Great addition to a stunning series

books:

	• The Four-Story Mistake Elizabeth Enright Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), 2002 - 208 pages average customer review:based on 22 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

More fun with the Melendy family

"The Four-Story Mistake" is the second book in the Melendy quartet, and it's my favorite of the four. In a complete change of scene, Elizabeth Enright moves the Melendys out of their New York City brownstone and transports them to a marvelous old house in the country that has so much character, it seems like a personality in its own right.

Picking up from the early autumn after the summer that ends "The Saturdays", when the story opens, the three oldest Melendy children are desolated because their father has bought a house in the country without so much as a hint to any of them. After a rainy, boring train ride to the country, they take a taxi from the station to their new home, and what they find wins them over almost immediately. Enright describes a house any child would love to live in, big and white and square with a mansard roof, fireplaces and window seats, deep dormer windows and a cupola on top, a little square glass tower with four floor-to-ceiling windows, one facing in each direction. The house is called the Four-Story Mistake because the builder inadvertently left off a story while constructing it, and stuck the cupola up on top to compensate.

Once they're settled in their new home, adventures abound: Rush discovers they have a brook with a waterfall running through their property. Mrs. Oliphant, their devoted family friend, donates her ancient automobile called "the Motor" for transportation to school, and surprises them with four bicycles in the back seat. Randy manages to ride her new bike into the back of a bus, is taken to the traffic cop's home to recuperate, and finds the policeman and his wife have a pet alligator in their bathtub. Rush builds a treehouse and gets trapped in it in the middle of a howling thunderstorm. The children discover a secret room nailed up on the top floor of their home, furnished only with a life-size portrait of a mysterious young girl named Clarinda. They give a Christmas show for their friends and neighbors, to which Mrs. Oliphant brings five guests, one of them a radio producer; he's so impressed with Mona's acting talent that she's offered a part in a radio serial. Randy improbably discovers a diamond stuck to a caddis house in the brook. And Mona attends her first dance at school. Who wouldn't want to be part of this family?

The children are engaging characters, totally alive and doing every waking minute. When they're not physically active, they're reading, studying, drawing, painting, writing poems and plays, playing the piano, composing music and just thinking. Like all children, they get into trouble from time to time, but they care deeply for each other and their caretakers. In a preface to her book, Enright says somewhat wistfully that the Melendys are the family she would have like to have had. Perhaps that's what makes them seem so completely believable. We almost wish they were ours as well.

Enright is a born storyteller; her writing style is refreshingly free of preaching and moralizing. She respects her readers and never talks down to them. She tells her story mostly through Randy's eyes, but all of the children get equal play in the book. The adults in the family, Father, Cuffy and the handyman Willie Sloper, are benevolent authority figures who encourage the children to learn and explore, while imposing reasonable limits when necessary. Enright was a talented illustrator, and her pen-and-ink drawings, usually one full page drawing for most chapters, bring out each child's characteristics. We see Mona dressing up for her part in the show, Rush climbing down a tree, Randy in the cupola, her favorite room in the house, and placid Oliver, lost in a pile of old books he's just discovered in the cellar.

"The Four-Story Mistake" is highly recommended for youngsters between 9 and 12, as much for its fun and adventures as for its simple and timeless values of close-knit family life.

Judy Lind

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Whimsical family magic

I had this book recommened to me, and while I was familiiar with the author I had never before heard of the Melendy family. This is, I believe, the second book of a quartet, and what a charming one this is! In old-school fashion this brings a sweet-natured family's various adventues to light after they move from the city to a strange house out in the country. There is not what one would call a concrete plot--just a group of four kids who experience incidents. It's all very funny and good-natured, and the Melendy Family worms its way into your heart.

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Great addition to a stunning series

I love Elizabeth Enright's books about the Melendy family. The novels take place in a less complicated time in many ways (although this book is set during WWII). The tone is cozy, friendly and you'll just want to settle in with the Melendys and stay awhile.

The Four-Story Mistake is my favorite book in the four book series. It seems more fleshed out and detailed than the other three.

The Melendy family is moving from their brownstone house in New York City to an unusual home in upstate New York. It was supposed to be a four-story house, but is actually only three stories and a cupola. By the time the original owner saw the completed house, he didn't have the money to change it and so it became the four-story mistake.

The children explore their new home and surroundings-and that simply is the backdrop for all the new adventures the children will become involved in. Mona begins her career as an actress, there are storms, trees to climb, accidents, a Christmas play, a room in the cellar with interesting items, the mystery of the boarded-up room and a painting of a girl named Clarinda. And you are invited to all the wonderful adventures.

Elizabeth Enright is a true storyteller. She could make polishing a potbelly stove interesting.

Armchair Interviews says: Start at the beginning of the series and enjoy all four books.

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My reading list at retirement

While at a garage sale this summer with my granddaughter, we came across some of the early Trixie Belden books, and I bought them for my g/d, after she promised to lend them to me when she was finished. I enjoyed them so much, even tho' they were "children's" books, that I started browsing Amazon for other books I had enjoyed in grade school.
The Four Story Mistake was one of them, and sure enough, Amazon had it available. I ordered it, got it in 3 days, and read it that night. Gosh, the memories that brings back. Very fun story. I intend to order the other books in this series, and continue browsing for other childhood favorites. It kinda varies the reading experience, plus is a nice walk down memory lane.

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As Good As I Remember

A warm, endearing story set during the time of World War II. The characters are well developed and the story is a reaffirmation of the good in people. A simple, yet memorable tale.

I don't how Hollywood missed this as excellent material for a movie. Disney, are you reading?

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Four reasons to cheer!

Meet the Melendys! Mona, the eldest, is thirteen. She has decided to become an actress and can recite poetry at the drop of a hat. Rush is twelve and a bit mischievous. Miranda is ten and a half. She loves dancing and painting pictures. Oliver is the youngest. At six, he is a calm and thoughful person. They all live with their father, who is a writer, and Cuffy, their beloved housekeeper, who takes on the many roles of nurse, cook, substitute mother, grandmother, and aunt.

Elizabeth Enright?s Melendy Quartet, which captures the lively adventures of a family as they move from the city to the country, are being published in new editions. Each of the books features a foreward and signature black-and-white interior illustrations by the author. Popular artist Tricia Tusa provides irresistible new cover art that will appeal to today?s readers.

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