Long Lost by Jacqueline West

The Hook: 

Fiona is NOT happy about having to move to a new town called Lost Lake just so her sister, Arden, can be closer to the ice-skating rink where she trains. It is just not fair. Fiona had to move away from her school where she had lots of good friends. Now she is stuck in this boring old town.  

Things get a little better when Fiona wanders into the library and discovers a mysterious leather-bound book titled The Lost One. This mysterious book will sometimes disappear and then reappear in a different room. Sometimes the written words will cut off mid-sentence—the following pages in the book will be blank. But when Fiona reads the book again the next day, the pages will be revealed. It is all very strange and confusing. 

Quickly, Fiona becomes obsessed with this puzzling book. In the story, there are two sisters, hauntingly similar to Fiona and her own sister, Arden. The sisters used to live in the very house that is now the old library long ago. Legend says that a fearsome Searcher snatches one of the sisters from the town’s woods never to be seen again. What happened to the sister? Was she really snatched by the Searcher? Is there a Searcher living in the woods today? Will he snatch another sister? You will have to read the book to find out.  

This book is a Name That Book this school year. It is in our library. It is also in Sora as an eBook as well as audio book. It is 8 AR points. 

My Thoughts and Recommendations (Careful! There may be spoilers): 

This book starts out as a comfortable mystery—small town, eccentric librarian, weird book. But then it builds into a much more sinister story with very real consequences for the two characters and as a reader you cannot wait to find out what happens to the two sisters.  

I like the dynamics of the two sisters because I think many kids can relate especially at this age. Sometimes kids feel that another sibling is getting all the attention and, may it be true or not, those feelings are real.  

Fiona resents the attention her sister is getting and because of this she puts all her attention into solving the book’s mystery. Fiona meets Charlie, a hometown boy who helps her with the local history and the parallels of the story. He is a well-written character and the relationship between Fiona and Charlie is challenging, which I also think is common among kids of this age. Both Fiona and Charlie wish for a friend but sometimes Fiona acts as if she does not need Charlie and she pushes him away.  

In the end, Fiona and her sister Arden collide with the two characters in the book in a supernatural twist. This tests the bond of sisterhood and thankfully, even though the sisters are not the best of friends they do indeed come together and save each other. 

I recommend this book for kids in 5th-8th grade. It starts out as a light mystery and turns into a real page turner! 4.5 stars.