A New Day for the Melendys

By John Sellers, Children's Bookshelf -- Publishers Weekly, 1/17/2008

During its first two seasons, the Square Fish imprint at Macmillan has highlighted backlist authors and series from the company’s various children’s book imprints. As PW previously reported, in 2007 Square Fish reissued books by Natalie Babbitt and Madeleine L’Engle. Now, four titles by Newbery Medalist (for Thimble Summer) Elizabeth Enright return this month on Square Fish’s winter list as the Melendy Quartet.

For Square Fish publisher Jean Feiwel, reissuing Enright’s books was an easy decision. “In [looking through] Holt’s backlist, Enright is one of the key authors, one of the cherries on their cake,” she says. “I knew pretty much from the beginning that she would be on the ’08 list.” Enright also illustrated the books, and her original line art remains in the new Square Fish editions; the cover art is by Tricia Tusa, which first appeared on Holt’s hardcover reissues in 2002, along with a unifying band to mark them as a series.

The first book, The Saturdays, was published in 1941, followed by The Four-Story Mistake, Then There Were Five and Spiderweb for Two. The series follows four siblings—Mona, Rush, Randy and Oliver Melendy—who, over the course of the books, move from a New York City brownstone to an odd home in the country, welcome an adopted fifth sibling and engage in a series of adventures.

Feiwel believes that the books, despite being more than 50 years old, will continue to resonate with children. “The kids don’t come across as dated,” she says. “Whether they’re filled with mischief or a sense of independence, the feelings are true. Spending a Saturday afternoon in a way that’s an adventure—that has an appeal no matter how old you are.”

And for book-buying parents or relatives, the Melendy books offer more than just a nostalgic look back, Feiwel believes. “I think there’s a sense you can give these books without hesitation. There’s nothing in them that will offend anyone.”

As part of a Newbery Medal promotion on its spring/summer list, Square Fish will reissue Enright’s Thimble Summer in May with new cover art by Sally Wern Comport. “It doesn’t look like any edition you’ve ever seen,” Feiwel says. “It captures the feeling and sense of wonder of another time and place. It’s very evocative and will speak to today’s audience and draw them in.”