“She knew now that there were darker forces in the world than she had ever imagined, and brighter ones, too. She didn’t know exactly where she fit into it all, or what role she would play, but she knew now that she was part of it, part of the world, not just watching it. And she knew that her fate wasn’t set by how or where she was born, but the decisions she made and the battles she fought.” pg. 292 – Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty
Twelve year old Serafina knows she’s different from other kids, she just doesn’t know how, or why. It’s 1899 and Serafina and her father live in the basement of the great Biltmore House outside of Asheville, NC, where her father works as the maintenance man. The Vanderbilt family, who owns Biltmore House, knows that her father takes care of all the mechanical contraptions that help run the mansion, but what they don’t know is that he lives in his workshop in the basement and that he has a daughter who also lives there. By day Serafina sleeps on a mattress hidden in the workshop, by night she prowls the mansion, ridding it of rats and sometimes sneaking up to the main floors in search of a good book to read. But on this cold winter night, Serafina finds more than rats; she stumbles across a man dressed in a black cloak chasing a young girl who is visiting the mansion. When the man catches up to the terrified young girl, he wraps his cloak around her and with a scream she disappears … is Serafina next?
Serafina and the Black Cloak is part mystery, with a little scary thrown in, as we follow Serafina on her sometimes frightening journey to find out the man in the black cloaks identity and what she can do to stop him from stealing anymore children. It’s also part fantasy, as Serafina discovers the dark forces at work in the woods around Biltmore House, and part historical fiction for its background and setting at the largest home in the United States, the grand Biltmore House. Top all those themes off with Serafina herself, coming of age and discovering who she is and what she can be. This book for older elementary and middle school children has a little something for everyone in it.
Twelve year old Serafina knows she’s different from other kids, she just doesn’t know how, or why. It’s 1899 and Serafina and her father live in the basement of the great Biltmore House outside of Asheville, NC, where her father works as the maintenance man. The Vanderbilt family, who owns Biltmore House, knows that her father takes care of all the mechanical contraptions that help run the mansion, but what they don’t know is that he lives in his workshop in the basement and that he has a daughter who also lives there. By day Serafina sleeps on a mattress hidden in the workshop, by night she prowls the mansion, ridding it of rats and sometimes sneaking up to the main floors in search of a good book to read. But on this cold winter night, Serafina finds more than rats; she stumbles across a man dressed in a black cloak chasing a young girl who is visiting the mansion. When the man catches up to the terrified young girl, he wraps his cloak around her and with a scream she disappears … is Serafina next?
Serafina and the Black Cloak is part mystery, with a little scary thrown in, as we follow Serafina on her sometimes frightening journey to find out the man in the black cloaks identity and what she can do to stop him from stealing anymore children. It’s also part fantasy, as Serafina discovers the dark forces at work in the woods around Biltmore House, and part historical fiction for its background and setting at the largest home in the United States, the grand Biltmore House. Top all those themes off with Serafina herself, coming of age and discovering who she is and what she can be. This book for older elementary and middle school children has a little something for everyone in it.
top - The building of Biltmore House (1889 - 1895)
bottom - Biltmore House (modern day)
