Tuesdays at the Castle

I unashamedly admit that I thoroughly enjoy reading juvenille fiction. My cousin, who also happens to be one of my students, fuels this passion by sliding books across my desk & into my teacher's bag (by rights, I do the same to her).

The latest book to slither into my possession was Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George.

Although the book may initially suggest the mysterious movings of Hogwarts from J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, George breathes life into the stones and mortar of Glower castle in a captivating, unique way. Each Tuesday, out of supposed boredom, Glower castle changes. rooms are added or eliminated, stretched or shrunk. The weekly castle's weekly adjustments are old news to the inhabitants of the castle and the land. The castle shows it personality in other ways, too: kings rise and fall according to the castle's will (and there's no use fighting because it will simply kick you out or rearrange).

Celie of Glower, the youngest of the four royal children, leads the reader on a tour of this magical place as she seeks to map the ever appearing, and disappearing rooms. When trouble strikes, it is up to the three youngest Glower children--Rolf, Lilah, & Celie--to defend the castle and their family and their land from hostile neighbors.

Of course, the castle helps defend itself to.

You and your 4th-8th graders are sure to enjoy this captivating little story about Princess Celie and her creative castle.