Finding Serendipity

Scholastic

Finding Serendipity
Angelica Banks
2013

The Summary
"When Tuesday McGillycuddy and her beloved dog, Baxterr, discover that Tuesday's mother--the famous author Serendipity Smith--has gone missing, they venture to the mysterious and unpredictable place that stories come from.  To save the lives of those she loves, Tuesday must summon all her wit, courage, and imagination.  But how will she ever find her way home?"

The Good
I picked up Finding Serendipity on whim when I spotted it in a local book fair at my library.  For some reason, I fell in love with the cover and I simply couldn't resist finding out what adventures that Tuesday was about to share with her loyal dog Baxterr.  I jumped right in and, honestly, I'm glad I did.

Finding Serendipity is an excellent book for young readers.  Full of terrifying villains, swashbuckling heroes, clever heroines, and plenty of adventure, Angelica Banks' novel is an intriguing thriller with a very unique story.  I especially loved the inventive way Banks' portrayed authors and their novels, creating a malleable world shaped by an author's thoughts, dreams, and words.

The beginning of the story is a thread that takes you on an adventure through time and space to encounter incredible creatures and magical places.  I loved the notion that words could literally transport an author and a reader.  It was a nice, magical element to the novel that connected the real world with the author's imagined world.

The Bad
Finding Serendipity is for younger readers, so it isn't a particularly complex novel.  It does encounter some mature themes, such as life and death, but, for the most part, it's pretty straight-forward and not particularly scary.

Don't get me wrong, Mothwood is a sinister and, quite frankly, terrifying villain; moreover, I found a few moments were a bit pulse-pounding as I hoped for the safety of Vivienne Smalls, Tuesday and her beloved dog.  But, overall, it's a novel best suited to younger readers and it reflects in the writing and content.

The Ugly
Mothwood.

He really creeps me out.