A Library of Lemons

Jo Cotterill's A Library of Lemons is a tender story for 11 year olds about a girl who loves books more than people, until a new girl writes her name in twigs.

What happens

Calypso always sits in the same corner of the playground with a book. She likes the quiet space reading makes in her head. Her dad says you should be your own best friend, and she's trying very hard to believe him.

Mae is new, cheerful, and says "okay" a lot. When Mae asks her to play, Calypso just shakes her head. So Mae spells out CALYPSO in twigs by the fence. Why would anyone do that?

It turns out Mae loves words too. She thinks they have flavours ("cerebral" is slinky and sugary, apparently). She cries at the end of nearly every book. Before long the two of them are writing a story together every lunchtime, and Calypso has her very first best friend.

Home is a different story. Calypso lost her mum five years ago. Her dad still isn't coping. He's a proofreader, buried in his great life's work, A History of the Lemon, with six lemon trees growing in his library. He forgets the shopping. Calypso makes her own tea from whatever's left, usually beans on toast.

He loves her, you can tell. But when she cries, he pats her arm and talks about inner strength instead of giving her a hug. That scene is very quietly heartbreaking.

Then she goes round to Mae's house. There are soft carpets, a mum who makes skirts, a brother with a tub of worms, and beef stroganoff with chocolate mousse for pudding. You feel exactly how Calypso feels sitting at that table (warm, and aching at the same time).

It's also a lovely book about books. Pollyanna, Anne of Green Gables, Black Beauty and Anne Frank's diary all get talked about, and a bookish child will spot lots of their own favourites.

Something to be aware of if your reader has lost someone close. The grief here is gentle but constant, and there's a moment where Calypso sits alone in the dark kitchen, too tired and empty to move. A child whose home has been hit by loss might find it close to the bone. For a reader who feels things deeply and loves a story about friendship and books, it's a very special one.

What to read next

If they'd like another girl who keeps her real feelings hidden, try Jo Cotterill's Jelly. Everyone at school thinks she's the funny one, but she writes what she really feels in a secret book under her pillow.