First published 2024
Essie calls the public library home. Four librarians discovered her as an abandoned baby in the children's section and raised her in secret for eleven years. She has four mothers and endless books but craves something more: freedom and a friend her age. When her librarian mothers finally let her visit the mall alone, Essie meets G.E., a mysterious boy who looks exactly like her. She wonders if they might be twins, if perhaps four fathers raised him in a department store, if their stories will merge into one happy family ending. As Essie gets to know G.E., she discovers that real life refuses to follow the neat patterns of the stories that shaped her childhood. The truth about her past proves far more complicated than any book on the library shelves.
Genres: fiction, family-life, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Department Store, Library, Mall
Period: 11 Years
256 pages · Hardcover · Margaret Ferguson Books