Recent Reads: Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George

Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George
Series: Castle Glower #1
Publisher: Recorded Books
Publication Date:  April 15, 2014

 

Format: Audiobook CDs
Source: Librarything Early Reviewers Program in exchange for an honest review.


Rating:

Goodreads Synopsis: 

New York Times bestselling author Jessica Day George pens the Dragon Slippers and Princesses of Westfalin trilogies. Princess Celie has her hands full mapping out rooms that magically appear in Castle Glower. But when her family disappears after the castle is attacked, Celie knows she’s the only one who can save her home. (Fantasy/Ages 8 and up)
“May pique castle envy.”—Kirkus Reviews


Tuesday at Castle Glower is Princess Celie’s favorite day. That’s when the Castle magically grows a new room, a turet, or sometimes an entire wing. No one knows how or why the Castle does it, and no one except Princess Celie has ever bothered to map out the Castle’s many twists and turns.
But when the king and queen disappear and Councilors from neighboring kingdoms arrive to “advise” the three Glower children, even the Castle seems to know that something is wrong … Take the new tower room, which is stocked with mysterious objects and has a knack for appearing just when Celie needs it. Then there is the secret passageway that leads the children to a room the Councilors don’t want them to know about.
To find their parents and hold on to their kingdom, Celie and her siblings will need all their ingenuity, Celie’s maps, plus some help from their beloved Castle—before it’s too late.
This page-turning adventure marks the launch of a series sure to delight fans of Jessica Day George and win her countless new ones.

Review: 

Tuesdays at the Castle is a wonderful middle grade book, it has imagination, magic, suspense, and the characters are amazing. I had never heard of this book until I saw it on the Librarything Early Readers list, and what the synopsis included really intrigued me. It has been a while since I have listened to an audiobook on CD in my car (my commute is fairly short now) but I found myself sitting in my car after arriving at work and home to continue the story.

The plot revolved around the royal family living in Castle Glower, a magical castle that can add and take away rooms, throw people out, and magically more things around at its own whim. King Glower the 79th has recently been pronounced dead and his three children are left at home to fend for themselves while people in the castle plan to assassinate the next king and take over the magical castle.

We follow the story through the eyes of the youngest child, Celie, while her brother Ralph must take up the throne and try to stay alive long enough to find out if their father is really dead. With the castle helping the Glower children there was a lot of fun in this story: a mysterious tower, spy holes, magical capes that make you completely unheard but also a lot of drama: treason, evil princes, wizards, the castle itself. It was a magical read.

I really enjoyed everything about this book. It was very fun to listen to, the reader of the audiobook was amazing and really kept me engaged. I think the story itself was just as engaging though. I think all ages will enjoy listening to this book – sometimes it does have words that may need some explanation for younger readers but overall it was a marvelous book and it is a series! So you can keep reading about these characters.