The Secret Library

Travel through time with National Book Award Finalist Kekla Magoon in a page-turning fantasy adventure about family secrets and finding the courage to plot your own life story. Since Grandpa died, Dally’s days are dull and restricted. She’s eleven and a half years old, and her exacting single mother is already preparing her to take over the family business. Starved for adventure and release, Dally rescues a mysterious envelope from her mother’s clutches, an envelope Grandpa had earmarked for her. The map she finds inside leads straight to an ancient vault, a library of secrets where each book is a portal to a precise moment in time. As Dally “checks out” adventure after adventure—including an exhilarating outing with pirates—she begins to dive deep into her family’s hidden history. Soon she’s visiting every day to escape the demands of the present. But the library has secrets of its own, intentions that would shape her life as surely as her mother’s meticulous plans. What will Dally choose? Equal parts mystery and adventure—with a biracial child puzzling out her identity alongside the legacy of the past—this masterful middle-grade fantasy rivets with crackling prose, playful plot twists, and timeless themes. A satisfying choice for fans of Kindred and When You Reach Me.

All libraries are magical. Some libraries are more magical than others. For Alex Reed, the world is an awkward place and books are her only escape. But when she is selected by a mysterious library to be its new Keeper she discovers that some books can be a lot of work. Now Alex must balance her new adventures with the incomparable obstacles of being an anxiety-riddled teenager. All this would be completely doable, if only Hank would do as he was told.

As well as taking in the well-known titles that have helped shape the world in which we live, The Secret Library brings to light more neglected items among the bookshelves of the world.

Book Three of The Secret Library Series. Have you ever wondered what stories are told in the spaces between the books? There is a new power rising somewhere in distant pages, and it will stop at nothing to seize control over all that there is. Darcy has returned from his mysterious journey but can his story be trusted? Alex, Lilly, and Hank return for another adventure into the pages. But when stories collide and the darkness grows cunning what can one person do to end the march of a faceless enemy? Step once more into the greatest library that ever there was and help restore balance back to the multiverse.

The remarkable story of a small, makeshift library in the town of Daraya, and the people who found hope and humanity in its books during a four-year siege. Daraya lies on the fringe of Damascus, just southwest of the Syrian capital. Yet for four years it lived in another world. Besieged by government forces early in the Syrian Civil War, its people were deprived of food, bombarded by heavy artillery, and under the constant fire of snipers. But deep beneath this scene of frightening devastation lay a hidden library. While the streets above echoed with shelling and rifle fire, the secret world below was a haven of books. Long rows of well-thumbed volumes lined almost every wall: bloated editions with grand leather covers, pocket-sized guides to Syrian poetry, and no-nonsense reference books, all arranged in well-ordered lines. But this precious horde was not bought from publishers or loaned by other libraries--they were the books salvaged and scavenged at great personal risk from the doomed city above. The story of this extraordinary place and the people who found purpose and refuge in it is one of hope, human resilience, and above all, the timeless, universal love of literature and the compassion and wisdom it fosters.

Hattie Maxwell is trying to make sense of her life since the Big Split. It used to be the four of them - Mum, Dad, Ivy and Hattie- against the universe. But lately it feels like she's a lone star in a big galaxy. Her one escape is Hummingbird House, an old mansion with a giant mulberry tree just perfect for climbing to hide from the world. So when Hattie learns that the house is going to be demolished, she is determined to save it. A midnight visit becomes a step back in time, and Hummingbird House reveals its secrets: a hidden library, a mysterious new friend, and a lost treasure that could help stop the development. Can the past help Hattie to fix her present? A brilliant time-slip novel with a contemporary twist, The Secret Library of Hummingbird House celebrates standing up, speaking out and letting go of the past.

It's Christmas Eve, 1896, when three children at a holiday party enter the basement of a law firm, stumbling upon the hidden doorway to labyrinthine tunnels. Curious, they explore the tunnels and discover a huge library. But this is no ordinary library. It has grown for centuries, hidden in the subterranean depths of New York City to ensure its continued existence until the children arrive, uninvited. Once they enter, the children are trapped. Their only hope lies with the quick-thinking, determined rescuers who race to discover the library's depraved history, brave the horrifying evil of its ancient inhabitants, and fight for the lives of the children and themselves. Secret Library is a suspense-thriller horror film with a strong ensemble cast; a terrifyingly evil antagonist; three small children held hostage by vicious creatures; mysterious early American history; and several twists and turns that lead to a violent, unexpected ending. It is a story of betrayal, longing, sacrifice, and courage in the face of nightmares come to life.