by Jeanne Birdsall
Hennepin County Library audiobook 6 discs
read by Susan Denaker
genre: children's realistic fiction
When this won a National Book Award for Children's Literature, I heard lots of comments about the cover art being off-putting to readers. "The story is much better than the cover art leads you to believe." I've long been meaning to read this to find out for myself, so the audiobook was a perfect chance to do just that. (I clearly spend too many hours in my car!)
Denaker did a great job with the vocal work! The story is about four sisters - Rosalind (12), Skye (11), Jane (10) and Batty (4). Their mother did of cancer two weeks after Batty (Elizabeth, like her mother) was born. The thing that made me crazy throughout this book was that dad was off in his own world for the most part. Rosalind was the parent for her siblings! I know that the freedom the kids had was part of the plot, but it bugged me so much that she was setting limits, giving permission (or denying it), and generally acting as a parent. A twelve-year-old shouldn't have to do this!
The Penderwick family has rented a cottage for the summer. The cottage is at the back of the Arundel property, owned by Mrs. Tiften, a serious piece of work. Her son Jeffery becomes friends with the Penderwick girls (against his mother's wishes) and the five kids have adventures and fun.
Cagney is the handsome teen "garden boy" who works on Arundel's extensive gardens. He had learned from his uncle, who held the job before him until he died. Churchie (Mrs. Churchill) is the housekeeper and Harry the Tomato Man are the other main characters. Oh, and Dexter Dupree is Mrs. Tiften's nasty boyfriend / fiance.
There are four more books in the series. I won't read them. But I can enthusiastically recommend this title to my more innocent, capable readers. It's hard when they're excellent readers, but not ready for more mature content. This book has plenty to interest them.
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