Wednesdays in the Tower, by Jessica Day George

Description: 

A castle that is constantly rearranging itself, and a young royal family sworn to protect it... Celie, Rolf, and their beloved Castle Glower are back in this exciting sequel.

When her brother Rolf dares her to catch magical Castle Glower creating a new room, Princess Celie takes the challenge! No one knows the Castle better than she does. But as usual, the Castle has ideas of its own.Celie finds the new room first, and inside it is hidden a giant egg. It looks like The Castle wants Celie to care for the egg and whatever creature it hatches! Celie hadn't bargained for a pet, and caring for this one will prove to be especially tricky, once Celie and her siblings realize what else the Castle is hiding....

 

Review:

Wednesdays in the Tower is almost as delightful and charming but a little more serious than Tuesdays at the Castle. Something seems to be amiss. Why is the Castle suddenly growing so many extra rooms - and not only on Tuesdays? Why has it opened the feasting hall when it isn't even a holiday? And why has it given Celie a very special charge, but not allowed her to tell anyone about it?

I really love this series, as much for the characters as for the whimsy. Celie is the perfect main character for a middle-grade novel: she's smart, capable, observant, practical, and fiercely loyal to the Castle. As the 4th child in the royal family, she's also a bit uncertain, even insecure, and tries to establish her place or role by becoming the Castle's cartographer. The other significant characters -- Bran, the eldest son and Royal Wizard; Rolf, the second son and Crown Prince; Layla, Celie's somewhat bossy older sister; Pogue, their good friend from the village; and Lulath, a goodhearted but dandyish ambassador -- are all individual and well written. But it's Celie who is clearly the heart of the story, along with the Castle (which is almost a character itself.)

It's very hard to talk about the plot without spoilers. We learn more about Castle Glower's fascinating and unexpected history, meet a new potential villain, and encounter a serious threat to the Castle's very existence. Readers should be warned that this book has a cliffhanger ending. Luckily, Thursdays with the Crown comes out on October 7, so we don't have much longer to wait.

*   *   *

Rating: 4 stars

Category: Middle-grade fantasy
Series: Castle Glower #2
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's
Release date: 5/07/13
Book source: purchased (Kindle)

The Castle Glower series:
1.  Tuesdays at the Castle (reviewed 3/31/12) 
2.  Wednesdays in the Tower (this review)
3.  Thursdays with the Crown (expected publication 10/07/14)

About the author:  Jessica Day George earned a BA in Humanities/Comparative Literature from Brigham Young University, where she enjoyed classes in Pottery and Old Norse, and dutifully forced herself to take Algebra and Biology. Originally from Idaho, she now resides in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband and three young children.

Of herself, George says: 

 

I’ve worked at a wedding invitation factory (Bet you didn’t know they made them in big scary factories, did you?), at a video store (back at the birth of DVD), at libraries and bookstores, and even been an office lady at a school while I waited to get published. I knew that I would be published eventually, because . . . well, I just had to be. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, I have other interests. I took eight years of German, four of Norwegian, and even studied Old Norse so that I could read the great Viking sagas in the original language. I knit like a maniac: hats, scarves, sweaters, dog sweaters, socks, felted purses, you name it. I play the piano and viola, love to travel and to watch movies. 

But mostly, it's about the books.

Connect with the author:   Website      Facebook      Twitter (@JessDayGeorge)     Goodreads       Pinterest

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