Book Review-The Borrower

Continuing with books I read from our Overdrive site, this book is by Rebecca Makkai, the author of The Hundred Year House.  I liked that one enough to read another of her's-The Borrower. The story is told by Lucy Hull, a children's librarian.  Her favorite patron is Ian Drake.  Ian loves to read, but his strict family wants to tightly control what he reads.  One Sunday, Lucy goes in to work early only to find that Ian has spent the night in the library and is intent on running away.  After a series of questionable decisions on Lucy's part the two take off towards Chicago and points East.  It is a highly amusing road trip, with lots of characters along the way. The book asks the larger question of how involved should adults be when they think that parents are, even unintentionally, harming their children.  How do they support a child when that child is not becoming what the parents imagined, and the parents are trying to fit a round child into a square hole.  It was definitely thought provoking. Other books by the same author. The Hundred-Year House By Makkai, Rebecca 2015-05 - Penguin Books 9780143127444 Check Our Catalog The acclaimed author of "The Borrower "returns with a dazzlingly original, mordantly witty novel about the secrets of an old-money family and their turn-of-the-century estate, Laurelfield. Rebecca Makkai is a writer to watch, as sneakily ambitious as she is unpretentious." Richard Russo Meet the Devohrs: Zee, a Marxist literary scholar who detests her parents …More Music for Wartime: Stories By Makkai, Rebecca 2015-06 - Viking 9780525426691 Check Our Catalog Named a must-read by the""Chicago Tribune"," " O "Magazine, ""BuzzFeed"," ""The Huffington Post"," ""Minneapolis Star-Tribune"," and"The L Magazine "Named one of the best short story collections of 2015 by "Bookpage "and "Kansas City Star" Rebecca Makkai's first two novels, "The Borrower" and "The Hundred-Year House," have established her as one of the freshest and most …More Complimentary Reads The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time By Haddon, Mark 2004-05 - Vintage 9781400032716 Check Our Catalog Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow. …More The Book Thief By Zusak, Markus 2007-09 - Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers 9780375842207 Check Our Catalog Awards: Delaware Diamonds Award (2011), Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award (2009), Green Mountain Book Award (2009) BookPage Notable Title Set during World War II in Germany, Zusak's groundbreaking novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing, encounters something she cant resist: books. …More All the Light We Cannot See By Doerr, Anthony 2014-05 - Scribner Book Company 9781476746586 Check Our Catalog Awards: ALA Notable Books (2015), Alex Awards (2015), Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence (2015), Colorado Blue Spruce Award (2016), Dayton Literary Peace Prize (2015), Idaho Library Association Book Award (2014), Indies Choice Book Awards (2015), National Book Awards (2014), Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award (2015), Pulitzer Prize (2015) From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, a stunningly ambitious and beautiful novel about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II. …More Want to see all the staff picks?  In Encore (our catalog) search for HPL Staff Picks. To sign up for this, or any of our newsletters, check out our Newsletter sign up page.