 | Library of lost things Author: Namey, Laura Taylor | |
| Price: $10.65 | ||
Summary:
From the moment she first learned to read, literary genius Darcy Wells has spent most of her time living in the worlds of her books. There, she can avoid the crushing reality of her mother's hoarding and pretend her life is simply ordinary. But then Asher Fleet, a former teen pilot with an unexpectedly shattered future, walks into the bookstore where she works ... and straight into her heart.
| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: UG Reading Level: 4.80 Points: 12.0 Quiz: 508396 |
Full Text Reviews:
School Library Journal - 09/01/2019 Gr 9 Up—Darcy just has to hold on until her 18th birthday, when the state will no longer have the power to remove her from her home. Suffocated by her mother's hoarding and confronted by the possibility of others finding out, all Darcy can do is burrow into her books. Books, after all, are safe. Until Asher, who is recovering from a life-altering accident, enters the picture. Now, Darcy must decide whether to keep hiding between the pages of her book or take the risk of nonfiction by living life. This book is, first and foremost, a gentle love letter to books and book lovers. Through her story, Darcy articulates the importance and transcendence of words with which many readers will identify. With a number of strong themes, including the humanity and imperfection of parents, the trauma of having to grow up too fast, and what real love is, the storytelling is elevated by its thoughtful prose. Yet readers will be pleased to find a lack of melodrama, which is instead balanced and measured in ways that give the novel its intuitive sense of reality. Although the prose gives the book a more adult feel, Namey uses references and dialogue to keep Darcy's world otherwise relevant and contemporary. Readers will also enjoy Darcy's cast of family, friends, and classmates as people they recognize from their own lives. VERDICT For fans of Katie Cotugno, John Green, and Melina Marchetta, this will be a reader favorite.—Abby Hargreaves, District of Columbia Public Library - Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
Booklist - 11/01/2019 Darcy is almost 18, which means she's almost a legal adult, though she's been taking on that role for years, trying to keep her mother from burying them under the weight of her hoarding problem. What once looked like a straight shot to the finish line becomes riddled with obstacles after her grandmother asks Darcy to chose between stability and her mother, her long-absent father suddenly reemerges, and a boy with his own troubles becomes (almost) all she can think about. The Library of Lost Things is a compelling family drama with a literary through line that will delight bibliophiles—a classic lit quote begins every chapter, and Darcy works in a bookstore. Though the romance is appropriately sweet, it's Darcy's family dynamics—the war waging within her between love and resentment, the desperation to cling to loyalty while running toward independence—that sets the book apart. Book lovers will find Namey's story especially compelling because, in Darcy, they'll find a kindred spirit. Hand to fans of Cath Crowley's Words in Deep Blue (2017). - Copyright 2019 Booklist.
