundaries, especially based on his own family issues, but her parents are adults, who surely ought to know better. And there's one scene in particular, when Jeffrey's cornered her alone at night in the dark without anyone else around (although Batty is secretly listening in) where I started to find his behavior really creepy, as he interrogates her about whether she's been lying to him and is secretly in love with anyone else... and if not, then she's supposed to give him a good-enough reason for not being romantically interested in him or anyone else.
And I thought, as I read that scene: GET AWAY! NOW! I was so glad that she made him leave, even as I did genuinely feel sorry for her little sister's loss of a cherished older-brother figure. But I was so disturbed that neither of Skye's parents stood up for her when talking about the situation with the other kids, and that not a single character in the book ever says or even thinks that Jeffrey's behavior is unacceptable, and that he needs to respect the fact that Skye has said NO. It's a really creepy message, particularly as I'm very worried that Skye will end up getting together with him in Book 5 as a "happy ending", based on some clues that have been dropped. (I really hope I'm wrong about that!)
That was only one subplot, though, and all the others were so wonderful and cozy and compelling and heartfelt and just all around fabulous that I still loved the book as a whole. Batty's story in particular - the main story of the book - was heartwrenching and beautiful and PERFECT. I'll definitely be re-reading this in future for Batty and Ben and Lydia and all the rest, and I will absolutely be reading Book 5 as soon as it's out!
But I couldn't review the book as a whole without talking about that one issue along the way.
April 10, 2017
// Re-Read May 2018 //
Just as meaningful and emotional as I remember. Oh, how I love the Penderwicks. <3
Now to just wait for the FINAL BOOK to come out. #help
/ / /
Wowowowow...this book made me feel so many feelings. I absolutely loved it, maaaaybe even more than the first book. Or at least just as much. ;)
Review coming soon! (Hopefully during spring break, once I can get to my computer again.)
5 stars!
Just as meaningful and emotional as I remember. Oh, how I love the Penderwicks. <3
Now to just wait for the FINAL BOOK to come out. #help
/ / /
Wowowowow...this book made me feel so many feelings. I absolutely loved it, maaaaybe even more than the first book. Or at least just as much. ;)
Review coming soon! (Hopefully during spring break, once I can get to my computer again.)
5 stars!
October 30, 2014
I will admit, straight up, that I am not at all objective about the Penderwicks. I love them - and these books that relay their adventures to us - rather fiercely.
And with that out of the way ... Oh, man, y'all. This is wonderful. It made me cry at least four times and when I finished I just smiled in a daze and clutched it to my heart. Literally. But! Funny and sweet and charming and pretty much everything that you would expect a new Penderwicks to be. Love.
And with that out of the way ... Oh, man, y'all. This is wonderful. It made me cry at least four times and when I finished I just smiled in a daze and clutched it to my heart. Literally. But! Funny and sweet and charming and pretty much everything that you would expect a new Penderwicks to be. Love.
December 12, 2014
At long last, we have received news of the Penderwicks.
Jeanne Birdsall has consistently avowed that it takes her three years to write a Penderwicks novel. The Penderwicks at Point Mouette came out in 2011. So (allowing for the vagaries of the editing and publishing process) the next volume of Penderwickia will arrive in stores next month right on schedule.
Interestingly, even more time has passed within the world of the Penderwicks than in our world. When last we saw them, Rosalind, Skye, Jane, and Batty were 13, 12, 11, and five years old. Ben was “too small to be without his mother.” As The Penderwicks in Spring opens, Rosalind is away at college, Skye and Jane are in high school, and Batty and Ben are in fifth and second grade, respectively. Aging the characters up like this is an interesting – even unusual - approach to an ongoing series. There’s plenty of precedent for doing it the other way – Joey Pigza being last year’s most notable example – but Birdsall has always been clear about her vision for the series, which seems to involve seeing the sisters all the way to adulthood.
It could be difficult to balance that goal with her other priority, which is to keep the series solidly in middle grade territory. In a 2013 Horn Book article, she addressed the importance of keeping middle grade separate from YA: “But in terms of maintaining the boundaries of the middle grade category — so that children know where to go for books that address their particular lives — it matters a great deal. “ In practical terms, that seems to mean that Penderwicks novels will always focus on the characters who actually fall within the middle grade age range. In The Penderwicks in Spring, that would be Batty and Ben. Skye, Jane, Rosalind (and Jeffrey, and even Tommy Geiger) are present, but in the background. The story is told exclusively from Batty and Ben’s points of view.
As a reader and fan, it took me a while to get on board with that approach, because it requires Birdsall to alter her usual narrative pattern. The Penderwicks exist very much in the tradition of the family novel, which has a clear structure: chapters alternate between the points of view of the siblings, and each sibling has a conflict to overcome (sometimes in addition to an overarching family conflict). That’s how it worked for the Little Women a century and a half ago, and that’s how it worked for the Family Fletcher last year. The Penderwicks in Spring is different. It’s all Batty. Ben is there too, but really, most of Ben’s conflicts have to do with worrying about Batty (and keeping her secrets).
So it’s Batty’s show, and a dark, dark show it is. There has always been an undercurrent of melancholy in the Penderwicks’ world, but in this book, it actually pulls us under, right along with Batty. She alone has to wrestle with the central tragedy at the heart of their family, and as Birdsall plunged us into those icy emotional waters, I really wasn’t sure she was going to be able to pull us back out effectively.
Reader, she does. Though Batty’s quiet struggle is at the heart of the book, it echoes through the rest of the family and their friends (Jeffrey, the Geigers), and in the end, it is the whole Penderwick tribe that emerges stronger for it. When spring comes to Gardam Street, they have earned it.
This is not to say that the book is an unqualified success. Most notably, I’m not sure that Ben is as strong a character as his older siblings, and I was disappointed that he didn’t have more of his own story (in a 350 page book, you would think there would be room for it).
Overall, though, I think this is a satisfying penultimate volume in the Penderwick saga. There are welcome moments of levity (provided by Jane’s and Rosalind’s ridiculous gentlemen suitors and Batty’s shabby dog-walking charges), as well as the unflinching emotional authenticity we’ve come to expect from Jeanne Birdsall.
(As for Newbery? It’s a long shot. Despite being so temporally separate from its predecessors, I don’t think the book works without previous experience with the Penderwicks.)
Jeanne Birdsall has consistently avowed that it takes her three years to write a Penderwicks novel. The Penderwicks at Point Mouette came out in 2011. So (allowing for the vagaries of the editing and publishing process) the next volume of Penderwickia will arrive in stores next month right on schedule.
Interestingly, even more time has passed within the world of the Penderwicks than in our world. When last we saw them, Rosalind, Skye, Jane, and Batty were 13, 12, 11, and five years old. Ben was “too small to be without his mother.” As The Penderwicks in Spring opens, Rosalind is away at college, Skye and Jane are in high school, and Batty and Ben are in fifth and second grade, respectively. Aging the characters up like this is an interesting – even unusual - approach to an ongoing series. There’s plenty of precedent for doing it the other way – Joey Pigza being last year’s most notable example – but Birdsall has always been clear about her vision for the series, which seems to involve seeing the sisters all the way to adulthood.
It could be difficult to balance that goal with her other priority, which is to keep the series solidly in middle grade territory. In a 2013 Horn Book article, she addressed the importance of keeping middle grade separate from YA: “But in terms of maintaining the boundaries of the middle grade category — so that children know where to go for books that address their particular lives — it matters a great deal. “ In practical terms, that seems to mean that Penderwicks novels will always focus on the characters who actually fall within the middle grade age range. In The Penderwicks in Spring, that would be Batty and Ben. Skye, Jane, Rosalind (and Jeffrey, and even Tommy Geiger) are present, but in the background. The story is told exclusively from Batty and Ben’s points of view.
As a reader and fan, it took me a while to get on board with that approach, because it requires Birdsall to alter her usual narrative pattern. The Penderwicks exist very much in the tradition of the family novel, which has a clear structure: chapters alternate between the points of view of the siblings, and each sibling has a conflict to overcome (sometimes in addition to an overarching family conflict). That’s how it worked for the Little Women a century and a half ago, and that’s how it worked for the Family Fletcher last year. The Penderwicks in Spring is different. It’s all Batty. Ben is there too, but really, most of Ben’s conflicts have to do with worrying about Batty (and keeping her secrets).
So it’s Batty’s show, and a dark, dark show it is. There has always been an undercurrent of melancholy in the Penderwicks’ world, but in this book, it actually pulls us under, right along with Batty. She alone has to wrestle with the central tragedy at the heart of their family, and as Birdsall plunged us into those icy emotional waters, I really wasn’t sure she was going to be able to pull us back out effectively.
Reader, she does. Though Batty’s quiet struggle is at the heart of the book, it echoes through the rest of the family and their friends (Jeffrey, the Geigers), and in the end, it is the whole Penderwick tribe that emerges stronger for it. When spring comes to Gardam Street, they have earned it.
This is not to say that the book is an unqualified success. Most notably, I’m not sure that Ben is as strong a character as his older siblings, and I was disappointed that he didn’t have more of his own story (in a 350 page book, you would think there would be room for it).
Overall, though, I think this is a satisfying penultimate volume in the Penderwick saga. There are welcome moments of levity (provided by Jane’s and Rosalind’s ridiculous gentlemen suitors and Batty’s shabby dog-walking charges), as well as the unflinching emotional authenticity we’ve come to expect from Jeanne Birdsall.
(As for Newbery? It’s a long shot. Despite being so temporally separate from its predecessors, I don’t think the book works without previous experience with the Penderwicks.)
November 13, 2017
I loved the first three books in this series. Several of the review blurbs use the same language to describe why Birdsall's writing is so special. It's something about the old-fashioned feel of it, like brand new books coming from your favorite childhood authors. It's brilliant and warm and inviting and beautifully, lovingly written.
This one felt different. I hate giving it two stars, but...I honestly didn't enjoy it very much. I'm still a little bewildered by that, and suddenly much less eager to read the fifth and final installment.
For one thing, it's an oddly dark book. That can be done well in children's literature, but it's a sudden turn for the Penderwicks' good-hearted, family-centric, things-go-awry-but-we-always-love-each-other feel. I kept feeling like there was a book missing between this one and the last - The Penderwicks at Point Mouette - which I had adored.
Each of the books ages the characters up a bit, giving Birdsall a chance to show different stages of their lives. It seemed like a bigger leap this time, somehow. The older Penderwicks, the ones Birdsall had made her readers grow so attached to, kind of disappeared from the story. Rosy's off to college, tangled between feelings for her high school sweetheart and an attraction to an extremely handsome but terribly obnoxious college boy. Jane flits in and out, occasionally talking about her love for books and writing, but mostly juggling a bunch of teenage boys who gather in the Penderwicks' living room to eat pretzels. Skye is apparently the villain?
All of this makes sense, I suppose, since it's primarily told from the point of view of Batty, the formerly youngest Penderwick, and her little brother Ben, fully adopted into the Penderwick family after their parents' marriage. There's also a brand new sixth child, Lydia, two years old and probably the star of the final book at this rate.
I like Batty. I like Ben. I even like Lydia, with her love of princesses and hatred of Rosy's awful new boyfriend. But Batty's mind is an unexpectedly dark, sad place. The book starts off with her mourning Hound, her wonderful dog who'd died months ago, in between the books. She blames herself for his death - even though he was an old dog, she thinks she hadn't loved him enough to keep him healthy. She keeps a secret cache of his items in the closet to cry over. And she spirals from there. This is a bit of a spoiler, but - she overhears Skye talking about how Batty is responsible for their mother's death.
So Batty, 10-going-on-11, has a complete breakdown. It's...hm. Again, this could be wrenchingly wonderful. It's simply okay. And Birdsall isn't an "okay" writer.
I miss the older girls, partially Jane and Skye. I don't like that all three of the older Penderwicks are wrapped up in boy drama (even if Skye's is no fault of her own). It felt strange to have all of their stories happening off the page, beyond Batty's view and thus out of reach for the readers.
It's not a bad book. But I didn't love it. And if this had been the first in the series, I probably wouldn't have kept reading.
This one felt different. I hate giving it two stars, but...I honestly didn't enjoy it very much. I'm still a little bewildered by that, and suddenly much less eager to read the fifth and final installment.
For one thing, it's an oddly dark book. That can be done well in children's literature, but it's a sudden turn for the Penderwicks' good-hearted, family-centric, things-go-awry-but-we-always-love-each-other feel. I kept feeling like there was a book missing between this one and the last - The Penderwicks at Point Mouette - which I had adored.
Each of the books ages the characters up a bit, giving Birdsall a chance to show different stages of their lives. It seemed like a bigger leap this time, somehow. The older Penderwicks, the ones Birdsall had made her readers grow so attached to, kind of disappeared from the story. Rosy's off to college, tangled between feelings for her high school sweetheart and an attraction to an extremely handsome but terribly obnoxious college boy. Jane flits in and out, occasionally talking about her love for books and writing, but mostly juggling a bunch of teenage boys who gather in the Penderwicks' living room to eat pretzels. Skye is apparently the villain?
All of this makes sense, I suppose, since it's primarily told from the point of view of Batty, the formerly youngest Penderwick, and her little brother Ben, fully adopted into the Penderwick family after their parents' marriage. There's also a brand new sixth child, Lydia, two years old and probably the star of the final book at this rate.
I like Batty. I like Ben. I even like Lydia, with her love of princesses and hatred of Rosy's awful new boyfriend. But Batty's mind is an unexpectedly dark, sad place. The book starts off with her mourning Hound, her wonderful dog who'd died months ago, in between the books. She blames herself for his death - even though he was an old dog, she thinks she hadn't loved him enough to keep him healthy. She keeps a secret cache of his items in the closet to cry over. And she spirals from there. This is a bit of a spoiler, but - she overhears Skye talking about how Batty is responsible for their mother's death.
So Batty, 10-going-on-11, has a complete breakdown. It's...hm. Again, this could be wrenchingly wonderful. It's simply okay. And Birdsall isn't an "okay" writer.
I miss the older girls, partially Jane and Skye. I don't like that all three of the older Penderwicks are wrapped up in boy drama (even if Skye's is no fault of her own). It felt strange to have all of their stories happening off the page, beyond Batty's view and thus out of reach for the readers.
It's not a bad book. But I didn't love it. And if this had been the first in the series, I probably wouldn't have kept reading.
November 18, 2014
Jeanne Birdsall's MG books about the Penderwick family are always a delight, and this fourth in the series is no exception. Admittedly I didn't cry over it, possibly because everyone else I know who's read it told me that I would cry and therefore I was forearmed against it (or possibly because I have a heart of stone) but if I were the sort to cry over books, I know exactly where in the story I would have done it. Birdsall's characters -- children, teens, adults -- are so warmly and vividly drawn, so distinct from one another, and their emotional life is so real and engaging, that the book requires no melodramatic conflicts or world-threatening crises to hook the reader and draw them in. It's a beautiful example of how the smallest, quietest stories can be compelling as long as the author is good at showing us what the characters care about and why. It also, impressively, touches on big topics like depression, bereavement, and PTSD in a way that's light-handed but never glib or superficial. In short, I loved it, and I can't wait for the fifth and final installment of the series to see how it all turns out.
Read
June 23, 2015I preordered this book last year, and when it arrived last month I realized I needed to reread the first three books in the series to get the full experience. Then I realized that my two daughters were old enough to understand the books now, so I started reading the first book out loud to them at night. We inched our way through the books with me reading one chapter a night out loud while The Penderwicks in Spring mocked me from the dining room table where it sat like a centerpiece. A few days ago my daughters and I began the third book, and I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to read the fourth one, immediately. I read The Penderwicks in Spring all in one helping, a box of tissues next to me the whole time. Birdsall has made me love this family so much — her whimsical, loving writing makes her one of my favorite authors of all time. — Karina Glaser
from The Best Books We Read In May: http://bookriot.com/2015/06/02/riot-r...
from The Best Books We Read In May: http://bookriot.com/2015/06/02/riot-r...
October 22, 2013
I want to be able to write like this.
March 29, 2019
I wonder if this was my favorite! It was so good, and sad and sweet at the same time. I loved it.
July 10, 2014
This book focuses on Batty, who is now eleven. She has recently discovered a hidden talent for singing and cannot wait to share it with her family on her birthday, which also happens to be when Rosalind returns from college and Jeffrey is visiting from Boston. Despite a large revolving cast, the characters are clear and the reader never feels overwhelmed. Birdsall’s gentle third person narration gives us wonderful insights into her characters, some which tug at the heartstrings and others that made me laugh out loud. Ben is evolving into a sweet, serious boy with a love of rocks and a dislike of Rosalind’s schmarmy boyfriend (“How could such a person as Oliver come from a state with so many great rocks? Would Ben have to rethink his devotion to Minnesota?”). Skye is as angry and complicated as ever, and we get a breathtaking look into the source of this pain, one that slays the reader and sends Batty into a devastating tailspin. It is hard to watch Batty suffer, and she weeps throughout a lot of this book, which meant I also wept. I finished the book a few hours ago and I still feel emotionally sensitive.
One of the aspects of Birdsall’s writing I find the most interesting is which moments she chooses to include in her family saga, and which happen off the page. One of the challenges of writing a series that takes place over seven years is that obviously you can’t include everything. But Birdsall tends to include quieter, everyday moments instead of big dramatic ones. We don’t see Rosalind go to college, for example, or experience the birth of Lydia. But we do spend time with Batty in the woods or Ben behind the bushes playing army. Perhaps most significantly in this novel, we don’t see the death of Hound but we do experience Batty’s profound and prolonged grief, which is perhaps the unexpected choice, but an extremely effective one.
There are few things in life I enjoy as much as a Penderwicks novel. I have written about them before here. I love the wild, warm chaos of the family, which now numbers up to eight with toddler Lydia, nine if you count Asimov the cat, which Batty certainly would. I love the descriptions of home and the traditions and details that make the Penderwicks as real to me as any living breathing person in my life. Take for example, how at age five (otherwise known as the age of reason) each Penderwick chooses their own special cake which is made for them lovingly by the rest of the family every year on their birthday. I love how emotionally resonant the books are, a literary equivalent of that tender person who wears her heart on her sleeve. So many books these days use snark, irony or flashy gimmicks to win over a presumedly jaded audience, but Birdsall proves that all you really need to engage a reader is emotional integrity.
One of the aspects of Birdsall’s writing I find the most interesting is which moments she chooses to include in her family saga, and which happen off the page. One of the challenges of writing a series that takes place over seven years is that obviously you can’t include everything. But Birdsall tends to include quieter, everyday moments instead of big dramatic ones. We don’t see Rosalind go to college, for example, or experience the birth of Lydia. But we do spend time with Batty in the woods or Ben behind the bushes playing army. Perhaps most significantly in this novel, we don’t see the death of Hound but we do experience Batty’s profound and prolonged grief, which is perhaps the unexpected choice, but an extremely effective one.
There are few things in life I enjoy as much as a Penderwicks novel. I have written about them before here. I love the wild, warm chaos of the family, which now numbers up to eight with toddler Lydia, nine if you count Asimov the cat, which Batty certainly would. I love the descriptions of home and the traditions and details that make the Penderwicks as real to me as any living breathing person in my life. Take for example, how at age five (otherwise known as the age of reason) each Penderwick chooses their own special cake which is made for them lovingly by the rest of the family every year on their birthday. I love how emotionally resonant the books are, a literary equivalent of that tender person who wears her heart on her sleeve. So many books these days use snark, irony or flashy gimmicks to win over a presumedly jaded audience, but Birdsall proves that all you really need to engage a reader is emotional integrity.
January 28, 2019
This book tore me apart and rebuilt me line by line. I don’t understand how Jeanne Birdsall can keep writing Penderwick books that somehow top the excellence of previous entries in the series, but somehow she does.
Like the previous three Penderwick books, The Penderwicks in Spring is funny, joyful, heartwarming and fun. On top of that, this one adds a dollop of heartbreaking pathos. Birdsall has been upfront about her desire to create a Little Women for today’s generation, and of all the Penderwick books Spring Thus far is closest to achieving that perfect mix of whimsy and realism that draws the reader into this family’s life and makes them never want to leave.
The fourth book in the series takes a huge leap forward, taking place five years after the events of Point Mouette. The first three books all took place in subsequent years, so such a big jump made me nervous: The kids we got to know so well are all in college or preparing for it, and the action focuses on the three younger siblings, who either didn’t exist or were toddlers in the earlier books. Would we really be able to get as invested in this new group of kids, with lives so different from the ones we left five years earlier? The answer is a resounding yes! Birdsall simply has a gift for creating relatable, engaging, memorable characters – so much so that it almost doesn’t matter what they do; you’re just glad to be along for the ride.
I can’t recommend this series highly enough; with one book left to go, The Penderwicks in Spring is the best of the group so far.
Like the previous three Penderwick books, The Penderwicks in Spring is funny, joyful, heartwarming and fun. On top of that, this one adds a dollop of heartbreaking pathos. Birdsall has been upfront about her desire to create a Little Women for today’s generation, and of all the Penderwick books Spring Thus far is closest to achieving that perfect mix of whimsy and realism that draws the reader into this family’s life and makes them never want to leave.
The fourth book in the series takes a huge leap forward, taking place five years after the events of Point Mouette. The first three books all took place in subsequent years, so such a big jump made me nervous: The kids we got to know so well are all in college or preparing for it, and the action focuses on the three younger siblings, who either didn’t exist or were toddlers in the earlier books. Would we really be able to get as invested in this new group of kids, with lives so different from the ones we left five years earlier? The answer is a resounding yes! Birdsall simply has a gift for creating relatable, engaging, memorable characters – so much so that it almost doesn’t matter what they do; you’re just glad to be along for the ride.
I can’t recommend this series highly enough; with one book left to go, The Penderwicks in Spring is the best of the group so far.
May 13, 2014
It's possible that my box of tissues and I stayed up until 2:00 in the morning to finish reading this.
August 31, 2015
I dearly loved getting to know the Penderwick Family in books 1-4. Can't wait for the 5th and final book to arrive.
November 8, 2022
These books. For real.😭
This one took me a little longer to get into initially but, boy oh boy, it sure swept me in eventually.
This one took me a little longer to get into initially but, boy oh boy, it sure swept me in eventually.
March 25, 2016
Read for the 2016 YA/MG Book Battle.
This book was simply charming. I fell in love with the Penderwick family, both immediate and extended. Birdsall has a real gift for characterization that shows throughout the story, even in the most marginal of side characters (like the kindergarten twins who fall in love with Ben). I had some trouble keeping the three older sisters separate at first, but I’m sure that’s because I haven’t read any of the other books in the series—a deficiency I plan to remedy immediately. (Why did I read these out of order? Because I’m reading it for the Book Battle 2016 and I wanted to come at it unspoiled. The things I do for friends.)
Batty, who’s arguably the hero (though her brother Ben takes the narrative frequently), is shy, and one of the things I loved about the book was how life kept challenging her to rise above her shyness. The description of how she essentially made a deal with herself to be able to pass out flyers for her business was perfect—as was the way that business became something she never dreamed of. Her mental hangups, particularly her guilt over the death of her beloved dog, are exactly those of an eleven-year-old, and we see so clearly through her eyes that they feel serious even as I knew with my adult perspective that they’re unfounded.
I could go on with a series of “I loved”s—I loved Batty and Ben’s relationships with their older friends, especially Jeffrey and Nick; I loved Batty’s discovery of her voice and how it felt so precious to her; I loved pretentious Oliver and how Rosalind was the only one who didn’t know everyone else disliked him; I loved the dogs and how full of personality they were. But what really struck me was the big twist in the middle: It’s a devastating secret to learn, but what makes it work is that Batty is eleven and at the perfect age to take it uncritically, where an older child or adult might question whether Skye’s perspective is really valid. It hurt to see her suffer through all the days she carries the secret with her, but what I thought was truly effective was how she doesn’t regain her center immediately upon learning the truth. That has to wait for a second epiphany, and that one comes through music—just as it should.
I couldn’t help comparing this to A Ring of Endless Light, which it faced off against in this year’s Book Battle. Both are stories about family and friendship, but where I felt A Ring of Endless Light depicted an unrealistically “cool” family, with their affectations and seven-year-olds enjoying Shakespeare, this book has a family that seems incredibly familiar to me, for all it’s nothing like the one I grew up in. The character voices are so authentic I found myself wishing to be part of their circle. I’m looking forward to reading more about the Penderwicks, wherever their story takes them.
This book was simply charming. I fell in love with the Penderwick family, both immediate and extended. Birdsall has a real gift for characterization that shows throughout the story, even in the most marginal of side characters (like the kindergarten twins who fall in love with Ben). I had some trouble keeping the three older sisters separate at first, but I’m sure that’s because I haven’t read any of the other books in the series—a deficiency I plan to remedy immediately. (Why did I read these out of order? Because I’m reading it for the Book Battle 2016 and I wanted to come at it unspoiled. The things I do for friends.)
Batty, who’s arguably the hero (though her brother Ben takes the narrative frequently), is shy, and one of the things I loved about the book was how life kept challenging her to rise above her shyness. The description of how she essentially made a deal with herself to be able to pass out flyers for her business was perfect—as was the way that business became something she never dreamed of. Her mental hangups, particularly her guilt over the death of her beloved dog, are exactly those of an eleven-year-old, and we see so clearly through her eyes that they feel serious even as I knew with my adult perspective that they’re unfounded.
I could go on with a series of “I loved”s—I loved Batty and Ben’s relationships with their older friends, especially Jeffrey and Nick; I loved Batty’s discovery of her voice and how it felt so precious to her; I loved pretentious Oliver and how Rosalind was the only one who didn’t know everyone else disliked him; I loved the dogs and how full of personality they were. But what really struck me was the big twist in the middle: It’s a devastating secret to learn, but what makes it work is that Batty is eleven and at the perfect age to take it uncritically, where an older child or adult might question whether Skye’s perspective is really valid. It hurt to see her suffer through all the days she carries the secret with her, but what I thought was truly effective was how she doesn’t regain her center immediately upon learning the truth. That has to wait for a second epiphany, and that one comes through music—just as it should.
I couldn’t help comparing this to A Ring of Endless Light, which it faced off against in this year’s Book Battle. Both are stories about family and friendship, but where I felt A Ring of Endless Light depicted an unrealistically “cool” family, with their affectations and seven-year-olds enjoying Shakespeare, this book has a family that seems incredibly familiar to me, for all it’s nothing like the one I grew up in. The character voices are so authentic I found myself wishing to be part of their circle. I’m looking forward to reading more about the Penderwicks, wherever their story takes them.
July 13, 2014
BATTY. BATTY!!!! BATTY AND BEN!!! (BEN!!!) BATTY AND NICK!!! (NICK!!!)
THIS BOOK. I can't get over how much I loved it. And I can't get over how much I laughed.
One thing I could never shake was the feeling that this is a children's book written for adults. Sometimes I can tell when a book will appeal to kids now or would have appealed to me as a kid. I never got that feeling with this book. It has a lot of adult sensibilities and a very strong sense of adult craftsmanship with the way the world is put together.
It's not author presence. It's not even heavy-handedness in construction. There's just this pervasive adult consciousness.
Because of that, unlike Listen, Slowly and Greenglass House, this book doesn't make me instantly want a Newbery for it. Nevertheless, it's fabulous and I will be buying a copy as soon as it's out in paperback.
THIS BOOK. I can't get over how much I loved it. And I can't get over how much I laughed.
How could such a person as Oliver come from a state with so many great rocks?Trust me, it's funny. And:
"But if anyone knows how to break up with someone you're not exactly with, I wouldn't mind a hint."I held my sides. I barked like a seal. I could not stop laughing for a good minute.
"I know, I know," said Ben, raising his hand like he was in class. "It's this thing Nick taught me."
One thing I could never shake was the feeling that this is a children's book written for adults. Sometimes I can tell when a book will appeal to kids now or would have appealed to me as a kid. I never got that feeling with this book. It has a lot of adult sensibilities and a very strong sense of adult craftsmanship with the way the world is put together.
It's not author presence. It's not even heavy-handedness in construction. There's just this pervasive adult consciousness.
Because of that, unlike Listen, Slowly and Greenglass House, this book doesn't make me instantly want a Newbery for it. Nevertheless, it's fabulous and I will be buying a copy as soon as it's out in paperback.
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