The Water Castle

by Megan Frazer Blakemore Narrated by Chris Henry Coffey

Overview

Publisher Marketing: Ephraim Appledore-Smith is an ordinary boy, and up until his father's stroke he lived an ordinary life. But all that changes when his family moves to the Water Castle-their ancestral home in the small town of Crystal Springs. Mallory Green's family has always been the caretakers of the Water Castle-and the guardians of its secrets. She has been raised to protect the legendary Fountain of Youth, hidden on the estate grounds. But ever since her mom left, she's stopped believing in magic. Will Wylie's family has been at war with the Applegates for generations, all because of the Water Castle's powerful secrets. But Will has rejected legend and magic, putting all his faith in science. When Ephraim learns of the Fountain, he's sure finding it can cure his dad. With Mallory and Will's help, the trio embarks on a mission that brings them deep into their families' shared history, through every secret room in the Water Castle, and on a quest that will blur the lines of magic and science, creativity and discovery, leaving readers left to wonder: Do you believe in the unbelievable?

Editorial Reviews

The New York Times Book Review - S. S. Taylor

What shines through…is Blakemore's tender understanding of how these children—and all children—feel about their lives and the adults who control them.

From the Publisher

A Kirkus Best Book of the Year

A Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year

A Cybils Awards Finalist

A Junior Library Guild Selection

An IRA Children’s and Young Adult’s Book Award Honor Book

A Kentucky Blue Grass Award Nominee

A Keystone to Reading Book Awards Nominee

A Lupine Award Honor Book

A MWPA Literary Award Finalist

A MASL Readers Award Finals Nominee

A Nerdy Award Finalist

A Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award Nominee

A New York Public Library Title for Reading and Sharing 2013

Maine Student Book Award List

Fuse8: 100 Magnificent Children’s Books

“Weaving legacy and myth into science and magic, old into new and enemies into friends, Blakemore creates an exquisite mystery . . . With keen intelligence and bits of humor, the prose slips calmly between narrative perspectives, trusting readers to pick up a revelation that Ephraim and Mallory don't see—and it's a doozy. This one is special.” —Kirkus Review, starred review

“In The Water Castle, science feels magical, and magic feels possible. This is a world I want to live in.” —Laurel Snyder, author of Bigger than a Breadbox

Kirkus Reviews

Weaving legacy and myth into science and magic, old into new and enemies into friends, Blakemore creates an exquisite mystery. Crystal Springs, Maine, "isn't on the map," but it's still where Price, Ephraim and Brynn's mother brings their family when their father has a stroke. The "looming stone house" with hidden floors and impossible rooms, owned by their family (the Appledores) for over a century, was once a resort that claimed its spring water had healing properties--possibly a fountain of youth. Ephraim struggles to fit in at Crystal Springs' peculiarly overachieving school; his classmate Mallory steels herself against her mother's recent departure and her teacher's assignment to study Matthew Henson ("He just assumed she would want to do him, because Henson was black too"). While Mallory, Ephraim and another sixth-grader named Will unravel the castle's secrets (each for different reasons, all serious) and confront age-old hostility among their families, a 1908 storyline unfolds: Young Nora Darling (Mallory's relative) assists old Orlando Appledore in feverish scientific research. Peary and Henson's Arctic expedition features in both timelines; science, history and literature references glow; Nikola Tesla visits Nora and Orlando. With keen intelligence and bits of humor, the prose slips calmly between narrative perspectives, trusting readers to pick up a revelation that Ephraim and Mallory don't see--and it's a doozy. This one is special. (Fiction. 10-14)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169418248
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	02/14/2014
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

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