Enright, Elizabeth. The Melendy Family: Then There Were Five. Read by Pamela Dillman. New York: Listen and Live Audio, Inc., 2004.
Reason read: to continue the series started in September in honor of Enright’s birth month. Confessional: I read most of Then There Were Five while I was still on Monhegan but came home to finish it up on audio.
The Melendy family is another year older. This time Mona (15), Rush (14), Randy (12) and Oliver (almost 8) are collecting scraps to aid in the war effort. It’s an interesting concept for a children’s story. At each farmhouse (they still live in the country in that weird house) the children meet people they normally wouldn’t ever encounter otherwise. At one particular house they meet Mark, a boy living in an abusive home. He becomes a fast friend…and the fifth member of the Melendy household.
Like The Saturdays, I felt Enright opened my eyes a little wider. Mark was an interesting character. His description of the Perseids and Leonids evoked memories of watching the sky on Monhegan.
Author fact: Elizabeth Enright wasn’t born in New York or the city, but she spent a lot of time there.
Book trivia: In addition to the violence, Enright includes other sobering subjects in Then There Were Five.
BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Best for Boys and Girls” (p 21).
~*LunaSea*~ 