The charmed children of Rookskill Castle

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Summary

In 1940, during the Blitz, Katherine, Robbie and Amelie Bateson are sent north to a private school in Rookskill Castle in Scotland, a brooding place, haunted by dark magic from the past--but when some of their classmates disappear Katherine has to find out if the cause is hidden in the past or very much in the present.

Published Reviews

Booklist Review: "*Starred Review* Robbie is thrilled at the prospect of going to school in a Scottish castle, an escape from London's Blitz during WWII. His older sister, Katherine, takes a more measured view, suspicious of what lies ahead: their father plays an undercover role in MI6, Britain's intelligence service, and has trained Kat in his clock-repair business (You've a mind for patterns and a careful, patient hand). Kat's suspicions only increase when her great-aunt Margaret hands over her odd-looking chatelaine, an antique belt with charms attached each supposed to be suffused with magic should Kat need it. Sure enough, a dark and perilous challenge lies ahead, and Kat is destined to take it on, though the level of malice she faces may be greater than she expected. Lady Eleanor, ostensibly in charge of the castle and school, is a malevolent force straight out of horror tales, and the children will need to fight for their lives and souls. This wonderfully written gothic fairy tale pairs the horror elements with a steampunk witch and mysterious staff, all while telling a war-espionage tale. Embedded lessons even including Plato's cave allegory from a pair of sympathetic castle teachers provide clues to defeating the evil witch. Readers will curl up and keep the lights on with this chilling page-turner.--O'Malley, Anne Copyright 2016 Booklist"
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Publisher's Weekly Review: "In this intricately plotted thriller from Fox (Sirens), the stalwart Bateson children have more to fear from Lady Eleanor, headmistress of their new boarding school in Scotland, than from the bombs of the 1940 London Blitz. Evacuated with two younger siblings to live in a distant relative's castle, 12-year-old Katherine has only her father's parting words, her great-aunt's parting gift of a silver heirloom chatelaine, and fellow student Peter for support in a terrifying battle against evil forces set loose 200 years earlier. Warnings of frightening nighttime noises and disappearing children quickly come too close for comfort, and the quartet's certainty of a Nazi threat sets them on a trail of discovery and misdirection. Initially grounded in logic and her father's teachings, Kat's faith crumbles against disconcerting evidence that, in this castle, magic is real, nothing is what it seems, and a Voldemort-like villainess must be destroyed. True-to-life protagonists, the skillful interweaving of flashbacks and the chatelaine motif, a masterful final encounter, and a satisfying denouement attest to Fox's craftsmanship. Ages 10-up. Agent: Erin Murphy, Erin Murphy Literary Agency. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved."
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Additional Information

Subjects	Magic Juvenile fiction Secrecy Juvenile fiction Castles Scotland Juvenile fiction Brothers and sisters Juvenile fiction World War, 1939-1945 Juvenile fiction Detective and mystery stories Mystery and detective stories Magic Fiction Secrets Fiction Castles Fiction Brothers and sisters Fiction World War, 1939-1945 Fiction Juvenile Literature Juvenile Fiction Scotland History 20th century Juvenile fiction. Scotland History 20th century Fiction. Audiobooks. 20th century
Publisher	New York :Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group,2016 Books on Tape2016
Edition	Unabridged.
Contributors	OverDrive, Inc.
Participants/Performers	Read by Fiona Hardingham.
Audience	7 years and up
Language	English
System Details	Mode of access: World Wide Web. Format: OverDrive Listen Format: OverDrive MP3 Audiobook Requires OverDrive app 3.0 (Windows) / 1.0 (Mac) / 1.0 (Windows Mobile)
Description	1 audio file : digital
ISBN	9780147525963 9780147525963
Other	Classic View