Crandalls' Castle (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-7-In alternating chapters, two girls narrate this suspenseful novel. Charli, 12, is adjusting to life with her new stepfather when her impulsive Uncle Will Crandall announces that he has purchased a rundown mansion, rumored to be haunted, that he plans to turn into a bed-and-breakfast. On her visit, Charli sees the shadow of a rocking cradle and senses a disturbing and frightening presence. Orphaned Sophia, 14, has recently come to live with Charli's aunt and uncle and has a deep secret-she sometimes "knows things" before they happen-and she is convinced that Uncle Will's plans are dangerous. The girls' prickly relationship as they help clean the Castle, and the dread each feels toward the house, provides tension to the story. Both are sure that no one will believe them if they mention their fears. A biography of one of the mansion's former residents leads to the ghost's identity and this fact, along with Sophia's prescience, helps the girls when they must rescue Charli's youngest cousin from near death. This novel will satisfy readers looking for a scary story. The adjustment of both girls to their new living situations adds reality to the plot and gives the novel more substance than many in the genre.
Terrie Dorio, Santa Monica Public Library, CA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-7. Twelve-year-old Charli Belland doesn't like change, and lately there's been a lot. She has a new stepfather; and when her beloved cousins, the Crandalls, who live across the street, take in an orphaned teen, Charli feels left out. Fourteen-year-old Sophia, who has been shuffled between foster homes, likes the Crandalls, but she worries that they will discover her secret (clairvoyant abilities) and send her away. Then uncle Will buys an abandoned mansion and enlists the girls' help in cleaning it up. Both girls sense something wrong as they work, and they find themselves banding together when the house's dark past comes into the present in a chilling climax. Wright characteristically combines a well-written, shivery ghost story with distinctively drawn, appealing protagonists whose issues and dilemmas are sympathetically portrayed. By alternating Charli's third-person narrative with Sophia's first-person journal entries, she adds suspense and character depth as she realistically depicts the progression of the girls' relationship from one of resentment to one of trust. Shelle Rosenfeld
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Holiday House; 1st edition (February 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823417263
• ISBN-13: 978-0823417261
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,854,232 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not one of Wright's best - but still very good, July 25, 2006

By	Kind Bean "can't read enough" (New England, USA) - See all my reviews

This story is narrated by two different girls. One is Charli, 12, who is trying to get use to the new marriage of her mother and her stepfather. The other is Sophia, 14, an orphan, who comes to live with her distant relatives, Charli's Aunt Lilly and Uncle Will Crandall, who she has never meant before. Having been living in the foster system for awhile, she has learned to stay to herself and not to make friends, as it is too hard to leave them; especially with her ability to "see things before they happen." Nonetheless, she can't help herself from getting attached to her new "family." Yet, Charli and Sophia have trouble making friends with each other. Sophia doesn't understand why Charli isn't happy with her new "father" because it is exactly what Sophia has been missing this whole time. And Charli feels that Sophia doesn't want to be friends with her and becomes jealous of Sophia's new relationship with her Aunt Lilly and Uncle Will.

Meanwhile, Charli's Uncle Will reveals that he has purchased the town's haunted mansion. He plans on renovating it and turning it into a bed-and-breakfast. Eager to see the haunted house, and maybe some ghosts, Charli visits the house and is surprised and freighted by what she sees. Uncle Will asks the girls to help fix up the house, yet while working there, they both sense something is amiss there, especially Charli. Charli wants to tell somebody, but she is sure no one will believe her. She hopes she can convince someone before it is too late.

The addition of tension between the two girls made the story more interesting. The beginning of the part with the haunted house was developed a little too quickly and came to an almost anti-climatic ending. Still, it was a pleasurable read and many will enjoy it, even though it wasn't one of Wright's best.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crandall's Castle Rocks!, February 6, 2006

A Kid's Review

Crandall's Castle is a great book about a family that tries to open a hotel only to find it is haunted. When they find it is haunted they have to save a baby from being suffocated. When they save him the ghost dissappaers. They give up on the hotel and give it back to the realitor.