The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle - Hardcover

Fox, Janet

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0451476336 ISBN 13: 9780451476333

Publisher: Viking Childrens Books, 2016

Synopsis

An eerie gothic fairytale with a World War II setting and magic at its heart-- and the recipient of four starred reviews and multiple honors.

Twelve-year-old Katherine Bateson believes in a logical explanation for everything. But even she can't make sense of the strange goings-on at Rookskill Castle, the drafty old Scottish castle-turned-school where she and her siblings have been sent to escape the London Blitz. What's making those mechanical shrieks at night? Why do the castle's walls seem to have a mind of their own? And who are the silent children who seem to haunt Rookskill's grounds? Kat believes Lady Eleanor, who rules the castle, is harboring a Nazi spy. But when her classmates begin to vanish, one by one, Kat must face the truth about what the castle actually harbors--and what Lady Eleanor is--before it's too late.

Selected for the Spirit of Texas Reading Program, a finalist for the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award, and more, this tale of magic and power has charmed readers everywhere.

About this title

About the Author

Janet Fox writes award-winning fiction and non-fiction for children of all ages. Her young adult debut novel, Faithful, was an Amelia Bloomer List pick, and was followed by a companion novel, Forgiven, a Junior Library Guild selection and WILLA Literary Award Finalist, and Sirens, a 1920s noir mystery and romance. Her middle grade debut novel, The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle, launches March 2016. Janet is a 2010 graduate of the MFA/Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College of Fine Arts, and a former high school English teacher. She lives in Bozeman, Montana, where she and her family enjoy the mountain vistas.

Reviews

Gr 6 Up—The Nazis have begun bombing London. Katherine Bateson's father is sent off on a highly secret mission, and her mother decides that Katherine and her siblings should go to the Scottish highlands to escape the dangers of the German bombers. Before she goes, Katherine's great-aunt Margaret gives her a farewell gift: Margaret's chatelaine, an ornament worn by women. As the Batesons and other children arrive in Scotland at Lord Gregor's manor, recently converted to a school by the lady of the house, Katherine immediately realizes something is amiss. She and the others fear that a Nazi spy has infiltrated the castle, and they decide that he must be stopped. Then Lady Eleanor turns out to be more than she seems, and the lady's chatelaine is revealed to be magical. Katherine also learns that she and the other children are in grave danger. Fox presents readers with a wonderfully paced, exciting story with enough twists to keep the pages turning. VERDICT The strong female lead and adventure on every page will keep any reader entertained from the first page to the last.—Wayne R. Cherry, Jr., First Baptist Academy Library, Houston, TX

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

“Look,” Amelie said. “Come and look.”

Ame stood at the window, staring out into the garden. Kat moved to her side.

The view was toward the back of the castle. The fog had lifted into a gray autumn sky. The garden was barren and cold, the annuals gone and the shrubbery bare twigs. Some patches of early snow showed in the hollows, but the ground was otherwise bare and brown. An allée of trees stretched in a narrow band toward a woodland; beyond the farthest edge of woods Kat thought she saw a thin sliver of silvery water. That way was southeast, toward the North Sea and the continent.

Toward the war.

Toward Father, who was there, somewhere across the water, in danger but doing what he must.
The woods, the rough coast, the moors beyond were treacherous and would be an easy place in which to be lost, especially in fog. There was no need of a castle moat, no need for shuttered gates. They were all here until the bitter end, and Kat swallowed the lump in her throat. She touched the cold glass with her fingers before she turned away.

But Amelie tugged at her sleeve. “No. Look.” Ame pointed down into the near garden. Kat leaned against the glass to see.

Straight below them a small girl with blonde hair sat on the stone edging of an empty round fishpond. How Kat hadn’t seen her right off was a mystery. A hound dog circled the girl and nosed the grass at her feet. As Kat watched, the girl reached into the rocks and lifted something out, and for an instant there was a flash of silver in the child’s hand. Kat blinked and rubbed her eyes.

The girl held nothing.

“She’s wearing a summer frock,” Kat murmured.

“She’s catching fishes,” said Amelie.

“Ame, that pond is dry, silly.” But the girl dipped her hand into the dry rocks again and again, and each time, something fishlike shimmered in her hand and then winked away. Kat shuddered.

“I feel so sad for her,” said Amelie, leaning against the window, fingers splayed on the glass.

“She’s lost something. Can you see it, Kat? She’s looking for something in the pond.”

Kat took her sister’s hand. It felt so cold, Kat had to rub Ame’s fingers between her palms. “You have a kind heart, Ame.” But a vague uneasiness stirred inside Kat.

The door burst open behind them. “Kat!” Robbie fell into the room, Peter on his heels, Robbie’s eyes like saucers. “Kat! You won’t believe it. We found a secret hiding place. A hidden room. With something—or someone—locked inside that makes terrible shrieky noises.”

Kat looked at Peter, who nodded, then back at Rob.

He was white as the cliffs of Dover. “Sure as sure,” Rob said in a low voice, “sure as sure, it’s a ghost.”

Edition details

• Publisher: Viking Childrens Books
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0451476336
• ISBN 13: 9780451476333
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 388