Children's ✦ Penny’s Take
The Four-Story Mistake
Elizabeth Enright · 1997
77/100
👍 Worth It
Ranked 80th on School Library Journal's all-time best children's novels is not a small thing, and the Melendy siblings remain vivid and distinct after 80-plus years of reprint editions. The episodic structure is looser than modern middle-grade readers expect, and early Kirkus noted it falls just short of the first book's originality — but those are quibbles in an otherwise warm and enduring classic.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
📚 Buy the book ↗📱 Read on Kindle ↗🎧 Listen on Audible ↗ affiliate links · support the site, never the verdict
As an Amazon Associate and Audible affiliate, Penny earns from qualifying purchases. This never affects the verdict — see our affiliate disclosure.
Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
Faith & family safety85
Substance / usefulness77
Craft & writing79
Originality65
Evidence & accuracy80
Hype vs delivers72
Age-fit82
👁 Human-eye gut-check76
Penny’s verdict77
Cross-pollinate