Book Review: Library Girl by Polly Horvath

Publisher’s description

After living in the public library for the last eleven years, Essie must learn to adapt to a world that’s not as perfect as the stories she’s grown up with in this heartfelt middle grade novel from Newbery Honor author Polly Horvath.

Essie has grown up in the public library, raised in secret by the four librarians who found her abandoned as a baby in the children’s department. With four mothers and miles of books to read, Essie has always been very happy living there.

But now that she is eleven, Essie longs for a little more freedom . . . and maybe a friend her own age. She seems to get her wish when her moms let her go by herself to the mall. On her second trip there, she meets G.E., a mysterious boy who looks so much like her she can’t help but think they may be twins. Maybe he was raised by four dads in the appliance section of the department store. Maybe his story is intertwined with hers, and their happy ending is as one big family. But as she gets to know G.E. better, she learns that nothing is as simple as it seems in her stories—not even her own past.

With her signature warmth and offbeat humor, Newbery Honor author Polly Horvath invites book lovers to sit back in their own library nooks and check out a whimsical adventure perfect for readers trying to find their place in the world.

Amanda’s thoughts

Okay. Here’s the thing I had to make peace with in order to enjoy this story: it’s totally implausible that a baby could be abandoned in the library and raised in secret on the premises. Now, I know: this is fiction. It’s a STORY. It’s not a nonfiction tale where I’m just amazed anyone could pull this off. They can’t. But for the purposes of this story, they can. This is a me problem. Even in fantasy stories (which this is not), I need to believe things can happen, even just in this created world. The other thing I had to make peace with was how much I disliked certain characters, especially as the story went on and things got revealed. I don’t have to like characters. I don’t mind disliking characters. I don’t mind characters who are mean or deceitful. But I had to work to detach how I actually felt about a few people from how I felt about the story. Because I liked the story!

Essie grows up in the library, raised there in secret by four librarians. She’s the quintessential library kid, loving books and getting to know patrons. And, as her mothers allow her a tiny bit of freedom, she finally gets to explore a little bit outside of the library. There, she runs into a boy her age, who looks an awful lot like her, named G.E. It would appear he was raised in a neighboring department store by four fathers. What luck! Surely this must be her biological brother. And surely they can figure out a way to get all eight parents together to become the big family Essie has longed for. A fairytale ending fitting for a story so heavily about stories themselves!

But. While there may be some elements of that happening here, this is not that book. Essie is sheltered and isolated, literally having been abandoned, and is prone to feeling a little dissatisfied and dark-humored about all of life. And the rosy path she’s picturing that may end up so satisfying is actually full of complicated twists and turns, because it’s full of humans, who just always make things complicated. Her sadness is realistic (living in a library might seem like a dream to a lot of us, but it’s less dreamy if you’re kind of a prisoner there) and palpable. I think that while this had wide adult appeal, it may take a little more patience from child readers to feel fully invested. It’s a well-written book that presents an interesting idea, but its slower pace and limited child interactions (poor Essie really only ever gets to interact with the rather odious G.E.) may make young readers set it aside. Those who do stick it out will find a whimsical story of hijinks and plans gone awry while Essie tries to find the family she thinks she needs. The outcome is not the story she had hoped for, but one far richer and more unexpected than just a simple pairing up of parents and living happily ever after.

A good read that’s a bit demanding, a fact that certainly won’t scare off the library kids like Essie who love to read.

Review copy (ARC) courtesy of the publisher

ISBN-13: 9780823455676
Publisher: Holiday House
Publication date: 09/10/2024
Age Range: 9 – 12 Years

Filed under: Book Reviews