The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

I loved, loved this book. I've heard about it as a great read-aloud for kids for years, but hadn't ever gotten around to reading it. It was one of my main goals for this summer to read it to the boys, and although it basically took me all summer to get through it (because we didn't read much on our trip), I really enjoyed it. The boys really got into the story too. It's a story of four sisters and the boy they meet on their summer vacation, and each sister has their own distinctive, strong personality, which causes all sorts of mischief, especially when you take into account the snobby and mean Mrs. Tifton they have to deal with. I loved how the story really represented each girl so clearly, and how they each had their own realization and growth that happened over the course of the novel. The blurb on the back of the book compared the Penderwick sisters to the March sisters from Little Women, which comparison definitely works. It was a sweet family story where the sisters rely on each other, and I really enjoyed it. I wasn't sure if this one would be less interesting for the boys because it's a "girl book" (or at least, one about girls) but once again, they loved it. There are four more books in the series and I am totally interested in reading the rest... at least to myself.