The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy

Just one year younger than Rosalind, Skye too has memories of her mother but doesn’t show her grief like Rosalind. Feisty and whip-smart, Skye is pragmatic but quick to speak her mind, which often leaves her wishing she could retract her words. Aside from her intelligence, Skye looks distinctively different from her brunette sisters because she has blonde hair and blue eyes: “It was a strongly held belief among all the Penderwicks that Skye would grow up to look exactly like her mother” (18). However, Skye doesn’t think she looks like their mother. In fact, Skye doesn’t think much about her appearance at all. Her interests are more cerebral. She has an ardent passion for mathematics and astrophysics, and she often feels like she doesn’t fit in with her sisters. Skye envisions spending her summer poring over her math equations, but a chance encounter with Arundel Hall’s mysterious young resident brings her the opportunity for a friendship and new adventures. After a rocky start, Jeffery and Skye become fast friends, and instead of spending three weeks inside her room, Skye not only experiences thrilling adventures on Arundel’s grounds but also gains a new friend. However, Jeffrey’s insufferable mother proves too much for Skye’s short fuse and seriously tests her self-control. Skye learns that nothing’s wrong with being self-assertive, but she must choose her battles and restrain herself when necessary.

If Skye is the family’s realist, Jane is the sister with her head stuck in the clouds. However, at 10, Jane already has a well-developed sense of self and wastes no opportunity to display her theatrical personality or find moments in the family’s everyday life to incorporate into her novels. Jane’s hero, Sabrina Starr, is fearless and clever, and the family’s vacation at Arundel provides a fount of inspiration for Jane’s novel. Jane and Skye both love soccer and are closer to each other than to Rosalind and Batty. Skye is proud of Jane’s accomplishments: “Soccer was the only thing at which she outshone Skye—other than writing books—and she loved it when Skye was generous enough to brag about it” (73). Jane often confuses fantasy with reality and sometimes requires a swift kick under the table or a nudge from her older sisters to break the spell. In Jane’s previous Sabrina Starr books, the hero rescues only animals, but Jane’s adventures at Arundel are the inspiration for Sabrina’s first human rescue mission.

Jane has an alter ego named Mick Hart, who helps her maintain a tough exterior when she gets frustrated and emotional on the soccer field. Hopelessly optimistic, Jane longs to believe in the best in people. Long after her sisters see Dexter Dupree’s true nature, Jane asserts that he might still have a good side. When he heartlessly rejects her book, Jane crumbles, her dreams shattered.

The only son of the pretentious Brenda Tifton, the owner of Arundel Hall, Jeffrey couldn’t be more different from her. He cares nothing for wealth and status, vehemently opposing his mother’s plan to send him to an elite military school in preparation to become a soldier. A talented pianist, Jeffrey longs to attend music school rather than pursuing the interests set out by his mother and her boyfriend, Dexter Dupree. When Jeffrey’s solitary life literally collides with his summer neighbors, his loneliness is swept away as he becomes part of the noisy, sometimes chaotic, but always adventurous life of the Penderwick sisters. Churchie says, “Jeffrey’s been happier since you Penderwicks have arrived than I’ve seen him for a long time” (90). Although Jeffrey’s life vastly differs from the sisters’ lives, they share the tragedy of missing a parent. Through Churchie, who cares for Jeffrey like he’s her son, Rosalind learns that Jeffrey’s father abandoned him, and Jeffrey has no knowledge of his whereabouts. Jeffrey’s grandfather, General Framley, loved and treasured him but died when Jeffrey was young, and Jeffrey now lives in his grandfather’s shadow, as symbolized by the General’s ominous portrait hanging in the dining room watching over his every move.

Jeffrey bonds most with Skye and Jane because they’re close in age and all love soccer, but he also develops a tender relationship with Batty and becomes like an older brother to her. After he saves her from the charging bull and a passing car, Jeffrey becomes Batty’s hero, leading her to believe that she’s destined to marry him one day. Jeffrey‘s selflessness solidifies his place in the hearts of all the Penderwicks—including Mr. Penderwick, who deems him a part of the family. With the Penderwick sisters’ help, Jeffrey finds the courage to contest his mother’s plans and convinces her to let him pursue his dream to become a concert pianist.