“Mrs. Tifton had cut off Jane’s ha-ha-ha before it even began. Lydia thought this was probably a good thing.”

The Penderwicks at Last by Jeanne Birdsall

I love this series. These are some of my all time favorite books. This is the family we all wished we had, and if you don't wish it then you already do have it.

This book has left me torn though. It had delightful moments which I loved - Batty saving the spiders, she hiding the ax in the fridge, summer adventures, Ben driving.

But there was a lot I didn't like about it and it makes me sad there are things in a Penderwick book I didn't enjoy.

I disliked how opposed to marriage Skye and Jane were. They saw these ideal marriages between there dad and mom and then their dad and Iantha. And they were so weird about marriage. I found that hard to swallow. I know marriage isn't for everyone, but when your dad is Mr. Penderwick how can you be so against marriage?

I didn't like how we didn't get to meet Skye's boyfriend. He was just there, suddenly, with no chance to get to know him.

Why was Wesley in the story? Can someone explain this to me?

And for that matter, my biggest sorrow, WHY WAS MR. AND THE NEW MRS. PENDERWICK HARDLY IN THIS BOOK?! I missed Mr. Penderwick more than I ever realized I would.

The other books were about siblings. This book hardly had the siblings interacting. I wanted to see more with Batty and Ben and Lydia together.

It wasn't a horrible book. It just didn't feel like a Penderwick story and that alone makes me sad all over.