This is the sequel to Tuesdays at the Castle. If anything it is even more adorable. Celie, who has always been close to the somewhat sentient castle, finds a surprising new staircase which only appears to her. Upon investigation, the staircase leads to a room holding a giant orange egg. Intrigued, Celie watches over the egg until it hatches…a baby griffin! Delighted and quite rationally nervous, Celie tries her best to take care of the griffin. She knows she needs help, but as it turns out, the castle has very specific ideas about who can give that help. As Celie and her eldest brother try to raise a wild beast, strange things are afoot. A visiting wizard is suspiciously interested in all things griffin and interferes whenever Celie discovers something new. And the castle itself, well, it’s not itself. New rooms are popping up making it larger then ever before. When the true history of the castle and its mysterious griffin connection are revealed, Celie and her siblings want to help and find themselves in a bit of a cliff-hanger.
Sadly, this means I’m going to have to wait for Jessica Day George to write the next in the series, but I must admit, I’m a bit excited that the series isn’t over yet. With strong and clever characters of both genders, plenty of people who aren’t quite what they seem and just the right amount and type of magic, these books are fabulous.
Age Recommendation: The reading level is probably around third grade, but they could be used as a read aloud with younger children and certainly would hold interest for older ones.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – A man is described as an incorrigible flirt. Lilah flirts with a prince and another man.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – There are weapons in the Armor Gallery. One piece of armor shocks (electrically, not metaphorically) a footman. In a reference to the prior book, it is mentioned that someone tried to have the King and Queen killed. Rocs eat horses and their riders. Rolf has a pillow that shows a griffin killed in battle with many arrows sticking out of it. A prior griffin of Celie’s ate someone. A griffin bites people, although more in a puppyish way than a scary way. Celie worries that when Rufus will fail when he tries to fly and be dashed to bits in the courtyard. There are some references to ancient epic battles, possibly with griffins and unicorns. Ancient griffin riders were dying. Griffins often die when their riders do. A plague killed many people and animals. A griffin stumbles and hits his chin and then bleeds.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.
