SAFFY’S ANGEL

This is the first book in a YA series by Hilary McKay about the eccentric Casson family. It’s in the same old-fashioned, precocious, gently loony vein as Jeanne Birdsall’s Penderwicks books, but a bit more complex and mature. I picked it up on a whim after hearing nothing but glowing mentions on book blogs, was skeptical for the first few chapters (the title and plot sounded suspiciously cheesy), then found myself utterly caught up and placing the rest of the series on hold at the library (I have already read the next one, actually). These books feel so much like all the charming vintage messy-large-family classics I loved in my youth, it’s disconcerting to be reminded that they were all written in the last eight years, complete with occasional references to e-mail and cell phones (still, as with the Penderwicks, TV barely seems to exist for these kids; they have much better things to do).