The Family Fletcher Rules!

Sunrise from the ferry, 7:20 am December 31

Sunrise today was at 7:58, Sunset will be at 4:29. 

Ah, it’s a new year – it’s cloudy and cold today, it looks like rain, but yesterday, the actual New Year’s Day, was cold and clear and stunningly beautiful.  D and I walked at Seward Park and watched the birds and then watched football.  Go Ducks!  It was an almost perfect way to start the year.

Resolutions?  I am going to read at least one non-fiction adult book, one fiction adult book a month, and fill in the rest with genre books (mysteries, science fiction, romance) and teen and kid’s books.  I realize that I’m missing a lot of really good literature out there and I should truly widen my views.  I’m looking forward to the challenge of not only reading all these books, but writing about them in a timely way, too!

I just discovered a new favorite book, thanks to my new friend, editor Sharyn November, The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher, a big rambunctious family filled with boys and two dads, soccer games, mud and dirt, new schools, new friends (both real and not), and lots of books and love.  There’s a curmudgeon next door (who has his own issues), neighbors who care about the family, a skunk, and parties and handmade skating rinks….if you love the Penderwicks, you will love the Family Fletcher.

The Family Fletcher is an alternative one, although, can you really say that, today?  We’ve been living with all kinds of families in our neighborhoods for years…But I think this is one of the first mainstream middle grade books I’ve read about a family with same sex parents (and not just one family with same sex parents, but TWO!) who are not shy about showing their affection for each other and their children.  When they introduce themselves to new teachers or neighbors, they are clear about who they are and what they decided to do with their lives.  One of the best scenes is where Frog, age 6, explained to new friends where the babies in the family came from and how their dads decided to get married.

 

This book is so much fun!  I think boys are going to love it and I think families will love reading it out loud (oh, yes, you will recognize yourselves in this book). It’s funny and heartwarming, I had tears in my eyes a couple of times, I snorted once and laughed out loud a lot.  The dads really have their hands full and the boys are boys who love what boys love.  The chapter heads are notes from the dads to the kids reminding them of chores or things to do and they are hysterical. 

 

Give yourself a break and read The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher, by Dana Alison Levy.  You will have such a good time!  Ms. Levy:  Please write more stories about the Fletchers!  

Please support your local bookshop if you have one, if you don't have one, Eagle Harbor Book Company would be happy to fill that empty space.  Everyone needs a book community and we'd love to be yours.

(Delacorte Books for Young Readers.  Ages 8+.  Available now.  $15.99.)

YAY for THE PENDERWICKS!

Sunrise today was at 7:54, sunrise will be at 4:20.  This is a photo from the Bainbridge Island side of my commute, looking back towards Seattle, taken a couple of weeks ago, just as the sun rose.  Today, well, tomorrow, I'll get off the ferry and the sun will be much farther south, behind the bit of land off to the right, and I'll already be at work before the rises.  Happy Solstice!  Monday morning, we'll have an extra second of daylight.

When the nights are so long, when you need to feel a little less lonely or need a little more light in your life, stories can help.  And......Ta DAH:

The Penderwicks are coming, the Penderwicks are coming!  Oh, how I have missed them.  It’s been a long couple of years between books in this great series about the Penderwick sisters and their little brother, Ben, and the assorted animals that live with them. These books are like walking into a long awaited hug from old friends.

I just finished Penderwicks in Spring, by Jeanne Birdsall, the penultimate book in the series, and I am already sad that there is only one more to come, probably in two years.  WHY DO I NOT SAVE THINGS FOR LATER!!!   This book came in the mail and I read it that day!!!  It was like chocolate – I couldn’t save it for later, I kept thinking about it so I swallowed it all in one sitting.  Now I have to wait for SOOOOO long for the next one!

If you haven’t read this series for younger readers, you are in for such a treat.  They are the perfect binge books for a rainy day…or a sunny one.  Or a sick day.  Well, okay, they are good anytime.  The Penderwicks are a loyal and honorable family, funny and feisty, filled with all the foibles any group with 4 girls, a dog and a rabbit would have.

They are the perfect books to insist on sharing with younger readers, mostly so the adults can actually finish them!  A lot of moms tell me they start reading them aloud and then the kids take them because they can’t stand to wait to see what happens next.  The adults have to sneak them out of backpacks and slide them out from under pillows so THEY can read them. 

The books take place in current day but the kids play outside and have many adventures, only stopping in to use a computer to check on a fact or to write school papers. They feel very old-fashioned in that respect: lots of playing outside, reading, having important discussions with family and friends. It's not all fairies and light, though: Mom died just after Batty, the youngest Penderwick, the one with wings in the first book, was born, Dad is a little lonely and works a lot, they aren't wealthy.  But, they have each other to play with and are eager to make friends, to add more fun to their lives.  The oldest Penderwick, Rosalind, is 12 when the series begins and is just beginning to notice boys which allows the series accessibility to an older reader. 

The girls are older now, in Penderwicks in Spring.  Batty is in 4^th grade, Ben is in 2^nd and newest Penderwick, Lydia, is just about two.  Parents are happy, kids are okay, some are in college, the Geiger boys are coming home, Ben is all about digging up rocks, Jeffrey's coming home for Batty's birthday, Lydia just wants to be wherever Ben is, and Batty has started a dog walking business.  There are some bouncy rough spots in the lives in the houses on Gardam Street, but mostly everything is good, until Batty accidentally hears Skye spilling a secret that she’s been holding forever. 

If you loved Noel Streatfield, or E. Nesbit's The Railway Children, you and your kids will love the Penderwicks, too. 

I can’t wait to start sharing this book with everyone!  Penderwicks in Spring will be available March 24, 2015.  $16.99.  Random House.  Ages:  Everyone!

Give your local bookshop a call to reserve your copies now.   Penderwicks in Spring will be out the first Tuesday after the Spring Equinox, also a perfect time to read these lovely books.