The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

This is Birdsall's second book about four close-knit sisters. After their mother's death, they receive a letter from her in which she requests that their reticent, Latin-quoting father should bring another woman into all their lives. To that end, she says, he needs to begin dating again. But he's unwilling, so the girls come up with schemes to thwart him. Crucial to this story are the unique portrayals of the sisters. Each is fully realized by Susan Denaker, who narrates in a voice that merges old-fashioned storytelling and a contemporary story. Dialogue gives the opportunity to depict each girl's individuality. Rosalind, the eldest, is the worrier; Jane, the writer, is overdramatic; Skye, the tomboy, is rough and ready; and preschool-aged Batty has a high voice that fits her youth and eccentricity. S.W. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

Starred review from April 28, 2008
Happy families are not all alike, as previously met characters continue to prove.
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street
Jeanne Birdsall
. Knopf
, $15.99 (288p) ISBN 978-0-375-84090-6

This sequel to Birdsall's National Book Award winner, The Penderwicks
, has even more charm than the original. The prologue hits the only maudlin note, flashing back to Mrs. Penderwick on her deathbed as she instructs her husband's sister, Claire, to make sure he finds love again after sufficient mourning. The Penderwick sisters—Rosalind, Jane, Skye and Batty—learn of this valediction four years later when Aunt Claire begins arranging blind dates. An emergency MOPS (Meeting of Penderwick Sisters) hatches the Save Daddy plan, in which the girls orchestrate dates so dreadful their father will see widowed life is best. Neighbors on Gardam Street include football-playing brothers Nick and Tommy (the latter plays Tracy to Rosalind's Hepburn), and two newcomers: a widowed professor and her toddler baby. Middle sisters Jane and Skye, who share a room but nothing else, steal the show by swapping homework assignments with hilariously catastrophic results. It's sheer pleasure to spend time with these exquisitely drawn characters, girls so real that readers will feel the wind through their hair as they power down the soccer field. Ages 8–12.