56. The Library

Title: The Library
Author: Sarah Stewart
Illustrator: David Small
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Copyright Date: 1995
Number of Pages: 30
Reading Level: 8+
Genre: Fiction

Summary
Elizabeth Brown came into the world dropping from the sky. She was skinny, shy and nearsighted. She learned to read really early and didn’t enjoy dolls or skating. In bed she would take a flashlight so she could read herself to sleep. Elizabeth Brown loved her books so much that when she went to school she took a trunk with all of her books inside. She put them on the top bunk but they were so heavy the bed broke. Elizabeth didn’t pay attention in classes because she was off in a dream. She even made book cards to check out her books but she would show up at doors at midnight to collect them. Elizabeth didn’t go on dates because she preferred to stay up late reading. She got lost on a trip one afternoon and decided to stay. She would go into town for only one thing, books. Elizabeth read all the time, while exercising, groceries, and vacuuming. Books started to climb the walls and pile everywhere. Elizabeth Brown decided she needed to go to town and this time instead of getting more books she signed over all her books to the town. She moved in with a friend and lived a long time turning page, after page.

Recommendation
I would recommend this to girls who love to read.

Problems/Conflict
She didn’t ever do anything for herself. She lived in a fantasy world.

My Reaction
I think of librarians and wonder if this is what they are like in their personal lives or wish they could be like all the time.