Tuesdays at The Castle (MG)

Tuesdays at the Castle. Jessica Day George. 2011. Bloomsbury. 254 pages.

Whenever Castle Glower became bored, it would grow a new room or two. It usually happened on Tuesdays, when King Glower was hearing petitions, so it was the duty of the guards at the front gates to tell petitioners the only two rules the Castle seemed to follow. Rule One: the Throne Room was always to the east. No matter where you were in the castle, if you kept heading east you would find the Throne Room eventually. The only trick to this was figuring out which way east was, especially if you found yourself in a windowless corridor. Or the dungeon. This was the reason that most guests stuck with Rule Two: if you turned left three times and climbed through the next window, you'd end up in the kitchens, and one of the staff could lead you to the Throne Room, or wherever you needed to go. Celie only used Rule Two when she wanted to steal a treat from the kitchens, and Rule One when she wanted to watch her father at work. Her father was King Glower the Seventy-Ninth, and like him, Celie always knew which way was east.

I liked Tuesdays at the Castle. I really liked it. It definitely reads like a fairy-tale inspired fantasy novel. Celie, our heroine, is the fourth child of the King and Queen. And she is the one the Castle loves best of all, perhaps. Though the Castle has also chosen preference to the second son, Rolf. The Castle has indicated that Rolf will be the next King.

The novel opens with the children awaiting the return of their parents and oldest brother. Instead of a happy reunion, however, they receive some shocking news. There was an ambush. Their parents are dead. Their brother is dead. Many of the escorts are dead. True their bodies were not found. But it's just a matter of finding them now.

Celie is one of the people who refuses to believe the news and continues to hope. She feels that if her parents were truly dead the Castle itself would know it--and show it. Her parents rooms would have changed, and her brother's room would have changed too.

The Castle DOES want to show her something, but acting on what she's learned will be risky...

Read Tuesdays In The Castle

• If you're a fan of Jessica Day George's previous novels (Dragon Slippers, Dragon Flight, Dragon Spear, Princess of the Midnight Ball, Princess of Glass, Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow).
• If you're a fan of Shannon Hale, Gail Carson Levine, or Diana Wynne Jones
• If you're a fan of fantasy novels for children

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews