The Penderwicks in Spring

"My mom read The Penderwicks out loud to me and my two sisters the year it came out. We were 3, 4, and 5 at the time. We grew up reading them, and we still quote them regularly. <br/><br/>Point Mouette was the first book I ever read that made me cry, and I wept when I read it. I still cry when I read it. <br/><br/>As I worked my way through Spring, I came across a number of things that felt different.<br/><br/>1. Pop culture references. Yes, they referenced Spock in Gardam Street, but I can't even think of any other pop culture references in the first three books. Then, suddenly, Star Wars, Doctor Who, and Harry Potter show up. It seemed unnecessary.<br/><br/>2. Jeanne Birdsall gets final say over her own characters, but Skye's favorite Doctor would be 12, not 10.<br/><br/>3. The first three books benefited greatly from spending time with all the sisters. There was so much time spent on Batty in Spring. I was looking forward to hearing more from Ben, and even grown-up Skye and Jane, but I spent so much time in Betty's head.<br/><br/>4. The first three books were also structured very differently. They were far more episodic, which gave them a much lighter feeling. I kept reminding myself while reading Spring that the other books dealt with very heavy topics as well, but Spring felt heavier overall because it handled the emotional weight differently. I wish for more wholesome sibling hijinks and less angst.<br/><br/>5. This is a little bit dumb, but why did the Penderwicks suddenly stop calling Mr. Penderwick "Daddy?" Are we just all deciding to let the weird creepy people have that word? Ridiculous."

"This was a good read, but not as enchanting and a little somber."

"I just reread this after a few years and my opinion of it has significantly improved, perhaps because this time I knew what I was getting in to, but here goes...<br/><br/>1) Jeanne Birdsall's writing style is gorgeous and I fell in love with it all over again.<br/>2) Scenes were very heartbreaking as they are meant to be. I feel that Lydia is a very well-written two year old, as a two year old, and I love Ben and Batty's interactions (although I love Skye and Ben's most. Skye having a brother is perfect.)<br/>3) We get to see Jeffrey again, but I wish we got to see more Jeffrey, but I understand that Jeffrey is no longer the focus of this novel (in the same way Skye, Jane, and Rosalind aren't).<br/>4) The Rosalind and Tommy ending? a d o r a b l e <br/>5) When I first read this book, I hated how much darker it felt than the first, especially with the idea of hate between the sisters. But now, I understand it and can appreciate it (I think this goes back to the I-know-what-i-am-getting-myself-into-this-time idea). I do think that this book is better read significantly older than the original 3.<br/>- EDIT 9/21 - It's also important to note the Little Women correlation here. I know Birdsall is going for some Jo-Amy tension here, Laurie's rejection, etc., and with Little Women it WORKS. So well. But The Penderwicks was always its own entity. The choice to continue this from Batty's perspective, I think, did not match with the darker undertones. Typically, as characters grow up, so do their books, but we shifted backwards to younger characters, yet the books continued to grow up. And I still love this book for the punch in the gut it can give me, but it's not all I expected from it. -<br/>6) The family interactions. Especially with Oliver's still life. That was perfect.<br/>7) Ben. I love Ben. <br/><br/>Dislikes:<br/>1) Oliver. duh.<br/>2) Jane became something of a player. It all worked out in the end with the poor French boy, but it isn't healthy to have, in the way Birdsall describes it, boys everywhere and boys with broken hearts and boys with broken hearts used simply for book fodder.<br/><br/>REREAD 11/2023:<br/>This is so!!! a 5 star book. When I read it for the first time I simply did not have the life experience to understand how Skye could have become so jaded but now I realize that she is literally me. I grew up just like my childhood icons (not a good thing). And just like Skye, Batty's emotions and anxiety and weird-isms also annoy me. Maybe Skye is the call out that I needed. <br/>ADDITIONALLY. Nick Geiger is so emotionally intelligent and wise and perfect, except for the random 3 sentences Jeanne throws in to imply that he's also an f boy. We didn't have to do that. He would be my ideal man if he weren't thrilled about the idea of having girls lined up around the block. A Nick Geiger spinoff could be perfect perfect.<br/>Also - Birdsall has very clearly written a character (a child nonetheless) here who is dealing with both depression and anxiety. She captures it so well.<br/><br/>REREAD 10/2024:<br/>Ben and Nick carried even if Nick joined the military."