Serafina and the Black Cloak

With darker images and historical details, this is a thrilling read, which will have kids hiding under their blankets long after bedtime.

Serafina has spent much of her twelve-years, living in the basement of a manor with her father. She's not allowed to let anyone know she exists or her father would lose his job. But she's found her own usefulness and serves the house as the unknown rat catcher...something she's amazingly talented at. When she hears screams in another section of the basement, she rushes to save whoever is in danger despite what it means to her own existence. But when she sees a creature in a dark cloak absorb a little girl, she barely escapes with her life. Still, she can't let the horror be ignored and tries to figure show more out a way to stop whatever evil is at large before more children disappear.

The graphics in these pages take on a darker tone, sticking mostly to the drearier atmosphere...and this works very well. Serafina's world is a darker place as she's spent most of it in the basement and out only at night. The scenes are well placed and keep the tension high, while still allowing the time period and characters to come across nicely. There was a time or two, where the frame order threw me for a moment, but the rest is an easy read. It was easy to get lost into the tale and hard to put the book down until the very last page.

To make sure this hangs closely to the original tale, there seems to be an fairly even divide between dialogue (speech bubbles) and explained plot and thoughts (presented in when text in black rectangles). This mix keeps the events clear and allows the reader to dive deeper into Serafina's head. It's well suited for the middle grade level and will pull even slightly older readers in.

It's a grabbing story with surprising twists and turns. Not only does Serafina find herself up against a dangerous creature, but learns more about herself. So, there is quite a bit of character depth going on as well. It also hits upon friendship and learning to step past the comfort zone. More sensitive readers might be bothered by the creepiness of the creature and a couple more aggressive scenes. Those, who enjoy a touch of fear and shadows, will enjoy this one quite a bit. show less

Dark & spooky YA that's all grown up beyond the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew that I read! This could be just the thing for independent readers; especially young women that can identify with Emily The Strange or Winona Ryder's Lydia (Beetlejuice).

In this story, The Biltmore and its environs (and its history) is a character as real as the plucky heroine with her mysterious past. I would be proud to meet any young reader that sees in Serafina a worthy role model.

I like the flashes of bright metaphor in the language like the "fanged intent" of the crouching dog, etc.

The supernatural denouement surprised me, but I guess all good lit should surprise, I may be hidebound by my Scooby Doo roots. This work feels like it is sympatico with the readers of show more J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer. show less

I picked up Serafina and the Black Cloak because I visited the Biltmore Estate when on vacation in Asheville, North Carolina. When I found out that a young adult novel used the Biltmore Estate as it's setting, I had to have it. Little did I know that it was also a fantasy novel. Could this book be more up my alley?

You certainly don't have to visit Biltmore to read Serafina, but throughout the entire novel I was able to vividly picture every scene. Having visited Biltmore really added to my reading experience. My mom wants to read it as well just because of the setting.

As for the storyline, I really enjoyed it. I found aspects of the story to be rather original ideas. I had never heard of a catamount before, and it made for an show more interesting premise. I also thought the magic behind the cloak was a very clever idea.

It was a good fantasy novel and I can't wait to see what Serafina does in the next book. She is such a unique character, far from perfect, but that's part of what makes her so likable. show less

I read this book to my grand-daughter [9] over the summer months. We both loved it. Although there were some longish gaps between reads she retained the story really well and each time we resumed she very quickly got caught up in the story again. She was intrigued by the fact that it is set is an real place and I showed her photographs of the Biltmore Estate. Now that I know the author lives nearby I can understand how the place inspired him. I think Beatty is a real story teller, sucking you into his world, by great descriptions, lovely writing and intriguing characters. We loved it so much that I had to buy book 2 so that we could move onto it seamlessly.

Magic, Mystery, and a Touch of History

Young Serafina is the daughter of the Chief Mechanic at the Vanderbilt's Biltmore Estate in North Carolina. While he works throughout the estate, she is the "Chief Rat Catcher" (a job lovingly given to her by her Pa) and stays out of sight. No one living in the great house knows she exists. Pa and Serafina secretly make their home in the basement.

While working in the basement one day, Serafina witnesses a terrifying scene. Soon, children at the Estate begin visiting one by one. Although Serafina's Pa has forbid her from wandering around the Estate, and especially from going into the forest surrounding the mansion, Serafina believes she is the only one who can find the missing children and put a show more stop to the terror.

This middle grade book combines many different genres and good character and plot development to interest adult readers. While there are elements of magic and fantasy, this book is much more grounded in reality than something like the Harry Potter series (which may make it more or less appealing, depending on reader preferences). The author is a fan of the Biltmore Estate, and nicely weaves historical detail about its construction, architecture, and the Vanderbilt family into the plot. There's even a touch of North Carolina folklore.

Like many good middle grade books, the main characters grapple with age-relevant issues of friendship, trust, questioning their parents/guardians, acceptance, etc.

A solid 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Disney Hyperion for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. show less

This was a bed time read-aloud with my girls, 12 and 9, over the last few weeks. Here's how much they enjoyed this book. One sneakily checked it out from her school library to read the ending because she just couldn't wait (I was reading it to them from my Kindle app). The other made me read waaaay longer than usual for the last few nights and even volunteered to read it aloud to us herself if we could keep reading (this is not something she usually wants to volunteer for). So ... great mystery, strong female protagonist, interesting characters, very plot driven. Looking forward to the sequel!

A solid middle grade book in which:
a) the girl is faced with having to save the boy,
b) the adults are not morons, and
c) no one is a near-perfect prodigy.

I liked Serafina and found her sneaky adventures around the Biltmore Estate to be quite fun (and, I would imagine, even more fun to the imagination of a 6th- or 7th-grader). I loved that the story involves a real historical setting, along with some (not all) real historical characters without being a heavy-handed history lesson.

I particularly loved that there were no political undertones, rich vs poor etc, which perhaps isn't 100% realistic but is very, very refreshing. The news is full of those of us who cannot get along. It's nice to be reminded that in many cases, we can, and do.