Just too implausible, though it does advice 'real people don't have lives like book characters' kind of thing. ?áCharming, and as a child I would have loved it... but now I'm feeling a little cynical. ?áAnd of course I'm concerned that the kids didn't take proper care when exploring a cave, and might inspire child readers to take real risks.

I did like the idea that, before Penelope had friends, she solved her boredom with books. ?áWhen she got tired of just reading, she started *doing.* ?áTaking a book from the shelf at random, letting it fall open, she then *did* what the children in the story were doing. ?áI wish I'd thought of that when I was a lonely child. ( )

Penny Dreadful by Laurel Snyder is about Penelope Grey and her parents who go through some major life changing events. As the book opens, Penelope is living in a huge house in the center of The City where she is home schooled and looked after more by the servants than her ever busy parents. While she knows she has a good life, it's not a fulfilling one.

A wish for something exciting to happen coincides with a huge change in her life. It begins with her father, heir to the family business, and source of the family's income, announcing that he's quit his job at the family business. Without his large paycheck and the mother's love of shopping, they quickly run out of money and the house ends up looking like something from Horders.

Another wish changes things again, sending them to the country, to an inherited house being shared by numerous eccentric families. The move to the house is where the book picks up. Penelope makes friends and blossoms.

Penny Dreadful highlights the problems families can have and the importance of open dialogs between parents and children. Penny's parents want to protect her as they try to cope with their problems. Unfortunately this just makes things more stressful for Penny and everyone else. Penny, too, with her new friends, might even have the solution to her parents' problems.

The life at the new house isn't all about the financial woes. There are new friends and new adventures, including a treasure hunt in a cave. I liked getting to explore with Penny as she adjusts to her new home.

I found the book a quick and compelling read. ( )

Sweet and fun. It's the kind of book I would have loved when I was a child, full of references to other books, with a bit of trouble and a lot of humor. The characters are quirky without being scary, there's enough backstory but not too much, and it's, well, wholesome. Sweet is the proper word, I think- but the sweet of raspberries, not the sweet of candy bars.
( )

Really enjoyed this one ( )

What's not to like about a book that mentions Betsy-Tacy, Anne of Green Gables, and "Over the Rainbow"? Not to mention "chickabidee." :) ( )