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Castle Juliet
(Newly Revised and Updated, June 2020)
Welcome to Storyville, where magic lasts forever, and tigers and aliens co-exist alongside clock-makers and cowgirls.
Jack Bristol and Alice Skylar are the best of friends. For a year, they embark on fantastic adventures, most of which are born from Jack's relentless imagination - an evil wizard named Doornail, pink lasers in space, and cheeseburger eating dinosaurs.
They also battle the realities of life: school, bullying, and the absence of a parent.
As each season draws to a close, another one opens, revealing its own timeless magic and mystery, things Jack and Alice could have never imagined on their own, but are the most important things in life . . .
An enchanting, magical read for all ages, Castle Juliet will transport you to another time and place, a story you will want to revisit again and again - no matter what your age might be.
Welcome to Storyville, where magic lasts forever, and tigers and aliens co-exist alongside clock-makers and cowgirls.
Jack Bristol and Alice Skylar are the best of friends. For a year, they embark on fantastic adventures, most of which are born from Jack's relentless imagination - an evil wizard named Doornail, pink lasers in space, and cheeseburger eating dinosaurs.
They also battle the realities of life: school, bullying, and the absence of a parent.
As each season draws to a close, another one opens, revealing its own timeless magic and mystery, things Jack and Alice could have never imagined on their own, but are the most important things in life . . .
An enchanting, magical read for all ages, Castle Juliet will transport you to another time and place, a story you will want to revisit again and again - no matter what your age might be.
250 pages, ebook
Published April 23, 2013
35 people are currently reading
255 people want to read
About the author
Brandon Berntson
45 books76 followersBrandon Berntson grew up in various towns throughout Colorado, where most of his stories take place. His work spans from serious, adult horror to playful, young adult fantasy and everything in between. He is the author of Castle Juliet and When We Were Dragons, enchanting, magical reads for all ages. He is also the author of Body of Immorality, a cryptic collection of horror stories, and the raw, adult themed All The Gods Against Me.
He loves art, music, indie films, classic horror films, and hockey. He lives in Longmont, Colorado.
Sign up for the mailing list and get a free novelette at www.brandonberntson.com
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He loves art, music, indie films, classic horror films, and hockey. He lives in Longmont, Colorado.
Sign up for the mailing list and get a free novelette at www.brandonberntson.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bberntson22
TikTok:
https://www.tiktok.com/@brandonbernts...
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 30, 2022
Get ready to go back to your childhood....in what could easily become a "Classic" about what it means to be a child and experience that Summer when you realized what a Real BEST friend was. I LOVED this tale of Alice and Jack. Just EXPERIENCE it!
Here is my video review here:
https://youtu.be/R41gkGKG3J0
Storyville....yes, it sounds like that Perfect of Perfect places to live. Well that is exactly where this story takes place, and it is a small town and story that you are not soon to forget.....that is if you are 'Young At Heart' get ready to meet Jack and Alice.
Jack Bristol is a 10 year old only child who loves to dream and imagine that he flies the out boudaries of space, yes, Jack has an imagination that only a child could have. Alice Skylar is his best friends, and she goes along with Jack on his adventures as they fire pink lasers at ships flying by the top of which ever tree they have decided to climb this day. They first meet in Kindergarten and now they are in the fourth grade. And it is a time that 'Jacky Boy' just wants to go away....yes, he hates school and anything to do with it; especially arithmetic.
Jack knows what it is like to lose a parent, yes he lost his mother when he was young, and always had so many questions that he wanted to ask her, and never got the chance to.
Jack is always escaping reality and the daily grinds of having to go to school, he is in the 4th grade, and it has never been a thing that Jack was ever good at. Alice Skylar is the complete opposite of Jack....she LOVES school, learning and history and math; and she is great at it. That is why these two kids are perfect for each other as best friends. During the Summer between 4th and 5th grade the both experience a day of bullying by their local bullies; Tork McGuckin and his randy band of Rebel Survivors, and it puts a damper on their day of 'fighting pirates, and spaceships' with bruises and wounds that they know they will recover from. As they are going 'back to the Castle' Jack asks Alice if she believes in Heaven, and God, and other questions, making Alice think before she answers them.
Jacks father Philip is a man who wants to be the most perfect of perfect fathers as he raises Jack by himself on the wages of the local clock maker and cobbler. Alice's parents are the type of parents that everyone always knew belonging to one of our best friends....the perfect ones.
As the school year is going into the fall and holiday season this is when the book really took me in that time machine back to my childhood and growing up in the 4th grade in 1971, and THIS is where i started to relive childhood. Both Jack and Alice reminded me so much of myself and my childhood best friend Starla Todd. Author Brandon Berntson writes with all that imagination and memories of his own childhood and somehow turns them around to be YOUR memories all over again....and that is a gift to be able to do.
Castle Juliet is a book that I will quote, and relive over and over again until I grow old, and already being 61 years old.....I cannot wait to go back to Storyville and to visit Jack and Alice again. This is just the most wonderful book of what it REALLY is like to be a child, and to live in a time no longer lived....the time of beauty, crime free, and innocence; and what it was like to really love a best friend.
🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰💜💜 Castles
Experience it!
Here is my video review here:
https://youtu.be/R41gkGKG3J0
Storyville....yes, it sounds like that Perfect of Perfect places to live. Well that is exactly where this story takes place, and it is a small town and story that you are not soon to forget.....that is if you are 'Young At Heart' get ready to meet Jack and Alice.
Jack Bristol is a 10 year old only child who loves to dream and imagine that he flies the out boudaries of space, yes, Jack has an imagination that only a child could have. Alice Skylar is his best friends, and she goes along with Jack on his adventures as they fire pink lasers at ships flying by the top of which ever tree they have decided to climb this day. They first meet in Kindergarten and now they are in the fourth grade. And it is a time that 'Jacky Boy' just wants to go away....yes, he hates school and anything to do with it; especially arithmetic.
Jack knows what it is like to lose a parent, yes he lost his mother when he was young, and always had so many questions that he wanted to ask her, and never got the chance to.
Jack is always escaping reality and the daily grinds of having to go to school, he is in the 4th grade, and it has never been a thing that Jack was ever good at. Alice Skylar is the complete opposite of Jack....she LOVES school, learning and history and math; and she is great at it. That is why these two kids are perfect for each other as best friends. During the Summer between 4th and 5th grade the both experience a day of bullying by their local bullies; Tork McGuckin and his randy band of Rebel Survivors, and it puts a damper on their day of 'fighting pirates, and spaceships' with bruises and wounds that they know they will recover from. As they are going 'back to the Castle' Jack asks Alice if she believes in Heaven, and God, and other questions, making Alice think before she answers them.
Jacks father Philip is a man who wants to be the most perfect of perfect fathers as he raises Jack by himself on the wages of the local clock maker and cobbler. Alice's parents are the type of parents that everyone always knew belonging to one of our best friends....the perfect ones.
As the school year is going into the fall and holiday season this is when the book really took me in that time machine back to my childhood and growing up in the 4th grade in 1971, and THIS is where i started to relive childhood. Both Jack and Alice reminded me so much of myself and my childhood best friend Starla Todd. Author Brandon Berntson writes with all that imagination and memories of his own childhood and somehow turns them around to be YOUR memories all over again....and that is a gift to be able to do.
Castle Juliet is a book that I will quote, and relive over and over again until I grow old, and already being 61 years old.....I cannot wait to go back to Storyville and to visit Jack and Alice again. This is just the most wonderful book of what it REALLY is like to be a child, and to live in a time no longer lived....the time of beauty, crime free, and innocence; and what it was like to really love a best friend.
🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰💜💜 Castles
Experience it!
February 27, 2015
Castle Juliet reads as if Peter Pan and Wendy of Neverland were subjects in Mayberry RFD or on Walton’s mountain, Goodnight Alice dear. Goodnight Jacky-boy. I was expecting the charm in that first chapter to curdle into something either satirical or cloying. It doesn’t.
This is not to say that there are occasions in which one character or another is not over-the-top. Alice and her mother Jane can be a bit too angelic ala Dickensian standards. All the women exude a tantalizing domesticity, even the late appearance of Emily Lila Patrick. The men, too, are prone to being overtaken by sentiment. Threats of swooning and tearful expressions abound. A healthy dose of sincerity and a few hints of the occasional flaw rescue the novel.
Castle Juliet is an unusual experience in how the novel relies heavily (if not solely) on the cycle of four seasons as the means to open and close the story. The story arc: building a castle for Juliet is subtly suggested now and again–and not to our irritation, but pleasant surprise. The structure of time is what moves the characters through digressions and repetitions and elongated contemplations on one thing or another. The structure reminds us of the driving force of time, and how time carves space for life to linger a while over a mouth-watering feast or a contemplation of the magic in uncomplicated emotion and unfettered imagination.
The novel is character-oriented. The heavy use of dialog in this otherwise 3rd person narrative emphasizes the individual voice of the characters. Each child is unmistakably their own. The adults’ sheer goodness is always surprising (call me jaded), but they are the only ones to slip into representational models of one value/ideal or another. Grown-ups are also surprisingly non-threatening considering they are the adulthood of the novel. But neither are the adults the focus. The threats to Jack and Alice’s desire to stay young are in and amongst themselves.
The son of a repairer of shoes and clocks, small-in-stature Jack riles against the restrictions of time. He doesn’t want the Summer of unbridled adventures to end. Academic work fails to compete with the spinning of his imagination. Indeed, most of the numbers Miss (whom Jack calls Mrs.) Appleblom writes on the board prove confrontational.
“How come the five and three look so mean and scary? […] I think they look scary. The eight does too, especially the way you write it, Mrs. Appleblom. You put that little horn on its head. Makes it look like a monster, like a sidekick of the devil’s or something to terrify the minions. Or a fat, nasty snowman. The seven looks kind of mean, too; at least, he could, if he wanted, I guess. I haven’t decided. And look at the two. He looks harmless enough. An easy guy to get along with. But I don’t like thw way the five and the three are just sitting up there on the board. They look like they’re waiting for everyone to turn their heads, so they can take over the classroom” (7).
It goes on before the teacher finally interrupts. I love that Berntson is unafraid of lengthy dialog here.
Luckily, Jack has his Wendy in Alice who begins to tutor him. His only friend, she joins him on his adventures, challenges his decision to disallow pink lasers, and pummels him in a snowball fight. She invites him over for dinner, can’t run fast in her cowgirl boots, and refuses his blushing requests for a kiss.
Alice is the princess, and not by Jack’s design. She is the doted upon only child and only girl and for most of the time the world of the book will revolve around her. But then, the story is constructing a castle for Juliet. Can Jack convince her that lingering this side of childhood is worth the while?
“Her mind reached out. She might be small, but she was far from insignificant. At the moment, she was the eye of the universe, watching it unfold, a girl on a spotted horse loving everything she saw. […] She wanted to savor this perfect day and take it at her leisure. She would still it, freeze it in time. Her goal was to make everything—including now, her memories, and Jack’s fantasies–immortal” (158-9).
Alice’s family anchors them all, but it is Jack who is driven to build, to imagine and create. He inspires the changes that build the stories in Castle Juliet.
“If Alice didn’t know any better, she’d say everyone she knew had had a hand in its construction in some way or another. […] But in every aspect, it could only be Jack who’d come up with the idea, who’d put the entire thing into execution, laid the groundwork, the planning, supervised” (221).
A believable quantity of goodness can be found in community and imagination, such as is expressed with childlike fervor in Castle Juliet; less of any sense of a return to innocence and more of a childhood reign. It is in adulthood that we find the careworn need for domesticity and its middle class stability. Both Jack and Alice (and even Tork) manage to resist slipping into adult-like proportion; Alice being the most vulnerable. Peter Pan couldn’t (and wouldn’t) rescue Wendy from growing-up, but Berntson does in his freckled and red-haired Alice. Perhaps it is because Jack isn’t all that like Peter, even if blood-thirsty tyrant does come to mind… Jack is able to change and grow without compromising that which the novel values of childlikeness: to love without complicating sexual politics, to find time for creative play and invention, to be like themselves and remain somewhat unexpected.
Berntson explores the wholesome visage of childhood, and he builds a castle of found things, pieces oft discarded and half-buried. He revitalizes the notion of what can be enchanting about the fantasy novel. The affect isn’t flawless**. But I’ll go for heart in a novel over cold precision. I’ll take imagination over stricture. And I’ll pick the castle over the picket fence every time.
——————-
Of note: It was odd having a beloved character called Jezebel, but there you go, Berntson was difficult to anticipate.
*Two: Brandon is a friend and co-worker. He told me that he wrote Castle Juliet as a bid for something more wholesome after a stint of writing Horror fiction; he succeeded. It reads like a palette cleanser for the world-weary.
**Thirdly, and to be fair: some of the flaw comes from my desire for extravagance in design, more paragraphing, corrected grammatical errors, and a reigning in of setting. These feel like nits picked compared to such an unusual and refreshing experience.
L (omphaloskepsis)
https://contemplatrix.wordpress.com/2...
This is not to say that there are occasions in which one character or another is not over-the-top. Alice and her mother Jane can be a bit too angelic ala Dickensian standards. All the women exude a tantalizing domesticity, even the late appearance of Emily Lila Patrick. The men, too, are prone to being overtaken by sentiment. Threats of swooning and tearful expressions abound. A healthy dose of sincerity and a few hints of the occasional flaw rescue the novel.
Castle Juliet is an unusual experience in how the novel relies heavily (if not solely) on the cycle of four seasons as the means to open and close the story. The story arc: building a castle for Juliet is subtly suggested now and again–and not to our irritation, but pleasant surprise. The structure of time is what moves the characters through digressions and repetitions and elongated contemplations on one thing or another. The structure reminds us of the driving force of time, and how time carves space for life to linger a while over a mouth-watering feast or a contemplation of the magic in uncomplicated emotion and unfettered imagination.
The novel is character-oriented. The heavy use of dialog in this otherwise 3rd person narrative emphasizes the individual voice of the characters. Each child is unmistakably their own. The adults’ sheer goodness is always surprising (call me jaded), but they are the only ones to slip into representational models of one value/ideal or another. Grown-ups are also surprisingly non-threatening considering they are the adulthood of the novel. But neither are the adults the focus. The threats to Jack and Alice’s desire to stay young are in and amongst themselves.
The son of a repairer of shoes and clocks, small-in-stature Jack riles against the restrictions of time. He doesn’t want the Summer of unbridled adventures to end. Academic work fails to compete with the spinning of his imagination. Indeed, most of the numbers Miss (whom Jack calls Mrs.) Appleblom writes on the board prove confrontational.
“How come the five and three look so mean and scary? […] I think they look scary. The eight does too, especially the way you write it, Mrs. Appleblom. You put that little horn on its head. Makes it look like a monster, like a sidekick of the devil’s or something to terrify the minions. Or a fat, nasty snowman. The seven looks kind of mean, too; at least, he could, if he wanted, I guess. I haven’t decided. And look at the two. He looks harmless enough. An easy guy to get along with. But I don’t like thw way the five and the three are just sitting up there on the board. They look like they’re waiting for everyone to turn their heads, so they can take over the classroom” (7).
It goes on before the teacher finally interrupts. I love that Berntson is unafraid of lengthy dialog here.
Luckily, Jack has his Wendy in Alice who begins to tutor him. His only friend, she joins him on his adventures, challenges his decision to disallow pink lasers, and pummels him in a snowball fight. She invites him over for dinner, can’t run fast in her cowgirl boots, and refuses his blushing requests for a kiss.
Alice is the princess, and not by Jack’s design. She is the doted upon only child and only girl and for most of the time the world of the book will revolve around her. But then, the story is constructing a castle for Juliet. Can Jack convince her that lingering this side of childhood is worth the while?
“Her mind reached out. She might be small, but she was far from insignificant. At the moment, she was the eye of the universe, watching it unfold, a girl on a spotted horse loving everything she saw. […] She wanted to savor this perfect day and take it at her leisure. She would still it, freeze it in time. Her goal was to make everything—including now, her memories, and Jack’s fantasies–immortal” (158-9).
Alice’s family anchors them all, but it is Jack who is driven to build, to imagine and create. He inspires the changes that build the stories in Castle Juliet.
“If Alice didn’t know any better, she’d say everyone she knew had had a hand in its construction in some way or another. […] But in every aspect, it could only be Jack who’d come up with the idea, who’d put the entire thing into execution, laid the groundwork, the planning, supervised” (221).
A believable quantity of goodness can be found in community and imagination, such as is expressed with childlike fervor in Castle Juliet; less of any sense of a return to innocence and more of a childhood reign. It is in adulthood that we find the careworn need for domesticity and its middle class stability. Both Jack and Alice (and even Tork) manage to resist slipping into adult-like proportion; Alice being the most vulnerable. Peter Pan couldn’t (and wouldn’t) rescue Wendy from growing-up, but Berntson does in his freckled and red-haired Alice. Perhaps it is because Jack isn’t all that like Peter, even if blood-thirsty tyrant does come to mind… Jack is able to change and grow without compromising that which the novel values of childlikeness: to love without complicating sexual politics, to find time for creative play and invention, to be like themselves and remain somewhat unexpected.
Berntson explores the wholesome visage of childhood, and he builds a castle of found things, pieces oft discarded and half-buried. He revitalizes the notion of what can be enchanting about the fantasy novel. The affect isn’t flawless**. But I’ll go for heart in a novel over cold precision. I’ll take imagination over stricture. And I’ll pick the castle over the picket fence every time.
——————-
Of note: It was odd having a beloved character called Jezebel, but there you go, Berntson was difficult to anticipate.
*Two: Brandon is a friend and co-worker. He told me that he wrote Castle Juliet as a bid for something more wholesome after a stint of writing Horror fiction; he succeeded. It reads like a palette cleanser for the world-weary.
**Thirdly, and to be fair: some of the flaw comes from my desire for extravagance in design, more paragraphing, corrected grammatical errors, and a reigning in of setting. These feel like nits picked compared to such an unusual and refreshing experience.
L (omphaloskepsis)
https://contemplatrix.wordpress.com/2...
April 3, 2018
Childhood
Alice and Jack are the embodiment of what childhood should be. They live in Storyville spending their summer breaks exploring and using their imaginations, at which Jack excells, for entertainment. Alice is always willing to follow his lead and add to the spirit of adventure. The school year is not not as easy for Jack but with the help of Alice, he soon improves his grades without sacrificing his imagination. This is the story of a year in their lives and of friendships that will last a lifetime.
Alice and Jack are the embodiment of what childhood should be. They live in Storyville spending their summer breaks exploring and using their imaginations, at which Jack excells, for entertainment. Alice is always willing to follow his lead and add to the spirit of adventure. The school year is not not as easy for Jack but with the help of Alice, he soon improves his grades without sacrificing his imagination. This is the story of a year in their lives and of friendships that will last a lifetime.
November 12, 2020
I wondered as I read whether it was going to suddenly be a fantasy, a paranormal adventure, a romance, etc. It was a happy story that had little conflict to resolve, so it just seemed to go on and on. Great read if you just want to read a descriptive view of an idyllic childhood.
May 12, 2020
Started out wonderfully, I think for me it went south without much if a plot. A lovely reminder of childhood dreaming and imagination.
March 26, 2016
Though I don't normally prefer books of this genre, I have to say this one has the potential to be a children's classic.
Kind of reminds me of "Bridge to Teribithia", but without the sad ending. If you like Old Yeller, Little House on the Prairie, The Swan's Trumpet, and other books of this type, you'll love Castle Juliet.
Criticisms:
Very old fashioned ideals. If you're into feminism at all, this book might just make you mad. Men working in the yard while women-folk work in kitchen.
Also, needs a good clean up. A lot of missing and mispelled/misused words. And a few timeline mistakes. Some sentences read like garbled junk, but it could be very nice with a good edit.
For my clean readers:
Very sweet and clean book, but I wouldn't suggest for very young readers. Some adult humor they may not understand.
Kind of reminds me of "Bridge to Teribithia", but without the sad ending. If you like Old Yeller, Little House on the Prairie, The Swan's Trumpet, and other books of this type, you'll love Castle Juliet.
Criticisms:
Very old fashioned ideals. If you're into feminism at all, this book might just make you mad. Men working in the yard while women-folk work in kitchen.
Also, needs a good clean up. A lot of missing and mispelled/misused words. And a few timeline mistakes. Some sentences read like garbled junk, but it could be very nice with a good edit.
For my clean readers:
Very sweet and clean book, but I wouldn't suggest for very young readers. Some adult humor they may not understand.
August 26, 2015
I wanted to like this more than I actually did. When it comes down to it, I think I've simply lost too much of the childhood magic in order to relate. The book felt overly "young" for me and I found the dialogue between characters off-putting at times. That being said, the story was well-written, evocative, and magical. Many others will garner lots more enjoyment, and I look forward to reading more stories by this author.
April 27, 2014
Awesome! It's a great playful kid's book for adults. It gives you laughs as you watch the characters be kids as you remember how your childhood relates. It's pretty cool, actually, how the author was able to put this story together.
May 2, 2013
I just about gave up a few times, finding it a little "young" for my taste. I can see where kids would really get a kick out of it though.
December 14, 2014
Enchanting, magical. How could anyone rate this one star. Really?
December 15, 2014
This book is how life and people should be, kids, adults, everything. In a perfect world, life would be Castle Juliet. Heartwarming, festive, imaginative, magical, but about so much more.
December 16, 2014
This book is amazing, so beautiful and magical! Everyone should read this! I loved it!
December 17, 2014
Berntson really is versatile. After reading Body of Immorality and Corona of Blue, I didn't know what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised. I laughed and cried!
December 18, 2014
Boy, if you are young at heart, this is the tale for you. All others need not apply. I want to give Jacky-boy a hug and adopt Alice as my own! Great story!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews