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INTERMEDIATE FICTION
Birdsall, Jeanne

The Library of Unruly Treasures

352 pp. | Knopf | August, 2025 | Trade ISBN 9780525579045 $17.99 | Ebook ISBN 9780525579069 $10.99
(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Matt Phelan. Eleven-year-old Gwen MacKinnon -- neglected, unwanted, shuttled between self-centered parents -- has been sent to stay with her great uncle Matthew near Boston. There she discovers that the town's library is named for an ancestor. "Nothing in Gwen's life had suggested there could be a building named after a MacKinnon -- they weren't that kind of family." Even more surprising, Gwen learns from the preschooler who lives upstairs that the library is home to a large clan of Lahdukan, eight-inch-tall, winged creatures who emigrated from Scotland with the original MacKinnon and have since thrived under the care of generations of MacKinnon girls initiated to be their Qalbas, or caretakers. Gwen learns that the library building is set to be remodeled, and so the Lahdukan will lose their home. With the help of a former Qalba, Matthew's grown daughter Nora, Gwen moves the MacKinnon Lahdukan to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, where they join up with another clan. Gwen's role in this grand plan requires both diplomacy and physical bravery, but the rewards are great. With the help of her understanding uncle, an exemplary children's librarian, and the Lahdukan themselves, Gwen learns that she is worthy of love and respect. Birdsall's endearing fantasy features loving and lovable new friends both human and Lahdukan, with Phelan's winsome black-and-white illustrations interspersed.
Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2025

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