Finding Serendipity

Banks, Angelica. Finding Serendipity
February 3rd 2015 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
ARC from Baker and Taylor

Tuesday McGillycuddy is glad to have an author for a mother, but she's even more glad when Serendipity Smith finishes her books and reverts to being her mother, Sarah, again. When Serendipity is supposed to finish her last book but runs late into the evening, Tuesday checks her top floor room... only to find out she is gone. Her father tells her not to worry, that her mother will be back in the morning, but Tuesday can't leave well enough alone. She looks on her mother's desk (where her mother works on an old fashioned typewriter) and finds an odd silver thread that spells out "the end". Before too long, Tuesday and her dog Baxterr are sucked into a land of stories. They meet author Blake Luckhurst who takes the to the Library where they get some provisions and some advice from the Librarian. Soon, Tuesday is off, writing her mother's story about a girl named Vivienne Small and trying to find out where her mother has gone. In the process, she manages to figure out not only her mother's story, but her own skills as a writer.
Strengths: My own favorite story-within-a-story is Roderick Townley' The Great Good Thing, and I could see this being popular with readers who like this sort of magical realism, and are fond of writing.
Weaknesses: Both a bit twee and disturbing for my taste; once I found out that the two authors were both writers of adult fiction AND Australian, this made much more sense to me. Don't know how this will fly with US tweens, at least in my school.

People who liked it more than I did:
Alexa Loves Books
Leaning Tower of Tomes
Mrs. Ripp Reads
yAdult Review