Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Here Lies the Librarian
Fiction
For ages 8 to 12
Penguin, 2006 ISBN: 978-0439898829
Peewee likes nothing more than to help her brother Jake work in the family business, ?Jake & Peewee?s Garage.? Though they have their trials and though Peewee still misses her dead mother, the two young people manage well enough. Then, one day after a twister comes through the area, a young librarian arrives at the garage. Jake is instantly smitten and he begins to think that perhaps it is time for Peewee to trade in her overalls and the grease pit for a dress and high school. Peewee is appalled but she cannot fight the system forever. Girls are not supposed to work in garages and that is a fact that cannot be denied.
So, when the librarian sets about installing a library in the nearby town, Peewee goes to help and she begins to learn what it means to be female in the early 1900's. She discovers that there are ways to get around the system and she begins to appreciate that she can still have her dreams and be a female at the same time.
Against the backdrop of vintage cars, a madcap car race, and the founding of a small town library, we watch as Peewee comes into her own, gaining confidence in her herself and in her abilities. With highly colorful characters, deliciously ridiculous events, and a sprinkling of early automobile lore, Richard Peck has once again created a book which will charm and enlighten his readers.
