The Battle for Duncragglin

Count on avid reader and guest reviewer Vinny to find the most fascinating fiction for Middle Schoolers. Today’s book is recommended for ages 11 and up and is published by Tundra Books.

I thought that the book The Battle for Duncragglin by Andrew H. Vanderwal was a fantastic story that tells how Scottish descendents, Alex Macpherson and three of his friends, Annie, Willie, and Craig, managed to go back in time through underwater caves below the cliffs of Scotland. Both Alex and his friends had reasons why they wanted to go inside the caves. Alex’s goal was to find his missing parents, and his friends’ goal was to find their missing mother, all were said to have disappeared in the village where the crushed remains of Duncragglin castle once stood, brave and proud. When they awoke from what seemed like a terrible dream in the caves, from getting lost, to seeing unreal visions, they find themselves back in the time of medieval Scotland, where there were castles and guards and war.

Throughout the story, Alex and his three friends learn what it means to be a part of history, from being held captive, to eating stale bread, to fighting in war. Meanwhile the battle for the Scottish castle, Duncragglin, rages on, and the feeling of war is traveling and spreading through the medieval air. It affected everyone, including Alex and his friends. Will Alex rescue his captive friends before they are hung at the guillotine? Will Alex and William Wallace’s team be able to defeat Lord Husselrige’s? Alex, Willie, Annie, and Craig ever be able to reach the portal back home? Will Alex stay back and search for his long-lost parents? Will his friends find their mother? You have to read to find out! You’ll want to because this novel has its twists and turns like any great book. I do recommend this book; it was a plate of historical fiction. I wanted seconds.