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Midnight Magic

midnightmagicMidnight Magic by Avi, 1999.

The story takes place in Italy, toward the end of the Middle Ages.  Mangus, a formerly wealthy scholar and philosopher, is living under house arrest because the king believes that he has practiced black magic. Mangus was merely performing magic tricks to earn extra money, and in fact, does not believe in real magic.  However, the king is very superstitious and easily influenced by his scheming advisor, Count Scarazoni, who needed a scapegoat to distract everyone from his schemes.  Unfortunately, many people in the kingdom of Pergamontio believe that Mangus is a real magician with frightful powers.  Even Fabrizio, an orphan who is Mangus’s only remaining servant, believes that magic really exists.

When a messenger arrives, summoning Mangus to the castle to see the king, they are afraid that the king has reconsidered his decision to spare Mangus’s life. However, it turns out that the king is in need of Mangus’s help. He believes that his young daughter, Princess Teresina, is being tormented by a ghost, and he wants Mangus to use his magic to get rid of it.

Mangus again protests that he does not do real magic, but both the king and Count Scarazoni promise dire consequences if he fails to help them deal with the problem.  Mangus isn’t sure why Count Scarazoni has asked for his help because he knows that the count doesn’t really believe in magic, except perhaps as a way of appeasing the king.  The king promises that if Mangus can free the princess from the influence of the ghost, he will not only end Mangus’s house arrest but reward him with a generous pension.  Mangus has little choice but to agree to do his best, and the promise of the pension for his master convinces Fabrizio to do everything he can to make sure that Mangus succeeds, not only to save his master’s life but to restore his family’s fortunes.

But, what is the secret of the ghost?  Fabrizio believes in ghosts, even though Mangus doesn’t.  Princess Teresina insists that the ghost is real, appealing directly to Fabrizio to convince Mangus that it is. Adding to the mystery is the disappearance of the princess’s brother, Prince Lorenzo, and the murder of the princess’s tutor. Danger lurks in the castle, and conspiracies are around every corner. Could the troubled spirit really belong to the murdered prince?

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

My Reaction

I love historical books and spooky mysteries, and this is both! The Italian kingdom where the story takes place is fictional, but it takes its inspiration from real kingdoms of the later Middle Ages and early Renaissance, with Machiavellian intrigue, power struggles, and arranged marriages, even for children, that could influence the balance of power and successions. (There is talk of a potential arranged marriage in the story, but no child marriages actually take place.  If a child is old enough for ghost stories and murder mysteries and isn’t too frightened by them, there is really nothing more concerning than that to prevent them from reading this book.)

Princess Teresina is one of the most intriguing characters in the book.  Although young, she isn’t a shrinking violet or anyone’s fool, and she’s definitely not a tea party and ball gown kind of princess.  Like real life Medieval princesses, she is the product of a family who came to power by the sword and maintains it by the iron fist in the velvet glove and some clever political maneuvering, although some members of the family are more clever about it than others.  Princess Teresina well knows the family she was born into and what’s expected of her as royalty, and she knows to be careful about who she trusts and what the consequences of trusting the wrong people can be.  Although apparently terrified by the ghost, the princess has a kind of toughness and shrewd determination to do what she thinks is necessary.  She seems to be smarter and knows more than most people give her credit, and Fabrizio often wonders just how much she really knows.

One of the best things about the story is that, as soon as you think you know what’s going on, you learn that there is more to the story. There are conspiracies within conspiracies!

Hint: If you like pseudo-ghost stories, spooky stories of the Scooby-Doo variety, where there are logical explanations for the supernatural phenomena … you won’t be disappointed.

Posted on by TracyC · 1 Comment

Castle Diary

CastleDiary

Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess, Page by Richard Platt, 1999.

Tobias is an eleven-year-old boy living in England in 1285.  He is from a noble family, and his father is sending him to his uncle to become a page.  As a page, Tobias will learn manners and skills that he will need as he eventually becomes a squire and then a knight.  During the first year of his training that he spends with his uncle, he keeps a diary of everything that happens to him and everything he learns.  Toby is a fictional boy, but his life and family are meant to illustrate what life was like for a young boy from his social level during the Middle Ages.

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The castle were Toby’s uncle lives is much bigger than his parents’ manor house.  Toby has to learn the roles of all the servants who live there: who is in charge of what and who reports to who.  Not all servants are equal, and some command more respect than others.  Some of them are even from noble families like his, including his aunt’s companion, Isbel.  Toby himself is assigned to do chores for his aunt like running errands, delivering messages, serving food at meals, and holding up the hem of her cloak when she walks outside.

Toby shares a room with the other pages at the castle, all boys of noble families and destined to become knights, just like him.  They have lessons in reading, writing, mathematics, Latin, and scripture from the castle’s chaplain, and he is a harsh disciplinarian.  They practice their lessons on wax tables that can be smoothed out and used again.  The boys also learn manners and start learning archery and about all the weapons and armor that knights use.  When they have time to play, they try walking on stilts and play at being jousting knights by carrying each other on their backs and trying to knock each other off.

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During the course of the year, Toby gets to witness a hunt, a joust, and a banquet with important guests.  At one point, he gets sick and receives treatment from a physician.  He also encounters a poacher on his uncle’s land.  This man is eventually caught (although Toby decides not to turn him in) and put on trial, but in the end, he is not punished because the jurors were sympathetic.  The book ends with a Christmas celebration, after which Toby goes home to visit his parents.

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In the back of the book, there is a section with more information about Medieval society, castles, sieges, weapons, armor, and the changes that eventually brought an end to feudal system that Toby knew.

The book is part of a series of historical picture books.  It is currently available online through Internet Archive.

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The Battle for the Castle

battlecastleThe Battle for the Castle by Elizabeth Winthrop, 1994.

This is the sequel to The Castle in the Attic.

William is growing up.  As William’s twelfth birthday approaches, he feels like he and his best friend, Jason, are growing apart. Actually, what he fears is that Jason is out-growing him. Jason has grown taller than William and much more muscular, thanks to his off-road bike training sessions with his father. William, on the other hand, is still short and feels like a shrimp next to Jason.

In their town, it is traditional for boys to “jump the trains” when they turn twelve. It involves grabbing hold of a ladder on the side of one of the cars as the train reaches a point on the track when it slows down, climbing over the top of the car, and jumping off the other side. It’s a dangerous trick to pull, and parents try to keep the kids from doing it. Still, the boys who don’t do it are considered to be wimps by the others. When Jason and William try, Jason makes it, but William gives up when his hand starts to slip. William is not hurt, but he is embarrassed at his failure.

To show Jason that he’s not just a wimp, William decides to let him in on the secret of the castle in the attic. Mrs. Phillips decided not to drop the magic token into the sea along with Alastor as she said she would (see previous book), and she sends it to William as a birthday present. After William explains to Jason how the token works, he convinces him to become small with him and visit Sir Simon and William’s other friends. When the boys arrive, they are welcomed by Sir Simon, who is about to leave for a tournament. William and Jason agree to help look after Sir Simon’s castle until he returns, along with his friend Dick, Dick’s son Tolliver, and Dick’s niece Gudrin. Sir Simon’s old nurse, Callendar, has died, but before her death, she made a prophecy of death and danger. Almost everyone believes that she was just raving, but Gudrin knows that danger is approaching. A strange ship of skeletons has been seen approaching the town, and bones have been floating down the river. Sir Simon had the ship towed out to see again, and Dick thinks there’s nothing more to fear. However, the ship has returned, and the boys and Gudrin know that something must be done in order to keep Callendar’s prophecy from coming true.

There is an army of rats aboard the ship, led by a giant rat that walks on its back legs like a human. The boys and Gudrin attempt to burn the ship, but the rats escape and begin attacking people across the countryside. When one of these people makes it to the castle to warn everyone, Dick finally believes them that something needs to be done. Most of the people are sent away from the castle, Tolliver is sent to bring Sir Simon back to help, and the others stay to wait out the siege. Although William is scared, he manages to keep his head and come up with a plan that defeats the rats once and for all.

In the end, when the boys return to their own world, William declares that he will never jump the trains because he thinks it’s a crazy stunt. Jason doesn’t mind because, as he says, “there’s more than one way to jump the trains.” William doesn’t need to prove that he’s grown up by performing a crazy stunt because he’s already behaved with courage and maturity while facing real problems and saving the lives of other people.

Posted on by TracyC

The Treasure of Kilvarra

TreasureKilvarraThe Treasure of Kilvarra by Elizabeth Baldwin Hazelton, 1974.

Christie and Kevin MacAlistaire go to Ireland with their mother to visit a family friend, Padraic O’Flaherty, and their visit turns into a terrifying treasure hunt!  Christie is fascinated by the gypsies living nearby and asks to visit them.  It’s her birthday, and the oldest gypsy, Sorcha, tells her fortune.  She says that Christie is fated to discover a treasure during her visit to Ireland, but there will be great danger involved, and she will need her brother to protect her.  Sorcha also gives Christie an amulet filled with holy ashes to help keep her safe.

Christie is eager to find the treasure Sorcha spoke of, although she doesn’t know what kind of treasure she is supposed to find or what kind of danger she will face along the way.  Their new friends tell them the history of the region with stories of ancient kings, fairy folk, and haunted castles.  Christie and Kevin visit some of these supposedly haunted ruins with their new friend Colum (a gypsy boy) and his pet crow, Ben.  Colum tells them the history of the castle ruins and the legends associated with it, and they discover that Christie has the ability to see and hear things that the boys can’t: spirits of the past.  Unfortunately, Ben is fascinated by Christie’s amulet and takes it, losing it in a nearby river.

KilvarraWithout the amulet to protect her, Christie continues her search for the treasure.  An accidental injury takes her to the place where it is hidden, but it’s a dangerous place.  Caught in a terrible storm, the children explore an ancient stone tower.  There, Christie sees the ghost of a long-dead monk, gesturing to her, begging her to follow him to the treasure that she seeks.  The monk died protecting it, and it’s a very unexpected but wonderful treasure indeed.  But, getting out of the place is going to be even more dangerous than getting in.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

This is actually the second book in a series about Christie MacAlistaire and her brother Kevin.  Unfortunately, I don’t have the first one and haven’t read it.  I do know that the first book in the series is called The Haunted Cove.  Christie and Kevin spend the summer in a cottage by the sea in Oregon, where they investigate a cove haunted by the ghosts of sailors and a woman who may be a witch.

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The Castle in the Attic

CastleAtticThe Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop, 1985.

Ten-year-old William’s life is being turned upside down.  Mrs. Phillips, his nanny, is leaving for good!  Mrs. Phillips has lived with William’s family and helped to take care of William ever since he was born. Both of his parents work, so William spends most of his time with Mrs. Phillips after school. She fixes him his snacks, takes him to his gymnastics lessons, spots for him as he practices his routine, and reads stories about King Arthur with him. However, now that William is ten years old, Mrs. Phillips thinks that she would like to go live with her brother in England, which is where she is from. William is upset because he can’t imagine life without Mrs. Phillips. Mrs. Phillips tells him that he will be fine without her and that his parents will start spending more time with him after she leaves. William tries everything he can think of to get her to stay, but she is determined that it’s time for her to go.

As a leaving present, Mrs. Phillips gives him a toy castle that has been in her family for generations, along with a little lead figure known as the Silver Knight. Still, William is determined to find a way to keep Mrs. Phillips from leaving.  Then, he discovers that the toy castle is magic! When the little knight comes to life and gives him a magic token that can make people small, William thinks he’s found the way he’s been looking for. With Mrs. Phillip’s impending departure and his fears of losing her, William suddenly realizes that he can use the magic coin to keep Mrs. Phillips with him.  Before she can leave, he shrinks her and puts her in the castle with the knight.

Of course, turning his nanny small and keeping her inside the toy castle was unethical, as Mrs. Phillips and the knight point out, but William’s mistake proves to be only the beginning of a fantastic journey that will fulfill a legend, free the knight’s kingdom from the reign of an evil wizard, and give William the confidence he’s been looking for.

Over the drawbridge of the castle is a poem about the beginning of a quest. Mrs. Phillips had said that there was a legend about the little knight, and when he comes alive, he tells William that his name is Sir Simon and that he was turned to lead by an evil wizard who has taken over his kingdom. The poem is the key to defeating the wizard, and the little token is really only half of one that the wizard was wearing around his neck. When William turns Mrs. Phillips small, he cannot reverse the spell because he lacks the other half of the amulet. To get it, he must become small himself and fulfill the poem by crossing the drawbridge as Sir Simon’s squire.  The two of them set out together to defeat the wizard and retrieve the other half of the token. Along the way, they become separated, and William must continue on to the wizard’s castle and finish the quest by himself. William has an inner strength that he doesn’t fully appreciate at first, and he can use it to defeat the evil wizard!

There is a sequel to this book called The Battle for the Castle.

My Reaction

I liked this story when I was a kid, and it’s a good coming-of-age story.  The sequel is also a coming-of-age story, but in a different way.  This book is about William coming to a better understanding of what kind of person he is and what he’s really capable of doing.  He can do more and handle more than he thinks he can.  In the end, although William is still a little sad at saying goodbye to Mrs. Philips when she leaves, he feels a little better about her going because he knows that he can take care of himself now, thanks to his magical adventures. Mrs. Phillips tells him that he always had what he needed inside himself but that he just didn’t believe it before.

The next book focuses on what it really means to be a man instead of a boy.  As William and his best friend grow up and are under social pressure from other boys to do a certain stunt in order to prove that they’re really grown-up, William and his friend set out on a magical adventure that teaches them that there are more ways of becoming a man than one.