goodreads | The Saturdays - Elizabeth Enright (Reply)

Title: The Saturdays (Melendy Family #1)
Author: Elizabeth Enright
Genre: Childrens
Rating: 3/5
# pages: 158
Date read: September, 2010

Meet the Melendys! Mona, the eldest, is thirteen. She has decided to become an actress and can recite poetry at the drop of a hat. Rush is twelve and a bit mischievous. Miranda is ten and a half. She loves dancing and painting pictures. Oliver is the youngest. At six, he is a calm and thoughtful person. They all live with their father, who is a writer, and Cuffy, their beloved housekeeper. This first story of the Melendy's takes place in New York City and tells how the children join together to make Saturday afternoons a time to have fun.

I had this recommended to me because I loved the Gone-Away Lake books so much. I'm glad, because The Saturdays is an adorable tale, that I'd be glad to read to my kids some day. I didn't find it quite as charming as Gone Away Lake, as I felt it lacked some of the magic of that series, although I wouldn't doubt that nostalgia has something to do with it as well.

The book is somewhat aged, which especially is apparent in the childrens' outings. I'm not sure I'd let a 10-year-old walk through NYC by herself (I didn't get how far it was, but more than just around the block, which would be different), and the reaction to a 13-year-old coming home with a manicure and red fingernails would have been very over the top today.

I think I'll want to read the rest eventually, but I'm in no rush to get them out of the library right away.