The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle by Janet Fox

Leonore’s story unfolds as if in real time, even though the text clearly explains that it’s 1746. To accomplish the almost impossible task, Fox uses alternating chapters in present tense. But the choice to fully characterize the villain is part of the charm of this story. It’s a risky thing because why should the reader care about someone so monstrous. Fox could have just let us hate the villainess because of her evil, but instead, she chose to give us enough information that we feel sorry for Leonore. The villainess, Leonore, is about to enslave the souls of the children who have fled the bombings in London and presumably found safety at Rookskill Castle. This is masterful writing.Ī second technique Fox uses is present-tense. The rhythm patterns created by the choice of sentences of various styles and lengths lead us on, inevitable, up and up and up the hill toward something not quite right. The voice is strong here, as the details are woven into a paragraph that starts and stops and leads us inevitably toward something evil. See: mist, silent and small, no souls, shuttered pub, sign of spread-winged blackbird. The drays puffed steamy breaths as they hauled their load up the hill. The road wound upward from there, back and forth, like a hawk hunting, turn and turn again, the wheels making a hawklike squeal as they rotated in the muddy ruts. She saw something of the village, wreathed in mist, as they passed through–small and silent, no souls strolling among the thatched-roof cottages or in and out of the shuttered pub with the sign of a spread-winged blackbird: THE ROOK. Here’s Kat’s first look at the village near Rookskill Castle:

Lightning streak, peeling paint, frigid slide, (no taste), smoke.ĭo you see how a simple choice of details changes the mood? What do you see, hear, touch, taste, or smell? What do you see, hear, touch, taste, smell?īright sun, red swing set, comfortably warm slide, popcorn and ice cream.

Instead, you must choose the right sensory details. You can’t go around saying things like, “Oh, she was so scared.” When you TELL the mood, it falls flat. When you create a creepy castle, mood becomes very important. But the castle-turned-school has centuries old secrets to hide. Interestingly, this is another story of children leaving World War II, war-torn London and going into the countryside.

She chooses details that create a mood and pull on your emotions.Ī fairy-tale like plot, there’s a great evil brooding over Rookskill Castle. Janet Fox does an amazing job of choosing the exactly right details in her story, The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle. When a story is specific, it comes alive. One thing that I harp about is the use of great sensory details.

The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle by Janet Fox