Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty is a thrilling tale of mystery and adventure set at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC in 1899. Having lived in Asheville and visited the house several times, there was no way I was going to pass up a chance to read this. (Also it's MG fantasy, always a bonus for me.) Serafina lives in secret in the basement of the Vanderbilt's spacious vacation home. She has lived there most of her life. Her father worked on the house as it was being built and is the mechanic who runs the massive generator and keeps the electricity going. Serafina is the chief rat catcher, slipping through the halls of her massive home secretly and quietly. She is light on her feet, sees well in the dark, and is quick enough to catch the vermin and keep them out. Serafina knows she if different and strange. Her father insists she stay hidden. But all that changes when one night Serafina witnesses a horrible crime. A little girl, a guest in the house, is fleein
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Diana Wynne Jones is an author I wish were on my list, too. I loved the first four Chrestomanci books, and I'm really not sure why I didn't continue reading the rest of her novels.
Our lists do have C.S. Lewis in common . . . thanks to The Chronicles of Narnia giving him an automatic edge! =P
They are:
Narnia 1-7
Out of the Silent Planet
Peralandra
That Hideous Strength
Till We Have Faces
Mere Christianity
The Screwtape Letters
The Great Divorce
The Four Loves
The Abolition of Man
The Pilgrim's Regress
The Problem of Pain
I listed the Lewis book's I own in the comment reply to Kate above. No multiples there either. :)
Great list!