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Sophie is a princess living in a crumbling castle on a tiny, remote island kingdom. Upon receiving a journal on her 16th birthday, she begins the saga of a pivotal year in her life and that of her isolated, impoverished and very eccentric family. It is 1936, and the madness that has begun to envelop Europe manages to affect her world and change it forever. Along the way she experiences loss, danger and Nazis, facing it all with a previously unsuspected reservoir of courage. There is much humor as well, in the antics of tomboy sister Henry and in the effervescence of brother Toby, who is heir to this improbable kingdom. Cooper has created a strong cast of odd, interesting characters and makes even the strangeness of the setting and events seem completely plausible. The author consciously echoes elements of Dodie Smith’s classic I Capture the Castle, but it is no mere copy. There is romance, adventure, a touch of the supernatural and a winning heroine who will touch the heart. Compelling. (Fiction. YA)
