The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle by Janet Fox

    

·        2019 Maud Hart Lovelace Reading List

·        Genre: Horror - Historical Fiction

·        Grade Level: 5th grade and up

·        Reading Level: 5.0 (12 points)

·         Length: 400 pages

·         Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers (March 15, 2016)

·         My Rating: 2 out of 4

·         Readability: Not my cup of tea...long and plodding. 

·         Division 2

·         Summary:  In 1940, during the Blitz, Katherine, Robbie, and Amelie Bateson are sent north to a private school in Rookskill Castle in Scotland, haunted by dark magic from the past. The plot contains violence.

This story starts out with a father sending his children away from London during WW II to a Scottish castle and boarding school where they should be safe from the bombing. The school is run by a woman who uses her dark magic to steal the souls of children. She wears a chatelaine which is a set of short chains attached to a woman's belt, used for carrying keys or other items. She has 13 charms to use in her quest to gain 13 souls. 

This book has many violent and very creepy scenes. It is also full of vocabulary that I had to look up since I didn't have background knowledge.  I did learn a few new words...include chatelaine which is the key element in this book.  I was determined to finish this book and not abandon it but it just wasn't for me. The plot was just too slow and complicated.