The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass

THE LOST LIBRARY by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass is a new story written for late elementary age students in grades three through five. In fact, a major character is 5th-grader Evan who “loved making free time and then spending it however he wanted.” Another narrator is Mortimer, the orange cat who is struggling with changes to his library and missing his sister, Petunia. A “ghost” librarian named Al also narrates some chapters. Young readers will enjoy the mystery element involving old library books, a polaroid picture, and library fire that occurred decades ago. Both Rebecca Stead (Goodbye Stranger) and Wendy Mass (A Mango-Shaped Space is a personal favorite) are so very talented at writing for middle grade students that it was fun to see another collaboration from them.  The audiobook – narrated by Christopher Gebauer, Jennifer Blom, and Rob Dircks - is very well done, too, and will hold listeners’ interest. And, if you are curious and want to learn more about creating a Little Free Library, check out these rather whimsical versions made from all kinds of recycled materials.