The Glass Casket

Starred review from December 1, 2013
In the woods above the quiet mountain village of Nag's End, five soldiers of the king are mysteriously killed. Village elders presume it was a wolf attack, but Tom and his brother Jude are convinced that no animal could have inflicted the horror that they saw up on icy Beggar's Drift. Tom's best friend, Rowan Rose, is warned by her scholar father not to succumb to the others' fear of witches, goblins and wood sprites. But it becomes hard to ignore the strange goings-on, especially after Fiona Eira, a cousin Rowan never knew she had, arrives. Tom, who's looking for a "grand love," thinks he's found it with the enchanting Fiona. He gives her a coin he found on Beggar's Drift that may be connected to a greater evil than anyone imagined. A complex, layered plot highlights a split between those who cling to traditional beliefs and young people who look for rational explanations for what turns out to be a string of grisly deaths in the village and surrounding forest. Twists and turns keep readers in suspense as Rowan, Fiona, Tom and Jude navigate a convoluted path through sibling rivalry and friendship en route to adulthood. With stylish prose, richly developed characters and well-realized worldbuilding, Templeman plumbs archetypes of folklore to create a compelling blend of mythic elements and realistic teen experience. (Fantasy. 12-17)

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February 1, 2014

Gr 8 Up-Rowan and Tom are best friends, having grown up together in the village of Nag's End. When five of the King's men are found brutally murdered, the townspeople investigate but find more questions than answers. Rowan's cousin, Fiona Eira, shows up at the village, attracting Tom's eye before she is found with her heart torn out. Her body is encased in a glass casket by her grieving father, and more gruesome killings follow. Tom and Rowan, along with most of the villagers, are desperate to find answers. Who or what is to blame? Could the murders be related to magic, witches, wolves, or ghosts? Templeman does a creepy (and bloody) job of describing the crimes and their culprit, but gives few details about a visiting duke, his ward, and most of the villagers. Since the story is set in a fantastical past, when few girls are taught to read and candles provide light, the occasional use of contemporary phrases sound out of place. Templeman includes nods to both folklore and classic literature in this atmospheric tale.-Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2013
Grades 9-12 Templeman pulls a 180 from her incisive contemporary debut, The Little Woods (2012), with a fantasy involving witches, magic, and monsters. Rowan's hometown of Nag's End is a sleepy mountain village until the arrival of a number of unexpected visitors: a cadre of royal guards, who are mysteriously massacred; a duke who comes to investigate the murders; and Rowan's cousin, Fiona, a beautiful young woman trapped by a terrorizing guardian. And there is a thing in the woodsa big thingripping people to pieces. Though familiar fantasy tropes are present, Templeman conjures her own strange spell, creating a world where contemporary dialog fits comfortably within a medieval context, and where a hanging sense of dread is more narratively potent than any one evil element. The story doesn't always fire, but, in fact, Templeman is at her best when leaving plot behind, as when one character's death acts as a sort of forbidden fruit leading to unleashed sexual passionit's challenging, dizzying material. The legion of Maggie Stiefvater fans out there ought to look this way.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)