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Penny Dreadful
The perfect book for girls and boys who look to find adventure and magic in surprising places!
What if you were really bored with your life? What would you wish for?
Penelope Grey wishes for something—anything!—interesting to happen, and here’s what she
• Her father quits his job.
• Her family runs out of money.
• Her home becomes a pit of despair.
So Penelope makes another wish, and this time the Greys inherit a ramshackle old house in the middle of nowhere. Off they go, leaving the city and their problems behind them. Their new home is full of artists, tiny lions, unusual feasts, and true friends. Almost immediately, their lives are transformed. Penelope’s mother finds an unexpected job, her father discovers a hidden talent, and Penelope changes her name!
Penny’s new life feels too magical to be real, too real to be magic. And it may be too good to last . . . unless she can find a way to make magic work just one more time—if it even was magic.
Any Which Wall author Laurel Snyder introduces a quirky cast of characters as pleasantly strange as they are deeply real. Abigail Halpin adds to the charm with her distinctive line drawings.
Fans of Polly Horvath’s My One Hundred Adventures, Ingrid Law’s Savvy, and Jeanne Birdsall’s The Penderwicks will be enchanted by Laurel Snyder’s alternatively humorous and poignant look at small-town life and what it really takes to become a happy family.
What if you were really bored with your life? What would you wish for?
Penelope Grey wishes for something—anything!—interesting to happen, and here’s what she
• Her father quits his job.
• Her family runs out of money.
• Her home becomes a pit of despair.
So Penelope makes another wish, and this time the Greys inherit a ramshackle old house in the middle of nowhere. Off they go, leaving the city and their problems behind them. Their new home is full of artists, tiny lions, unusual feasts, and true friends. Almost immediately, their lives are transformed. Penelope’s mother finds an unexpected job, her father discovers a hidden talent, and Penelope changes her name!
Penny’s new life feels too magical to be real, too real to be magic. And it may be too good to last . . . unless she can find a way to make magic work just one more time—if it even was magic.
Any Which Wall author Laurel Snyder introduces a quirky cast of characters as pleasantly strange as they are deeply real. Abigail Halpin adds to the charm with her distinctive line drawings.
Fans of Polly Horvath’s My One Hundred Adventures, Ingrid Law’s Savvy, and Jeanne Birdsall’s The Penderwicks will be enchanted by Laurel Snyder’s alternatively humorous and poignant look at small-town life and what it really takes to become a happy family.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
23 people are currently reading
1171 people want to read
About the author
Laurel Snyder
42 books806 followersLaurel Snyder is the author of six children's novels, "Orphan Island," "Seven Stories Up," "Bigger than a Bread Box," "Penny Dreadful," "Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains OR The Search for a Suitable Princess" and "Any Which Wall" (Random House) as well as many picture books, including "Charlie & Mouse," "The Forever Garden," "Swan, the life and dance of Anna Pavlova," and "Baxter, the Pig Who Wanted to Be Kosher."
A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and a former Michener Fellow, she also writes books for grownups, and is the author of a book of poems, "The Myth of the Simple Machines" (No Tell Books) and a chapbook, "Daphne & Jim: a choose-your-own-adventure biography in verse (Burnside Review Press) and the editor of an anthology, "Half/Life: Jew-ish Tales from Interfaith Homes" (Soft Skull Press).
Though Baltimore will always be her home, she now lives happily in Atlanta.
A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and a former Michener Fellow, she also writes books for grownups, and is the author of a book of poems, "The Myth of the Simple Machines" (No Tell Books) and a chapbook, "Daphne & Jim: a choose-your-own-adventure biography in verse (Burnside Review Press) and the editor of an anthology, "Half/Life: Jew-ish Tales from Interfaith Homes" (Soft Skull Press).
Though Baltimore will always be her home, she now lives happily in Atlanta.
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March 7, 2014I wrote this book.
I am a flack.
But now I cannot
take it back.
Five orange stars
I'll give my book,
in hopes you'll take
a little look.
I am a flack.
But now I cannot
take it back.
Five orange stars
I'll give my book,
in hopes you'll take
a little look.
December 13, 2016
I would have given this three stars, but I polled my three children, and they gave it four, four and five stars, respectively, thus creating a four-reader average of four stars.
Penelope is a bookish girl of 9 who is bored with her life and wishes for something interesting to happen. And that's where the trouble starts. This was a slow-burn kind of read, and was one of the first times in my years of reading kids' books out loud to my kids where I felt they were getting more out of the story than I was. There are some neat moments throughout, and Laurel Snyder has a knack for developing unique and likable characters; the last few chapters really speed along and reach a satisfying, if telegraphed, conclusion. Overall, an enjoyable read, though probably more so for kids than grown-ups.
Penelope is a bookish girl of 9 who is bored with her life and wishes for something interesting to happen. And that's where the trouble starts. This was a slow-burn kind of read, and was one of the first times in my years of reading kids' books out loud to my kids where I felt they were getting more out of the story than I was. There are some neat moments throughout, and Laurel Snyder has a knack for developing unique and likable characters; the last few chapters really speed along and reach a satisfying, if telegraphed, conclusion. Overall, an enjoyable read, though probably more so for kids than grown-ups.
March 9, 2015
I had never heard of this book or the author before deciding to give it a shot as bedtime reading for my six year old daughter. From the cover copy I saw it shared traits with books we've read to her so far such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Holes, Half Magic. These books each feature young protagonists and the element of magic. The twist in Penny Dreadful is that by the end we're not certain if magic ever really played a part in what took place or if certain critical events were instead the result of chance. Did Penny wish things into being or did they coincidentally take place shortly after she wished for them? With Penny being such a vague wisher, asking for improved circumstances rather than for something specific to change them with, we can't be 100% sure. The story takes a little while to get going in the eventful sort of manner that children enjoy. I thought my little one might grown impatient with the set-up and ask for another book. But she remained sufficiently intrigued so we kept reading. Once Penny and her parents leave The City and move to the interesting house they have inherited, the narrative picks up steam. In her new home the formerly rich and sheltered Penny learns the value of friendship and using her inner resources to get by in a world where everything is no longer handed to her on a silver platter. Her feisty best friend Luella is the character my daughter was most amused by and related to best. Her pivotal role is basically to introduce Penny to normalcy and childhood experienced the way it ought to be done, with joy and exuberance and curiosity and daring. Before meeting Luella, Penny knows of adventure through books. After, she finds that no adventure is greater than life itself.
August 1, 2014
Re-read for May, 2014 VSC discussion. Really want to read more Snyder.
"She danced and danced, and when she was done, she lay panting in the dirt. It felt very good, like she'd let out all her worries."
11-12-2010:
Wendy was right. I am loving this and am very glad that I went completely out of my way to pick it up from the library.
Update: sweet and real and substantial. It's hard to imagine the bookish young girl (or the bookish formerly young girl) who wouldn't enjoy this. The literary references jibe and - although I am suspicious of any chapter book illustrator working after 1984 - these illustrations enhance the text and grow more and more appealing. Thrush Junction might be too good to be true, but I'm happy to bask in its possibilities and warm up to the neighbors, right alongside Penny.
As a New Yorker who believes in the value of kvetching, I liked this line:
"Actually, she thought, it feels good to complain. It was a little like stretching."
And how's this for a Randy Melendy moment?:
"Gazing at the mountains beyond the house, she wanted to ramble, to do - in a hungry, wandering, real way."
"She danced and danced, and when she was done, she lay panting in the dirt. It felt very good, like she'd let out all her worries."
11-12-2010:
Wendy was right. I am loving this and am very glad that I went completely out of my way to pick it up from the library.
Update: sweet and real and substantial. It's hard to imagine the bookish young girl (or the bookish formerly young girl) who wouldn't enjoy this. The literary references jibe and - although I am suspicious of any chapter book illustrator working after 1984 - these illustrations enhance the text and grow more and more appealing. Thrush Junction might be too good to be true, but I'm happy to bask in its possibilities and warm up to the neighbors, right alongside Penny.
As a New Yorker who believes in the value of kvetching, I liked this line:
"Actually, she thought, it feels good to complain. It was a little like stretching."
And how's this for a Randy Melendy moment?:
"Gazing at the mountains beyond the house, she wanted to ramble, to do - in a hungry, wandering, real way."
November 9, 2018
Just too implausible, though it does advice 'real people don't have lives like book characters' kind of thing. ? Charming, and as a child I would have loved it... but now I'm feeling a little cynical. And of course I'm concerned that the kids didn't take proper care when exploring a cave, and might inspire child readers to take real risks.
I did like the idea that, before Penelope had friends, she solved her boredom with books. When she got tired of just reading, she started *doing.* Taking a book from the shelf at random, letting it fall open, she then *did* what the children in the story were doing. I wish I'd thought of that when I was a lonely child.
I did like the idea that, before Penelope had friends, she solved her boredom with books. When she got tired of just reading, she started *doing.* Taking a book from the shelf at random, letting it fall open, she then *did* what the children in the story were doing. I wish I'd thought of that when I was a lonely child.
July 13, 2011
I am clearly in the minority as far as my opinion of this book goes. It's cute, well written, and charming in most of the right ways. I love that Penny refers to all my favorite books (among them Unfortunate Events, Anne of Green Gables, Penderwicks...). What bugged me more and more as the book progressed, however, were two primary things:
1. the lack of any strong male character. Even Penny's dad, after he's brave enough to quit his major corporate job, still lets Penny's mom call the shots. C'mon, man, have some spunk! All other male characters are wimps, too, without a woman/girl prodding them along. I like to see both strong women/girls AND strong men/boys in books.
2. OK, people, didn't anyone else get annoyed by the "quirky" cast of characters? Charming though some of them are, still, it was a little over the top. I mean, EVERY SINGLE ONE of the Thrush Junction characters is "diverse." (for some reason, what really sealed the deal for me was the sudden awareness that the elderly lawyers in this small mountain town in East Tennessee were women--nothing against women lawyers, but what are the odds that two elderly women in the Appalachias are lawyers? This might have been okay if they weren't just another in a long line of eccentric characters.) Just was a little too much for me as far as buying into the realism.
I would have loved this book had the dad been a bit more of a man and had the characters been balanced out a bit--they seemed to be agenda driven a touch because no one would have collected that many different characters by accident.
1. the lack of any strong male character. Even Penny's dad, after he's brave enough to quit his major corporate job, still lets Penny's mom call the shots. C'mon, man, have some spunk! All other male characters are wimps, too, without a woman/girl prodding them along. I like to see both strong women/girls AND strong men/boys in books.
2. OK, people, didn't anyone else get annoyed by the "quirky" cast of characters? Charming though some of them are, still, it was a little over the top. I mean, EVERY SINGLE ONE of the Thrush Junction characters is "diverse." (for some reason, what really sealed the deal for me was the sudden awareness that the elderly lawyers in this small mountain town in East Tennessee were women--nothing against women lawyers, but what are the odds that two elderly women in the Appalachias are lawyers? This might have been okay if they weren't just another in a long line of eccentric characters.) Just was a little too much for me as far as buying into the realism.
I would have loved this book had the dad been a bit more of a man and had the characters been balanced out a bit--they seemed to be agenda driven a touch because no one would have collected that many different characters by accident.
May 31, 2012
Sweet and fun. It's the kind of book I would have loved when I was a child, full of references to other books, with a bit of trouble and a lot of humor. The characters are quirky without being scary, there's enough backstory but not too much, and it's, well, wholesome. Sweet is the proper word, I think- but the sweet of raspberries, not the sweet of candy bars.
October 7, 2011
All around just dee-lightful. But not enough to poke my own eye out with a knitting needle.
January 9, 2013
What's not to like about a book that mentions Betsy-Tacy, Anne of Green Gables, and "Over the Rainbow"? Not to mention "chickabidee." :)
Read
December 26, 2012Ten-year-old Penelope Grey lives in a mansion in the city with her parents but is bored. Two wishes made in the family wishing well seem to move the plot along by changing the Greys' circumstances, though this connection isn't explicitly made. At other points in the novel, Penny will search for similar signs and guidance and will find what she needs, though Snyder keeps it ambiguous so that it doesn't seem as if Penny is being handed easy answers by plot conventions.
The similarity and differences between stories and life is a theme of the book. This is most obvious toward the end, long after the Greys have had to move from the city to a ramshackle collection of houses in the mountains of Tennessee, inherited by Penny's mom, Delia Dewberry Grey, when the Greys need more money than they have in order to pay off the house's debts and avoid losing both it and the quirky tenants who lived in the connected buildings with Delia's great-great-aunt. Penny believes she can find the long-lost gold of local legend, Briscoe Blackrabbit. She and her friends explore the nearby caverns and actually find an abandoned miner's post deep underground, bringing up and lugging home a heavy wooden box. However, when they open the box, it holds only empty bottles. In a certain kind of story, the box would contain the gold and the money problem would be solved, but, Snyder is saying, this is not that kind of story. Instead, she goes for an It's A Wonderful Life ending, with the tenants pitching in enough money to keep the bank from foreclosing.
Unusual for its use of omniscience, if only taking full advantage of it in places. Most of the time, the story stays with Penny, though maintaining a great deal of psychic distance, constantly referring to her as "Penny" and her parents by their names rather than "mom" and "dad," as you'd find in 3rd person close.
The similarity and differences between stories and life is a theme of the book. This is most obvious toward the end, long after the Greys have had to move from the city to a ramshackle collection of houses in the mountains of Tennessee, inherited by Penny's mom, Delia Dewberry Grey, when the Greys need more money than they have in order to pay off the house's debts and avoid losing both it and the quirky tenants who lived in the connected buildings with Delia's great-great-aunt. Penny believes she can find the long-lost gold of local legend, Briscoe Blackrabbit. She and her friends explore the nearby caverns and actually find an abandoned miner's post deep underground, bringing up and lugging home a heavy wooden box. However, when they open the box, it holds only empty bottles. In a certain kind of story, the box would contain the gold and the money problem would be solved, but, Snyder is saying, this is not that kind of story. Instead, she goes for an It's A Wonderful Life ending, with the tenants pitching in enough money to keep the bank from foreclosing.
Unusual for its use of omniscience, if only taking full advantage of it in places. Most of the time, the story stays with Penny, though maintaining a great deal of psychic distance, constantly referring to her as "Penny" and her parents by their names rather than "mom" and "dad," as you'd find in 3rd person close.
August 3, 2011
Every day during the school year I I call my 25+ fourth graders over to the carpet and do my best to help them become better writers. I model for them: leads, character development, revision, elaboration, and a slew of other lessons to push them along as writers. At times I feel that I am a pretty good writer. My lessons go well, and I see what I model in the writing of my fourth graders.
My head never gets too big as a writer, but by the time summer comes and I flip through my students writer’s notebooks I feel pretty good about myself and my writers. Then I read a book like Penny Dreadful. Wow! From the title of the first chapter “Ever to Confess You’re Bored”, until the the final line I was blown away by the amazing writing of Laurel Snyder. Penny Dreadful hooked me and wouldn’t let go. The thing is, I couldn’t even figure out what Laurel was doing as a writer that hooked me, but whatever it was it worked.
Penny Dreadful is the story of Penelope Grey: a girl that has it all, yet is bored out of her mind. She has nearly everything in her life except excitement. One day she makes a wish for something interesting to happen in her life, and her life is never the same. Her father quits his lucrative job, they run out of money, and they inhered one of the craziest houses you could ever imagine.
Penny Dreadful is a story that pushes you thinking about what is important in life. It appears that Penny has it all, when in fact she doesn’t have the things that make us truly happy in life. It takes losing everything for Penelope and her family to realize that they had nothing.
The characters in this book will draw you in and the adventures of Penelope will have you begging for more.
My head never gets too big as a writer, but by the time summer comes and I flip through my students writer’s notebooks I feel pretty good about myself and my writers. Then I read a book like Penny Dreadful. Wow! From the title of the first chapter “Ever to Confess You’re Bored”, until the the final line I was blown away by the amazing writing of Laurel Snyder. Penny Dreadful hooked me and wouldn’t let go. The thing is, I couldn’t even figure out what Laurel was doing as a writer that hooked me, but whatever it was it worked.
Penny Dreadful is the story of Penelope Grey: a girl that has it all, yet is bored out of her mind. She has nearly everything in her life except excitement. One day she makes a wish for something interesting to happen in her life, and her life is never the same. Her father quits his lucrative job, they run out of money, and they inhered one of the craziest houses you could ever imagine.
Penny Dreadful is a story that pushes you thinking about what is important in life. It appears that Penny has it all, when in fact she doesn’t have the things that make us truly happy in life. It takes losing everything for Penelope and her family to realize that they had nothing.
The characters in this book will draw you in and the adventures of Penelope will have you begging for more.
July 30, 2015
What to read next Oh what to read next! sigh I have the ARC and all the comments say this is just the right thing! lol
I loved this book-it's exactly the kind of book that would have been one of my favorites when I was a little girl! I loved all the mentions of other books that were Penny's favorites(alot of them were my favorites too)I will definetely be recommending this title to customers at my bookstore.
Penny Dreadful
by
Laurel Snyder
Penelope is bored-
So she makes a wish
for something, anything
to happen.
Then, her dad quits
his job, they run
out of money and
inherit a ramshakle
house in the middle
of nowhere.
Penny's new life
is too good to be
true or is it?
A wonderful story
of friends and
friendship that
made me smile!!
I loved this book-it's exactly the kind of book that would have been one of my favorites when I was a little girl! I loved all the mentions of other books that were Penny's favorites(alot of them were my favorites too)I will definetely be recommending this title to customers at my bookstore.
Penny Dreadful
by
Laurel Snyder
Penelope is bored-
So she makes a wish
for something, anything
to happen.
Then, her dad quits
his job, they run
out of money and
inherit a ramshakle
house in the middle
of nowhere.
Penny's new life
is too good to be
true or is it?
A wonderful story
of friends and
friendship that
made me smile!!
January 23, 2011
What a fun book—I picked it up off the new book shelf for Maddie, started reading it while waiting for Bridget to finish story time, and was hooked immediately. The characters are smart and thoughtful, the plot follows a somewhat predictable line (rich family loses riches and must figure out what to do) but it still holds lots of sweet (and sometimes funny) surprises and misunderstandings, and an ending that is satisfying without being a pat happy ending. I loved all the references to books; the author got that yearning to live inside a favorite book just right. This is a great "girl" book—something fun and not watered down but still firmly in the world of a girl, not a girl trying to be a teenager.
February 1, 2011
The ending is wonderful, the story is great...so much fun. It is a story about discovery - Penelope discovers Penny, her dad discovers cooking, her mother discovers garbage, and they all discover their magical inner resources. I am a wisher - sometimes its prayer, sometimes its just wishing - and know the power of wishing (so you have to be super careful), so I appreciated Penny's wishes, appreciated her faith and also her realization that it isn't enough to wish - you have to DO something too. There is a silliness to the story too - Up-Betty and Down-Betty, Twent and Duncan's allergies - again, very fun. I would have read this to my kids, but read ahead when they were asleep.
January 13, 2013
I thought this has a clever title and picked it up. It would appeal to kids who have enjoyed the Clementine series or maybe the Penderwicks. It's not filled with sunshine and joy though as her parents are dealing with job loss and difficulties in their marriage. The main character does show strength and finds good friends so I think the message is a good one. The illustrations are lovely and the story kept me reading it aloud to my girls.
March 1, 2011
Words that come to mind: Charming, delightful, quirky. This book reminded me of Roald Dahl stories I loved as a child...full of adventure and mystery and odd characters. Nine-year-old Penny wishes for something interesting to happen and it does -- but in unexpected ways. The family goes from rich to poor, city to country, and adventure follows.
December 12, 2010
I loved this book! The characters in this book are charming and I couldn't help but fall in love with them. Once I got started, I couldn't put it down!
January 11, 2011
Skyler recommended it and now I do too :-)
March 7, 2013
SO GOOD!!!
February 4, 2016
As much as Penny would like her life to be like a book; she discovers that life doesn't always give you a happy ending.
April 9, 2017
I like adventure stories and that is an adventurous story. I enjoyed reading Penny Dreadful and I think you will too!
October 3, 2010
This is a hard book to summarize because the beginning is so incredibly different from the rest of the book. It all goes together. The difference doesn't cause any jarring shifts for the reader, and circumstances in the opening make the rest of the book make sense, but this is not a book about a little rich girl who moves to the county, as the first couple chapters would have you believe. Yes, Penelope has grown up rich, but finances quickly deteriorate in the Grey household after her father leaves his job. As the whole family figures out how to live without a chef, a housekeeper, or even a steady income, this becomes a book about figuring out what is really important. Houses and furniture can be let go; your family (and your books!) you take with you. Once that family gets to Thrush Junction, however, this becomes a book about finding yourself, making friends, and feeling and helping others to feel welcome. It's about community.
But I didn't think any of this while I was reading. While reading Penny Dreadful, this was just a book about Penelope, who wanted to go out and experience life. She needed to become Penny instead, and in Thrush Junction, she finds just the right people to help her do just that.
Thrush Junction is populated with a bunch of oddballs, many of whom live at Whippoorwillows with the Greys. Penelope, who has never really had friends before, must come out of her shell, and Luella is the perfect girl to drag her out. As Penelope, now Penny, learns how to have and be a friend, Luella introduces her to the rest of their little town. There's Down-Betty who was in vaudeville, Duncan who might be allergic to EVERYTHING and so is barely allowed to eat anything, Kay who runs the town diner, Jasper who is Luella's other best friend, Twent who can't say his r's (and has two moms!), and a whole bunch of other folks. The whole thing reminded me of Because of Winn-Dixie, but with a buried treasure legend instead of a dog. It has a feel-good feeling throughout that is infectious, even though the Greys money worries are a constant hum in the background. Things can be a bit episodic, but that's because that's how summer is sometimes. It's all about the people that come and go and the fun things that you get to do together for one day.
It's great to see so much diversity in the characters. In addition to Twent's two moms, Luella and her family are black, there is a wide range of ages at Whippoorwillows (and not all the old folks are grandparents), non-traditional gender roles within otherwise traditional family units, and a character who is deaf (can't tell you which without a spoiler). And there are no big deals made about any of it. These are all simply people that Penny meets during her adventures in her new town, and it's great to see them represented in literature just because they exist in real life rather than to Teach a Lesson to readers about how Everyone's the Same on the Inside!
I should also add that Penny Dreadful is also peppered with drawings by Abigail Halpin. Rather than distracting from the text, as I often think in-text illustrations do in chapter books, they add to it. My ARC only has preliminary sketches, but from those, I can tell that they're going to be awesomely full of life and emotion. My favorite one is of Penny is straggling behind Luella and Jasper on the sidewalk with the most sour look on her face ever, though the drawing of Twent "wahwing" is a close second. :)
Book source: ARC picked up at ALA.
But I didn't think any of this while I was reading. While reading Penny Dreadful, this was just a book about Penelope, who wanted to go out and experience life. She needed to become Penny instead, and in Thrush Junction, she finds just the right people to help her do just that.
Thrush Junction is populated with a bunch of oddballs, many of whom live at Whippoorwillows with the Greys. Penelope, who has never really had friends before, must come out of her shell, and Luella is the perfect girl to drag her out. As Penelope, now Penny, learns how to have and be a friend, Luella introduces her to the rest of their little town. There's Down-Betty who was in vaudeville, Duncan who might be allergic to EVERYTHING and so is barely allowed to eat anything, Kay who runs the town diner, Jasper who is Luella's other best friend, Twent who can't say his r's (and has two moms!), and a whole bunch of other folks. The whole thing reminded me of Because of Winn-Dixie, but with a buried treasure legend instead of a dog. It has a feel-good feeling throughout that is infectious, even though the Greys money worries are a constant hum in the background. Things can be a bit episodic, but that's because that's how summer is sometimes. It's all about the people that come and go and the fun things that you get to do together for one day.
It's great to see so much diversity in the characters. In addition to Twent's two moms, Luella and her family are black, there is a wide range of ages at Whippoorwillows (and not all the old folks are grandparents), non-traditional gender roles within otherwise traditional family units, and a character who is deaf (can't tell you which without a spoiler). And there are no big deals made about any of it. These are all simply people that Penny meets during her adventures in her new town, and it's great to see them represented in literature just because they exist in real life rather than to Teach a Lesson to readers about how Everyone's the Same on the Inside!
I should also add that Penny Dreadful is also peppered with drawings by Abigail Halpin. Rather than distracting from the text, as I often think in-text illustrations do in chapter books, they add to it. My ARC only has preliminary sketches, but from those, I can tell that they're going to be awesomely full of life and emotion. My favorite one is of Penny is straggling behind Luella and Jasper on the sidewalk with the most sour look on her face ever, though the drawing of Twent "wahwing" is a close second. :)
Book source: ARC picked up at ALA.
June 11, 2015
Penelope Grey has a perfectly fine life. She lives in a big mansion in the City, where all the household chores are taken care off by pleasant staff. She doesn't even have to go to school, as a tutor comes to her. Her parents - on the rare occasions that she sees them - are nice. She has a couple of nice playmates. Everything is nice. Nice... and really, really boring. She escapes into book after book (the shout-outs to familiar titles are a nice touch), finally deciding to do something that the characters do in each story. That's how she comes to drop a wish into a well: "I wish something interesting would happen when I least expect it, just like in a book."
And then, to her surprise, something interesting happens. Her father quits his job, the family runs out of money, and the unexpected inheritance of an old house in a tiny East Tennessee town seems like a lucky solution. But Penelope is about to learn that good things and bad things tend to come wrapped up together, and sometimes luck is a matter of perspective.
The first section of the book is pretty quiet, underscoring Penelope's serious ennui. When the family leaves the City for Thrush Junction and its colorful inhabitants, the pace picks up. Penelope drops her boring first name for the more cheerful nickname of Penny, and she gets to know the local kids. She starts experiencing adventures instead of just reading about them.
This book got a little bump of publicity when a reader objected to the fact that Penny's new neighbors include a pair of lesbian moms and their son, a family presented just as matter-of-factly as any of the other characters. For Penny, the fact that Willa has a wife is no more surprising than the fact that she has "hair to her knees." Like any kid, she's not all that interested in the relationships between the adults around her.
This is an illustrated chapter book, and Abigail Halpin's slightly cartoony style offers the perfect complement to Snyder's text. Throughout the book, the voice of the narrator is excellent. In the first chapter, when Penelope is living vicariously through reading, the narration sounds very much like listening to someone telling the story. As she makes friends and has real-life experiences, the voice of the narrator fades into the background. (With the right voice talent, this could be an OUTSTANDING audiobook.) Filled with gentle humor, quirky characters, and small adventures, this is a good choice for older elementary school readers, especially those who have read and enjoyed some of Penny's favorite books.
And then, to her surprise, something interesting happens. Her father quits his job, the family runs out of money, and the unexpected inheritance of an old house in a tiny East Tennessee town seems like a lucky solution. But Penelope is about to learn that good things and bad things tend to come wrapped up together, and sometimes luck is a matter of perspective.
The first section of the book is pretty quiet, underscoring Penelope's serious ennui. When the family leaves the City for Thrush Junction and its colorful inhabitants, the pace picks up. Penelope drops her boring first name for the more cheerful nickname of Penny, and she gets to know the local kids. She starts experiencing adventures instead of just reading about them.
This book got a little bump of publicity when a reader objected to the fact that Penny's new neighbors include a pair of lesbian moms and their son, a family presented just as matter-of-factly as any of the other characters. For Penny, the fact that Willa has a wife is no more surprising than the fact that she has "hair to her knees." Like any kid, she's not all that interested in the relationships between the adults around her.
This is an illustrated chapter book, and Abigail Halpin's slightly cartoony style offers the perfect complement to Snyder's text. Throughout the book, the voice of the narrator is excellent. In the first chapter, when Penelope is living vicariously through reading, the narration sounds very much like listening to someone telling the story. As she makes friends and has real-life experiences, the voice of the narrator fades into the background. (With the right voice talent, this could be an OUTSTANDING audiobook.) Filled with gentle humor, quirky characters, and small adventures, this is a good choice for older elementary school readers, especially those who have read and enjoyed some of Penny's favorite books.
February 15, 2011
Penelope Grey leads a pretty regulated life at her family's mansion in the city, with a private tutor, maid and chef to take care of her every need. Bored, she decides to make a wish in an old well, for an everything change - a total life transformation. Shortly thereafter, her father quits his steady job in order to become a writer, something that leads to the financial ruin of the family, and an eventual move to an old great-aunt's house in the country which they've inherited in the small town of Thrush Junction.
Snyder really has a way of getting inside a kid's head, and understanding how they think, revealed in little details. For example, when Penny meets one of her new neighbors, a boy next door, she notes that he is wearing a striped shirt. She follows that observation by wondering why it is, exactly, that boys seem to wear stripes so often. Great question! This book reminded me of The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron; Penny even ends up trapped in a hole, briefly, relying on her friends to get her out of the jam, much the way Lucky does, except Penny Dreadful is much lighter and funnier in tone. No scrotums or dead parents in this novel. Penny's parents do seem pretty whimsical, almost to the point of absurdity, but the story has a certain quirky internal logic that never wavers.
Penny often falls prey to magical thinking, and the reader never really knows for sure... was the well she makes a wish on magical or not? Her reasoning is that her father quitting his job may have been her fault. So, she makes a second wish to "fix everything" deciding that if it works, the well is magical, and she's done her best, if it doesn't work, then the first wish coming true was only a coincidence and therefore not her fault. Like most readers, I'm betting on the well not being magical, but I love the fact that it's so open-ended.
Penny, an avid reader herself, is always hoping for an adventure, much like the things she reads about. I was tickled to see an homage to so many children's books in Penny Dreadful. Penny's mention of a book of "unfortunate events" that she's reading, where "a baby was about to bite someone," made me laugh out loud. She also mentions children's lit favorites such as The Penderwicks, The Secret Garden, Ramona, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, and Ballet Shoes. Heartwarmingly, Penny wonders if another of her new neighbors, a girl about her age, Luella, will be the Betsy to her Tacy. This collection of classics is fine company to keep, and the sweetness of the story makes this book suitable for third through fifth grade readers.
Snyder really has a way of getting inside a kid's head, and understanding how they think, revealed in little details. For example, when Penny meets one of her new neighbors, a boy next door, she notes that he is wearing a striped shirt. She follows that observation by wondering why it is, exactly, that boys seem to wear stripes so often. Great question! This book reminded me of The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron; Penny even ends up trapped in a hole, briefly, relying on her friends to get her out of the jam, much the way Lucky does, except Penny Dreadful is much lighter and funnier in tone. No scrotums or dead parents in this novel. Penny's parents do seem pretty whimsical, almost to the point of absurdity, but the story has a certain quirky internal logic that never wavers.
Penny often falls prey to magical thinking, and the reader never really knows for sure... was the well she makes a wish on magical or not? Her reasoning is that her father quitting his job may have been her fault. So, she makes a second wish to "fix everything" deciding that if it works, the well is magical, and she's done her best, if it doesn't work, then the first wish coming true was only a coincidence and therefore not her fault. Like most readers, I'm betting on the well not being magical, but I love the fact that it's so open-ended.
Penny, an avid reader herself, is always hoping for an adventure, much like the things she reads about. I was tickled to see an homage to so many children's books in Penny Dreadful. Penny's mention of a book of "unfortunate events" that she's reading, where "a baby was about to bite someone," made me laugh out loud. She also mentions children's lit favorites such as The Penderwicks, The Secret Garden, Ramona, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, and Ballet Shoes. Heartwarmingly, Penny wonders if another of her new neighbors, a girl about her age, Luella, will be the Betsy to her Tacy. This collection of classics is fine company to keep, and the sweetness of the story makes this book suitable for third through fifth grade readers.
November 12, 2013
I had the chance to read this book as a winner of a Good Reads First Reads giveaway. One day, a nice hardcover arrived in my mailbox, along with a bookmark. And the book was autographed! Pretty neat.
Well, it took me longer than I had planned to get around to reading this story, but I'm glad I finally did. It is a delightful little tale of a young girl named Penelope Grey, who wishes that something interesting would happen in her life, something like what would happen in a book.
Her father quits his job, the family has mounting debt and cannot maintain their large home. A telegram arrives with the news that her mother has inherited a house in the country. Surprise and adventure unfolds when the family decides to move into the inherited property.
The numerous references to reading and books help make Penny a charming character. The story's best moments happen when we get outside the family unit--particularly when Luella is present. Luella is a spunky girl with unruly curly hair who will say and do just about anything. She has a force that kind of takes over. And when she is in the book, she improves it. That said, my favorite parts were when Penny was accompanied by Luella and Duncan--when Duncan proceeds to eat everything that his overprotective parents fear he "might" be "allergic" to-- or later on, when she goes treasure hunting with Luella, Duncan, and Jasper. These secondary characters give the story more interest, and I found myself reading as much for them as for anything else. It was nice to see the Grey family grow happier, but Dirk and Delia Grey just never became characters that I felt like rooting for.
Overall, it was still a very fun read. If Laurel Snyder is to write another Penny Dreadful book, I hope it will focus mainly on the children and let the parents stay in the shadows.
Well, it took me longer than I had planned to get around to reading this story, but I'm glad I finally did. It is a delightful little tale of a young girl named Penelope Grey, who wishes that something interesting would happen in her life, something like what would happen in a book.
Her father quits his job, the family has mounting debt and cannot maintain their large home. A telegram arrives with the news that her mother has inherited a house in the country. Surprise and adventure unfolds when the family decides to move into the inherited property.
The numerous references to reading and books help make Penny a charming character. The story's best moments happen when we get outside the family unit--particularly when Luella is present. Luella is a spunky girl with unruly curly hair who will say and do just about anything. She has a force that kind of takes over. And when she is in the book, she improves it. That said, my favorite parts were when Penny was accompanied by Luella and Duncan--when Duncan proceeds to eat everything that his overprotective parents fear he "might" be "allergic" to-- or later on, when she goes treasure hunting with Luella, Duncan, and Jasper. These secondary characters give the story more interest, and I found myself reading as much for them as for anything else. It was nice to see the Grey family grow happier, but Dirk and Delia Grey just never became characters that I felt like rooting for.
Overall, it was still a very fun read. If Laurel Snyder is to write another Penny Dreadful book, I hope it will focus mainly on the children and let the parents stay in the shadows.
January 11, 2011
Penny and her parents live a rather privileged though somewhat isolated life in New York City. One day Penny is feeling rather bored and writes a wish to throw into the fountain in her back yard: “I wish something interesting would happen when I least expect it, just like in a book.”
The next thing she knows, her dad has quit his job and the family is rapidly falling into dire financial straits. It’s not exactly what Penny had in mind when she wished from something interesting. When Penny’s mom inherits a house in Tennessee, the family decides to move from the city and get a fresh start in the country.
At first, the plan seems to work, and Penny starts to make friends for the first time in her life. Her new home is actually a collection of houses filled with quirky characters and lots of new things to discover. For the first time in months, her parents seem happy. Then they discover that their new house comes with a lot of debt, and if they want to keep it, they’ll have to find a way to earn a lot of money.
Penny Dreadful by Laurel Snyder is a look at how families and communities can band together to help each other in times of need. It’s about finding a way to make a living while being happy with what you do at the same time. It touches on how children can feel powerless when their parents don’t include them in issues that are important to their future. And it tackles all of these serious subjects with a healthy dose of humor and lightheartedness. It’s a delightful book about first impressions, friendship, determination, personal responsibility, family and community. Mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 9 to 12 will find lots to discuss.
The next thing she knows, her dad has quit his job and the family is rapidly falling into dire financial straits. It’s not exactly what Penny had in mind when she wished from something interesting. When Penny’s mom inherits a house in Tennessee, the family decides to move from the city and get a fresh start in the country.
At first, the plan seems to work, and Penny starts to make friends for the first time in her life. Her new home is actually a collection of houses filled with quirky characters and lots of new things to discover. For the first time in months, her parents seem happy. Then they discover that their new house comes with a lot of debt, and if they want to keep it, they’ll have to find a way to earn a lot of money.
Penny Dreadful by Laurel Snyder is a look at how families and communities can band together to help each other in times of need. It’s about finding a way to make a living while being happy with what you do at the same time. It touches on how children can feel powerless when their parents don’t include them in issues that are important to their future. And it tackles all of these serious subjects with a healthy dose of humor and lightheartedness. It’s a delightful book about first impressions, friendship, determination, personal responsibility, family and community. Mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 9 to 12 will find lots to discuss.
May 13, 2021
The story itself was okay, though I agree with some other reviewers that the author tried to make a tiny little berg in Tennessee just a taste too "diverse" to be believable. I get that Dad hated his high pressure job, but if his family owned the company, and it's supposedly a large and prosperous one, wouldn't he get some kind of severance pay or residuals or something? At the very least? Not working there doesn't mean he sacrificed stockholder dividends etc.
They must at least have been getting big unemployment checks, since Dad merrily buys groceries for this and that culinary experiment, which is hard to do if you're a working stiff who has lost the job that kept your family going. We are given the impression that they ran through their savings before they moved, and yet nobody here is living on PB&J on Wonderbread. And if Dad is such a Mr Mom, how come in "the City" he can't even run the washing machine, let alone cook?
The best thing is that Penny is not a whiner, at least out loud. She keeps her negative feelings to herself, instead of expecting everyone and everything to make her happy. Learning to stand up for yourself and say "I don't like this" or simply, "No!" is a hard lesson for some of us. Took me a good half century. Learning that "life is not a book" is a hard lesson, too. I wondered why her parents chose to get her a tutor instead of putting her in the school her "City" friends obviously attended, but then the motif of "child isolated by parents" repeats when they get to Tennessee.
Would I recommend this book? I don't really know.
Three ambivalent stars.
They must at least have been getting big unemployment checks, since Dad merrily buys groceries for this and that culinary experiment, which is hard to do if you're a working stiff who has lost the job that kept your family going. We are given the impression that they ran through their savings before they moved, and yet nobody here is living on PB&J on Wonderbread. And if Dad is such a Mr Mom, how come in "the City" he can't even run the washing machine, let alone cook?
The best thing is that Penny is not a whiner, at least out loud. She keeps her negative feelings to herself, instead of expecting everyone and everything to make her happy. Learning to stand up for yourself and say "I don't like this" or simply, "No!" is a hard lesson for some of us. Took me a good half century. Learning that "life is not a book" is a hard lesson, too. I wondered why her parents chose to get her a tutor instead of putting her in the school her "City" friends obviously attended, but then the motif of "child isolated by parents" repeats when they get to Tennessee.
Would I recommend this book? I don't really know.
Three ambivalent stars.
March 6, 2012
Penelope Grey is an only child who lives in a large house in The City with her parents, Dirk and Delia. She is so bored with her life and wishes it were different, so she makes a wish in a well and hopes for something exciting to happen. Penelope ends up getting her wish in spades.
After Dirk unexpectedly quits his job, the Greys begin cutting back on expenses in order to make ends meet. They let go of their household help, and the house starts getting dirty...not to mention their clothes. Penelope knows she wanted something different to happen in her life, but this isn't what she had hoped for. So she makes another wish in the well for something else to happen. Shortly after, her mother receives a telegram informing her that she's just inherited some property in a place called Thrush Junction. The family decides to pack up and move there, as they can no longer afford their giant house in The City.
When the Greys arrive at Thrush Junction, it's just as one might expect — a small, old town where everyone knows everyone. Penelope, feeling all her life that her name never suited her, changes her name to Penny and begins making her first friends ever.
The characters in this book are endearing, and the illustrations complement the text wonderfully. At first I thought the lesson of this book was going to be, "Be careful what you wish for." But it's more about finding a place you can truly call home because of the people who are in it. Penny Dreadful is a charming book and not at all what I expected it to be (in a good way).
After Dirk unexpectedly quits his job, the Greys begin cutting back on expenses in order to make ends meet. They let go of their household help, and the house starts getting dirty...not to mention their clothes. Penelope knows she wanted something different to happen in her life, but this isn't what she had hoped for. So she makes another wish in the well for something else to happen. Shortly after, her mother receives a telegram informing her that she's just inherited some property in a place called Thrush Junction. The family decides to pack up and move there, as they can no longer afford their giant house in The City.
When the Greys arrive at Thrush Junction, it's just as one might expect — a small, old town where everyone knows everyone. Penelope, feeling all her life that her name never suited her, changes her name to Penny and begins making her first friends ever.
The characters in this book are endearing, and the illustrations complement the text wonderfully. At first I thought the lesson of this book was going to be, "Be careful what you wish for." But it's more about finding a place you can truly call home because of the people who are in it. Penny Dreadful is a charming book and not at all what I expected it to be (in a good way).
November 22, 2012
Penny Dreadful by Laurel Snyder is about Penelope Grey and her parents who go through some major life changing events. As the book opens, Penelope is living in a huge house in the center of The City where she is home schooled and looked after more by the servants than her ever busy parents. While she knows she has a good life, it's not a fulfilling one.
A wish for something exciting to happen coincides with a huge change in her life. It begins with her father, heir to the family business, and source of the family's income, announcing that he's quit his job at the family business. Without his large paycheck and the mother's love of shopping, they quickly run out of money and the house ends up looking like something from Horders.
Another wish changes things again, sending them to the country, to an inherited house being shared by numerous eccentric families. The move to the house is where the book picks up. Penelope makes friends and blossoms.
Penny Dreadful highlights the problems families can have and the importance of open dialogs between parents and children. Penny's parents want to protect her as they try to cope with their problems. Unfortunately this just makes things more stressful for Penny and everyone else. Penny, too, with her new friends, might even have the solution to her parents' problems.
The life at the new house isn't all about the financial woes. There are new friends and new adventures, including a treasure hunt in a cave. I liked getting to explore with Penny as she adjusts to her new home.
I found the book a quick and compelling read.
A wish for something exciting to happen coincides with a huge change in her life. It begins with her father, heir to the family business, and source of the family's income, announcing that he's quit his job at the family business. Without his large paycheck and the mother's love of shopping, they quickly run out of money and the house ends up looking like something from Horders.
Another wish changes things again, sending them to the country, to an inherited house being shared by numerous eccentric families. The move to the house is where the book picks up. Penelope makes friends and blossoms.
Penny Dreadful highlights the problems families can have and the importance of open dialogs between parents and children. Penny's parents want to protect her as they try to cope with their problems. Unfortunately this just makes things more stressful for Penny and everyone else. Penny, too, with her new friends, might even have the solution to her parents' problems.
The life at the new house isn't all about the financial woes. There are new friends and new adventures, including a treasure hunt in a cave. I liked getting to explore with Penny as she adjusts to her new home.
I found the book a quick and compelling read.
October 29, 2013
A very funny sweet book which is not at all preachy so please don't let the quote I am sharing put you off reading it. The quote just fitted the day...or was contemplation given to me unasked for, which the really good things to meditate on often are!
"Problems don't always get fixed.Lots of the time things are boring and dumb for no good reason. Or even terrible.And you can't do anything about it.That's life."
Penny thought about this for a minute. Then she sighed."I know," she said. She thought about it some more."Or maybe I don't," she said."But I'm starting to anyway, I guess." There might have been other good things to say about that, but just then a shooting star flew through the inky darkness, causing both girls to gasp....Lying like that, quiet and full and tired and home, Penny knew that everything was as it should be; everything was perfect. Just like she knew that someday soon everything wouldn't be again. But that was okay. The stars weren't going anywhere."
One thing we really enjoyed about this book was the reference to 15 other good children's books that are incorporated into the story. Great to see how many we've already read and that other people like our favorite books
An interesting thing to note:one of the characters has two mums. This is not a plot point, just another set of characters in the story. Great to see a book that has diversity in characters when its not a major issue but rather just is:-)
"Problems don't always get fixed.Lots of the time things are boring and dumb for no good reason. Or even terrible.And you can't do anything about it.That's life."
Penny thought about this for a minute. Then she sighed."I know," she said. She thought about it some more."Or maybe I don't," she said."But I'm starting to anyway, I guess." There might have been other good things to say about that, but just then a shooting star flew through the inky darkness, causing both girls to gasp....Lying like that, quiet and full and tired and home, Penny knew that everything was as it should be; everything was perfect. Just like she knew that someday soon everything wouldn't be again. But that was okay. The stars weren't going anywhere."
One thing we really enjoyed about this book was the reference to 15 other good children's books that are incorporated into the story. Great to see how many we've already read and that other people like our favorite books
An interesting thing to note:one of the characters has two mums. This is not a plot point, just another set of characters in the story. Great to see a book that has diversity in characters when its not a major issue but rather just is:-)
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