In Tuesdays at the Castle, author Jessica Day George creates a setting that becomes a character. Castle Glower, identified as “The Castle,” is home to Princess Celie and the rest of the royal family of Sleyne. Living in a castle sounds pretty great, but what makes Castle Glower even better is that it is a magical castle. It will expand to create new rooms, make rooms that are no longer needed disappear, and even provide furnishings, all at its own discretion, of course. And it is a very opinionated castle. If it likes you, your visit to Castle Glower will be most comfortable. If not, your accommodations might look more like the dungeons, or The Castle might kick you out altogether. Furthermore, The Castle has views on who should rule. King Glower’s heir was chosen not by himself, but by The Castle.
You might think that such defenses would eliminate any concern about a hostile takeover from a rival kingdom, but that is just what happens. Prince Khelsh of Vhervhine, along with his entourage of guards and sycophants, has weaseled his way into the castle under false pretenses. He is determined to take over The Castle and claim the throne. With the rest of her family missing and presumed dead, Princess Celie, her brother Rolf, her sister Lilah, and Castle Glower must work together to mount a defense. Allegiances are questioned, and the siblings quickly learn that they can trust no one but themselves and The Castle.
I found this story to be very immersive and quickly became lost in the twists and turns of Castle Glower. The setting truly comes to life, and you’ll soon find yourself wondering, “Well, how does The Castle feel about that?” Don’t worry, being concerned for the emotional well-being of supposedly inanimate objects is just a side effect from reading fantasy in general, and Tuesdays at the Castle in particular. This is the first in a new junior fiction series which will continue in Wednesdays in the Tower, to be published in May 2013.
Check the WRL catalog for Tuesdays at the Castle.
What girl doesn’t dream about shrinking down to play in her dollhouse? This premise, with a time travel twist, is the genesis for the story The Sixty-Eight Rooms. The titular rooms are the Thorne Miniature Rooms housed in The Art Institute of Chicago. They are meticulously crafted rooms depicting late 1200s to 1930s Europe and 1600s to 1930s America. Ruthie and Jack visit the exhibit on a field trip and Ruthie, in particular, is mesmerized. Intrigued to see what the rooms look like from the staff-only area that runs behind the exhibit, Jack manages to talk a security guard into showing them backstage. That’s where Jack finds the key.
If your birthday is also Valentine’s Day, you probably either love all things hearts and flowers, or hate every pink and red bit of it. The fact that Piper’s birthday falls on Valentine’s Day means that she typically receives many heart-themed birthday gifts each year, but does not mean she believes in love. This year though, her best friends Claire and Jillian are determined that the three of them will not be alone on the most romantic day of the year. They devise “The Plan.” Some of “The Plan” involves things you might expect, such as hair highlights and new makeup techniques. Then the girls take things one step further.
What Leena expects to be a perfect senior year at boarding school begins to fall apart from the first moment she sets foot back on campus. She’s excited to be living in Frost House with her two best friends, and will have a room to herself until their other friend returns from a semester abroad. Leena can’t wait to be out of the dorm, and moving into Frost House is a special treat because it was repurposed as women’s housing just for her and her roommates. Her excitement is soon dulled, however, by the news that she will be sharing her sanctuary with a roommate after all.
Kate Kae Myers, author of The Vanishing Game, wrote on her blog, “Smart teens interested in clues and codes (and fiction, of course!) are my target market.” I may no longer be a teen, but I am definitely a fan of fiction that incorporates clues and codes. That may have been what started me reading, but what kept me reading was the atmosphere, the suspense, and the plot. It is a mystery, thriller, noir, fantasy novel all weaved into one. It is suitably eerie as well as puzzling. Most of the time I had no idea where the story would twist and turn next, and I certainly didn’t guess the ending.
Nikki Beckett is a modern-day Persephone. One hundred years ago, Cole took her to the Everneath, where Everlivings like him feed off the lives of forfeits—mortals with nothing left to live for. But Nikki still had one thing left. She was supposed to retain no memory of her previous life. Forfeits shouldn’t even be able to function after they have been drained. But when Nikki woke, she was still herself. Cole realized that Nikki was very special and asked her to stay with him forever as an Everliving. Knowing that she would then be required to feed off of forfeits herself, Nikki turned him down, and her fate was sealed. Nikki would return to the Surface, but after six months she will be returned to endure a painful eternity fueling the Everneath.
Yesterday’s post was about a girl who lost her entire family. Today we have a book about a family that loses a child. Ethan was nine years old when he was taken from his front yard. His younger brother was the only witness. Now, eight years later, Ethan has returned home. Each member of his family, which now includes a six-year-old sister, reacts in different ways. His parents are so happy to have him home, but his brother is angry, confused, and unwelcoming. His sister, too young to know the whole story of his abduction, adapts to him quickly and is much like he was at her age.
As the song goes, “What a difference a day makes. Twenty-four little hours.” The events of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight take place over the course of just one day. It is a very momentous day for Hadley and Oliver. They meet at the airport, on a transatlantic flight from New York to London. Hadley might never have met Oliver if she had made her original flight. But, in this case, the four minutes she was late made all the difference.
What if you built a machine that could receive messages from the future? What messages would you like to receive? Probably your first answer would be winning lottery numbers. But what if, along with the winning numbers, you also received an SOS? Tane and Rebecca receive just such a message, and they sent it to themselves. Something horrific is about to happen to their New Zealand home, and they must decipher their own messages to stop it. They follow the directions they receive to the best of their ability, but they still don’t know exactly what they’re up against. Early attempts to carry out their instructions don’t go exactly as planned, and when the threat does become clear, it might be too late.
Cas and his mother just moved to a new town. They move around pretty often, so Cas knows the routine: find a house, find a school, find the popular crowd, and get them to share the local ghost story. Chances are, if Cas has done his research well, the ghost everybody thinks is just a story will turn out to be real. That’s why he and his mom moved to town in the first place. Cas is a ghost hunter.
Kate DiCamillo’s work has long been a staple on our Battle of the Books lists, but The Magician’s Elephant (on this year’s 4th and 5th grade 
When Harvey Swick meets Rictus, Harvey is deep into the mid-winter blues. He’s desperate for some fun. So when Rictus offers to take Harvey to a place where children can have as much fun as they want, perhaps he doesn’t question the offer quite as much as he should. Rictus and Harvey travel to Mr. Hood’s Holiday House, where children can have anything they wish. Each day sees the passing of all four seasons, with trick-or-treating every evening, a Thanksgiving meal for every dinner, and Christmas presents every night. The only thing Harvey can’t have? He can’t go home. At least not to the home he’s always known.
