A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine

Elodie is looking for work when she goes to the town of Two Castles, but she never expected to become an assistant to a dragon!


HarperCollins Children's Books has already published this book and sent me an ARC for review (thank you).  You can get a copy at your local bookstore.


If it's not confusing enough moving to a new town and then getting involved with a dragon, now Meenore wants her to help him solve mysteries.  It seems someone is trying to harm Count Jonty Um who is a shapeshifting ogre.


Add a greedy king, a giddy princess, and a handsome cat trainer to the mix and you have quite a cast of characters to sort through.


Here is info direct from her website about how she got the idea for the story:  

A Tale of Two Castles is my first mystery.

Naturally, it comes from a fairy tale, very loosely from "Puss 'N Boots," one of the most charming fairy tales. I'm utterly won over that a cat threatens a bunch of peasants with cutting them up as herbs for the soup and they're scared. A cat against people?

I'm not sure anyone will get the connection between my book and the original, but look for it. Here's how I began: I was searching for a fairy tale mystery, and I realized it is one. If you remember your "Puss 'N Boots," you'll recall that Puss marches into the ogre's castle and challenges him to shape-shift. In response, the ogre turns into a lion and then turns back. When Puss recovers from his fright, he challenges the ogre again, this time to turn into a small creature. The obliging ogre becomes a mouse, and Puss eats him. That's the story according to Puss, but notice, there are no witnesses. All anyone can be certain of is that a cat walks in; a cat walks out; an ogre vanishes. So what really happens?

Ms. Levine is a previous Newbery Honor winner, and her writing style is smooth, the story is fascinating and fun, and it holds your attention the entire way through.  It's written for ages 8-12, but I enjoyed reading it also.  If you like fantasy, this a great book for you.


If you'd like to win my ARC, leave a comment here on my blog, and email at info @ bookfaerie.com (take the spaces out) with your name AND address and tell me why you'd like to read the book.  I'll pick a winner in about a week.