The Water Castle

November 26, 2012
Blakemore (Secrets of Truth and Beauty) skillfully explores the intersection of science and magic in this multifaceted story. When 11-year-old Ephraim Appledore-Smith’s father suffers a stroke, the family leaves Cambridge, Mass., for his mother’s ancestral home in Crystal Springs, Maine. Known as the Water Castle, it’s where her family bottled water, long disappeared, that was believed to have healing powers—some claimed it came from a Fountain of Youth. Interspersed with chapters taking place in the Water Castle in 1908, the plot grows increasingly sophisticated as Ephraim becomes obsessed with finding the water he believes will cure his father. He and two classmates whose families have been linked to his for generations—not always positively—come together on a research project about explorer Robert Peary, but are soon, along with Ephraim’s siblings, discovering secret rooms and staircases in the intricately built house, in search of the water. While strongly suggesting that the water has magical, scientifically based powers, Blakemore refuses to provide a neat explanatory ending (which may frustrate some readers); instead, a sense of skeptical wonder pervades the book and lingers. Ages 10–14. Agent: Sara Crowe, Harvey Klinger.

Starred review from November 15, 2012
Weaving legacy and myth into science and magic, old into new and enemies into friends, Blakemore creates an exquisite mystery. Crystal Springs, Maine, "isn't on the map," but it's still where Price, Ephraim and Brynn's mother brings their family when their father has a stroke. The "looming stone house" with hidden floors and impossible rooms, owned by their family (the Appledores) for over a century, was once a resort that claimed its spring water had healing properties--possibly a fountain of youth. Ephraim struggles to fit in at Crystal Springs' peculiarly overachieving school; his classmate Mallory steels herself against her mother's recent departure and her teacher's assignment to study Matthew Henson ("He just assumed she would want to do him, because Henson was black too"). While Mallory, Ephraim and another sixth-grader named Will unravel the castle's secrets (each for different reasons, all serious) and confront age-old hostility among their families, a 1908 storyline unfolds: Young Nora Darling (Mallory's relative) assists old Orlando Appledore in feverish scientific research. Peary and Henson's Arctic expedition features in both timelines; science, history and literature references glow; Nikola Tesla visits Nora and Orlando. With keen intelligence and bits of humor, the prose slips calmly between narrative perspectives, trusting readers to pick up a revelation that Ephraim and Mallory don't see--and it's a doozy. This one is special. (Fiction. 10-14)

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March 1, 2013

Gr 4-7- In this novel, three loners become friends while searching for a miracle. After his dad has a stroke, Ephraim Appledore-Smith's physician mom moves the family to the Water Castle, their ancestral home in Crystal Springs, Maine. Ephraim, the prototypical ordinary middle kid, isn't thrilled about the relocation but looks forward to being the Big City fish in a small-town pond. Things don't go as expected, however, and he discovers that Crystal Springs is full of high achievers and deep, dark secrets. He learns about his family's long-running obsession with exploration, science, and finding the Fountain of Youth. Classmates Mallory, descendant of the Darling family, traditional caretakers of the Water Castle, and Will, whose family has been feuding with the Appledores for generations, join with Ephraim to find out the truth about Crystal Springs, and maybe a cure for Ephraim's dad. Part of the story is told through flashback passages from Nora Darling's perspective; she was hired by Orlando Appledore in 1908 to be his assistant, despite the fact that she was young, female, and black. Ephraim is a realistic kid: needy, uncertain, not particularly brave or logical. Mallory, Will, and Nora are also well drawn, as are some of the adult characters, though others are fairly flat. Not all of the mysteries are cleared up, though most can be guessed at, and the story ends on an optimistic note. Comparisons to Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting (Farrar, 1975) are inevitable, and there will be much for readers to discuss. An entertaining and thought-provoking fantasy.-Mara Alpert, Los Angeles Public Library

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