The Glass Castle by T. W. Priebe and J. B. Jenkins #ToSreview

6/9/2016

I love doing book reviews and I love reading aloud to my children. We really enjoyed reading The Glass Castle by Trisha White Priebe and Jerry B. Jenkins from Shiloh Run Press. The story of Avery and her brother, Henry, grabs you from the very beginning. As the story unfolds you find yourself wrapped in mystery that has all the kingdom's 13 year old children hidden in the huge castle servant's quarters posing as staff, serving the unsuspecting adults behind the scenes. Mystery and intrigue grows as each question is answered only to leave more questions to solve. We read this book in two very suspenseful days. The end of the story left us on a cliff hanger as well as with more questions.

My "sweet spot" is sitting in our living room with a good book, coffee, chocolate, and my children surrounding me as we enter another literary adventure. I love mystery and a great story. The Glass Castle is a nice, clean story the whole family can enjoy. There is enough action to keep everyone's attention and mystery keeping everyone guessing. Our only frustration with it was not ever being able to quite pick out the time frame the story was supposed to be set in. It had the flavor of a medieval princess story but the presence of Bibles, certain classic books, and rifles put it more in the early 1900's. We're looking forward to the next book in the series and finding out more.

Something I was thrilled about is the fact this is a HARDBACK book with parchment-like pages. It is also sprinkled with Scripture, Biblical encouragement, and faith building scenarios. The royal drama unfolded with everything a girl could want including a simple romance, a beautiful wedding, pretty dresses and slippers, and yummy foods. The boys were interested in the mystery, spying, competitions and murders.

I'm happy the book wasn't too mushy and delicate. A good book needs some major difficulties for the characters to overcome. Life includes hardships so the books we read shouldn't be void of them. Examples of other children living through difficult circumstances is a good example for real life. Children also need to see characters paying consequences for mistakes and bad decisions. Life is not a modern day fairy tale and while the fairy tales of old were extremely harsh, seeing authors coming up with stories in the middle of that road is much better for the children. I don't want to create fear in our children, but I want them completely aware of the danger this world contains. I want them to be able to pray and think through the hardships they will face in life.

This is a wonderful story full of fun mystery and intrigue. I definitely recommend it and we are really looking forward to the next book coming out this fall.