The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass

Before I begin to talk about this book I would like to ask a question. Can you think of ANY middle grade books for readers aged 10+ that contain a genuine hug between friends - not a picture book - a novel and I am talking about an actual hug in this case between Evan, the main character in this story, and his best friend Rafe. Evan finds a way to open an old treehouse in their neighborhood. In the process he nearly caused a dreadful accident.

"First Evan realized the rusty hinges were not going to hold the door. Also first, because these two things actually happened simultaneously, the door tilted dramatically, paused for a second, and then fell to the ground. ... 'ARE YOU OKAY?' 'Yeah! ... it missed me!' ... He took a few deep breaths and was getting to his feet when Rafe's head popped up at the doorway. 'That was fast,' Evan said. 'I'm really glad you aren't dead.' Rafe smiled. 'Me too. Pull me in - I need a hug.' He wasn't kidding. When Rafe needed a hug, he asked for a hug. It was one of the things that made Evan understand that Rafe ... was mostly fearless."

Once upon a time the town of Martinville had a library. Ms Scoggin was the librarian. Al worked their too. And there was a library cat named Mortimer and a library customer named Mr Brock. Of course, all of that was years ago. Sadly, the library burned down and yes, some people died. Fast forward twenty years. Evan and his best friend Rafe live in this town. They have no idea they are about to be swept up into an astonishing mystery. 

On the way to school Evan notices someone has installed a little free library outside the Martinville History House. 

"When he pulled, the glass doors swung open easily. A smell floated out. A smell like ... applesauce? And ... cheese? But mostly applesauce. Strange. But it was a good smell. A little handwritten sign was attached to the single shelf inside: TAKE A BOOK; LEAVE A BOOK. OR BOTH. ... Evan decided to take two books. The smallest two, which he figured was the same as taking one."

These two books are the impetus for the mystery. One is a book entitled How to Write a Mystery Novel and the other is a beat-up book for little kids held together with tape. The title is now too hard to read. Since these are library books they contain further clues. There is a library stamp - Martinville Library but Even knows there is no library in his town. And there is a card in the pocket.

"The same name had been written there again and again. He flipped the card, checking front and back. One name: Edward McClelland. His dad's name."

Evan and his friend Rafe head back to the little free street library. The discover it contains forty-four books. Almost all of them have the same Martinville Library stamp and ten have his dad's name. Every book has return date stamp (oddly this is not a usual practice for a library) and the boys can see every one of them was returned on the same day - November 5th, 1999. BUT Evan discovers the book How to Write a Mystery Novel was not borrowed by his father - it says H.G. Higgins and Evan knows he is a famous mystery writer. Did he once live in Martinville?

One word of caution - do not read this book too quickly - there are clues which point to the mystery but I will admit I missed most of them because I do tend to read books way too fast. 

There are some sweet touches in this story that help the reader to really understand Evan such as his imaginary cape and hat.

"No one knew about the cape. His dad had 'given' it to Evan way back in kindergarten, when Evan was having trouble saying goodbye at the classroom door ... Evan had kept the imaginary cape all these years. In his mind he knew exactly what it would like like, if it were real: a red felt triangle, with two string to tie it on."

This idea of the cape reminded me of two Australian middle grade books (both long out of print) - The View from the 32nd Floor; and Swashbuckler by James Moloney.

Another delightful aspect of this story is the character of Evan's friend Rafe. Years ago, after a potentially dangerous event in preschool, Rafe's parents started setting rules - tons of rules - to keep Rafe safe. The rules were hard to keep but Rafe made a deal with his parents - He would obey all the rules but the rules would have an expiration date at the end of Grade 5 - the end of elementary school. That day is rapidly approaching. I also loved the way Evan accepted this issue and the way it restricted his friend. 

The Book Club run by Al is also perfect:

"The club members were Great Readers, and we had a wonderful time listening to each other talk about the books we were reading, what the stories were and what we thought might happen next, and how all of it made us feel. These young readers felt things about books, which is why I call them Great Readers. Being a Great Reader has nothing to do with reading great sophisticated books, or reading great long books, or even reading a great many books. Being a Great Reader means feeling something about books."

It also fun to see the way the people in Martinville interact with their new street library. I love discovering these in suburbs near my home. 

The pacing is strong, and the twists and turns are satisfying even if perceptive readers may catch hints of the ultimate truth along the way. A page-turner with striking characters and a satisfying puzzle at its heart. Kirkus

Since this is written from several perspectives, we get an interesting view of what happened at the library from someone who was there, someone who didn't even know the library had existed, and also a cat, which makes this very intriguing. There's a nice mix of mystery, book lore, and philosophical musings on the importance of books. Ms Yingling

Companion books:

The Parker Inheritance

Out of the Wild Night

The Summer we found a baby

When I read The Lost Library I thought of the wonderful librarian and her son in this book:

Leeva at Last