The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne BirdsallYearling, 2012 (Originally Knopf, 2011)

I recently re-read The Penderwicks, and enjoyed it, though I don’t feel like I have anything to say that I didn’t already say when I wrote about it in 2008, except that this time around one chapter totally made me teary-eyed on the subway. And then I re-read the sequel, The Penderwicks on Gardam Street, which, again, I wrote about previously. This time around I enjoyed the second book more than the first, maybe because it feels somewhat less episodic (the first book has some overarching plot but it’s more a series of adventures/mishaps; this book has three or four plotlines that are woven together) or maybe because it felt a little better-written or maybe just because I was more in the mood for it.

Then I moved on to the third book in the series, The Penderwicks at Point Mouette, which I hadn’t read before. Like the first book, it’s another summer story, though in this one, the Penderwicks are separated: their dad (and new stepmom and her son) are in England, Rosalind is at the Jersey Shore with her best friend’s family, and the three other sisters (Skye, Jane, and Batty) are in Maine with their aunt for two weeks, along with their friend Jeffrey. Skye, who’s now twelve, is nervous about being the “Oldest Available Penderwick”—she’s not motherly like Rosalind is, and doesn’t like dealing with her sisters’ tears and emotions (or her own). And the trip doesn’t seem like it’s off to the best start when, on the first day, Skye finds herself accidentally dunked in the cold ocean while rescuing Hoover, the goofy dog belonging to Alec, who lives next door to the cottage they’re renting. When Skye realizes that her unintended swim has resulted in the loss of her precious list—the six-page document she’s put together of everything anyone has said about taking care of Batty—she’s sure she won’t be able to manage as the OAP for the duration of the vacation.

And there are accidents and mishaps, but there are also lots of pleasing things about the Maine trip: a boat ride, and seals, and moose, and new friends, and the discovery that Batty may be the only musically-talented Penderwick sister. There’s also a major plot development that’s sort of annoying in terms of how big a coincidence it relies on, but I like these books enough that I didn’t really mind, even though I wasn’t entirely able to suspend my disbelief.