The Lost Library
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Now a New York Times bestseller, a #1 Indie Bestseller, and the Amazon #1 Best Kids' Book of 2023, readers won't want to miss this story of a little free library guarded by a cat and a boy who takes on the mystery it keeps.
When a mysterious little free library (guarded by a large orange cat) appears overnight in the small town of Martinville, eleven-year-old Evan plucks two weathered books from its shelves, never suspecting that his life is about to change.
Evan and his best friend Rafe quickly discover a link between one of the old books and a long-ago event that none of the grown-ups want to talk about. The two boys start asking questions whose answers will transform not only their own futures, but the town itself.
Told in turn by a ghost librarian named Al, an aging (but beautiful) cat named Mortimer, and Evan himself, The Lost Library is a timeless story from award-winning authors Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass. It’s about owning your truth, choosing the life you want, and the power of a good book (and, of course, the librarian who gave it to you).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Library records contain the keys to a town's secrets in this lightly fantastical literary mystery from the creators of Bob. On the last Monday of fifth grade, Evan McClelland takes two books from a little free library that has appeared seemingly overnight. The books' circulation cards signal that they're from the Martinville Library, which burned down years ago—and one card suggests that Evan's father once checked out the book over and over again. With best friend Rafe and a copy of How to Write a Mystery Novel that's linked to a famous author, Evan seeks to unravel his family's possible connection to the town's history while navigating his anxiety about the looming adjustment to middle school. Via distinct, unhurried voices, alternating chapters provide history and context from the perspectives of Evan, large orange feline Mortimer, and ghost Al, an assistant librarian at the Martinville Library who died in the fire. Bustling with well-rounded secondary characters and threaded with metafictional elements, Mass and Stead's collaboration is a humane ode to the courage needed to face life's changes as well as the power of libraries as centers of community. Cover art portrays Evan with pale skin. Ages 8–12. Agents: (for Stead) Faye Bender, Book Group; (for Mass) Ginger Knowlton, Curtis Brown.
