Tuesdays at the Castle (Tuesdays at the Castle Series #1)

by Jessica Day George

Overview

Tuesdays at Castle Glower are Princess Celia's favorite days. That's because on Tuesdays the castle adds a new room, a turret, or sometimes even an entire wing to itself. No one ever knows what the castle will do next, and no one - other than Celia, that is - takes time to map out the new additions. But when King and Queen Glower are ambushed and reportedly killed, it's up to Celia with her secret knowledge of the Castle's many twists and turns, to protect their home and save their kingdom.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781599907314
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	10/25/2011
Series:	See to Learn , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	156,312
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Jessica Day George is the author of Princess of Glass and Princess of the Midnight Ball, as well as three novels in the Dragon Slipper series. Originally from Idaho, she studied at Brigham Young University and has been a movie store clerk, bookseller, and school office lady before becoming a writer. Jessica lives with her husband, their two young children, and a five-pound Maltese named Pippin who often makes cameo appearances in her books. www.JessicaDayGeorge.com

Jessica Day George is the author of many books for young readers, including the wonderfully whimsical Tuesdays at the Castle and three books in the Dragonskin Slippers series. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked as a librarian and bookseller. Jessica lives with her family in Salt Lake City, Utah.
To find out more, visit www.jessicadaygeorge.com.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1

Whenever Castle Glower became bored, it would grow a new room or two. It usually happened on Tuesdays, when King Glower was hearing petitions, so it was the duty of the guards at the front gates to tell petitioners the only two rules the Castle seemed to follow.

Rule One: The throne room was always to the east. No matter where you were in the Castle, if you kept heading east you would find the throne room eventually. The only trick to this was figuring out which way east was, especially if you found yourself in a windowless corridor. Or the dungeon.

This was the reason that most guests stuck with Rule Two: If you turned left three times and climbed through the next window, you'd end up in the kitchens, and one of the staff could lead you to the throne room or wherever you needed to go.

Celie only used Rule Two when she wanted to steal a treat from the kitchens, and Rule One when she wanted to watch her father at work. Her father was King Glower the Seventy- ninth, and like him, Celie always knew which way was east.

And also like him, Celie truly loved Castle Glower. She never minded being late for lessons because the corridor outside her room had become twice as long, and she certainly didn't mind the new room in the south wing that had a bouncy floor. Even if you could only get to it by climbing through the fireplace of the winter dining hall.

King Glower the Seventy- ninth, on the other hand, valued punctuality and didn't enjoy being late for dinner because the Castle had built a new corridor that ran from the main hall under the courtyard to the pastures, and all the sheep had wandered inside to chew the tapestries. He also didn't particularly like waiting for hours for the Ambassador of Bendeswe, only to find that the Castle had removed the door to the ambassador's room, trapping the man inside. Of course, the king had to admit that there was usually some strange logic to the Castle's movements. The Ambassador of Bendeswe, for instance, had turned out to be a spy, and the sheep . . . well, that had all been mere whim; but there was still logic to be found if you looked hard enough. King Glower admitted this freely, and he made it clear that he respected the Castle. He had to; otherwise he would no longer be king.

The Castle didn't seem to care if you were descended from a royal line, or if you were brave or intelligent. No, Castle Glower picked kings based on some other criteria all its own. Celie's father, Glower the Seventy- ninth, was the tenth in their family to bear that name, a matter of tremendous pride throughout the land. His great- great- greatgreat-great- great- great- great- grandfather had become king when Glower the Sixty- ninth's only heir had turned out to be a nincompoop. Legend had it that the Castle had repeatedly steered the old king's barber to the throne room via a changing series of corridors for days until the Royal Council had him declared the next king, while the young man who should have been Glower the Seventieth found himself head-down in a haystack after having been forcibly ejected from the Castle through the water closet.

King Glower the Seventy- ninth, Lord of the Castle, Master of the Brine Sea, and Sovereign of the Land of Sleyne, knew when to leave well enough alone. He married the beautiful daughter of the Royal Wizard when the Castle guided them into the same room and then sealed the doors for a day. He paid attention when the Castle gave people larger rooms or softer chairs. When his older son, Bran, kept finding his room full of books and astrolabes, while his second son Rolf's bedroom was moved next to the throne room, King Glower sent Bran to the College of Wizardry, and declared Rolf his heir.

And when little Celie was sick, and the Castle filled her room with flowers, King Glower agreed with it. Everybody loved Celie, the fourth and most delightful of the royal children.

Editorial Reviews

What a delight to find a princess tale with a strong, smart, brace, and clever princess! Princess Celie of Glower Castle is all of those things, and beloved by her family, but especially by her living, growing castle, for having these traits. Castle Glower is quite a remarkable place since it grows and shrinks and changes at will—it's will—and only Celie seems to be able to communicate with it. Celie; her sister, Lilah; and her brother, Rolf, are left behind when her parents go off to celebrate the wizardly graduation of their oldest brother, Bran. While initially disappointed at being left behind, Celie finds in a mixed blessing when her parents and brother are ambushed and presumed dead, while she and her siblings are left to puzzle out the disappearance and save the kingdom from the clutches of the evil Prince Khelsh. Dastardly Khelsh has underestimated the magical castle's dislike of him and definitely underestimated Celie's cleverness and determination to find her parents alive and save the kingdom. Rolf, a reluctant regent in his father's absence, is a smart foil for Celie. Older sister Lilah, suffering at first from a bad case of maturity, bows to her younger sister's inventive ideas and joins the effort to save castle and kingdom. For readers who aren't quite ready for the romance of Gail Levine's smart fairy tales, but need a jolly adventure with lots of action, excitement, and devious pranks, this book is a certain winner. Princess Celie is an eleven-year-old to be reckoned with and heaven (and Castle Glower) only know what she will be capable of when she reaches the age of twelve. Reviewer: Lois Rubin Gross

Children's Literature - Lois Rubin Gross

Gr 4–8—Princess Celie has been trying to map out the rooms in her beloved Castle Glower. The difficulty is that it whimsically manufactures, alters, and moves its rooms around whenever it deems necessary. It has chosen the kings of Sleyne, including Celie's father, King Glower the 79th, and his heir, Celie's brother Rolf. Everyone finds the meddling castle delightful and proper until the king and queen are ambushed and presumed dead. Now it seems that the Royal Council has treason in mind as it threatens Rolf, Celie, and their sister, Lilah. Celie relies on Castle Glower's affectionate interference to help them quash the cabal and reinstate the rightful rulers. Castle Glower is the true star of this charming story of court intrigue and magic. A satisfying mix of Hogwarts and Howl's Moving Castle (Greenwillow, 1986), Castle Glower helps its true citizens, but never at the expense of plot or character development. Celie and her siblings have to display courage in order to deserve its help. Celie's escapades keep the action moving briskly. Adventure stories fans will enjoy this as much as children who wear their wizard cloaks proudly. It is a good for those not quite ready for Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted (HarperCollins, 1997) or Shannon Hale's Princess Academy (Bloomsbury, 2005). Most libraries will want to add Tuesdays to their fantasy collections. While the story stands alone, it is the first in a new series.—Caitlin Augusta, Stratford Library Association, CT

School Library Journal

This enjoyable romp turns mischief into political action and a stone palace into a cunning character.

Castle Glower always chooses its own king, and its current is Celie's father. Celie's family knows the castle's rules—for example, no matter where you are, "if you turned left three times and climbed through the next window, you'd end up in the kitchens"—so they navigate fine, even when Castle Glower gets bored of a Tuesday and grows a new room or hallway. When disaster strikes, the castle's protective love becomes paramount. Celie's parents and eldest brother Bran are reported killed in an ambush, leaving three siblings at home to fend off a foreign prince who's trying to assassinate Celie's brother Rolf and steal the crown. Pranks such as spreading manure on the soles of shoes and snipping threads so the baddies' clothes fall off make the siblings (and readers) giggle, but underneath the capers lies a bit of deftly written grief and fear. Luckily there are comforting clues: If King Glower were really dead, wouldn't this sentient, active castle have adapted heir Rolf's bedroom into a king's room? Instead, the foreign prince's rooms become ever smaller and bleaker, proving the castle's disapproval; but Celie and sibs still need to win the day. Never fear: These kids are clever, as is George's lively adventure.

May pique castle envy. (Fantasy. 8-11)

Kirkus Reviews