The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass

 A little free library appears in the middle of the town overnight.  Evan looks at the books, and is astonished to find his father's name on the check out lists of many of them.  They were clearly from the Martinville Library that burned down many years previous, but what did his father have to do with that?  As Evan and his friend dig into the mystery, the Ghosts of the Martinville History House are starting to fade. AL and the yellow cat try everything they can think of, but in the end, it may be Evan who can solve the mystery and save the spirit of the library.

What a sweet little story!  It was like an ode to the power of libraries to bring people together.  I loved that Evan has a functional family and a true friend in Rafe. The mice and the cat are adorable too.  It is so rarely that you find a book that is truly wholesome, and also engaging. It would be interesting to know how the two authors collaborated. I wonder if one author wrote the Evan chapters, and the other wrote the chapters about the residents of the History House. I could feel the style of Ms Stead, but I am not as familiar with Ms Mass. (224 p. 2023)