"This is why people like to act and also read,
she thought. You get to be the people who
are not you. You get to find different ways to
live and think. You get to borrow other people's
lives. And if you're King Lear, you get to be
really loud and angry."
she thought. You get to be the people who
are not you. You get to find different ways to
live and think. You get to borrow other people's
lives. And if you're King Lear, you get to be
really loud and angry."
When a baby is found on a library shelf by the four librarians who work there, it is quite the surprise. The four wait for whoever left her to return. That doesn't happen. The four women, who are each childless yet yearn to be mothers, decide they will raise the baby together in the library. Improbably, they do just that for 11 years, caring for her as best they can. Each takes their turn at staying with Essie overnight, and keeping her fed and clothed by day.
Essie has unconditional love for her mothers, a deep love for books and reading, and an understanding that she must be as inconspicuous as possible to library patrons, and especially to Ms. Matterhorn, a woman sent to oversee the administration of library matters. At 11, she longs to see more of the world she has read about in her books. To that end, her mothers offer an allowance and a chance for her to visit the nearby mall on her own. Those Saturday visits are not always successful, but Essie adapts. Return trips to one of the department stores have her meeting G.E., a boy who looks a lot like her.
Essie's love of books and stories have her imagining that G.E. is, in fact, her twin who has been living a kind of parallel life with the four men who are his friends in the store. She longs for a larger family than she already has, and quickly falls into a scheme concocted by the boy. The twist and turns that result are what makes this a fascinating read for middle graders who like their stories unexpected and quirky. There is so much here for kids who love reading and books, and the impact those books have on them.
It is no surprise that the characters are well-drawn and memorable. Essie is a grand character: kind, thoughtful, loving, and full of hope. Her mothers' love for her is endless and each offers a strong role model for her, though they are very different from one another. It is a tale both warm and humorous, as we have come to expect from this talented and expert storyteller.
I enjoyed an interview Ms. Horvath did with Betsy Bird at Fuse #8 Production when she shared this:
"Library Girl is a story about families, books, reading and libraries. It is also about how all our stories are individual, unique and important. It’s a story with a lot of twists and turns, secrets and surprises. And it is the only book I have ever set in Kalamazoo, Michigan where I grew up. There’s always something behind a book that is its motor driving it forward. Yes, this is a book about libraries but I think I was also trying to work out how we deal with the world and all its mad occupants. Essie chooses a life in books because in books she hopes to understand more than she could alone what makes people do the things they do. We can all only experience one life but with books we can jump into someone else’s experiences and perspective and conclusions and this can be helpful."
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