Author: Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass
Illustrator: Celia Krampien
© Date: 2023
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Pages: 215
Chapters: Yes
Illustrations: No
Publisher Recommended Age: 8-12 years
Bonus Activities at End of Book: No
Summary from Book: 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).
Page Pig Thoughts: This one was a truly well done story. So many different little mystery threads all woven along in an interesting story about a small town. I loved the message about great readers and mentioning a children’s book club that discusses whatever they read in a friendly and curious manner. Many lovely messages are found in the characters and the story. I am definitely curious to read other books by these authors and hope to read this one with Page Pup soon.
Use caution with younger or sensitive readers, the library fire that caused loss of life and ghost librarians may be unsettling.
Family Unit: Evan lives at home with his mother and father
Items of Interest:
- A group of children would meet once a week in the library to have a book club. The children would share a book that they had read and how they felt about it. Great readers are made not from the quantity of books that they read, but by having feelings about what they read. One day, the assistant librarian presented a book that she loved. A boy said that he had already read that book and it was boring. But that was okay, readers feel differently about books. They had their conversation about the book and left as friends.
- The assistant librarian, Al, was an orphan that followed her love of reading into being a librarian.
- Evan’s father had his mother die when he was a child.
- Mortimer the cat watches over the library books but misses his sister. He ushers the mice outside instead of killing them.
- After reading a book about a mouse as a child, Evan’s dad felt differently about mice and felt that they should not be killed. They were just another creature. As an adult, he is an exterminator that catches the mice and drives them outside of town to release them. Unfortunately, the mice seem to keep finding their way back.
- Rafe’s parents are “overprotective.” Rafe cannot cross the street on his own or do many other things on his own. His parents slowly started creating rules for him after they got scared about Rafe picking up a snake.
- Al lives with two ghosts, but turns out not to be a ghost herself. When she realizes that she needs to find her own path in the world and her confidence to do so grows a little bit, Al discovers that she is not really a ghost.
- Evan sneaks into the ruins of the burned down library and climbs into the forbidden treehouse while looking for clues. His father says that Evan is not supposed to climb into the treehouse, but does not get overly upset.
- An older boy that had climbed into the locked treehouse had fallen and broken bones. He had a massive scar down his leg.
- Evan’s family has a “rock of truth” in the backyard. The rules are simple, no lying and no interrupting.