Tuesdays at the Castle

By Jessica Day George

Tuesdays at Castle Glower are Princess Celie's favorite days. That's because on Tuesdays the castle adds a new room, a turret, or sometimes even an entire wing. No one ever knows what the castle will do next, and no one-other than Celie, that is-takes the time to map out the new additions. But when King and Queen Glower are ambushed and their fate is unknown, it's up to Celie, with her secret knowledge of the castle's never-ending twists and turns, to protect their home and save their kingdom.

Why did I read this book again?

A friend of mine got this book from the library. I read the flap and decided that I must read it!

5 out of 5

Characters

I really loved the main character, Princess Celie.  She’s full of fire and fun and is the only person who really understands this bizarre castle the royal family lives in.  Her brother and sister are equally likeable, and the cast of side characters carried the story all the way through to the end.

4 out of 5

Did I care what happened?

Yes.  The beautiful world painted in the novel, along with the fun cast of characters, kept me wondering who or what was going to pop up next, and how Celie would deal with it. 

4 out of 5

Plot Holes

No huge holes that I remember.  Some of the logic behind the castle was a bit off—like if it actually tossed one of the rulers it didn’t like physically out, then why keep all the caniving, horrible, traitorous people around through this one?  If you mention that the castle can do that, then it should.  Just my thought. 

4 out of 5

How many times did I yawn?

This is a really fast paced book.  I didn’t have time to yawn.  It’s Middle Grade, and authors write those for kids who get bored after six seconds of doing something that doesn’t instantly entertain them, so there was no yawning.

4 out of 5

Cool Factor

Pretty much a castle that grows new rooms, can alter the rooms it already has and randomly puts in secret passages is cool.  And a little princess who crawls around and tries to map it is most kid’s dream.  Maybe not the mapping, but the whole secret passage thing.  The existence of magic felt a little wishy-washy, because we didn’t get to see any of it in actual use.  Except the castle.

4 out of 5

The End

Even for a Middle Grade book, I felt like the climax of the fight/story went by way too fast.  Then again, I have a ten second attention span, so maybe I’m expecting way more than the kids can handle. The actual end of the story was great.

4 out of 5

Overall Enjoyment

Super cute, fun read, good times novel.  As a kid I would have eaten it up.  It has a few points quite reminiscent of Harry Potter (a crazy castle as well as an atlas/map and a special cloak), but it resonated instead of slapped me in the face.  Easy and fun.

4 out of 5

Score= 33

That's a Brown Belt!