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Summary
Summary
A magical journey into the land where stories come from
"[A] sweet-toned, summer-fun story." -- The New York Times Book Review
When Tuesday McGillycuddy and her beloved dog, Baxterr, discover that Tuesday's mother--the famous author Serendipity Smith--has gone missing, they set out on a magical adventure. In their quest to find Serendipity, they discover the mysterious and unpredictable place that stories come from. Here, Tuesday befriends the fearless Vivienne Small, learns to sail an enchanted boat, tangles with an evil pirate, and discovers the truth about her remarkable dog. Along the way, she learns what it means to be a writer and how difficult it can sometimes be to get all the way to The End.
This title has Common Core connections.
Finding Serendipity by Angelica Banks, with illustrations by Stevie Lewis, is the first in a series. that continues with book two, A Week Without Tuesday .
"This enchanting story . . . celebrates the imagination and the connection writers feel with their stories. Spunky characters; spot-on pacing, providing perfectly timed plot revelations; and fully imagined worlds make this a charming winner." -- Booklist , starred review
"With cinematic imagery and keen wit, the authors construct an inventive novel." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Young writers will find inspiration in the tale--especially those who have a story within them but might be too shy to tell it." -- The New York Times Book Review
Author Notes
Angelica Banks is not one writer but two. Heather Rose and Danielle Wood are both award-winning authors of literary fiction. They have been friends for years, and when they decided to write a book together, they chose a pen name to make things easy.
Reviews (7)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Writing as Banks, Australian adult fiction authors Heather Rose and Danielle Wood make a sparkling children's book debut in a novel that bridges and blurs reality and fantasy, while offering a tantalizing spin on the notion of story. Tuesday McGillycuddy lives with her language-loving father and author mother, who, under the name Serendipity Smith, writes a bestselling adventure series starring heroine Vivienne Small. When Tuesday's mother disappears while finishing Vivienne's final tale, Tuesday types "The End" on her mother's typewriter, hoping she'll reappear. When she doesn't, Tuesday starts writing her own story ("Maybe what we need is a beginning"). As she types, the words transform into silvery threads that transport Tuesday and her dog, Baxterr, to a world reserved for authors, where she enlists Vivienne's help to find her mother. Their wild escapade (involving an encounter with a pirate whose bluster rivals Captain Hook's) becomes interwoven with her mother's fiction. With cinematic imagery and keen wit, the authors construct an inventive novel that raises intriguing questions about the relationship between authors and their characters, and reaches "The End" all too soon. Ages 8-up. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
When Tuesday McGillycuddy's famous author mom goes missing--just as she's about to finish her latest book--Tuesday and her dog, Baxterr, travel to "the place where stories happen." In the tradition of such classics as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the Chronicles of Narnia, this every-day fantasy features memorable characters, a fully-realized imaginary world, and the inevitable good-versus-evil showdown. Stylish black-and-white spot art adds humorous touches. (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Young Tuesday McGillycuddy has a secret: her mother, Serendipity Smith, is the famous author of the Vivian Small adventure series. And now Serendipity has disappeared she has somehow been swept out of their town house into Vivian Small's stories. The desperate Tuesday manages to create a way to follow her mother, and accompanied by her dog, she too enters the world of story. Before long, she meets Vivian Small and joins her in her battle with the dreadful pirate Carsten Mothwood, all the while hoping to find a way to reclaim her mom. This enchanting story (which may remind readers of the fully imagined worlds created by Edith Nesbit) celebrates the imagination and the connection writers feel with their stories. Spunky characters; spot-on pacing, providing perfectly timed plot revelations; and fully imagined worlds make this a charming winner for curling up with a good book or classroom read-alouds. Even those struggling a bit with reading will be tempted to up their game with this one.--Moore, Melissa Copyright 2015 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
IT'S A STANDARD beach-read setup: Young Billy Gillfoyle thinks he is going to spend a dull summer at a cabin by a lake, watching his parents' marriage sink. But in "The Island of Dr. Libris," Chris Grabenstein has more devious plans in mind for young Billy. Deprived of TV and Internet access, Billy starts working his way through the cabin's extensive library. As he reads about the trials of Hercules, he hears distant sounds of battle coming from the island in the middle of the lake. As he reads "The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood," the cries across the water take on a suspiciously Olde English flavor. Rowing out to investigate, he discovers that whatever classic he reads manifests itself on the island. "The Three Musketeers," "Jack and the Beanstalk," "Tom Sawyer," "Journey to the Center of the Earth" - they all spew up their dramatis personae into a chaotic jumble of swashbuckling anachronism. Billy and his asthmatic pal, Walter, have to figure out what's summoning these fictional foes and heroes before their summer reading list gets deadly. This kind of mash-up is in the air right now - witness the "Night at the Museum" movies and "Into the Woods." Though the premise is familiar, kids will enjoy the cartoonish mayhem, especially given Grabenstein's breezy narrative voice and jaunty wit. ("Billy," sighs the boy's mother, trying to get him to read. "What do you think kids did back before video games or TV or even electricity?" "I don't know," he replies. "Cried a lot?") The solutions to the book's conundrums are somewhat less ingenious and more haphazard than those in Grabenstein's earlier, Wonka-esque "Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library." On the other hand, as in "Lemoncello," there is a winning generosity and sweetness to the story's telling. There are not many of us who could mix sunny Pollyanna with a prehistoric sharkodile and avoid spilling blood. Will "Dr. Libris" lead nonreaders to pick up Verne, Dumas or Twain? Who's to say? But they may well enjoy reading Grabenstein. Another sweet-toned, summer-fun story of the meeting between kids and their favorite characters is "Finding Serendipity," by Angelica Banks (who is, to add to this metafictional hall of mirrors, actually two Tasmanian authors, Heather Rose and Danielle Wood). Young Tuesday McGillycuddy comes from a family that delights in wordplay, rhyme and alliteration. When her mother, author of a world-famous fantasy series, disappears, Tuesday sets off to find her with the help of the adorable family dog, Baxterr (sic, or maybe sicc - Tuesday explains that Baxterr has the extra "r" "because rrrr is what he will say if anyone ever tries to hurt me"). Searching for clues at her mother's typewriter, the girl follows a silver string of words out the window and is tugged up into the air, arriving eventually at the mysterious place in the clouds where authors get their ideas. With the help of a snot-nosed (literally) teenage author of an action series, Tuesday manages to find her way into her mother's final sequel, where she meets the characters in person - not only the charismatic fantasy heroine Vivienne Small (who has one elf ear, one normal ear, bat wings and go-go boots) but also her nemesis, the ghastly, half-dead pirate Mothwood. In the end, young Tuesday realizes that she herself is an author just like her mother, with the gumption to take narrative into her own small hands. The plot's allegorical logic - it is really about the struggles of a young writer trying to find courage and her own voice - is occasionally a little hazy, especially because the book's view of authorship is not so much practical as heroic and mystical. ("The magic comes from nowhere but within you. . . . Stories want to be told. Stories have a power of their own, and they choose their writers carefully.") Sure, authors occasionally do fly through the night sky to meet up together in a disembodied realm where reality and fantasy meet; it's called the Anaheim Convention Center. But usually revision, as well as miraculous inspiration, has a role to play. Nevertheless, young writers will find inspiration in the tale - especially those who have a story within them but might be too shy to tell it. M.T. ANDERSON'S novel "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing. Vol. I: The Pox Party" won a National Book Award in 2006.
Bookseller Publisher Review
Tuesday's mother is Serendipity Smith, the most famous author in the world. Serendipity is supposed to finish her latest novel today, but when Tuesday knocks on her door, the manuscript is lying unfinished on the desk and Serendipity is missing. Tuesday thinks the key to finding her may lie in the unfinished manuscript, so she sits down at her mother's typewriter. But when she starts to type, the words lift her up and sweep her to the land where writers go to find the way through their stories. There she finds her way into her mother's latest novel, the thrilling adventures of Vivienne Small. Finding Serendipity is the first novel for children by adult fiction authors Heather Rose and Danielle Wood, writing as Angelica Banks. It's not entirely successful: the prose feels self-conscious and cutesy, and Vivienne Small's Peter Pan-esque story-within-a-story isn't original or convincing enough to really support the book's theme on the magic of storytelling. But the world is an imaginative one, with some charming details such as the room of ghostly works in progress and the row of helpful dishes labelled things like `Absolutely Nothing Is Going to Plan'. Tuesday's story will appeal to middle and upper primary readers with writing aspirations. Jarrah Moore is a primary literacy editor at Cengage Learning Australia
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Tuesday McGillycuddy's mom is the world-famous writer Serendipity Smith. If Serendipity is not off promoting herself on TV and radio, then she is holed away in her room working on her children's novels. Tuesday can't wait until her mom completes "Vivienne Small and the Final Battle" so they can spend more time together. Then Serendipity mysteriously disappears. Tuesday soon finds the words "The End" spelled out in shimmering, silver letters floating in the air above the keyboard and believes it's a clue to her mom's whereabouts. Typing her own story produces similar silvery words that entwine and carry her and her faithful dog Baxterr to a land where all books are created. Tuesday is convinced she will find her mom here. Though warned against doing so by a kindly librarian in this magical realm, Tuesday enters the world of her mother's book and soon embarks on exciting adventures with Vivienne Small. Threatened by bloodthirsty pirates and menacing Captain Mothwood, Vivienne and Baxterr are in extreme danger and Tuesday's creative writing skills must save them from this dire predicament. The spunky and likable characters are portrayed in line drawings throughout the book. Though it is occasionally hard to distinguish whether Vivienne's current world has been created by Serendipity or Tuesday, it does not diminish the enjoyment of this imaginative tale. Bank's story is magically whimsical and filled with adventurous twists that will keep readers turning the pages.-Diane McCabe, John Muir Elementary, Santa Monica, CA (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A middle-grade fantasy about the magic in writing stories. The tale begins ordinarily enough: Young Tuesday McGillycuddy is waiting for her mother, famous author Serendipity Smith, to finish the latest book in her wildly popular Vivienne Small series so they can have a family vacation. When Serendipity doesn't emerge from her studio one evening, Tuesday and her father, Denis, investigate. They find Serendipity gone and the window in front of her typewriter desk wide open. Denis seems unperturbed, assuring Tuesday that her mother will be home by breakfast, but Tuesday can't sleep. Tiptoeing to the studio, Tuesday discovers a silver box containing a gossamer thread that spells "The End." Intrigued, Tuesday places the thread on the last page of her mother's manuscript, thinking that if the story ends, then her mother will return, but the words won't stick. Deciding to start with a beginning, Tuesday begins typing a story. Her words lift off the page and form a magical thread that carries Tuesday and her dog, Baxterr, to the land where stories are written. Banks tells her story in a comfortable bedtime-story-ish third-person narrative voice that's entirely appropriate to the situation. Readers will laugh as Tuesday meets a self-absorbed successful teenage writer, they will duly respect the knowledgeable Librarian, and they will thrill as Tuesday and Vivienne Small partake in a rollicking adventure together. An original, wholehearted affirmation of the written word and the imagination. (Fantasy. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
