In this delightful, funny, and moving first novel, a librarian and a young boy obsessed with reading take to the road.
Lucy Hull, ... read full description
Lucy Hull, ... read full description
reviews
Sep 02, 2011
Jill
rated it: 
Let me say it straight out: this book isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea.
Those who cherry-pick the Bible – who ignore the parts that say “you can’t ever eat pork or shellfish, and women should cover their heads, and you can’t plant two crops in the same field”, yet laser in on two little verses that may or may not imply that God doesn’t like gays – will likely be offended.
Certainly, the existence of those who believe not in absolute rights but in their particular abso More...
Those who cherry-pick the Bible – who ignore the parts that say “you can’t ever eat pork or shellfish, and women should cover their heads, and you can’t plant two crops in the same field”, yet laser in on two little verses that may or may not imply that God doesn’t like gays – will likely be offended.
Certainly, the existence of those who believe not in absolute rights but in their particular abso More...
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Dec 29, 2011
Laura
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Oh, where to start? I just couldn't buy into the premise no matter how much I really tried. When you have a book that essentially a two-hander, you need to like both characters - Lucy just irritated me too much for that to happen. Which is too bad because the book parodies and games are charming.
Lucy is the head children's librarian at a small public library in Missouri, reporting to an alcoholic director, living over a small theatre, and no real direction in life. One of the child More...
Lucy is the head children's librarian at a small public library in Missouri, reporting to an alcoholic director, living over a small theatre, and no real direction in life. One of the child More...
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Jul 30, 2011
Claire
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This is the review I wrote for the Ponderings, the Bear Pond Books e-newsletter:
Lucy Hull is a Hannibal, Missouri children's librarian who keeps an eye on her favorite patron, 10-year old Ian. Ian's mother only allows hims to take out books "with the breath of god in them" but Lucy smuggles him what he really wants: "Tuck Everlasting", "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" and "Matilda". When Ian runs away from home he and Lucy embark on a road trip More...
Lucy Hull is a Hannibal, Missouri children's librarian who keeps an eye on her favorite patron, 10-year old Ian. Ian's mother only allows hims to take out books "with the breath of god in them" but Lucy smuggles him what he really wants: "Tuck Everlasting", "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" and "Matilda". When Ian runs away from home he and Lucy embark on a road trip More...
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Jul 24, 2011
Julie
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What a delightful book! It concerns a sort of listless librarian and her friendship--and sudden adventure--with a 10-year-old boy, who might be gay, to the horror of his very Christian parents. There are references to all kinds of children's books which all readers who were bookworms as children will have fun recognizing and remembering. What I loved most about this book is the manner in which it pays homage to those formative reading experiences, and acknowledges that for many of us, books c
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Jan 15, 2012
Kim
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Jan 22, 2012
Robin
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Reading The Borrower is like having a long sit-down with an old friend, full of asides and references you're supposed to know. It's great!
I could pick this book apart, if I wanted to: Lucy is not a believable character: She's super-smart, but has no career plans, gorgeous, but doesn't date or have friends, "falls into" a job that requires an advanced degree she doesn't have, and allows herself to be led into a criminal act by a ten year old boy.
BUT
It is More...
I could pick this book apart, if I wanted to: Lucy is not a believable character: She's super-smart, but has no career plans, gorgeous, but doesn't date or have friends, "falls into" a job that requires an advanced degree she doesn't have, and allows herself to be led into a criminal act by a ten year old boy.
BUT
It is More...
Jan 31, 2012
Lisa
rated it:
If you ever worked at a library (especially as a children's librarian), you should read this impressive debut novel. Twenty pages or so into it and I'm chuckling and nodding. Wonderful writing style. Enjoyed 26-year-old children's librarian, Lucy and her "abductee," 10-year-old Ian, immensely. Lucy's favorite library patron's parents worry he's gay, so cart him off to Pastor Bob's special "youth group" where he promises to turn Ian straight and "normal" with God's h
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Jan 23, 2012
Mary Louise
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Jan 22, 2012
Sarah
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As a youth serving librarian myself, the first part of this story, following Lucy's life as a Children's Librarian ring alternately uncomfortably true and annoyingly, inaccurately stereotypical. However, it was refreshing to see someone document the often overlooked relationship between librarians and the youth for whom they're often the most reliable and caring adult. Whether working in an urban setting, or a small town like Lucy, all of us have had an Ian Drake, the 10year-old protagonist in
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Jan 20, 2012
Karen
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Dec 19, 2011
marymurtz
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I loved, loved, loved this book!
Lucy Hull is a librarian in the children's section of a library in a town she calls Hannibal, Missouri (although she insists it's not THE Hannibal, MO, just a convenient town name).
She is particularly close to a boy named Ian Drake, who is a voracious reader, even at the age of ten. Ian is precocious and funny and has read almost everything in the children's section. One day, his mother shows up and tells Lucy that Ian is not to read any bo More...
Lucy Hull is a librarian in the children's section of a library in a town she calls Hannibal, Missouri (although she insists it's not THE Hannibal, MO, just a convenient town name).
She is particularly close to a boy named Ian Drake, who is a voracious reader, even at the age of ten. Ian is precocious and funny and has read almost everything in the children's section. One day, his mother shows up and tells Lucy that Ian is not to read any bo More...
Nov 05, 2011
Lisa M.
rated it:
"I might be the villain of this story. Even now, it's hard to tell."
Those first two lines pulled me in immediately. The author goes on to show a friendship growing between the narrator, Lucy, a just-out-of-college children's librarian, and Ian, a ten-year-old boy who loves to read and whose parents' religious views begin to worry Lucy. While I loved the writing overall, at times I found the tone a little jarring, particularly the asides told in the form of tongue-in-chee More...
Those first two lines pulled me in immediately. The author goes on to show a friendship growing between the narrator, Lucy, a just-out-of-college children's librarian, and Ian, a ten-year-old boy who loves to read and whose parents' religious views begin to worry Lucy. While I loved the writing overall, at times I found the tone a little jarring, particularly the asides told in the form of tongue-in-chee More...
Nov 01, 2011
Erin
rated it:
What a unique read! The Borrower tells the story of Lucy, a small-town twenty-something librarian who inadvertently finds herself caught up in a cross-country road trip with one of her favorite library patrons, a 10 year-old boy named Ian. Lucy suspects that Ian may be gay and that his parents are sending him to one of those infamous "pray the gay away" camps. When Lucy discovers Ian has run away (to the library! Exactly where I would have gone when I was 10!) Lucy scoops him up and th
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Oct 15, 2011
Alex
rated it:
3.5 stars, really. I was immediately taken by Makkai's narrator: a mid twenty-something who works as a children's librarian at a small Midwestern library. As a book geek and especially a children's book geek, I adored all of the references to famous works of children's literature that peppered the book. I expected great things from the premise: Lucy (the librarian) discovers that one of her favorite charges, Ian, has run away from home and is camping in the library. Ian's parents have recently b
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Oct 13, 2011
Felicity
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To all my library friends out there...you have to read this book (which, naturally, I picked out from the Librariana collection at the School of Library and Information Studies Library!). The book is about a twenty-six year old renegade children's librarian, Lucy Hull, who kidnaps one of her patrons, the young Ian Drake. Ian's parents are members of an evangelical Christian cult, and consequently, have a long list of prohibited topics about which Ian can read (think J. K. Rowling, Tolkien, C.S
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Sep 29, 2011
Karen
rated it:
I thought this book was great! The story revolves around Lucy, a young librarian who runs the children's area of the library in a small town in Missouri. She has a fondness for ten-year-old Ian, a misfit who loves to read and spends a lot of time at the library. Lucy finds out that Ian's parents are religious fanatics and have enrolled him in a program to keep him from becoming gay. One day she discovers Ian is running away from home, and Lucy leaves with him, driving him half-way across the
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Sep 29, 2011
Deborah
rated it:
This is a very well-written book, which will appeal to the literary-minded and to book lovers everywhere. A homage to a childhood of books, and examples of their power pepper this story in which a librarian is abducted by a child.(Those who say it is the other way round have missed the point, the child is kidnapping the world of books in my view.)If you liked "Matilda" as a child, then you will probably enjoy this.
Ian is the book-mad ten year old who hides out in the librar More...
Ian is the book-mad ten year old who hides out in the librar More...
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Sep 19, 2011
Jackie
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Lucy Hull, a 26 year-old children's librarian working in Hannibal, MO. is mild-mannered, efficient, and cares about her patrons, especially 10 year-old Ian Drake. He loves reading, loves the library, and checks out books every day. Ian's mother is domineering, critical, and places restrictions on Ian's reading material.
Sensing her son may have gay tendencies, she enrolls him in Pastor Bob's anti-gay classes at church. Lucy is outraged, yet feels she can't do too much except be a fri More...
Sensing her son may have gay tendencies, she enrolls him in Pastor Bob's anti-gay classes at church. Lucy is outraged, yet feels she can't do too much except be a fri More...
Sep 16, 2011
Eleanor
rated it:
A children's librarian is sort of hijacked by a ten-year-old patron. This is a fabulous book, and I'll admit I was sobbing at the last fifteen pages or so. (Before that, I was alternately laughing maniacally and twitching nervously. In other words, maybe not the best book to read on the train.) I've read this author's short stories and loved them, and they are actually very, very different from this novel -- a lot of dark stuff and academic stuff -- and I picked this up because of how much I lik
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Sep 11, 2011
Randall
rated it:
I truly believe that some books enter your life for a reason: They teach you a lesson when you need it, or they cheer you up when you are down. 'The Borrower' by Rebecca Makkai is one of those book for me.
If you know anything at all about me, you know that I not only love books, but I love the ephemera that goes along with being a bibliophile. I love the shelves, and love organizing them. I love to hear the backstory of how or why it was written. Author blogs are like scripture to me. Ever More...
If you know anything at all about me, you know that I not only love books, but I love the ephemera that goes along with being a bibliophile. I love the shelves, and love organizing them. I love to hear the backstory of how or why it was written. Author blogs are like scripture to me. Ever More...
Sep 10, 2011
Patricia
rated it:
Hmm...totally unbelievable plot...From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler for adults? As a parent, it's difficult not to sympathize with the parents of a missing child and what they might be going through, even if they aren't the best parents in the world. In this case they are the typical, creepy, overbearing, totally unlikeable Christian fundamentalist parents trying to force their beliefs (& book censorship) on their possibly gay (you can tell this at 10 years old?) son. As a fol
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Sep 07, 2011
Elaine
rated it:
Adult
This is a really interesting book. The voice of the narrator - saying she was unclear whether she had committed a crime or not - kind of grated at me at the beginning. I thought the prose was a bit bumpy, and took me out of the story some. I was also not pleased with the stereotypes of the librarian - particularly the children's librarian - self-described as wiping crayons off books all day. However, a colleague had suggested the book, and I plunged onward. As the plot thickened, More...
This is a really interesting book. The voice of the narrator - saying she was unclear whether she had committed a crime or not - kind of grated at me at the beginning. I thought the prose was a bit bumpy, and took me out of the story some. I was also not pleased with the stereotypes of the librarian - particularly the children's librarian - self-described as wiping crayons off books all day. However, a colleague had suggested the book, and I plunged onward. As the plot thickened, More...
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Sep 05, 2011
Miss
rated it:
Huh.
The premise of this book really grabbed me but the reality...not so much.
Which is almost exactly what happens to the narrator!
There are some very clever takes on classic children's books that made me laugh. As well as some insider-Librarian sorts of jokes. There were references to great works of literature and their impact on youth struggling to find/survive themselves that I enjoyed/shared.
Ultimately I guess, I didn't like either of the main characters. I More...
The premise of this book really grabbed me but the reality...not so much.
Which is almost exactly what happens to the narrator!
There are some very clever takes on classic children's books that made me laugh. As well as some insider-Librarian sorts of jokes. There were references to great works of literature and their impact on youth struggling to find/survive themselves that I enjoyed/shared.
Ultimately I guess, I didn't like either of the main characters. I More...
Aug 30, 2011
When the word "borrower" is used in conjunction with a story set at a public library, one would expect it to refer to a patron who checks out books. In this refreshing first novel, that is most certainly not the case. When the adventure begins, it's not clear that "borrower" refers to books at all. Did Lucy Hull, children's librarian in Hannibal, Missouri borrow (i.e., kidnap) 10-year old Ian Drake, a regular who connives with Lucy to get books his mom won't allow him to read
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Aug 29, 2011
Vicki
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Lucy Hull is a children's librarian, more or less by accident. She is the daughter of a Russian immigrant whom she suspects is a member of the Russian "mafia" in Chicago. The family has always had plenty of money, but her dad is kind of vague about where it comes from. As Lucy recalls how she got the job, she remembers that she was soon to graduate magna cum laude, but had given no thought to what she would do afterwards. Perplexed, the Career Counselor gives her a printout of the En
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Aug 29, 2011
Lisa
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Aug 28, 2011
Virginia
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"Lucy Hull, a young children's librarian in Hannibal, Missouri, finds herself both kidnapper and kidnapped when her favorite patron, ten-year-old Ian Drake, runs away from home."
Why would a librarian listen to a ten-year-old and ruin her life? It may seem kind of unbelievable, but I could see myself doing it. You have to be very insecure and never want to disappoint someone. So, if the boy asked me to do something, I’d do it just so he wouldn’t hate me. About half way thr More...
Why would a librarian listen to a ten-year-old and ruin her life? It may seem kind of unbelievable, but I could see myself doing it. You have to be very insecure and never want to disappoint someone. So, if the boy asked me to do something, I’d do it just so he wouldn’t hate me. About half way thr More...
Aug 23, 2011
Krys
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Aug 21, 2011
Susann
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I am suspicious of librarian narrators, especially children's librarian narrators. So when I picked up this book, I held it at arms-length as I tried to ascertain how much it would disappoint me. That was two days ago. Now fast-forward to this afternoon as I skipped going to the farmers' market in order to lie on the couch and inhale the book's final two-thirds.
Some may question the plausibility of Librarian Lucy and her 10-year-old patron, Ian, kidnapping each other and setting off More...
Some may question the plausibility of Librarian Lucy and her 10-year-old patron, Ian, kidnapping each other and setting off More...
Aug 21, 2011
Paula
rated it:
A librarian and a boy on the run. When I read the reviews on this book, they all seemed to imply a lighthearted caper, which confused me as it also seemed to be about a librarian who kidnaps a child. Now having finished it, I didn't find the book to be very light-hearted and it's not about a kidnapping. You can quibble about whether or not the story is realistic, but the deeper truth is one that anyone who works with children (I teach second grade) can identify with.
There are childr More...
There are childr More...
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