 |
Reviewed by: Lisa Rice, Middle School Librarian Title: The Lost Library Author: Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Year: 2023 Good for Grades: 3-7 Genre/Type of Book: J fantasy, magic, mystery
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: n/a Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book: The cover appealed to me - libraries and cats, what's not to like? Also, I really enjoy books by Rebecca Stead. If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be: I loved the dedication for this book: "Dedicated to the librarians of the past, present, and future." |
Review:
The story takes place in the small town of Martinville and is told from multiple points of view, by a fluffy orange cat named Mortimer, a ghost librarian named Al, and Evan. Mortimer likes to talk to people, but no one can understand him. His job is to get rid of mice. Mortimer gently guides the mice out of the house (knowing they will come back), wishing them luck, and warning them about the other cats. Evan's story starts on his last week of 5th grade, where he discovers a little free library with an orange cat who appears to be guarding it. Noone knows where the little free library came from.
Evan takes some books from the little free library and when he gets home, his dad asks to see which books he chose, and he has quite a reaction when he sees one of the books marked as being from the Martinville Library. The Martinville Library burned down years and years ago. Evan discovers that the book was once checked out to his dad. Evan and his best friend Rafe decide to go back to the little free library and see if any of the other books are from the Martinville Library and they discover that 40 out of the 44 books are from that library. Evan's dad's name was on ten cards, and even more strange was that every single book was returned on November 5, 1999.
The book explores the mysteries surrounding dad, the little free library, and the old Martinville Library. I thought I would enjoy the mystery aspect, but it felt frustrating to me. I never knew what was going on, and although that is part of a mystery, it wasn't compelling. Al, the ghost, is not spooky but enjoys cooking with only apples and potatoes- and he was the assistant librarian at the Martinville Library.
I enjoyed that within the book there is a lot of talk about libraries, books, and cats. It is a book that shows how vital a library is to a community and will likely inspire others to get a little free library. There are a lot of fun quotes about libraries.
It would be a fun book to read with a middle school book club or other group that enjoys books and libraries. While it was not the book I expected, and somewhat confusing at times, it was enjoyable, and I think elementary and younger middle school readers would enjoy it. I recommend it for a library purchase.
Number of party hats:
Find more about The Lost Library on Teachingbooks.net
For more information about this book, see the Publishers Website
Read this title in your BOCES SORA Account: