• Age: 10 to 18
• Grade: 5 to 12

After secretly 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.

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 and then 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 department store. Maybe his story is intertwined with hers, and their happy ending is as one big family. But as she gets to know him better, she learns that nothing is as simple as it seems in her stories — not even her own past.

Polly Horvath is one of the most highly acclaimed authors writing today. Her books include The Canning Season (winner of the National Book Award and the CLA Young Adult Book Award), Everything on a Waffle (a Newbery Honor Book, an ALA Notable Book and winner of the Mr. Christie's Book Award and the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize), The Trolls (a National Book Award finalist), My One Hundred Adventures (a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, a Booklist Editors' Choice, a Kirkus Reviews Best Children's Book of the Year and winner of a NAPPA Gold Award and the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize), and Northward to the Moon (an Oprah's Book Club Kids' Reading List selection and winner of a Parents' Choice Gold Award). Her most recent book is Mr. and Mrs. Bunny — Detectives Extraordinaire!

Polly Horvath's profile page

"[A] lovely daydream for readers who think that E.L. Konigsburg's Claudia Kincaid had the right idea (but should have run away to the library instead of the Met)." —Kirkus Reviews

"Essie's earnest longing for siblings and an expanded support network—rendered in a chatty, deadpan tone by Horvath (Pine Island Visitors)—impart relatable emotional depth to this laboriously quirky tale." —Publishers Weekly
"This whimsical story is rich with quirky, lovable characters, the warmth of found family and an unexpected twist." —The Washington Post
"This improbable romp is fast paced, richly imaginative, and written with abundant humor. An engaging choice for reading aloud." —Booklist
"The plot has enough twists to keep readers guessing until the end. . . . A love letter to books and the dreamers who read them." —Shelf Awareness
"[A]n original, outlandish romp of a tale. . . . [A]s always, Horvath's storytelling abilities are top-notch." —The Horn Book