Have you met the Penderwicks?

If not, I urge you to hurry to the young people's section of your local library or bookstore to become acquainted.  

So far there are three books in the Penderwicks series written by Jeanne Birdsall. The first is called The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy. The second is The Penderwicks on Gardam Street, and the third is The Penderwicks at Point Mouette.

The Penderwicks are four sisters, Rosalind, Skye, Jane, and Batty, who live with their widowed, professor father and a dog named Hound. The books are simply about the adventures they have and the people they come into contact with in their everyday life, whether it be at home, spending the summer at a cottage on a wealthy estate, or a two week vacation in Maine

These are some of the most charming, modern books I have read. I can't wait to read about more of their adventures, and really hope more books in the series will be coming soon.

Happy Fourth of July!

What's For Breakfast?

Today at my house, breakfast was a nectarine crostata.

I love when summer fruit first becomes readily available but I guess I went a little crazy at the fruit stand the other day, buying way too many nectarines.

They were all getting ripe at once, so I decided to make something with them for breakfast and decided to try a nectarine crostata.

I didn't have a recipe, but a crostata is basically a free-form pie. I started by slicing the nectarines, leaving the skins on, and sprinkling them with a little sugar. I let them sit for a few minutes then drained off the liquid.

While they were sitting, I made a half recipe of pie crust and rolled it out into a large circle which I then transferred it to a large cookie sheet.

I added a little cornstarch, a splash of vanilla, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and freshly grated nutmeg to the nectarines and piled them in the middle of the pie crust. Then I folded the edges of the pastry over the nectarines. When it was all packaged up nicely, I brushed the edges with cream and sprinkled on some turbinado sugar for extra crunch.

The crostata baked at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes, and I let it cool for about 30 minutes before I cut it.

I guess I'm going to brag a little and say it was really delicious. The crispy crust and not too sweet filling were a perfect combination. Try it with any kind of fruit filling or combination of different fruits. You won't be disappointed.

I can't help myself.

So, last month I swore off award-winning books for the summer, but I just couldn't stay away. I didn't read a Pulitzer this month, but I did read a Newbery winner.

When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead won the Newbery award in 2010.

It tells the story of Miranda, a thirteen year-old growing up with a single mother in New York City in the late 1970s. One day, the hidden key to Miranda's apartment comes up missing, and then Miranda begins to find small notes in her belongings with cryptic messages written on them that seem to predict the future.

This novel explores many themes. Friendship, identity, racism, time-travel, and death, are just a few. Also, throughout the novel there are multiple reference to A Wrinkle In Time, a book Miranda loves. It's been a really long time since I read A Wrinkle in Time, and I don't know exactly what they are, but apparently in addition to the outright references to the book, the plots of both books also have some similarities.

For being a short book, When You Reach Me is surprisingly complex with many interwoven plot lines. It is the type of book a reader could benefit from reading multiple times, just to see how everything works together from the beginning.

I'm still not sure if I actually liked this one, but even so, it is definitely worth reading.