The Lost Library: A Kid-Friendly Mystery

Being a Great Reader has nothing to with reading great sophisticated books, or reading great long books, or even with reading a great many books.

For the first time, it occurred to me that books don’t get used up. Books got powered by the reader, didn’t they? They could be read again and again.

I am not upset when others don’t love the books I love. We each have our own book spaces inside us, and they do not match up perfectly, nor should they.

All of life is a mystery, in a way. And that makes every single one of us a detective.

The dear boy was, as I've said, a great reader. He read a good number of books and, more importantly, he took some of them straight into his heart.

Not all great readers wish to be in a book club. There are others ways of sharing books with very little conversation, or none at all.

THE ONLY THING YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO KNOW IS THE LOCATION OF THE LIBRARY. —Albert Einstein

That delicious book smell, his heart said.

But aren’t “parents” the source of a life’s direction? If life is a line, leading somewhere, aren’t parents the dot from which it sets forth?

Head high, my dear! Eyes up! Take your place in the world!

Maybe this is someplace special,” Evan said. “Maybe everywhere is special to the people who live there.

hour. You all need a break from talking. And I need a break from trying to get you to stop talking.” Everyone laughed. For a second, they thought they had been in trouble. And it was actually a relief, to open their books and let their mouths rest for a little while. Though the buzzing feeling didn’t really go away. Evan had been reading How to Write a Mystery Novel for ten minutes when he realized that Mr. O’Neal was looking over his shoulder. “Interesting. Are you planning to write a book this summer?” Evan tried to decide if Mr. O’Neal was teasing him, and decided (correctly) that he was not. “No. But I am—” Evan realized he was about to say but I am kind of trying to solve a mystery. Mr. O’Neal looked at him. “But I am thinking about some stuff,” Evan said instead.

not upset when others don’t love the books I love. We each have our own book spaces inside us

am not upset when others don’t love the books I love. We each have our own book spaces inside us, and they do not match up perfectly, nor should they. The club members said goodbye that day as usual, all of us feeling like good friends.

What an extraordinary half hour. How can I explain it? To be useful again, not as a tea-and-cheese-bringer, or a potato-cooker and applesauce-maker, but, almost, as a librarian.