Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Salem Main Library | J Townley, R. | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
A deliciously quirky tale of secrets, magic, and illusions.
Everything is in place: the packed theater, the Amazing Thummel, and, center stage, the magician's mysterious assistant. Some have called her the most beautiful woman in Europe.
Then, in a swirl of light, she vanishes!
An astounding illusion, but she never reappears. All that remains are a bloodstained white scarf and her daughter, Cisley, who lives in a glass castle and walks her pet lobster each morning by the sea.
Enter Cole, a rambunctious boy from town and Cisley's first true friend. Together they hunt for clues to her mother's disappearance. They puzzle over broken mirrors, ever-shifting labyrinths, a closet full of whispering ball gowns, and a fatal quest for a pure black rose.
Roderic Townley spins a deliciously spooky tale of one girl's journey to discover what's real and what is simply an illusion.
Author Notes
RODERICK TOWNLEY has taught in Chile on a Fulbright Fellowship, worked in New York as a journalist, and now writes from his home in Kansas. His books have received many stars and accolades including Book Sense 76 Picks and BBYA selections. You can read more about Roderick Townley and his books at rodericktownley.com.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Cisley watches her mother vanish completely during an illusion act involving a magic mirror, which leaves the 12-year-old alone in a parallel universe with her scheming uncle. Cisley is determined to find her mother and discover what kinds of magic are pure illusion and what kinds are real. Along the way, Cisley uncovers powers of her own. Unfortunately, she's stuck in Uncle Asa's Crystal Castle, a bizarre mansion (and tourist destination) filled with shifting mazes. Her loneliness and isolation aren't helped by her uncle's elitist attitude toward the servants and residents of the local community. Cisley's only friends are Elwyn, her pet lobster, and her tutor, Miss Porlock. By gradually becoming friends with Cole, a village boy, and getting to know the Roma who live in a local encampment, Cisley finds the strength needed to solve the mystery of her mother's disappearance. The world Townley creates is mostly realistic, making the carefully crafted magical elements all the more frightening. The plot will be predictable for many readers, and the characters veer close to cliché, but Townley stays just this side of the line by offering an absorbing mystery and unusual fantastical elements. There are a few humorous aspects, such as when Cisley takes her pet lobster for a walk-which requires bringing a pail filled with water and stopping for repeated dunkings. The ending, both gripping and satisfying, features some darkly violent situations that may leave sensitive readers wide-eyed. VERDICT A magical adventure with a few intriguing clues, a fascinating setting, and some chills that will please most middle graders looking for spooky fantasy.-Carol A. Edwards, Denver Public Library, CO © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
After Cisley's mother vanishes during a magic act, the 12-year-old returns home to her family's glass castle by the sea. As her Uncle Asa attempts to harness his sister's powers, Cisley tries to solve the mystery of her mother's whereabouts, her father's identity, and her own healing abilities. Townley (The Door in the Forest) mixes the whimsical and the tragic, but the story never quite reconciles the two elements. Cisley struggles to belong, seeking solace with a pet lobster she outfits with a gold collar and takes for seaside walks, while Uncle Asa is obsessed with creating ever-shifting mirrored corridors, a labyrinth maze, and cruel experiments to imbue himself with his Cisley's mother's otherworldly power. Cisley's quirkiness provides some needed levity to an otherwise dark tale, but muddled aspects of the storytelling-including a misplaced last-minute twist and a bloody finale that also tries to tie up the narrative's loose ends with a silver-lining happy ending-keep it from finding a successful balance of reality and illusion. Ages 9-12. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
When Cisleys beautiful magicians-assistant mother, Marina, vanishes during Uncle Asas magic show, Cisley and Uncle Asa return alone to their illusion-filled glass- castle home, where Cisleywith the help of a servant boy, Colesearches Marinas private rooms for clues to her disappearance. But Uncle Asa disapproves of Cisleys friendships with Cole and a Roma girl, Anna, and forbids Cisley to leave the castle, forcing her instead to use her newfound magical abilities to help him create a black rosethe one thing rumored to have the power to bring Marina back. Cisleys relationshipswith her uncle; with Miss Porlock, the poor relation who chaperones her; with Cole and Anna; and with the local painter she believes may be her fatherinitially appear to be random affiliations, but as Cisley works to strengthen each connection, she distinguishes herself from her self-absorbed mother and unpicks the snarled tangle of evidence that leads herfinallyto the truth behind Marinas disappearance. Disorientingly bizarre elements (Cisleys talking pet lobster, for example) leave readers off-kilter for much of this very idiosyncratic book, but the plot has the internal cohesion to tie up its own loose ends, repaying readers initial bewilderment with a gratifyingly wound-up finish. anita l. burkam(c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
After Cisley's mother disappears into the shards of a black mirror during her illusion act, the 12-year-old must discover her own powers to learn whether her mother is alive and how to find her. Cisley lives with cold and mercenary Uncle Asa in the Crystal Castle, a maze of ever changing glass and mirrors that trap and confuse Cisley. Friendless, fatherless, and largely having been ignored by her beautiful and talented mother, lonely Cisley has only her pet lobster, Elwyn, as a companion until she meets Cole, a boy from the village. As she becomes acquainted with Cole, she also becomes aware of her uncle's unjust treatment of the Roma who also live nearby. Cisley's mother has left a clue to her return: the scent of a pure black rose. As Uncle Asa, lacking true magic and fiercely envious of his sister's magical abilities, frantically works in his lab to create this essence, Cisley fears for her life. The twists and turns of the plot and some dangling ends slow the pace, which speeds up considerably in the gruesome and melodramatic climax as the castle shatters, leaving shard-impaled dead bodies strewn about. Equally abrupt is the happily-ever-after ending that quickly follows this darkness, but this comes as a welcome release after the moodiness of the book. Plenty of magic, a touch of romance, an appealing heroine, and a talking lobster lighten Townley's tale of deadly sibling jealousy. (Fantasy. 10-14) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Cisley's uncle Asa may be a famous illusionist, but that doesn't mean magic runs in the family. During one fateful show, Cisley's beautiful mother, his assistant (and secretly the true magician of the siblings), disappears, leaving behind several confounding clues. Asa, cold and distant and desperate for power, spends his days searching for real magic, while lonely Cisley walks her pet lobster by the ocean and studies with her tutor, Miss Porlock. Growing up in her family's glass castle, Cisley has been raised apart from the villagers, but after meeting local boy Cole, she slowly begins to venture outside of her own small universe, learning more about her family history and about things she never knew that make her special. This is part quirky adventure story, part dark tale of sibling rivalry, and the pieces never quite line up; at times, it feels as though Townley is writing two different stories. Still, though, the twists are solid, and Cisley is an immensely likable heroine who will attract readers.--Reagan, Maggie Copyright 2015 Booklist