The Glass Castle {Shiloh Run Press Review}

The Glass Castle {Book Review}

We love to read books aloud as part of our afternoon homeschooling time. My family loved hearing The Glass Castle by Trisha White Priebe and Jerry B. Jenkins, a great Christian fiction for kids book, from Shiloh Run Press.
I read this book with two of my kids: B, age 11, and C, age 9. Because my 11-year-old has dyslexia he struggles with reading but really enjoys being read to. Although I’m not sure of the reading level for this book, I shared the reading with my 9-year-old who reads at about a 7th-grade level. She did really well with it, so I imagine the reading level was around 6th grade or less.

The kids and I really enjoyed reading this novel which features Avery, the main character who is kidnapped by a mysterious old lady, while walking through the woods with her brother on her thirteenth birthday. Later she is delivered to a castle which houses a large group of orphans that all have something in common with Avery – they are all 13.

We later find out that Avery’s mother had disappeared at some point and she was left with her father and younger brother. Her mother had taught her so much about the castle and the history of this mysterious place.

The book is filled with mystery and intrigue as we find out more and more about the castle and the King and soon to be new Queen who inhabits it. We are told that the King had been married years before to another Queen who had delivered him a son shortly before she and the child died. However, so much is left in the air, it is hard to know what is true and what is false in this fantastical story. We are left to wonder about the motives of the Queen, the knowledge of the King, the background of the old woman, and even the identity of some of the other children who are secretly living in the castle.

The book has its fair share of action and adventure, mystery, and philosophical questions about friendship, love, honor and right and wrong. My kids thoroughly enjoyed it and wished it hadn’t ended when it did! They are fully anticipating the second book in this serious, Ruby Moon, which comes out in October of this year!

My 11-year-old son, B, when asked what his favorite part of the book was, answered, “The part when Avery escapes from the castle, to only find her home occupied by a couple of strangers. I still wonder where the dad went and how they got into the house. I think the book is very interesting and I really want to get the next book!”

C, my 9-year-old daughter, really loved reading The Glass Castle, she said, “I think this book is very fun and I love reading it! It is the perfect level for me to read. I’m so excited to get to Ruby Moon and find out what happens next.”

My kids and I all consider this a mystery novel even though it is listed as an action – adventure. It also listed as good for ages 10-14 which I generally agree with, although, my 9-year-old also enjoyed it.

While this book is listed as Christian Fiction, there were only a few things that I believe that would set it apart from non-Christian literature. There were mentions of the main character reading her Bible and some good truths that she grew up with or thoughts she was pondering. In my opinion, it had a good message but I also wouldn’t think it contained anything overtly Christian, either. Spoiler alert: This book ended with a complete cliff hanger which had us all groaning but also excited to see what happens next. I only say this as a warning, because we were expecting some conclusion to the story which truly doesn’t happen at the end of this first book in the series. Overall, we were very happy with this book and it was a great addition to our homeschool reading hour.