Review by Booklist Review
Fiona Crane isn't at all pleased about having to move to a peculiar New England town, Lost Lake, just so her older sister, Arden, can be closer to the ice rink where she trains. Things get decidedly more interesting, however, when Fiona ventures to the library, formerly a grand old house, and finds a curious leather-bound book in the mystery section that draws her like a magnet. Clearly very old, The Lost One tells a haunting story of two sisters that echoes some of her relationship with Arden and, as will later play a much greater role, the two sisters who once resided in the very house that is now the library. Fiona becomes obsessed with the book, which is swathed in secrets, including an inconvenient habit of disappearing and the unfortunate absence of an ending. As Fiona tries to piece together the story's true ending, she dives into the town's history and creepy lore and confronts her own needs and faults as a sister. A good choice for those who enjoy atmospheric mysteries.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In a spooky middle grade love letter to libraries and the mystery genre, West (Last Things) crafts a spellbinding exploration of sisterhood. Fiona Crane, 11, and her older sister, Arden, a figure-skating phenom, have just arrived in Lost Lake, Mass., where the white family has moved to facilitate Arden's passion. Archaeology- and history-loving Fiona resents the change--and the attention the girls' parents lavish on Arden. Despite her resentment, though, she finds the one place in town she feels comfortable: its luxurious library, located in a converted mansion that holds mysteries of its own. Fiona quickly stumbles upon an old book with a green cover and no library tag containing an unfinished story about two sisters of a bygone era. With the help of local boy Charlie, Fiona investigates similarities between the stories and local history, contending with a secretive librarian and the specter of Fiona's tenuous relationship with Arden. Alternating a contemporary third-person narrative with the found book's parallel telling, West draws readers into a supernaturally tinged dual story, simultaneously offering an authentic portrait of sibling angst. Ages 8--12. Agent: Danielle Chiotti, Upstart Crow Literary. (May)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4--9--Fiona's family has just picked up and moved across Massachusetts to the sleepy town of Lost Lake, all because of her sister Arden and her figure skating. Fiona cannot help feeling slighted at having to leave everything behind just so they can be closer to Arden's practice rink. When the opportunity arises, Fiona chooses to explore the town library rather than watching skating practice. Deep in the mystery room, Fiona finds a book on the shelf that does not appear to belong to the library. Intrigued, she begins reading and is drawn immediately into The Lost One: the story of Hazel and Pearl and the mystery of how one of them disappeared. This book is a captivating narrative that draws the reader into two stories of two sisters living over a century apart. The stories of Fiona and Arden, and of Hazel and Pearl, parallel each other as both sets of siblings drift apart. Ultimately, Hazel goes missing, and that is where the mystery begins: What happened all those years ago? Fiona is determined to find out. The story breaks frame when the worlds of Fiona and Arden and Hazel and Pearl collide in a supernatural twist that will test the bond of sisterhood. Fiona and Arden have dark hair and brown eyes, but there are no explicit references to their ethnicity or race beyond this detail. VERDICT A spooky sisterhood mystery that is sure to be a hit with readers who enjoy titles such as Katherine Arden's Small Spaces, Ellen Oh's Spirit Hunters, or Lindsay Currie's Scritch Scratch.--Jessica Caron, Bancroft Sch., MA
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Review by Horn Book Review
Eleven-year-old Fiona blames her older sister Arden for their family's move to the "quaint" (fictional) Massachusetts town of Lost Lake. Arden, thirteen, is a successful figure skater, and Fiona feels that her parents value her sister more than her. Finding solace in the town's library, Fiona discovers a mysterious book called The Lost One that tells the story of two sisters from that very town, one of whom disappeared a hundred years ago. The Lost One refuses to stay put, despite Fiona's best efforts, and it routinely disappears from her possession, only to show up at the library again. Together with a boy from Lost Lake, Fiona investigates the history of the two sisters and the legend of the fearsome Searcher that is said to snatch children from the town's woods. What starts as rather a cozy mystery -- small town, quirky librarian, strange book -- builds up to a spooky denouement with brief but very real peril the intrepid youngsters must face. While the shift in tone from the main text to passages of The Lost One feel jarring at first, the two stories blend together nicely by the end, and readers will be eager to learn the fates of both pairs of sisters. The realistic and picturesque details of Lost Lake capture small-town New England perfectly -- but with sinister history lurking behind every old landmark. Sarah A. Berman July/August 2021 p.128(c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A mysterious book leads a girl into a century-old supernatural mystery. When Fiona's family moves across Massachusetts to Lost Lake, a small town that's far closer to her older sister Arden's figure skating club, Fiona resents both being uprooted and the constant focus on her accomplished sibling. To avoid spending hours sitting at one of Arden's practices, knowledge-loving Fiona opts for a morning at the library, where she discovers a book called The Lost One that begins, "Once there were two sisters who did everything together. But only one of them disappeared." Reading this book within a book, Fiona learns about characters Hazel and Pearl--relating heavily to younger Pearl, especially when she starts getting left behind, and knowing their story won't have a happy ending. Fiona better endures slights from her family because she has the book to look forward to, but when she finally gets a library card, the book's gone and isn't even in the system. In response to a heartbreaking moment of being her family's lowest priority, Fiona doubles down on solving the book's mysteries--having determined its setting is Lost Lake--and finds increasingly spooky pieces of the puzzle. Although the two sets of sisters have different relationships and dynamics, the complexity of sisterhood links both storylines, resulting in nuanced relationships. The gore-free supernatural elements are more haunting than terrifying, foregrounding the characters' journeys. Main characters default to White. Grab a flashlight and stay up late with this one. (Paranormal mystery. 8-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
