When Amirah decides one more page is worth ignoring the closing call, she finds herself locked inside the library after hours. The doors show the wrong room. The telephone only rustles like turning pages. And the two stone lions that usually stand on the steps—West with his chipped ear and East with his careful manners—have walked inside.
It is Mending Night. Once each autumn, the old library wakes to put its wandering books back where they belong. Until the last one is home, the rooms fold together and the outside world stays beyond reach. Eighteen books are missing. If West and East do not reach their plinths before the first sunbeam, they will turn to stone wherever they stand, until next year.
Together with the lions, Amirah must read the labels, follow the new shelf arrangement, and coax talking books back to their proper places: a tiny dinosaur who is afraid to roar, an atlas that has unfolded an ocean across the floor, a cookbook determined to serve supper to everyone, and many more. The work is slow, the night is growing late, and one quiet book remains exactly where she left it.
A warm, funny, and gently suspenseful chapter book for readers aged 8–12 who love libraries, talking animals, and stories about doing the right thing—even when it is hard. Perfect for independent readers and family read-alouds.
