Here is Dawn's review of this juvenile fiction piece by Jeanne Birdsall.
This is a sort of old-fashioned story, and I was quite surprised to discover that it was written in 2005, as it feels much older. The story follows the four Penderwick sisters (Rosalind - 12, Skye - 11, Jane - 10, and Elizabeth "Batty" - 4) on their summer adventures at Arundel. Rosalind is the quintessential oldest child, Skye is lively and a little rebellious, Jane is a little spacey and is writing a series of books, and Batty is silly and funny, though she keeps quiet around strangers. Arundel is an estate in the Berkshire Mountains where Mrs. Tifton and her son Jeffrey live. Mrs. Tifton has rented out a cottage on the property to the girls' father (their mother dies shortly after Batty was born). The girls befriend Jeffrey, as well as the estate's gardener, Cagney, and cook, Churchie, and though they can be a tad loud and overbearing, they are mostly good-intentioned.
I really enjoyed this book, and like I said, it seems older than it is. I think this is because the girls spend their time outside exploring and playing. Jane uses a computer to type up one of her books, and that is really the only time technology is mentioned. The girls don't call Jeffrey on his cell phone when they want to get together, and Rosalind doesn't spend her time reading Wikipedia to learn more to impress a boy she likes. I do not know if this will make the girls unrelatable to kids today, or if it will make the story timeless, but I thought it was a nice change of pace.
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