The Story Seeker--A New York Public Library Book

November 15, 2019
An intrepid lover of stories and her two best friends crack the case of the missing library books. Viviani and her family, based in fact, live in the superintendent's apartment of the New York Public Library in the 1920s. She and her brothers and friends solved a spooky mystery in their first outing, The Story Collector (2018). Now the librarians are dealing with the theft of several rare and irreplaceable medical books. Noticing a pattern to the thefts, Viviani is determined to solve the case. At the same time, she is excited to enter a writing contest for the New York Times about friendship. With Millions of Cats as her inspiration, the proudly self-styled "story collector" wins the contest. Tubb portrays the 11-year-old as an unabashed book enthusiast with a fondness for codes. The major characters all present as white with exceptions in the form of friends Eva from Armenia and Merit from Egypt--with Viviani, they become a trio known as the Moppets. With librarians who possess a special shushing power, a tuberculosis epidemic, and a theatrical outing, readers get a brief glimpse of period New York City life. Each chapter is labeled with a Dewey Decimal subject and number as well as see-also references. The answers to the codes that help solve the crime are revealed in the back of the book. (Black-and-white full-page line drawings not seen.) Patterns, codes, mysteries, and storytelling are an appealing middle-grade draw. (author's note) (Historical mystery. 9-12)

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January 1, 2020

Gr 3-6-Picking up where the first volume left off, Viviani and her friends Merit and Eva find themselves with another mystery to solve. Viviani Fedeler and her family live in the New York Public Library, where someone is checking out rare medical texts and not returning them. Fueled with confidence because they've solved a mystery before, The Moppets (as they call themselves) set out to discover who has the missing volumes. Meanwhile, at school, the trio is working on a story about friendship for a New York Times contest. Viviani faces writer's block and finds inspiration in a favorite children's story, but has to face accusations of plagiarism. Glimpses into her inner dialogue are shown through her diary entries, many of which contain fun codes that readers will enjoy deciphering. An afterword informs readers that the mystery, its resolution, and all of the characters are part of the real and true history of the NYPL. VERDICT Not quite as compelling as its predecessor, but young mystery/history fans will still enjoy this light and engaging glimpse into Viviani's unusual childhood.-Mandy Laferriere, Fowler Middle School, Frisco, TX

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