After I read (and looooooved) Jeanne Birdsall's Penderwicks series last summer, people told me I should give Hilary McKay a try--and they were so right! This was a delight. It feels a biiiiiiit dated (since it's over 20 years old) but the sibling interactions still feel so real, and McKay captures some indefinable essence of childhood that is really fun to read about. Also, it's funny! Way funnier than you think it will be. Funny in a way that parents and kids both can appreciate, although I'm not sure they'd be laughing over the same lines. This is the perfect example of the fine line that I think all good kids books strike of having kid appeal without feeling condescending; I can't wait to read the rest in the series.