The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

A review featuring Bit, age 7

Yeah, it's been a while since Bit and I posted our review on the first Penderwick book. The beginning of second grade slowed us way down. School is taking up more portions of our day than ever, mostly because Bit slows way down when it is a subject she is not crazy about (Math, Grammar). I don't think we are going to get through as many read alouds this year as we did last year, but I think we have gotten into a rhythm that will allow us move faster than we have been.

The Story
The Penderwicks are back in their home on Gardam Street in Cameron, Massachusetts after their eventful summer with Jeffrey at Arundel. Rosalind is happy to have her routine back and is excited by the new responsibilities her father is allowing her to have at home. Everything is perfect until their Aunt Claire comes to visit with a letter in an envelope that Rosalind remembers seeing her mom give her aunt shortly before she died. The letter is for their father and changes everything. Because before she died their mother wrote their father a letter ordering him to start dating again and Aunt Claire is going to enforce it. The girls have to come up with a plan to save their father from dating and themselves from a dreaded stepmother. Add to that one unwise decision regarding homework, a changing relationship with a neighbor, an intense soccer rivalry, and a mysterious man haunting Gardam Street, and it looks like the fall might be even more adventurous than the summer.

Bit's Thoughts
I liked The Penderwicks on Gardam Street almost as much as the first Penderwick book. I thought there were less surprises. I thought the Save Daddy Plan was funny and liked all the stuff that happened because of it. My favorite character in this one is Batty. I think Batty is funny. I can't wait to read The Penderwicks at Point Mouette.

My Thoughts
This is actually my favorite of the three Penderwick books. That is because it focuses on Rosalind so much and she is my favorite sister, the one I can identify with and sympathize with the most. Plus I'm a sucker for the whole "boy/girl next door" storyline so this book captured my heart in so many ways. I also think that this one has the most interesting conflict and more complex problems than the other two making it a little more intense. There is still plenty of humor in it too though and I love all the new characters introduced in this one particularly Tommy, Iantha, and Ben.

What Bit and I are reading next: The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne Birdsall. We will not do a joint review on this one since I already wrote one here. After that we will be reading Roger Lacelyn Green's Tales of Ancient Egypt.

Comments

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