Our Castle by the Sea

by Lucy Strange

Overview

In this haunting and compelling follow-up to The Secret of Nightingale Wood, Lucy Strange takes a seafaring myth and grounds it in the stark reality of World War II.

Growing up in a lighthouse, 11-year-old Pet's world has been one of storms, secret tunnels, and stories about sea monsters. But now the country is at war and the cliff tops are a terrifying battleground. Pet will need to muster all her bravery to uncover why her family is being torn apart. This is the story of a girl who is afraid and unnoticed. A girl who freezes with fear at the enemy planes ripping through the skies overheard. A girl who is somehow destined to become part of the strange, ancient legend of the Daughters of Stone.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781338353877
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	04/30/2019
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Lucy Strange worked as an actor, singer, and storyteller before becoming a secondary school English teacher. She lives in Kent, England. The Secret of Nightingale Wood is her first novel.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for The Secret of Nightingale Wood:A Shelf Awareness Best Children's Book of the YearA BookPage Best Children's Book of the YearAn Amazon Top 20 Best Children's Book of the YearA Kirkus Best Book of the YearA Telegraph Top 50 Book of the YearA Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book of the Year* "In an imaginative, compelling first-person narration, Henry wraps her story in fairy tales, exposing her guilt, grief, isolation, and fear as she unravels the stunning secrets of Nightingale Wood. An evocative, beautifully written, mesmerizing debut tale with lush fairy-tale themes and a poignant exploration of mental illness-enthralling." - Kirkus Reviews, starred review* "Compelling...Strange effectively weaves in fairy tales, poetry, and themes common to classic children's literature, reflecting Hen's love of books. A brave heroine propels this strong and richly layered novel, a memorable portrait of grief, resilience, and rebirth." - Publishers Weekly, starred review* "Strange tells a lovely, extraordinarily enchanting coming-of-age tale." - Shelf Awareness, starred review"From the first page, I was entirely smitten and compelled to read on until I finished this mysterious and poignant story." - Pam Muñoz Ryan, author of Echo and Esperanza Rising "This is a haunting gothic tale of love, courage, healing, and family." - School Library Journal

From the Publisher

2019-01-15

An English girl whose mother is German is ensnared by her neighbors' bigotry and by apparent treason at the onset of World War II.

Twelve-year-old Petra lives in a lighthouse on the coast of England, so close to Europe that she can see right across to France on a clear day. When the war begins, some of the villagers—her neighbors for her entire life—behave abominably to Petra's family. Her German-born mother is accused of treason and sent to an internment camp, and though Petra is confident of Mutti's innocence, someone has been sending state secrets to the Nazis. Could it be that Petra's nearest and dearest aren't what they seem? No one in her family is acting normally. The stakes seem to rise slowly, coming to a breaking point as Petra's personal tragedies intertwine with the grim reality of the Dunkirk evacuation. The (historically accurate) increasing maltreatment of the town's German-British and Italian-British families increases Petra's sense of dislocation in her previously cozy village setting (characters are all white). Strange's deft hand with the had-I-but-known flavor of foreshadowing maintains a beautifully eerie, slightly gothic tone (occasionally at the expense of a believable 12-year-old voice).

The slow dismantling of Petra's faith in her loved ones adds a delicious instability to the growing unease of this WWII thriller. (Historical fiction. 11-14)

Kirkus Reviews