“Catanese dazzles in the first of the planned Books of Umber series by wittily subverting genre tropes. Happenstance, a boy with strange green eyes, wakes up in a cave with no memories of who he is or anything about the fantastic world in which he lives. He soon encounters Lord Umber, an adventurer who seems familiar with our world as well as his own, and his two companions — a brute cursed to be forever truthful and a one-handed artist and archer... As the group attempts to learn about his origins, they're forced to confront a supernatural assassin and secrets from Umber's own mysterious past. Catanese packs a lot into the book: rich characterizations, well-choreographed action sequences and genuinely surprising twists at the end. An auspicious start to the series.” - Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
 

“Readers, both young and old, will anxiously await future titles in the "Books of Umber" series.”  - Children's Literature

“Catanese’s forte is in defining the features of the colorful imaginary world he creates, which is part steampunk, part fairy tale, and has a surprising contemporary twist. Merpeople, leviathans, and sorceresses mingle with Mozart, mirrors, and elevators in this unusual culture . . . a cinematic quality that will be enjoyed by a wide range of fantasy readers.” - The Horn Book


“Catanese departs from the fairy tale retellings . . . to create an intriguing intergenerational partnership set in a fantasy world that tantalizes with glimpses of modern-day technology . . . an engaging and deftly written fantasy.”  - Booklist
 

“Hap's vulnerability and Umber's good-natured exuberance make them both extraordinarily appealing . . . the characters that surround the two are equally compelling . . . they emerge as almost archetypal in their symbolic resonance . . .  Rife with grisly horrors and absorbing wonders, Umber's coastal kingdom exerts a fascination that lingers after the last page is turned, and readers will be reassured by indications that a return visit is forthcoming.”
- The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
 

“You can’t pack much more intrigue into a first chapter than that of P. W. Catanese’s Happenstance Found, in which a boy wakes, “fully conscious and wholly formed” but with no memory of his past, and immediately discovers that he and his companions are in danger from a wormlike beast, that he’s in a tunnel under a mysterious lost city, and that he has in his possession a cryptic message . . . was that an earthquake? Things only get more exciting from here in this inventive fantasy, first in a projected series.” - Notes from The Horn Book newsletter

Named to ALAN’s Picks, April 2009
ALAN’s Picks is a monthly book review column that “highlights the latest and greatest in YA Lit.” (ALAN is The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents.)

Named to the Kid's Indie Next list, Spring 2009
“Inspired recommendations for kids from Indie booksellers.”