The Legend of the Last Library Published by Shadow Mountain on August 6, 2024 Genres: Juvenile Fiction / Action & Adventure / General, Juvenile Fiction / Dystopian, Juvenile Fiction / Mysteries & Detective Stories, Juvenile Fiction / Social Themes / Friendship
Pages: 288
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Reading Challenges: Netgalley BacklistWhat if you lived in a world without books?
After a devastating Blight killed off all the trees, paper is worth more than just about anything. Juni's parents died when she was young, so now it's just her and Grandpa Edgar. When she's not in school, Juni and her friends Doler and Quaze turn to plifting--scavenging for any paper they can find. If Juni can find enough paper, she can pay for the health care Grandpa needs.
So when Juni discovers a book--the first one she's ever seen--hidden in a box in her grandpa's closet, she's both surprised and elated thinking of the money she could get for it. That all changes when she decides to read the book. Beyond opening her imagination, the book contains clues that point to what could be the last library on Earth.
The library's location has been hidden for more than a hundred years, but Juni and her friends are not the only ones looking for it. Ullred O'Donnell, head of R&D for Novexus, a megacorporation that replaced the government and now controls all information, is desperate to find the library as well. With an army of vicious robot dogs at his command, Ullred warns Juni to abandon her quest--or else.
Juni and her friends must find the library and share it with the world before Novexus claims it as their own. If reading one book could change Juni's life, what would access to thousands--or millions--of books do?
Review:
The Legend Of The Last Library is a fantastic dystopian novel about a world with no books and no written word, as an event called the blight. An enormous swarming of bugs forced the world to destroy all books. Children have no idea how to read or write unless their parents or grandparents force them to learn this skill, as our MC Juni grandfather has. Children still learn, but everything is uplinked, and some of the most precious books have been wiped from existence. I loved the book references throughout the story. I was shocked when Juni did not recognize identifiable characters like Aslan from Chronicles of Narnia or that she could have been named after a book character. The impactful message of how important books and the written word are echoes throughout this fantastic tale. The story is left open about whether the author will continue the story or if we have one book for this world. I, for one, want more stories.
About Frank L. Cole
Frank L. Cole was born into a family of southern storytellers and wrote his first book at age eight. Sadly, he misplaced the manuscript and has since forgotten what he wrote. Highly superstitious and gullible to a fault, Frank will believe in any creepy story you tell him, especially ones involving ghosts and Big Foot. Currently, along with his wife and three children, he resides in the shadow of a majestic western mountain range, which is most likely haunted.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- Netgalley Backlist
