“The Lost Library” by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass is a children’s book about a young boy called Evan who discovers a street library that appears one day in his town with a large ginger cat watching over it. Intrigued by books that he discovers inside, Evan and his best friend Rafe try to uncover the mystery behind the library, the town’s history and a tragedy that happened many years ago.

This is a really sweet book that gently explores how a traumatic event can affect a small town, and how community can grow in its wake. I had my own street library for years before moving house, and it is absolutely lovely seeing how the community engages with it by taking and leaving books. I thought that Stead and Mass handled the tension between Evan’s curiosity and the town’s reluctance to discuss what happened to the town library really well. There were lots of nice touches throughout the book like the street library being added to, everyone calling the cat by a different name and Rafe good-naturedly adhering to his parents’ very strict rules.

I think the only part I wasn’t completely sold on was the story being told from three perspectives (Evan, the cat and the ghostly Al) and the addition of some supernatural elements like ghosts and sentient mice. Even though I usually do like a bit of magic realism, I felt like this story was strong and sweet enough without these additions and I think sticking to realism would have made it even more impactful.

A really nice story about small town communities and the power of libraries: no matter the size.

Another charming middle-grade winner from Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass! This gentle story explores the power of libraries and books and features family secrets, a very clever cat and friendly ghosts. Recommended for ages 8-12.

Mortimer is a large ginger cat who lives in a house turned into a tourist attraction of historical interest. But when a cart full of books from the house is wheeled out for the community to:

Take a Book. Leave a Book. Or Both.

... he goes with it. He stays there, making the woman who feeds him, bring his dinner out to him. Mortimer meets many in his community as they check out this new lending library, including a boy named Evan.

Evan is worried. It is his last week before school finishes for the year. When he goes back, it will be to Middle School, where the kids are huge and everything will be completely different. At least he has his best friend Rafe who will be alongside. Evan takes a couple of books from the free library and soon discovers a mystery about a town library long gone after burning to the ground. Nobody wants to talk about it, and a strange reaction from his dad makes Evan wonder even more.

Al tells her story - now where she is living with her housemates and years before when she was a librarian at the town library. Everybody believes she's the quiet, strange lady of the neighbourhood and they leave her be, but she is more connected to them than they know - Evan's family most of all.

Evan begins to unravel the town mystery after finding a photo in one of the free library books he borrowed. He explores places in his town he's never been before. All the while, Als past is catching up with her and her present is changing around her.

Who is Al, and what caused that library fire long ago? Will Evan ever learn his father's secret? Or maybe he has more than one.


Told in the viewpoint of a cat, a librarian, and a young keen reader, The Lost Library is a real treat.

The narrator speaks directly to the reader, the first being when the viewpoint character changes. She know this may confuse a reader and explains. I always enjoy this form of storytelling, as it feels as someone is telling me the story, I'm not just reading it.

We get to know the characters and others in the small town, and slowly they link together along with a thread of a mystery. This mystery is full of emotion as a boy discovers his father holds an upsetting secret about his childhood library.

The three different narrators have an engaging story on their own, making the inevitable connections all the more satisfying. As a writer, I particularly enjoyed the love of books throughout a community, writing tips as part of the story plot and how they were used to help reveal the long ago mystery.

This story is something special, masterfully crafted, engaging, with a surprising conclusion.

Age - 8+