Rebecca Stead

It's taken me several days to sort out my thoughts for a review. Will the older elementary-grade audience like it? How about adults: does our perspective influence how we like the way the story unwinds? And therein lay my decision to rate the book 3½ stars instead of the 4, which I was leaning towards. In the beginning, the abrupt chapter changes between story participants was off-putting, so would kids persevere? Would the book be abandoned or would curiosity prevail?

I enjoyed the story and felt engaged with Evan and Rafe. A great characterization there. I also could understand Evan's Dad (Edward) being so reluctant to openly discuss the issues around the old library burning down. However, this was a secret that created some unnecessarily false tension in the book. This conflicted aspect detracted from the burnt library mystery, central to the plot. I'm uncertain whether the younger readership would process this the same way, as I did, but does introduce an irrelevant negative flaw to the story as a whole.

Otherwise, the novel is a heart-warming illustration of community spirit, the value and joy in books and reading, kid-friendships, the progression from elementary to middle school grades, and best of all, kid-adventures in exploring unknown territory. The ghostly aspect is a great fun-tingle and the cat-talk with mice an effective device to introduce the ambience around mice and their part of the story. I still have no idea how engaged kids will be with the story and whether they'll read far enough to be sucked into the mystical world presented here.… (altro)

Independent Reading Level: Grades 3-7
Awards: Agatha Award (Nominee – Children's / Young-Adult – 2012), BCCB Blue Ribbon Book (Fiction – 2012), Bluestem Award (Nominee – 2015), Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award (Nominee – 2015), Great Stone Face Book Award (Nominee – 2013-2014)
Guardian Children's Fiction Prize (Winner – 2013)
A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book (Fiction – 2012), Massachusetts Children's Book Award (Nominee – 2014-2015), Mitten Award (Honor – 2013), Parents' Choice Book Award (2013), Texas Bluebonnet Award (Nominee – 2015), UKLA Book Award (Shortlist – 7 to 11 – 2014), Vermont Golden Dome Book Award (Nominee), Vermont Golden Dome Book Award (Nominee – 2014), West Virginia Children's Choice Book Award (Nominee – 2013-2014)… (altro)

A Little Free Library appears one morning on the town green, full of books from the public library that burned down years ago. Evan is curious, especially since, when he checks the borrowing slips in the books, he finds that his dad checked out many of them. When he asks his dad about the books, he doesn't get a proper answer. Over the next few days, Evan finds himself more and more intrigued by the mystery of the new little library, and the bigger mystery of the fire that consumed the old one.

That summary covers the main plot of the book, but there are several other characters (a cat and a few ghosts) that add dimension to the story. I wanted to like this book more than I did, but there were just too many plot holes for me to fall down, and the general tone of the book was, to my ear, a bit twee. The ending was over the top and left me shaking my head. Perhaps the intended readership will enjoy it more than I did, but I can't see myself recommending it to them.… (altro)

This charming tale is the story of an aging cat, a thoughtful little boy, and libraries, one lost and one little. Evan is delighted to see a little library that seems to have appeared overnight. He selects a couple of books that he soon discovers has links to the old library that burned down, and to his father as well. Told by Evan, by the cat, and by a ghost librarian, this story will delight children as well as adults. It’s a clever story, and illustrates that the easiest answer won’t necessarily be the right one, Occam’s razor notwithstanding. Quite well written, this is children’s entertainment at its best.… (altro)