Lost and Found: Oliver Jeffers

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Martha Storm works as a librarian. She constantly puts others before herself and doesn’t know how to say ‘no’ to people when they ask her to do their chores for them, including her sister. The Library of Lost and Found is a charming, sweet read. I enjoyed the mystery at its heart, and Martha was a character I simply adored. She comes of age in a way. She also comes into her own, and it’s a beautiful self-discovery. Zelda was also written fantastically well. I wished she were in my family. I will stake my reputation on you being blown away by Lost & Found. It is brilliant and profound and charming, all at once.” —Anne Lamott Martha Storm worked at the town library and was a helpful and giving woman with very low self esteem. When she finds a fairytale book in very rough shape with a dedication to her, Martha is puzzled. While searching for answers to her questions about the book, Martha uncovers family secrets and also discovers things about herself.

Thanks to Park Row and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The Library of Lost and Found is scheduled for release on March 26, 2019. In the film version of the story, the boy and penguin come across an octopus. Could the children design their own sea creatures? A boy is determined to help a lost penguin find its home but discovers it may not be lost after all. Lost and Found gives you the opportunity to promote: The characters in this story are interesting, and quirky. The plot was engaging and caused me to experience a range of emotions from curiosity, suspicion, dread, humour, sadness, joy and wonder. I adored Zelda, the colorful and unconventional Nana, although I had no pleasant thoughts for the rest of them - as they were all conniving and disingenuous conspirators. I was taut with tension and grinding my teeth, but I was invested and entrenched, and could not leave my Kindle for more than a few minutes.There is a strong underlying agenda to this book that seems to have t deal with overcoming an abusive upbringing. This may give encouragement to people who are trying to heal their own wounds from growing up in more or less dysfunctional households. Unfortunately, the uneven pacing of the book limits the positivity that might be derived for some readers. An unfolding astonishment to read.” —Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home and The Secret to Superhuman Strength

For me it was really depressing. I won't reveal why, but I really dislike it when characters rationalize their poor mistakes. Your parents deceived you!! They USED you!! And the two loved ones who should have rectified that were TOO SELFISH to do so. Their lives mattered more than you (and all it would have taken them was a visit and the truth)!! I get it... Why waste your elderly years on anger. Move on. See your past as idealistic so that you don't dwell on what you don't have. Sigh. It's not an uplifting book to me. All the secondary characters are ingratiatingly stereotypical; the male librarian who is fond of Martha, the quirky; library patrons; her wild, spirited grandmother, Zelda; Martha's insecure, mousy mother; the colleague who eventually becomes Martha's only good friend, the mean sister. The penguin was lonely… Discuss what is means to be lonely and how we can help others when they ar feeling lonely. What can we do when we feel lonely ourselves? It was just so. Kinda confusing. Resolves were clunky, characters stilted. I wanted to keep the main character propped up. . . When Martha thought to herself (and there was LOTS of instances of her thinking to herself) she kept thinking all she did was take care of others. Well, to my thinking all she really did was think about herself - very egocentric. There were lots of honorable mentions by other characters about Martha's care for others. . .hearsay, I say! Overall I was mildly irritated with a primary character as soppy, spineless and all about the ways she'd been done wrong by every single thing in the world. I did like all the book mentions, the library environment as a healing place, but these were not enough to get me out of my cranky pants as it related to Martha. After Zelda comes on board I thought it might change. Nope. Not a bit. In fact it gets a little odder with the family crisis in the past. The boy made a mistake leaving the penguin at the South Pole. Discuss mistakes that the children might have made in the past. How did they resolve them?An extraordinary gift of a book, a tender, searching meditation on love and loss and what it means to be human. I emerged feeling as if the world around me had been made anew.” — HELEN MACDONALD, AUTHOR OF H IS FOR HAWK I neither rooted for Martha nor cared about her journey, and I found parts of the novel incredibly slow. I assumed the plot had something to do with the library and books, and though it does in a small way, the storyline was dull and nothing new. I wonder about a near-drowning. High tide in a cave is dangerous but as far as I know, water merely inches up on an open beach enough to wet feet. Even the cave had a ledge where Martha’s shoes stayed dry overnight. I enjoyed the story’s goals and do consider the reason that Zelda was driven away from her family plausible.

Martha’s obsession with the book initiates a change regarding how she feels about putting others ahead of herself and sets her on a course of searching for answers. Martha’s search leads her to encounter a group of people who expand and challenge her to take a look at her life, It also leads to some changes within Martha regarding how she values herself. I received a complimentary copy of this eBook from the author, publisher, and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. As a woman it is VERY easy to relate to doing to much for others. We all do it in some capacity. Where is the line? When is it TOO much? How much should you sacrifice? Through Martha a great discussion about self-care could be explored and really help readers think about their own lives. After Schulz’s father’s death, the seeds he planted in her life continue to bloom. In her case, these seeds were healthy ones. She writes: “I’d recognized love when I’d found it because I had seen it from my earliest days. … I had always known what it would look like: loyal, stable, affectionate, funny, forbearing, enduring.” She quotes her sister, who says their parents “had given us a love of ideas, and also the idea of love.” This is an enviable stance; I found it refreshing. It is easy to dislike Martha in the beginning because she lets others walk all over her but her transformation is fascinating to witness. You will want to root for Martha and cheer her on during her journey of self-discovery. Her transformation, albeit slow but steady, will leave you smiling and wanting more.

Walsh, dympna. "Lost and Found". Inis Magazine. Children's Books Ireland (16). Archived from the original on 28 September 2015 . Retrieved 27 September 2015. Even that ending was trite; I neither believed in Martha's evolution of empowerment and self-discovery. Does this book actually have copies of Martha’s stories that she would write because of her Grandmother's prompting? One of the best feelings in the world came when she received a smile of appreciation, or a few grateful words. When someone said, “Great job, Martha,” and she felt like she was basking in sunshine. She’d go to most lengths to achieve that praise.