Let's Bust a Recap : The Penderwicks

Ah me, I've fallen headlong into the delightful world of the Penderwicks and they have completely eclipsed every other literary acquaintance I've made this year. Yes, even the hysterical Flavia de Luce and also the spellbinding Kya Clark. The Penderwicks immediately rocketed onto my list of All-Time Favorite Books and there they will always stay.

Now, being that we're discussing all five Penderwicks books in this one post, we naturally may hit a few spoilers, so Penderwicks newbies beware. 

The first book entitled The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and A Very Interesting Boy was originally published in 2005 and won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. In it, we are introduced to the Penderwick family who are headed off on their summer vacation to Arundel Cottage. The Penderwicks are made up of widowed father Martin, oldest sister Rosalind, second sister Skye, third sister Jane, youngest sister Batty, and family dog Hound. During their stay at Arundel Cottage, they befriend the lonely boy Jeffrey Tifton who lives in the mansion on the Arundel estate and unofficially adopt him into the Penderwick clan. This first book is a gratifying ode to childhood and summer and family, and I fell deeply and madly in love with the Penderwick sisters and their new friend Jeffrey. It was one of those bookish experiences where I was sad I hadn't introduced myself sooner while still fully enjoying the introduction. I found myself giggling aloud throughout the entire book and trying to explain to my husband that it was all my favorite literary elements wrapped up in one thoroughly charming package.

The second book, The Penderwicks on Gardam Street, follows the Penderwicks home from Arundel and into the school year. But what does their favorite Aunt Claire have up her sleeve? She's decided it's time for their dad to start dating, and the sisters are having none of it. Enter the Save-Daddy Plan and hilarity ensues. This book saw me shedding a few tears alongside a lot more laughter. I was happy to see that Jeffrey, while not a main character in this second installment, was still very much a part of the Penderwick family. We also get to know some of the Gardam Street regulars including the Geiger brothers and Rosalind's best friend Anna. 

In The Penderwicks at Point Mouette, the family splits up to go on separate vacations: Mr. Pen off on his honeymoon, Rosalind to the shore with best friend Anna, and the rest of the Penderwick sisters to Maine with Aunt Claire and Jeffrey. This means that Skye is now the OAP (Oldest Available Penderwick) which terrifies no one more than Skye herself. Can she keep Batty alive for two whole weeks on the coast and preserve her sanity? This book squeezed my heart as we accompanied Jeffrey on his journey to deal with some tough family issues.

Now, these first three books all take place in the span of one year. Beginning The Penderwicks in Spring was a veritable shock to the senses when I realized we had jumped ahead five years and everything had changed. Rosalind is away to college, there's a new Penderwick sister (baby Lydia), and Hound is gone. This was a particularly hard pill for me to swallow as Batty and Hound's perfect friendship was my absolute favorite aspect of the series. His loss was a true sucker-punch to the gut, and I had to mourn him along with Batty throughout this book. Because Rosalind, Skye, and Jane are so much older in this one, the book focuses more on Batty, Ben, and Lydia—the three younger Penderwicks—and was very different in tone though no less wonderful than the first three books. However, we had to deal with some gut-wrenching family issues in this one, and I am not exaggerating when I tell you that I sobbed when we hit the climax of this novel. 

And finally, The Penderwicks at Last. We've jumped ahead another seven years and now we're getting ready for Rosalind's wedding. And where better to have her perfect wedding than where it all started: at Arundel. I have to admit, this was probably my least favorite of the series, mostly because it was the end and I just wasn't ready for it to be over. The book itself was about as lovely as the rest, but as I neared the end of it, I found myself googling if it truly was going to be the last Penderwicks book. (And sadly, it seems that it is.) It was published just a few years ago in 2018, but Jeanne Birdsall has said definitively that it will be the last. 

Birdsall's strongest writing is easily when all the family is together which makes the first two books especially outstanding. In those two books, the family is together all the time, and they are delightful from the first word to the last. But there are scenes in every book that involve the whole family getting together which makes each book wholly satisfying in its own right. I fell in love with every character that Birdsall added throughout the series, and I loved the way she grew this family and pulled you in, too. My favorite books are always the ones where I feel as if I have personally befriended the characters and I felt like a part of the Gardam Street crew. Jeanne Birdsall truly has a gift and I'm glad she shared it with the world. The first Penderwicks book (which was her debut novel) was published when she was 54 and the last one when she was 67. She has said she has more books lined up in her head, and I, for one, will be on the lookout for anything else she puts out. 

I know I'll be visiting the Penderwicks again. What are some of your All-Time Favorite Books? And what characters have wormed their way into your heart? A few of my other best literary friends include Anne Shirley, Christy Miller, and the March sisters.