The Secret Library
by Kekla Magoon (Author)
Travel through time with National Book Award Finalist Kekla Magoon in a page-turning fantasy adventure about family secrets and finding the courage to plot your own life story.
Since Grandpa died, Dally's days are dull and restricted. She's eleven and a half years old, and her exacting single mother is already preparing her to take over the family business. Starved for adventure and release, Dally rescues a mysterious envelope from her mother's clutches, an envelope Grandpa had earmarked for her. The map she finds inside leads straight to an ancient vault, a library of secrets where each book is a portal to a precise moment in time.
As Dally "checks out" adventure after adventure--including an exhilarating outing with pirates--she begins to dive deep into her family's hidden history. Soon she's visiting every day to escape the demands of the present. But the library has secrets of its own, intentions that would shape her life as surely as her mother's meticulous plans. What will Dally choose?
Equal parts mystery and adventure--with a biracial child puzzling out her identity alongside the legacy of the past--this masterful middle-grade fantasy rivets with crackling prose, playful plot twists, and timeless themes. A satisfying choice for fans of Kindred and When You Reach Me.
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Publisher's Weekly
Magoon (Chester Keene Cracks the Code) champions self-determination while examining race and gender constructs in this high-spirited, South Carolina-set fantasy. Dally Peteharrington, 11, is devastated when her mother won’t let her join Adventure Club because its schedule conflicts with her economics tutoring-lessons Dally needs to eventually succeed her mother as head of Peteharrington Enterprises. Never mind that Dally doesn’t want to run the family business and is grieving the death of Grandpa, who encouraged exploration and fun. To rebel, Dally opens an envelope Grandpa left her that her mom had been keeping until Dally’s 21st year. Inside is a map to an enchanted library. The books within contain secrets pertaining to Dally and her family, and act as portals to the moments when those secrets occurred, were revealed, or were shared. Dally finds her housekeeper’s candy stash, learns how her parents actually met, and crews a pirate ship with an ancestor. Unbeknownst to Dally, however, there are secrets about herself she has yet to uncover. Whimsical worldbuilding, swashbuckling action, and buoyant third-person narration complement Magoon’s vibrant character portraits and twisty, nuanced plot. Dally is biracial (Black and white); the supporting cast is intersectionally diverse. Ages 8-12. Agent: Ginger Knowlton, Curtis Brown.
Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.
Review quotes
JUV011010 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | United States - African-American
JUV001020 - Juvenile Fiction | Action & Adventure | Pirates
JUV064000 - Juvenile Fiction | Time Travel
