While the book is written for a middle school aged person, I found the audio version to be very entertaining. Particularly because a cat is one of the featured characters.
The narrators really made the book come alive for me. This is why I love audio books; because good narration adds so much to it. I don’t think I would have chosen to read this book because of its target audience and that would have been a shame. This is a good lesson for me to learn — just because a book is written for a different audience than myself doesn’t mean I shouldn’t at lest give it a go.
The story of The Lost Library is about a small town somewhere in the United States where the old library burned down many years ago. There’s a mystery around it how the fire started. The main character is a young boy who is transitioning from his small elementary school to the large middle school in another town. Other characters involved include the boy’s favorite author, a cat, three librarians who might have survived the fire, and a group of friendly ice. One of the voice actors is the voice of the cat.
A fun part of the story is that everybody in the town calls the cat by a different name. No one seems to know his real name. That makes me wonder what my cat’s real name is.
There are some layers to this mystery. There is a house where the three former librarians live one of whom is a young woman who only ventures out to shop when groceries are needed.
The mystery of the fire is eventually solved by the young boy with help from books written by his favorite author as well as some helpful mice, and of course, the cat.
I won’t spoil any of the surprises for you in case you want to read, or listen to, this delightful book for yourself. I will, however, say that several other mysteries besides the old libraries’ fire are also resolved.
-Julie, PFL Friends Treasurer
