Library Girl by Polly Horvath

Library Girl

Polly Horvath

Candlewick Press · Hardcover · September 10, 2024

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.

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Who it’s for
A bookish, offbeat coming-of-age adventure where family hopes meet the untidier truths of growing up.
Themes
Finding a place in the world, Family and belonging, Friendship
Genres
Books About Libraries, Alternative Family Stories, Growing Up

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About this book

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.

Continue reading

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.

Stories Meet Real Life

A bookish, offbeat coming-of-age adventure where family hopes meet the untidier truths of growing up.

Come here for

  • A library-raised girl longing for freedom and a friend her own age
  • Warm humor and a heartfelt take on finding your place

Expect

  • Whimsical adventure with storybook expectations gently unsettled
  • Family mysteries that resist an easy happy ending

Where it sits

Books About Libraries84%
Growing Up29%
Alternative Family Stories22%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Alternative Family Stories
  • Growing Up
  • Books About Libraries
Authors
Polly Horvath
Publisher
Candlewick Press
Published
September 10, 2024
Format
Hardcover
Theme
Finding a place in the world · Family and belonging · Friendship
Reading lane
Alternative Family Stories