About.com Rating

Book Review Summary

Award-winning author Sonya Hartnett’s book The Children of the King is a historical ghost story with a chilling message. With the German military close to attacking London, families quickly shipped children to the safety of the countryside, away from bombs and blitzkriegs.  Leaving their father behind, Jeremy and Cecily, and their mother are sent to stay with cynical Uncle Peregrine at his Heron Hall estate.

  After seeing several children without family, Cecily begs her mother to take in a young evacuee named May.

Naturally curious and an avid explorer, May leads Cecily to crumbled old castle near the estate. To the girls’ surprise, they encounter two hungry and strangely dressed boys hiding among the ruins. While war rages on, the children beg Uncle Peregrine to tell them the haunting story of the castle- a story about a duke whose desire for power led to war and terrible tragedy. Two stories of war, power, pride, and family weave together in this haunting upper middle grade tale with a supernatural twist that.

The Story

Rumors of a German military attack on London send Cecily, Jeremy, and their mother fleeing to the countryside. Leaving behind their father to watch over their home, the small family boards a train to Uncle Peregrine’s estate.  Jeremy, fourteen and angry to be leaving when he wants to stay and fight, agrees with Cecily when she asks to take May, a young evacuee, along with them.

Cecily, bored, but ever the proper young lady in charge, discovers May is quite unmanageable.

May slips away one early morning to go exploring and discovers the remnants of an old castle. Cecily follows May’s trail and together they encounter two brothers living among the ruins.  Oddly dressed and desperate to go home, the boys tell Cecily and May they were sent there against their will. 

Back at home, the two girls ask Uncle Peregrine about the old castle. After much entreating, the story of Snow Castle turns into a nightly bedtime ritual. While the war front moves into London, the girls seek refuge in the story of a duke hungry for power and willing to commit horrific crimes to achieve it.

The pretense that all is well comes crashing down around Heron Hall when Jeremy runs away. After a heated row with his mother, the boy flees to do his part for the war and reunite with his father in London. As the tale of the duke spirals to a conclusion, Cecily, May, and Jeremy are introduced to the terrible truths about war and the quest for power.

Author Sonya Hartnett

A native Australian, Sonya Hartnett grew up not feeling very competent at many things, but she knew she could write.  In Grade 5, Hartnett had her first short story read aloud and it seemed her fate was sealed. Publishing her first book at age 15, Hartnett went on to write several more books for adults, young adults, and children. In 2007, she won a Michael L. Printz Award for her young adult novel Surrender. The recipient of the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Award, Hartnett is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning author.

No matter how busy life gets, Hartnett makes sure to carve out three hours a day for writing. Outside of writing, she loves to shop, garden, and find antiques; but, her greatest enjoyment is real estate. She loves to buy homes, fix them up and then resell them.  She’s currently living in house number 11. Hartnett confesses that she often doesn’t unpack her boxes because she might just need to move again.  For her, it’s that when you “work from home you need a change of scenery.”

(Source: Sonya Hartnett Website)

My Recommendation

With a terrific nail-biting beginning, Sonya Hartnett lures her readers into a multi-themed story about family, war, power, ghosts, and history. The Children of the King has one of the best beginnings in a children’s book that I’ve read in a long time, Hartnett uses it to prepare readers for a supernatural twist that comes later in the tale.

Clearly war is very frightening and the children in this story get a double dose of fear as they flee their home leaving their fathers behind. Each child approaches the war and his or her escape to the country side with a different attitude. Jeremy, furious to be treated as a child and unable to fight, allows anger to taint his words and emotions.  Cecily is eager to go to Heron Hall and content to continue living her life of comforts.  Missing her father is Cecily’s one great sadness.

Of the three children at Heron Hall, May is the practical child.  While she worries about her family, she tries to find outlets to keep her busy, which endears her to Uncle Peregrine and leads her to the discovery of the old castle and two mysterious boys. Uncle Peregrine is a constant in the children’s’ world. He understands Jeremy’s frustration, is patient with Cecily’s self-conscious self-centeredness, and admiring of May’s modesty and sincerity.

A coming-of-age story, this tale within a tale novel provides a parallel between the events of World War II with another historical event that happens nearly 500 years earlier.  Readers, much like the children in the story, will be eager to hear the story of the duke, the princes, and the quest for power. And, like the children, readers will find a steady, consistent comfort in the elderly uncle who seems to understand the nature of war.

Keeping a steady pace between the two tales, Hartnett engages readers in the lives of her characters during a critical time in history.  A book for World War II fiction readers who enjoy additional twists, The Children of the King is recommended for ages 10-14. (Candlewick Press, 2014. ISBN: 9780763667351)

Read a chapter excerpt from The Children of the King.

More Historical Fiction, Recommended by Elizabeth Kennedy

Unlike The Children of the King, these books set in wartime are straightforward novels with no ghostly elements. For a novel set during the Revolutionary War era, I recommend Johnny Tremain and for one set during the Civil War, Across Five Aprils. For a World War II novel set in 1944, I recommend Hero on a Bicycle. More historical fiction for middle grade readers can be found in my article Award-Winning Historical Fiction for Middle Grade Readers.