The Matchstick Castle
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
A wild and whimsical adventure story, perfect for fans of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library
Brian can think of a few places he'd rather spend his summer than with his aunt and uncle in Boring, Illinois. Jail, for example. Or an earplug factory. Anything would be better than doing summer school on a computer while his scientist dad is stationed at the South Pole.
Boring lives up to its name until Brian and his cousin Nora have a fight, get lost, and discover a huge, wooden house in the forest. With balconies, turrets, and windows seemingly stuck on at random, it looks ready to fall over in the next stiff breeze. To the madcap, eccentric family that lives inside, it’s not just a home—it’s a castle.
Suddenly, summer gets a lot more exciting. With their new friends, Brian and Nora tangle with giant wasps, sharp-tusked wild boars, and a crazed bureaucrat intent on bringing the dangerously dilapidated old house down with a wrecking ball.
This funny, fantastical story will resonate with any reader who’s ever wished a little adventure would find them.
"For boys and girls alike, this story sings.”—Blue Balliett, award-winning author of Chasing Vermeer
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Brian Brown is enduring "the worst summer ever" before sixth grade after his father sends him from Boston to the town of Boring, Ill., where he's forced to help test-drive his Uncle Gary's summer-school software program. Then Brian and his (initially frosty) cousin Nora discover the nearby Matchstick Castle, a haphazard seven-story wooden house (complete with "a big wooden boat" on top), inhabited by Cosmo van Dash and his family of eccentric adventurers. As the madcap plot progresses, Brian and Nora trap giant Amazonian wasps, rescue Cosmo's uncle from being trapped on the seventh floor, and defend the castle from a bureaucrat intent on demolishing it. Brian is an observant, funny, and relatable protagonist, and the van Dashes are very much in the tradition of large, offbeat families from classic children's literature. Graff (The Other Felix) fashions another fascinating character in the Matchstick Castle itself through detailed descriptions of its peculiar layout and secrets. Given the van Dash family's knack for adventure, one can only hope Graff has plans for more "Boring" stories. Ages 8 12.
