The Library of Ever
By Mary Eisenhart,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Lively library series start mixes fact, fantasy, adventure.

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What's the Story?
Eleven-year-old Lenora may have crazy-rich parents, but they've gone traveling without her and left her to a life of misery riding around with her nanny in a limo. But when they unexpectedly wind up in a library, Lenora loses no time in ditching the nanny, exploring the shelves, doing a good deed for a boy seeking books -- and landing in THE LIBRARY OF EVER, home of all knowledge past, present, and future. Before she knows what's going on, she's sworn in as a librarian in training, dedicated to protecting accurate knowledge and making it available to all those who seek it. This, it turns out, pits her and her new mentor against some smarmy, sinister characters who want to keep a lot of that knowledge under wraps.
Is It Any Good?
You never know where young Lenora will find herself battling the forces of ignorance and dark next as this wild library adventure veers from the distant future to the tomb of Genghis Khan. With robots. Along the way in The Library of Ever, readers will pick up a lot of knowledge about science, history, math, and more -- and an appreciation for why that knowledge matters.
"'Perhaps I misjudged you, Lenora,' he said, and the frost was in his voice, too. 'I thought you were wise enough to know that children must be discouraged from asking questions that will make them curious and fretful. Perhaps I overestimated you. After all, you're just a child yourself.'
"'Maybe,' said Lenora with equal frost. 'But I'm also a librarian. And I'm not going to hide the truth from anybody.'"
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the libraries in The Library of Ever. How are they diffrent from libraries you've been to where you live or at your school? What's your favorite thing to do at the library?
Does it matter to you whether something's true, or just whether you like the story? Is it possible to use fiction to tell the truth in some sense?
What other stories do you know that take place in libraries? Do you have any favorites?
Book Details
- Author: Zeno Alexander
- Genre: Fantasy
- Topics: Adventures, Book Characters, Great Girl Role Models
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Imprint
- Publication date: April 30, 2019
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 8 - 12
- Number of pages: 208
- Available on: Nook, Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: November 30, 2020
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