Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George

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Middle Grade Fiction

"I would recommend Tuesdays to any young reader--especially those with a love for strong, inquisitive young princesses!"

Tuesdays at the Castle is a delightfully fun romp through a shapeshifting castle inhabited by three royal siblings. Jessica Day George does a wonderful job bringing the castle and its personality to life without the castle saying a word. When the castle doesn't like someone, their quarters get smaller, dirtier and with less opulent furnishings--it may even move their quarters farther from the privy! Only one person can navigate the ever-changing hallways of Castle Glower--Princess Celie, the youngest of King Glower's children.

The main characters must deal with politics and intrigue when their parents, the King and Queen (along with their wizard brother), are ambushed and presumed dead. Ambassadors from several neighboring kingdoms converge on Castle Glower to "help" the young heir and his sisters, but it soon becomes clear that not everyone has good intentions. The siblings must work with the castle to fight off the new intruders while finding a way to locate their missing parents.

I enjoyed Tuesdays from the start. The characters and castle are fun to read and the intrigue of how the castle got this way hangs in the background of the story, pulling me along. The mystery of what happened to the children's parents held sway until the answer became clear.

My only challenge is that I would have liked to see Celie affect the final events of the book more directly. Celie's knowledge of the ever-changing hallways, along with her empathic connection to the Castle, are her strengths in this book. Tying in a discovery of the castle's secrets that only she could uncover (how did it get this way? who built it? why does it like some people and despise others? where are its brain/soul located?) could have strengthened the ending.

Having said that, I would recommend Tuesdays to any young reader--especially those with a love for strong, inquisitive young princesses! I'm looking forward to the next adventure.

Intrigued?

Living in the San Diego or Redondo Beach area? Visit my favorite FLBS, Mysterious Galaxy.
Visit Jessica Day George at her website.
You can also chat with Jessica through Facebook and Twitter.