Evil Librarian by Michelle Knudsen is more than just a good book. It is a downright
delectable read. And after getting to meet the author at the Rochester Children's Book Festival, it made the whole experience of reading this book even better! She even signed my copy!
I can't remember the last time I read a book in the first person point of view that was this laugh out loud funny! The fact that Cyn (so similar to sin that I couldn't really ignore it) Rothschild is so upfront about who she is throughout the whole book is really refreshing. There are some books where the narrator just feels dishonest. But Cyn feels like an authentic high school girl. She isn't drop dead gorgeous, she doesn't have the typical qualities or features that make girls in books so frustrating sometimes. Unlike those other kinds of characters, Cyn doubts herself at times, yet tries anyway to do what she can to save her school and her best friend from their evil librarian. She has an embarrassingly honest crush on a boy from school and a best friend that she loves so fiercely, I just had to smile at it all. Because I remember it all so well: the embarrassing crushes that I still cringe at, the best friend that I still love fiercely almost nine years later, and the school musicals!
From the time I was in third grade through my high school career, I took part in school musicals. Twelve in total! So everything Michelle Knudsen writes about in this book just felt so real for me. The fact that she integrates so much of high school into this fantastical novel is simply sensational! I loved every bit of it!
And the parts about musicals being able to make things better, that's true. I remember those days spent behind the curtain waiting for opening night. I remember the rehearsals and the smell of the auditorium. I remember those insane crushes on costars for no apparent reason other than the stage lights and the closeness of three hour rehearsals. Those I remember all too well. And I remember the friendships and the way we all became a family. I remember the last night of my last musical. I cried. Now, mind you, I didn't cry at my high school graduation like a lot of my peers. But I bawled the last night of the show. Because that was the moment where it felt like high school ended.
I don't think you had to be in school musicals though to enjoy this book. The way Knudsen thrusts the reader into the production of Sweeny Todd is enough! But, like Cyn, I had a Mr. Henry. Only my amazing director's name is Mr. Roll and he is still helping bring shows to life at my old school, which made this book all the more special for me. It made me think about this song Mr. Roll always played and I remember thinking it was ridiculous when I was in elementary school and even middle school. And then something changed in high school. The words: "don't ever give up, don't ever lose the dreams that you dream everyday. Don't ever lose heart, know who you are, and live your own life your way," are still embedded in my memories. Typing them here brings back a flood of other memories too. But I know without music theater and my director and having those two constant things in my life, I might not be writing this blog post. I might not be a writer. I might not have had the courage to follow my dreams. I'm so happy I did. All of this is what the book made me remember and I think that's great! I want a book to make me think not only of the characters, but to make me think of other things too. I think that is what's so fantastic about literature in general, but more specifically, this book. Knudsen has a plot that moves forward, but beneath that there is emotion and sacrifice and love and those are the things that really shined through for me. That and the absolute hilarity that accompanied many of the above moments. Books that can combine such a witty narrative with real issues are winners for me and I hope they are for you too. So instead of struggling between a "good" book and a "bad" book, why don't you read a great book and face an evil librarian!
xoxo
K.K.