If you love cats with 24 toe-beans… You will love Mortimer! There are multiple points of view, including Mortimer the car, Al the Ghost Librarian [or does she just live with ghosts? ;)], and Evan, who is graduating from his last year of elementary school. There were three narrators, so it was fairly easy to understand the viewpoint listening to the audiobook.
There are several mysteries that are revealed, and while some are obvious, some are not as clear. When a free little library pops up, all the folks in town are excited to see the books. When Evan realizes that the books are all stamped as returned the day the library burnt down, he decides to figure out what happened. However, he can’t seem to get a straight answer out of the adults in town. When he sees Al, he asks her questions and doesn’t seem to recognize that she is a ghost. (BTW, there is a cute part where Al bemoans the fact that she isn’t a proper ghost and is often seen by the townspeople.)
All-in-all, it’s a great book, and I bet will be a hit with the late elementary/ middle school crowd.

Many thanks to author Rebecca Steed, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the free copy of this Audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

Not what I was expecting but an interesting read. Perfect for elementary read aloud. A cat and book lover must have.

This was a really fun middle grade fantasy/mystery mashup.
We have 3 POVs in this book, Evan who finds this Little Free Library and discovers that years earlier a fire destroyed the real library and is determined to find out what happened. Al who was the assistant librarian and lives along with the librarian and another man as ghosts who died in the fire. The last one is Mortimer, a cat who lives with Al and tends to the LFL.
There was a different narrator for each POV which really brought the book to life. It was easy to remember which POV we were in and really get immersed in each storyline. The characters were fun, Evan had some great friendships, Al had some great friendships and mentors and really Mortimer was just a cat, but I loved him.
It was fun to read along with Evan discovering the fire and Al remembering before, during and after the fire. It really gave the story body and I really wanted to find out what happened at the library.
The ending was really heartwarming. This is the perfect book for a young bookworm!

4.5 stars! I also got a eARC copy of this book and was very thankful to receive both! This book was so sweet and wholesome. I absolutely loved getting Mortimer’s POV and so many of his internal thoughts really tugged at my heartstrings. The same can be said for Al’s perspective. I also enjoyed the mystery of what happened to the library. It was awesome to see how everyone’s story came together and I really enjoyed this book! Wendy Mass was a favorite author of mine as a kid so it was really fun to read this book by her and Rebecca Stead as an adult!

What happens when we can't let go of our past mistakes and let that stop us from living our present? That is the story in the The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead; Wendy Mass. #NetGalley Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy in exchange for my honest and independent review.

Mortimer, the library cat and AL the ghost librarian both have reasons to fear feeling and going forward. But, with the help of a few other ghosts, a young sleuth named Evan, and a few theatrical mice they both learn how to fulfill their destinies and stand up to their fear.

This was a cute middle grade mystery by two amazing authors. As a readaloud, this one could skew as low as 3rd grade.

A little free library magically pops up overnight. Most of the books seem to be from the town library that burned to the ground decades ago. 11-year-old Evan senses that there's more to the story and maybe these books will unlock the secret of how the fire started all those years ago.

The story is told from three perspectives: Evan (a 5th grader whose dad was mysteriously connected to the original library), Mortimer (the tabby who protects the little free library), and Al (a ghost librarian). The audiobook is narrated by a full cast that adds dimension to the story.

3.5 stars rounded up. Thanks to NetGalley for the Advanced Readers' Copy!

What a fun tale.filled with so many strange and wonderful characters. A orange guard cat, plenty of mice, librarians, fifth graders and even a ghost or two (or three). There is mystery, intrigue and plenty of loving adults. Perfect on audio for a road trip with kids or grandkids.

Eleven-year-old Evan plucks discovers a Little Free Library that appeared overnight and has a cat guardian, and when he grabs two books from its shelves, his life will change forever. Evan and his friends discover a link between the books and something the town never talks about, why there’s no actual library in town anymore.

The book jumps between points-of-view, Evan, a ghost-librarian called AL, and cat guardian Mortimer. It’s a fun adventure with some good mystery thrown in. Evan’s a great character, and his desire to find the truth, along with his friendships and family dynamic make this one a great choice for middle-graders (and those of us adults who enjoy middle-grade fiction). If you’ve ever loved a Little Free Library, this one will make you smile.

The Lost Library is a sweet story about a middle school aged boy who is determined to solve the mystery about what happened to the old town library, the one that burned down. The more he digs into things, the more he keeps coming back to one person, to one likely suspect for what happened. But he doesn’t realize that that suspect might be closer to him that he thinks.

This was an interesting and entertaining book, perfect for readers of all ages. There are paranormal beings in this book, ghosts of those who perished in the library fire, but they are peaceful and caring, and they add a delightful whimsy to the book.

The writing is excellent, with realistic characters, and a story that’s easy to embrace. It’ll take you back to your own tween-age days and remind you of how much curiosity you had back then.

I received an advanced reader audiobook from the publisher through NetGalley. I thank all involved for sharing this darling book with me, but it had no effect on this review. All opinions in this review reflect my true and honest reactions to listening to this audiobook.

The Lost Library captured my heart, and my nine year old son’s heart. This book was so clever, funny, sad, and heart warming.

As a family, we built and now steward a Little Free Library. This story had a Little Free Library as a central theme that propelled the characters forward, and it was so well done. I think this story delivers so much to young minds, from new knowledge, to understanding fears, to finding passions and following them.

I think this story became my son’s absolute favorite book. It will be hard to compete with this one, as he’s still talking about it, and we finished it almost a week ago. We may have to listen a second time, and he’s already confirmed we will buy a copy for ourselves and for our Little Free Library. As a reader, I really enjoyed this story as well, and was even completely surprised by it at about the 20% mark (and surprising me completely is hard to do with reading).

We listened to the audiobook. There are three narrators, and they all played their characters so well. We loved all of them, but we especially loved Mortimer, the cat.

My nine year old son who listened to this audiobook with me has ADHD and ASD. For him, reading a book without pictures is challenging, because he struggles to stay focused and especially struggles with reading comprehension when a visual cue is not available. He generally sticks to graphic novels, so he’s visually stimulated while reading, and so he can connect the words with picture actions on the page. With this AUDIOBOOK he was able to stay engaged, and couldn’t wait to listen to more.

We listened at 1x speed for Mortimer and Evan. We did speed up to 1.25x speed for Al. When I listen to audiobooks on my own I generally listen at 1.75x speed, but I based speeds for this one on how fast my son preferred so he could comprehend.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this advanced audiobook. We thoroughly enjoyed this story, and cannot wait for it to come out so we can purchase physical copies and recommend the audio to all our audio listening friends.

I loved this story. It shows the magic of books and libraries and how they can bring people together. I also enjoyed the mystery aspects of what happened to the old town library and how the backstories of the various characters were drawn out over the course of the book. The story is told through three different narrators, and each one has their own experiences and knowledge and it doesn't all come together until the end.

I think this would be a good book for junior readers, but was also enjoyable for this adult reader who has never really grown out of a good kid's book. I would recommend it to my friends with kids.

I was able to listen to this as an audiobook and really appreciated that chapters focusing on the different narrators was voiced by a different person, it made it easier to keep track of who we were following at the time. The production of the audiobook was well done.

I was provided an advanced copy of this audiobook by NetGalley, this is my honest review of this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC audiobook of this novel. I honestly requested it by accident because I loved the cover so much, not realizing it was a middle grades book. But given that, it was very sweet and lovely.

This was a really delightful kid's story about a love of books and the mishaps of animals. I enjoyed it a lot! Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the ARC!

What an utterly delightful book! When I requested The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass, I will admit I was drawn to the idea of thinking there was a missing library somewhere and a cat was somehow involved. In so many ways I was right, and I cannot be more thrilled with how this audiobook turned out. I feel as though the characters were well developed, the storyline was well paced, and I was thoroughly satisfied in the end. I will be highly recommending this book to my friends and fellow book lovers as we get closer to the release date. Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for providing me an advanced copy in return for an honest review. I look forward to more from these writers in the future.

I enjoyed the narrators for this audio book. While I am not the target audience of this book I did like it. I figured out the mystery quite easily but I think a middle grade kid will enjoy trying to solve the mystery along with the main character Evan. Overall a cute middle grade book.

this might be the most wholesome book i’ve ever read! i loved all of the characters so much and the story was so sweet.

Evan is finishing his last year of elementary school and is dreading going to middle school. One day, he finds a Little Free Library with some old books in it, including one that leads to a mystery hat him and his best friend Rafe decide to investigate- the connections between the books and the towns old library that burned down many years ago. And no one seems to want to talk about what happened back then.
The story is told from multiple POV-Mortimer the cat who lives near the LFL, AL the ghost (and former assistant librarian of the old library thus the name) and Evan, who is our human. I loved how the throw POV merged together to tell the story and kind of told how the first LFL came to be.
There were several mysteries interconnected in the story and they were semi predictable, but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment any. I was able to listen to this in one day and enjoy it immensely.
Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this audiobook arc in exchange for my review.

I usually don't care for books with multiple narrators, but this was very well done. All the perspectives are braided together perfectly.

The Lost Library was a cute mystery with a dip into the paranormal and fantastical (with ghosts, talking animals, and a cat the lives for over 20 years). I enjoyed the mystery, and the narrators of the audiobook did a marvellous job. However, aside from Katherine Applegate’s One and Only Ivan/Bob/Ruby, I’ve never much enjoyed books with talking animals. The cat and mice initially threw me off and made me worry about the direction the story was going to take. Thankfully, I was able to adjust to the part the animals played and enjoy the ride. I think this is a good book to gently introduce young readers to several different genres at once.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was an excellent children's paranormal book with the perfect amount of mystery! The author balanced this perfectly. The characters are so lovable and the friendship dynamics perfectly demonstrating gradeschool friendships. I also enjoyed that it was focused around a library and how valuable they are not only to the patrons but the players as well. I'll be buying this one for my granddaughter.