Review by Booklist Review
Celie lives in capricious Castle Glower, which expands by an unpredictable room or wing on Tuesdays. Just when Celie has finished mapping the expanded castle, it throws her a loop with a baby griffin and a series of increasingly drastic and dangerous changes to the building. She and her brothers try to hide her quickly growing pet and uncover the secret history of their home, as well as its long-lost link to griffins. Brave, determined Celie is appealing enough, but the fanciful castle takes the cake. New readers shouldn't have much trouble picking up the story in this second installment, following Tuesdays at the Castle (2011).--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-7- Princess Celie and her family live in a castle that rearranges itself. In the first installment (Tuesdays at the Castle) readers learned that Castle Glower can grow, shrink, and relocate rooms and may have an intelligence of its own. Celie, an excellent atlas-maker, rarely gets lost indoors. However, after she finds a large egg in a tower, she can never locate the room when she tries to show it to anyone else. Weeks later, when a snuffling and hungry griffin hatches, Celie is grateful for the castle's help in hiding him. As Rufus grows, Celie's brother Bran and others eventually get in on the secret. They spring to the defense when Rufus, Celie's family, and the castle itself are threatened. Experienced audiobook narrator Suzy Jackson's charmingly accented delivery keeps the tone friendly and lively as Celie, Bran, Rufus, and others push back against Wizard Arkwright and figure out the history of the castle and its relationship to griffins. The ending clearly indicates a "Thursday" book to come. This is an enjoyable, non-bloody choice for tween fantasy fans in most libraries.-Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
When the ever-burgeoning castle with a mind of its own (Tuesdays at the Castle) helps Princess Celie hide a griffin that hatches in a newly formed tower, the secret leads royal siblings to new knowledge about their magical home. The fantasy includes enough enigmas to build suspense, and the ending is an enticing setup for the inevitable Thursdays. (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
What happens when your playfully sentient stone palace goes off kilter and leaves you a bright orange egg to care for--secretly? Princess Celie and her family love Castle Glower and its habit of adding and removing rooms on Tuesdays (Tuesdays at the Castle, 2011). But now the Castle changes on Wednesdays too, and the modifications have a frantic air. In a tower that only she can see, Celie discovers a huge egg and nurtures it. Startlingly, what hatches is a griffin. Celie keeps fast-growing Rufus hidden; she tries to tell the king and queen, "[b]ut as soon as I opened my mouth to do it, that pack of cloaks fell down the chimney." The Castle allows only Celie, one older brother (Bran, the Royal Wizard) and amiable Pogue (the village blacksmith) to know about Rufus. George's core mysteries--if griffins are mythical, why do hallway tapestries imply that the Castle once had "ordinary, every day griffins?" Is the Castle frightened or, possibly, angry?--intrigue. Historical exposition is somewhat dry, but Celie's flights on Rufus' back are exhilarating. Danger lurks, somehow related to a visiting wizard and an unknown foreign land, but its precise nature waits for next time, as this installment ends on a cliffhanger (almost literally--several characters are high in the air). A sweet, funny, sincere story in which siblings work together. (Fantasy. 8-11)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
