the castle behind thorns by merrie haskell

this is totally cool because goodness knows the people of the middle ages believed in lots of magical and miraculous things that were very real to them, and it was such a fun, refreshing change to see this world-view being used in a fantasy novel. Obviously there is magic at work, what with the Sundering, and the thorns, and all.but what's really cool here is that it is the sort of magic that you might find in a medieval Christian fantasy France (think cults of saints).

the way she is introduced to the story was fascinating and I'm not saying any more except that there is some gender subversiveness at work that is perhaps a smidge at odds with the reality of medieval France but perhaps not (it is not my area of academic strength).

The second main character is a girl who has a really interesting story arc and a fine backstory and, though not as sympathetic as Sand, was someone who I liked reading about. A good life lesson, without being at all preachy. I also loved the descriptions of all the broken things that needed fixing! I also love how this makes the point that when you are in a situation that is utterly awful, the best thing to do is to find the things that you can fix, and fix them. Sand is a great character, and I loved the crafty side of things. He is the smith's son, and a handy, crafty sort of boy who instead of falling into dark despair because he is trapped in a ruined castle starts trying to bring order to its chaos (though he is no Pollyanna-he is plenty unhappy about his situation). The main character, a boy nicknamed Sand (short for Alexander), mysteriously awakens one morning to find himself inside the Sundered Castle. The Sundering is awfully cool too-everything in the castle, and the castle itself, has been magically rent asunder. This is also good because Sleeping Beauty is a fine story to re-imagine, as it can be done so many different ways. This is good because there isn't a lot of really good historical fantasy for kids in general, and because medieval France has not been done to death as a fantasy setting I can't think of a single other fantasy novel in which Joan of Arc is mentioned. Just outside this village is the castle of the Boisblanc family, sundered and riven a generation ago, surrounded by a wall of impenetrable thorns. The Castle Behind Thorns is a Sleeping Beauty re-imagining, set in a village in medieval France.

Here is what I liked, and what you might like too. I realized I had read it in a literal single sitting, as I found to my cost when I tried to move again. It has been week of little reading and less blogging (because of single-handedly running a library booksale), but happily one of the few books I did manage read- The Castle Behind Thorns, by Merrie Haskell (Katherine Tegen Books, upper middle grade, May 2014)-was an utter winner.

The castle behind thorns by merrie haskell