about the book
When she was just a baby, Serafina was found in the woods near Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. Since then, she has lived her life entirely in secret in the basement of the estate, with her father who serves as the maintenance man for the 250-room mansion. Ever since she was small, her father warned her never to be seen and never to leave the grounds, as there are dangers lurking in the hidden parts of the forest.
Serafina herself is almost catlike, with four toes per foot and glowing, golden eyes. She stealthily ventures throughout the house at night, crawling and climbing through vents, always eavesdropping on the rich people who live above her.
One night, Serafina witnesses a crying girl being dragged away by a man in a long, black cloak. As soon as the girl starts screaming and struggling, the cloak seems to come alive, swallowing her up. Serafina is petrified by what she has seen, but horrifyingly, this is just the first of the children who begin to disappear from the Biltmore Estate.
Teaming up with her only friend, Braeden Vanderbilt, who is the nephew of the Biltmore’s owners, Serafina works to solve the mystery of who this cloaked figure may be. When Braeden becomes the obvious next target, they must move quickly before he and the rest of the children are snatched away in the night.
In order to discover his identity, though, Serafina and Braeden are forced to go into the dark and dangerous woods, where they discover a forgotten magic, which might not only help save the missing children, but also solve the mystery of Serafina’s own identity as well.
about the author
Robert Beatty has had an exciting life, serving as a founder and CEO of Plex Systems, and as the co-founder of Beatty Robotics. He began building robots with his daughters when they were young, and this activity blossomed into a company that now builds robots for museums and centers for science. He has also been a chairman for the popular literary magazine, Narrative.
These days, he has been focusing on his writing. He was inspired to write the Serafina novels because he wanted a story to tell his daughters starring “an unusual and heroic girl.” He also loves to spend time exploring the real Biltmore Estate and the dark trails of the forest which serve as the settings for his novels.
When he was younger, Robert was a mountain climber and champion saber fencer, and he enjoyed lure coursing whippets with his wife. Now his interests include history, nature, riding horses, movies, books, and rehabilitating wildlife. He currently lives with his wife and three daughters in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina.
Sources:
Author website
Book trailer: Serafina and the Black Cloak
Also by Robert Beatty:
Serafina and the Twisted Staff (Serafina, Book 2). Disney-Hyperion. August 2016.
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