The name of the book I read was The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall. It’s the story of four sisters on their summer vacation with their father and the people they meet. The story takes place at an estate called Arundel with amazing gardens and tons of tall trees. The Penderwicks stay in a little house on the big estate.

There are five important characters in my book. The five characters are Jeffrey, who I think is the main character, Sky, Jane, Rosalind, Batty and Hound, the Penderwicks, dog. Batty is the youngest of the four sisters then Jane, Sky, and Rosalind, the oldest. Jeffrey is a boy they meet at the house they have rented for their vacation. The Penderwick sisters are trying to help Jeffrey because his mother doesn’t listen to what Jeffrey wants to do. She wants him to grow up to be like his grandfather and go to a boarding school called Pencey Academy where he will become a soldier but Jeffrey has different ideas. He wants to be a musician. Sky, my favorite of the sisters, is adventurous and has a very short temper when dealing with Mrs. Tifton, Jeffrey’s mother and owner of the estate.

Mrs. Tifton doesn’t like Sky or any of the Penderwicks. She thinks they’re a bad influence on Jeffrey. Sky always gets into trouble like when Mrs.Tifton’s garden club comes over and Sky, Jane, and Jeffrey mess up her garden by accidentally ruining her rose bush with a soccer ball. In one scene, Sky was eavesdropping on Mrs. Tifton and she heard her saying bad things about her sisters and her mother who had died from cancer.  Sky barges in and stands up to Mrs. Tifton.

Batty, the youngest sister, likes to visit the gardener’s bunnies. One day when Rosalind can’t take her to visit the bunnies and neither can Sky or Jane, Batty goes alone even though she’s not allowed to go by herself. When Batty leaves the bunnies, she forgets the most important rule – to latch the screen door. Mrs. Tifton is very controlling. Mrs. Tifton and her boyfriend Dexter, my least favorite character, take Jeffrey to see Pencey and when they come back Mrs.Tifton says he will begin going to Pencey Academy in two weeks. That night he runs away and stays with the Penderwicks.

Jeffrey is usually a very brave boy like when he saved Batty from a bull. He is also very kind like when Sky got mad at him and said mean things but he forgave her right away.

I really enjoyed this book and I think it was a very interesting and fun story to read and I’ve already started reading the next one in the series. My rating from one to five is a 5.