I had a fun time breezing through this book and reminiscing about my own childhood. Free therapy is always good. :) ( )

Another fun Melendy tale. Good old fashioned children's story taking place in a simpler time. Nice to get away! ( )

It's hard not to say that this is a little bit of what every childhood ought to be. Enright writes marvelously. I'll want a set of these for our library eventually, kids or no. ( )

The Melendy Family series has always been one of the most beloved, influential, and significant books of my childhood and my life. I first read it at a very young age, and read it over and over and over again in the following years. It's remained a top favorite ever since. Reading these books again feels like coming home, and I feel like I know the characters as well as I know my own family. I remember almost every single chapter and scene so vividly. Somehow, it's been years and years since I last read this series - possibly even most of a decade. Way too long, regardless. And I'm so glad I decided to read them again! I'm enjoying every moment.

Given the above, it's impossible to sum up in a review what this book means to me, or even what it's about. All I can do is ramble a little about both, but this is only a fraction of what I could say. It's too much a part of my heart to properly express it all in words.

But I will say that it's a book about the fierce and enduring love of a family for each other. About the experience of growing up and changing and passing through stages of life. About a boisterous family of unique and lively people, who enjoy each moment of life to the full, who revel in the glories and beauties of nature and the world, who delight in interesting experiences, who are smart and creative, who are always learning and growing and seeking knowledge and skills - and who can never seem to escape adventure, even in the daily happenings of a normal life.

"Things like that never happen to us. We lead a humdrum life when I think about it. It's funny how it doesn't seem humdrum."

"That's because you have 'eyes the better to see with, my dear' and 'ears the better to hear with.' Nobody who has them and uses them is likely to find life humdrum very often. Even when they have to use bifocal lenses, like me."

In the Melendys' first book, The Saturdays, the four Melendy siblings come up with a plan to take turns going on adventures every Saturday, and the book follows their weekly adventures growing up in New York City in the 1940s. Between unexpected joys and unexpected disasters, they encounter more adventure than even they could have planned! In the sequel, The Four-Story Mistake, the Melendys reluctantly move to a large, interesting house in the countryside, and end up adoring their new home and all it brings - and of course, they encounter even more adventures in their new life. The joyful and bittersweet times of growing up and going on to new things are continued in the sequels, Then There Were Five and Spiderweb for Two.

I enjoy each chapter and episode of the Melendy family's everyday adventures. They're humorous, entertaining, and exciting, and always full of heart as well as humor. The Melendys' deep love for and loyalty to each other, and their joyful pleasure in life and each other, is so wonderful to read about, and is evident on every page. I love family and sibling stories so much, and this is one of the best and most special I have read. The Melendy family holds an exalted place in my heart. It's a book that glows with bittersweet nostalgia of childhood past and current - all the more so for someone like me, who read it so many times as a child. But I think it would feel nostalgic and golden for anyone, child or adult - anyone will read it and feel the wonderful qualities of a childhood full of laughter, adventure, nature, and love.

The Melendy family always reminded me of my own family. Like ours, there were four siblings - a slightly bossy oldest sister, then a boy and a girl very close in age - though in my family, was the second sister, and my slightly-younger brother was the third child, instead of the other way around. Our personalities are even similar to the characters, in some ways. And in both families, following the three oldest siblings, very close in age, is a youngest brother a few years behind - so much alike. The difference is that a little while after I read this book so many times as a child, my family had a fifth child, a much-younger sister. I still think four children is a perfect number, as I always have, but now I think that five is equally perfect!

Each character in the series is vivid, lifelike, amusing, and real, and I connect with and love each one. I love each of the four Melendy siblings, and each of their family and friends. I've always identified so strongly with Randy, the third-oldest sister - her personallity, especially, but also her role in the family. She's an idealistic, joyful, sweet-hearted, artistic, accident-prone, imaginative dreamer, who loves everyone, and who doesn't seem as smart as the older siblings she admires. All of that is true for me as well - and like me, she's a young girl who doesn't like change, and wishes she could hold onto the past and keep everyone from growing up, as time marches on and things slip through her fingers.. As a child, and still as an adult, I see so much of myself in her. More than most other characters in existence. The book treats her with love and understanding, and it was comforting for me to read about her as a child.

And I enjoy each of the relationships between the characters. But I think I most enjoy the relationship and friendship between the middle brother and sister, Rush and Randy. I love how they're devoted and loyal to each other, and have so much fun together, going on excursions and joking around. And they support each other, and he protects her and comforts her when she's in need of it. They have such an easy, close friendship. I always envied that, as a child. My brother was barely more than a year younger than me, even closer in age than Rush and Randy - though in my case, the sister, not the brother, is older. But I was not friends with my brother - we couldn't stand each other and didn't get along. Whenever I read about a brother and sister who were close in age and were best friends, I always wished I had that. But as a child reading this book, I didn't have it. But now I do! My brother and I grew up and matured, and once we became teenagers, we became best friends. And I'm so glad. That's one of the best things that's every happened to me, and I'm thankful - going from constant fighting and bickering and dislike and unfriendly competition, to love and support and laughter and friendship. I treasure my friendship with my brother. I haven't read the Melendy books since before I gained that friendship, but reading it again now, it makes me so happy to see so much similarity between myself, my brother, and our relationship in Rush and Randy. The idealistic, imaginative girl, and the brilliant, cynical, brother - both full of laughter and fun.

One thing I am intensely aware of now, that I took for granted and didn't pay attention to as a child, is how fabulous and skilled the writing of these books are. I had forgotten that, because I didn't notice it consciously. I had to stop often while reading to take pleasure in so many well-crafted descriptions and metaphors. The way the author describes people, and nature, and thoughts and feelings, and even a city bus, is so masterful. And her characters are so vivid and unique and full of life, with just as natural and distinctive mannerisms and ways of speaking, and ways of being, as real people. And so, so many other things - the writing is just wonderful. I was not a writer as a child, but I am now, and I'm keenly aware of how glorious the writing of this series is.

Another thing I notice even more now that I'm older is how well the author handled so many things about what it's like to grow up - and one thing that stuck out was how well the Melendy parents love and take care of their family. But in such a realistic way. I appreciate that more now that I'm an adult, and now that I'm more aware of how wonderful my own parents are, even though I also see the flaws more clearly. One thing in particular that I notice about the Melendy family and the author's handling is how the children make mistakes and learn lessons - natural or intentional - and the parents handle it so well. They let them be independent and have adventures, and are there to catch them when they fall and lovingly let them know when they're wrong. And sometimes the children disobey and do something they know their parents would disapprove of, or that they know is wrong - and they make a mistake and learn a lesson. But the author handles it so well - we understand exactly why the children did it, and exactly why it wasn't a good idea, and just like in real life, there are natural consequences. The parenting and morality were handled so well.

My little sister is now old enough to read this series, and I cannot wait to share it with her. It will be so special, and I know she'll love it as much as the rest of my siblings and I always have - it's so wonderful to share favorite books with siblings who love them too. And this is such a sibling-centered book that it's all the more special.

I'm so glad I finally reread these books. It's been too long. I almost forgot how wonderful it is, and how much it means to me. But it's all fresh again now, and I'll surely be reading it again before that many more years pass again.

But Randy couldn't help feeling that there were many miracles in her life. Wasn't it a miracle to live in the country in spring? And to have a wonderful family that she was crazy about, and a house with a secret room and a cupola, and to be eleven and a half years old, and very good at riding a bicycle?

Anyway, that's how I feel today, thought Randy. Tomorrow maybe I'll feel some other way; cranky, or dull, or just natural. But that's how I feel today.

( )

The Melendy family moves from the city to a rambling old house in the country, where they have many more adventures.

This series continues in the same charming vein. I may have enjoyed this book even more than the first. Recommended! ( )