I liked this a lot, but I didn't like it as much as #4. I was disappointed that we didn't get to see the wedding. And it took me a long time to finish this because the plot had no oomph. We just kind of lazily approached the wedding while hanging out with dogs, chickens, and sheep. But I suppose the plot is not the point of these books so much as spending time with the characters. On that note, I will say I was strangely irritated by each Penderwick having a thing that kind of defines them. When the book kicked off with Lydia's love of dancing it suddenly seemed so pat to me that Lydia = dance, Batty = singing, Jane = books, Skye = science, Ben = movies, Martin = Latin, Jeffrey = music. I guess Rosalind doesn't have a thing, though. Maybe Rosalind's thing is Tommy Geiger.

I'm going negative, but I did enjoy reading this. I made a playlist of the all the song references and it's been fun listening to it and imagining being at Arundel (it just occurred to me that this is almost the same as where Anna and Elsa live in Frozen).

Finally, when it comes to children's books, I try not to ship. I will ship YA characters all day long, but I'm not trying to put that on books for kiddos. Still, I was disappointed that Birdsall pulled an Alcott, even though she didn't exactly, technically, actually go there. It's hard not to compare the Penderwick books to [b:Little Women|1934|Little Women (Little Women, #1)|Louisa May Alcott|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388269517s/1934.jpg|3244642] and I'm sure she's aware of it, so she knew what she was doing and I'm just here to say IMHO she could've made a better choice. ( )

With this installment the Penderwick series comes to an end. One of the sisters is getting married, and all but the two youngest siblings are out on their own. This book focuses more on Lydia, the youngest, who loves to dance.

While I enjoyed this story it seemed to lack a little heart, and I missed the Penderwick secret meetings and shenanigans. I felt it wasn't quite as good as the previous books, but still was a good read. ( )

Probably my least favorite of the books, right up there with the first one. There are a lot of endearing moments - Lydia and Alice’s friendship, the return to Arundel and the enjoyment of past memories relived and retold, And Birdsall’s characteristically charming writing style is obviously present. But also present tended to be the feeling that this story was an add-on, a way to finish things up and be done with the Penderwick family. There were fiancés with little to no backstory or presence, and the return of a character that had so little to do with the plot that it furthered the feeling of just bringing her around because she was there the first time. Lydia’s interaction with Mrs. Tifton could have been interesting, and offered the possibility of redemption for this tedious and petulant woman who seemed to be trying to change, but that didn’t even get very far, and the one useful reason she could have been there was thwarted. If we’re bringing people back just for the sake of them being there, I’d much rather have seen Churchy again.

As far as Jeffrey and Battie, that’s fine. Skye really pushed him away, and I’m glad that he took the hint, tho it would have been a funny family story about how hard she tried to reject his love only to fall for him in the end. Jeffrey and Battie obviously have more in common than soccer and general camaraderie which will serve them later in life. ( )

This was a lovely journey back into the simplicity of childhood. More of the innocent, positive, imaginative sense of children should be contained in books for that age group. And this was perfect. I'm sorry the series was over. ( )