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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
I immediately added it to our book club selection and told my daughter I wanted her to read it after she was done with Inside Out & Back Again. The McGillycuddy (how freaking awesome is that last name!) family is so sweet and I loved the relationship between mother, father and daughter. A surprising amount of middle grade novels feature a broken family, or no parents at all so it was refreshing to have a positive familial influence. It also puts a spin on writing and the joy of making a story and following it along. Tuesday is insistent that she is not a writer (sounds like a girl I know) and is told she wouldn’t be there if she didn’t have a story to write. Great motivation for emerging writers and storytellers.
https://beachwoodschoolhouse.wordpress.com/2018/12/28/finding-serendipity-middle-grade-review/
https://beachwoodschoolhouse.wordpress.com/2018/12/28/finding-serendipity-middle-grade-review/
This book was highly recommended. I think it was alright. Not the cutest book somewhat choppy at times.
This book meant absolutely everything to me when I was younger and is probably the reason I wanted to write stories.
Really good book! Finding Serendipity is such an inspiring book for aspiring (haha see what I did there?) authors, no matter what age you are. Highly recommend this book!
I was nicely impressed with this one
I did expect a bit more from it but it was good
The characters were amazing and so was the concept
The silver words carried me away to a happy land of books
I did expect a bit more from it but it was good
The characters were amazing and so was the concept
The silver words carried me away to a happy land of books
Finding Serendipity is a rambunctious adventure that also explores the compulsion of creativity – the magnetic pull, the hard work, the mystery, the beatings, the flights of fancy, the joy and the wonder. And here in lies the magic and gobsmacking cleverness of Angelica Banks (the pen name for not one brilliant writer, but two – Heather Rose and Danielle Woods). They have managed to create a wonderful fantasy adventure chapter book for children with a driving narrative gorgeous world of peppermint forests and oceans and cliffs and even a fantastic arch nemesis in the pirate Captain Mothwood. All this alone would have been enough for a good book. But they make it truly great with the injection of a story about writing. Mind-bendingly self-referential and clever and wonderful!
You see, our character Tuesday McGillycuddy is the daughter of the world’s most famous writer, Serendipity Smith. But no one knows this. When Tuesday finds her mother missing from her writing room, she sits at the typewriter and writes about it. A silver thread appears and carries Tuesday and her dog Baxterr (with a double R) off to the world of Story. There, Tuesday delves into the world of her mother’s adventure books, the world of Vivienne Small.
Throughout this adventure, Tuesday learns about the power of courage, imagination, storytelling and about getting to the end, about finding and losing. This books is an inspiration on so many levels. The details of how the world of story and how our world interacts with the characters there is brilliant. The adventure in the world is rollicking. And I haven’t even mentioned Tuesday’s wonderful wordy father, Dennis. In fact, all characters are rendered with detail and whimsy. The language soothes, delights, is playful and heart-warming.
This book will keep you turning pages, warm your heart, fire your creativity, make you laugh, delight the reader at every plot twist and turn and further imbue the wonder of storytelling to anyone who reads it.
You see, our character Tuesday McGillycuddy is the daughter of the world’s most famous writer, Serendipity Smith. But no one knows this. When Tuesday finds her mother missing from her writing room, she sits at the typewriter and writes about it. A silver thread appears and carries Tuesday and her dog Baxterr (with a double R) off to the world of Story. There, Tuesday delves into the world of her mother’s adventure books, the world of Vivienne Small.
Throughout this adventure, Tuesday learns about the power of courage, imagination, storytelling and about getting to the end, about finding and losing. This books is an inspiration on so many levels. The details of how the world of story and how our world interacts with the characters there is brilliant. The adventure in the world is rollicking. And I haven’t even mentioned Tuesday’s wonderful wordy father, Dennis. In fact, all characters are rendered with detail and whimsy. The language soothes, delights, is playful and heart-warming.
This book will keep you turning pages, warm your heart, fire your creativity, make you laugh, delight the reader at every plot twist and turn and further imbue the wonder of storytelling to anyone who reads it.
This book had a number of issues, including a weak plot. The transition between realism and fantasy was rushed and did not make very much sense. The conflict in this story was not suspenseful, and the “turning point” was anticlimactic.
Character development was also lacking in this book. The authors wanted us to believe that Tuesday changed at the end of the book, but we really do not see any evidence of this. I do not think that events in the story shaped her, and she did not grow in any way. Tuesday was also not a relatable character. We do not really know who she is, and her motivations do not make sense. Vivienne’s character was also not very well developed. It was difficult to get a sense of her as a character. We are told things about her in the story, but we really do not get to see anything except the surface level of her character. Tuesday’s parents were not well developed either. The mother character was very flat, and the father was too eccentric.
The authors of this book were trying really hard to make a quirky story, but it just did not work. The long descriptions were not charming, and they made the story drag. The authors seemed to have good overall ideas, but these ideas were poorly executed.
Character development was also lacking in this book. The authors wanted us to believe that Tuesday changed at the end of the book, but we really do not see any evidence of this. I do not think that events in the story shaped her, and she did not grow in any way. Tuesday was also not a relatable character. We do not really know who she is, and her motivations do not make sense. Vivienne’s character was also not very well developed. It was difficult to get a sense of her as a character. We are told things about her in the story, but we really do not get to see anything except the surface level of her character. Tuesday’s parents were not well developed either. The mother character was very flat, and the father was too eccentric.
The authors of this book were trying really hard to make a quirky story, but it just did not work. The long descriptions were not charming, and they made the story drag. The authors seemed to have good overall ideas, but these ideas were poorly executed.
What a fun book to share with any aspiring authors of any age!
This was a delightful read. Much like the Thursday Next series from Jasper Fforde, Tuesday (our heroine) goes into the world that is the setting of her book. Unlike the Thursday Next books, it isn't littered with reference upon references, making it accessible to its younger audience. Regardless, the story-within-a-story device provided an enjoyable framework and I thoroughly enjoyed it.