"A thoughtful yet action-driven tale to read again and again and share with friends. In a delight to bibliophiles, Cole weaves lovely testimonies to the power of reading and the acquisition of knowledge into the text." -Kirkus Reviews
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In a world where paper is extremely scarce and books are priceless, Juni undertakes a dangerous quest to find a legendary lost treasure—the last library.
Juni lives in a world without books. The Blight killed off all the trees, and since then, paper is worth more than just about anything else. Juni’s parents were killed in an archeological dig when she was young, so now it’s just her and her Grandpa Edgar, trying to survive. When she’s not in school, Juni and her friends Doler and Quaze turn to plifting—scavenging in abandoned buildings for any scrap of paper they can find—to earn a little money. If Juni can find enough paper, she can pay for the expensive health care Grandpa needs.
So when Juni discovers a book—the first one she’s ever seen—hidden in a box in her grandpa’s closet, she’s both surprised and elated at the thought of the money she could get by selling it. Grandpa, however, insists that she read it first. Beyond the experience of opening her imagination, which exceeds her expectations, the book has hidden clues in the text that point to what could be the last library on Earth. If reading one book could change her own life so dramatically, what would access to thousands of books do?
While out plifting, Juni meets Kobyn, who’s connected to a secret organization eager to find the library and who seems to know something about how Juni’s parents actually died. The mystery deepens when Juni meets Ullred O’Donnell, the head of Novexus, a megacorporation that has replaced the government and now controls all the information—and misinformation—the public sees. With an army of robot sentry dogs by his side, Ullred warns Juni to abandon her quest—or else. Juni, Doler, and Kobyn—along with Zeno, an AI holographic guardian of the library—must liberate the information the library contains and share it with the world before Novexus claims it for their own.
Reviews
“The Legend of the Last Library is a wonderful adventure story about the everlasting nature of family, the importance of friendship, and above all, the power of the written word. As Grandpa Edgar says, reading truly is salvation.” —Dusti Bowling, award-winning author of Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus
“Heart, laughs, adventure; The Legend of the Last Library brings back the joy of being a kid!” —Nick Brooks, author of Promise Boys
“Frank Cole did it again. The Legend of the Last Library is full of engaging characters, funny dialogue, great pacing, and unexpected twists. A must-read for the kid who loves a story full of imagination and heart.” —Shelly Brown, best-selling author of Mustaches for Maddie
