The Secret Library

De: Kekla Magoon

Narrado por: Nekia Renee Martin

Travel through time with National Book Award Finalist Kekla Magoon in a thrilling fantasy adventure about family secrets and finding the courage to plot your own life story.

Since Grandpa died, Dally’s days are dull and restricted. She’s eleven and a half years old, and her exacting single mother is already preparing her to take over the family business. Starved for adventure and release, Dally rescues a mysterious envelope from her mother’s clutches, an envelope Grandpa had earmarked for her. The map she finds inside leads straight to an ancient vault, a library of secrets where each book is a portal to a precise moment in time.

As Dally “checks out” adventure after adventure—including an exhilarating outing with pirates—she begins to dive deep into her family’s hidden history. Soon, she’s visiting every day to escape the demands of the present. But the library has secrets of its own, intentions that would shape her life as surely as her mother’s meticulous plans.

What will Dally choose? Equal parts mystery and adventure—with a biracial child puzzling out her identity alongside the legacy of the past—this masterful middle-grade fantasy rivets with crackling prose, playful plot twists, and timeless themes. A satisfying choice for fans of Kindred and When You Reach Me.

©2024 Kekla Magoon (P)2024 Listening Library

We loved it

I listened to this story with my 7 year old who is mixed too. We loved it. I loved how it covered race, gender, and history.

Dally is dope

Dally is such a soulful character. Her personality shines through and her connection to her family and realization of life is amazing. I had a similar story I wrote, and now I have to change the chest from being in the library when they go back in time. However this was an awesome story for all readers.

reckless girl who understands nothing time travels

this book made me so mad. i had the least fun reading this book than i have had reading a book in so long. the main character is reckless and stupid and understands nothing about how the world works, and she expects me as the reader to be on her side? i think this book is recommended so often to children because it defines words as you go. but that’s a problem in and of itself, because it makes for sloppy writing. conveniently, dally knows how to do everything and anything because of her school field trips. she also understands everything because of recent vocabulary quizzes. however, her value of school is clearly low, because we never really get to see her in school and enjoying school, and in the end she starts skipping school entirely. she fights with her mom about the stupidest things, and her mom is ALWAYS RIGHT. but in the end she just gives up and goes against the rules and runs away from home, and we’re supposed to be happy for her? for being a reckless child? the book is also extremely boring. there were so many times when the book was just explaining the rules of the time traveling, but they still left out a bunch of plot holes (what counts as a secret? is anything up for grabs? are there rules there? every time someone has done something inappropriate, does that count as someone just being able to time travel and walk in on that?). i didn’t know what i was supposed to be focusing on because there were so many things happening at the same time. what i DID care about was her relationship with her mom, which she just totally screwed up in the end (and again, we’re supposed to be happy for her?). the author makes this big deal about race in the end of the book, but doesn’t build up to it at all, like, dally has not cared that she’s half black, and then suddenly she cares a lot about what other light skinned black people are doing with their lives. there was no lead up like her animosity toward her mom wasn’t because they’re different ethnically or something, and then in the end it doesn’t even matter bc her mom is actually 1/8 black wow! there’s this reveal that dally is actually black on both sides, but the weight of that literally does nothing. this book is also extremely boring; i feel asleep many times throughout the book. it’s boring because i didn’t know what to care about, and apparently i cared about all the wrong things. she’s interested in learning more about her dad and then suddenly she just doesn’t care anymore once she figures out her grandpa is her bff. and then how does she have grandchildren at the end if she time hopped and never returned and she doesn’t have any siblings? literally doesn’t make sense, like many time traveling stories. would not recommend this book

Yes! Great listening!

Great book for adults and kids. My kids and I love books that are twisty and surprising!

It’s understandable

Spoiler alert I don’t like like the story ends .
It was good though well, some people might like it just try it