Knight's Castle
Edward Eager
Oddysey
Fiction, YA Fantasy
****
DESCRIPTION: Roger and Ann were looking forward to a summer vacation in the Rockies, or maybe New England. But then their father got sick and had to go to a hospital in Baltimore. Now, they're staying with their Aunt Katherine and her children, bossy Eliza and camera-nut Jack. Despite the toy castle and dollhouse they're given to play with (of course Eliza's too old for playing house with Ann, and Jack doesn't share Roger's love of soldiers or castles), it looks like a boring summer in Baltimore... until Roger discovers something unusual about one of his lead soldier toys, and inadvertently sets them all up for a summer of magic and adventure with a careless wish.
REVIEW: This is an older story, but it's still rather fun. It reads fast and easy, and the adventures of Roger and the others aren't as predictable as they might initially seem. Though the characters may not necessarily be original, the story and setting are very imaginative, even if the plot falls back on a few worn chestnuts. The characters are revisited in future Edward Eager books, but this tale reads fine as a stand-alone title.
You might also enjoy:
Skellig (David Almond, YA Fiction - A boy with a dying baby sister finds what may be a fallen angel hiding in the family's dilapidated garage)
Bright Shadow (Avi, YA Fiction - A dying wizard gives a girl the gift of wishes that work)
The Magic Shop books (Bruce Coville, YA Fiction - Children in need of help find magical items at a strange old man's shop)
Ella Enchanted (Gail Carson Levine, YA Fiction - A girl's fairy gift of obedience turns out to be a curse)
Spindle's End (Robin McKinley, YA Fiction - A princess's christening curse of death is partially offset by a fairy's gift of animal speech)
Merlin's Mistake (Robert Newman, YA Fiction - A boy sets out to fix Merlin's botched christening gift, but first he must find the missing wizard)
The Enchanted Castle (E. Nesbit, YA Fiction - Three English schoolchildren find all manner of troubles when they encounter a magical ring)
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