There are some things I just can't understand about myself. Like how I can't seem to stop eating potato chips until the bag is empty, no matter how big the bag or how un-hungry I am when I start, and how I can watch a movie or read a book and see clearly that I'm being emotionally manipulated and yet I still cry. That's pretty much what happened to me with this book. I found Batty's dilemma pretty unlikely and yet still I bawled while reading this aloud to my kids. They just stared at me, and I could tell they were just wishing I'd either cry or try to speak but not attempt both at the same time. 
 To be more specific without getting spoiler-y, I can buy that these girls would have some residual stuff to cope with from their mother's death, especially as they approach adulthood, but I don't buy that Skye's misunderstanding persisted into late teenage-hood, and I don't buy that the acting-out would be so closely and obviously linked to their mother's death. And I used the hiding in the closet thing in a novel I wrote when I was in eighth grade. I'm not saying The Penderwicks in Spring is anywhere near as horrible as that novel was, but my estimation of it is diminished because of the association. 
 Still, I had fun reading this to my kids, and they couldn't wait to hear the next chapter, so I'm guessing we'll be first in line for the next book in the series.