I probably would've enjoyed the book more had I known it was part of a series before I started. I'm pretty sure you need to read it in order but I do recommend just please read it in order. ( )

The Conroy girls, now aged between eight and fifteen, encounter the “family failing” -- falling in love.

I didn’t find this quite as amusing as the previous two books, probably because Ruth’s crushes, which she neither wants nor wants others to know about, give the story an edge of second-hand embarrassment. But McKay is no less insightful about her characters, and each of the girls are no less intensely themselves. I still immensely enjoyed the time spent in their company.

“I used to think that fifteen would be nearly grown up,” said her sister Naomi, “until you started being it.”
Ruth knew exactly what she meant; she felt the same way herself and she thought the strangest thing about being so old was the fact that it made no difference at all. She was no more self-confident, or organised, or magically in charge of her emotions than she had been in the past. Nothing had changed; she was the same muddle-headed person she had always been, forever swinging between happiness and despair, never doing the right thing at quite the right moment. Naomi, eighteen months younger and two years behind her at school, had far more common sense.
Naomi was brainy, and a much more private person than Ruth [...] She and Ruth were very good allies; they understood each other. They read the same books, liked the same friends, detested the same enemies and managed to share a bedroom and yet remain on speaking terms most of the time. They endured with courage their little sisters Rachel and Phoebe.
“Although they really are insane,” remarked Ruth gloomily.
“Don’t be silly!” said their mother, although secretly thinking that Ruth had a point.

( )

Delightful as always. Good ol' Hilary McKay. ( )

And again, not a cover that says "family comedy". This looks like a very dated ad for some sort of children's allergy medicine.

Library copy ( )

Third in the trilogy about the Conroy girls: Ruth, Naomi, Rachel and Phoebe.

A little different from the others, this is told in flashback form, primarily. At the start of each chapter there are snippets of conversation, evidently from the point of view of the girls when they are adults, reminiscing about the summer when they developed the 'family failing' of falling in love with unsuitable people. Often several at once.

The story takes us through several crushes on Ruth's behalf, including a teacher at their school. Around half way through we meet the handsome and charming Philippe, grandson of an old friend of Big Grandma's; he comes to stay and rather revolutionises their chaotic household, with offers of doing chores, and general politeness.

The last few chapters feature a stay in France which is theoretically to cure the older girls... and by the last couple it becomes clear what the 'current day' event is going to be.

I liked the structure once I became used to it, and I enjoyed reading this short book that tied up a lot of ends and made a good finale to the trilogy. More appropriate for young teenagers than little girls, I doubt if this would appeal to boys at all as the four main characters are all female. Some gentle humour, often involving caricatured characters, and a bit more insight into the lives of this delightful family.

Recommended if you've read the other two in the series, although it could stand alone. ( )