While the National Archives may be the nation’s official library, the New York Public Library is often first in the hearts of book lovers. Christopher Lincoln’s engaging, gorgeously illustrated graphic novel The Night Librarian is a shining addition to books that celebrate this iconic library.
“Magic builds in books,” declares the prologue, and we’re told the longer a book has been around, the more likely the characters get so bottled up “living the same scene over and over” that they must escape. Luckily for Turner and his twin sister, Page, there are librarians specially trained to handle these magical eruptions: night librarians.
Page and Turner are city kids who have a flaky nanny and absentee jet-setting parents. Allowed to go to the library on their own, they arrive one day with a bag containing their dad’s rare copy of Dracula, with the goal of researching the story of an ancestor who may have met author Bram Stoker at a 1901 reading. We get to see the twins using a microfilm reader, but they don’t find any mention of their relative. Instead, they discover an 1899 newspaper article with the foreboding headline, “Earthquake reported in the stacks.” On this same visit, their book bag starts making strange thumping noises—as if something is trying to get out.
The twins meet the stylish night librarian, Ms. Literati, who promises to research their copy of Dracula further. When they return the next afternoon, the book bag’s thumping intensifies, until something emerges from Dracula, and takes the book with it. Soon, there’s a whole string of literary escapees, including a dragon and the beanstalk from “Jack and the Beanstalk.” Time is of the essence to keep the entire library safe from the ensuing damage.
So the adventure begins, since clearly Ms. Literati needs dedicated volunteer help. Full of humor, friendship and just the right amount of danger and villainy, this beautifully designed novel has a clever time-travel plot twist and a satisfying emotional conclusion. As an added bonus, the many literary allusions are bound to delight adult readers as well, and may lead to further book adventures for curious readers.