Monday, January 6, 2025

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday # MMGM Book Review: The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass

The Little Free Library that appears on the town green intrigues eleven-year-old, Evan. He takes two books from it on his first visit. Both books turn up surprises and mystery for him, especially after his father's odd reaction when Even showed him one of them. Curiosity has Evan and his best friend, Rafe, on the case. One thing they notice is that all the books in the Little Free Library are old library books, and they all have the same date stamped inside them. This gets them learning about the history of their town and events that happened in it years ago. They both learn more about their town and its occupants than they would have ever expected. Where did the library come from? Why is Evan's dad so weird about the book that was found? What is the significance of the date in the books? Will Evan and Rafe be able to get all the pieces to fall into place? You will have to read this suspenseful and magical tale to find out. 

The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass is told from the viewpoints of Evan, Al (a ghostly librarian), and Mortimer (a cat). I really like the way the story had parts of the story coming from characters with different information. The characters lives were intertwined, and it was interesting to watch the mystery unfold. Evan and Rafe were great characters who acted realistically, and I liked the way they went about solving the cases together. It was really amazing how books helped to bring people together. Yay for Little Free Libraries! I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries, books, and ghosts. It was a page turner! I have read books by these authors before, and I look forward to reading more by both of them in the future.

Has anyone else read The Lost Library? Or have you read another book by Rebecca Stead or Wendy Mass? We would love to hear your thoughts!

Happy Reading!
~L

For other MMGM posts, please visit Greg Pattridge's blog.