The Library of Memories is a joyous middle-grade fantasy graphic novel that gracefully explores grief through the determination of a charmingly intrepid girl to regain her lost memories.
Copenhagen, a girl with messy black hair and blue eyes, cannot remember who she is. It is as if she fell asleep in one place and woke up in a fantastical art deco steampunk world inhabited by sentient metal creatures. Those "Gyrotrons" remind her--yet again, apparently--that she is an assistant in the Library of Memories. Each eclectic item in the infinite space contains a memory, and interacting with it enables one to experience it firsthand. Every time Copenhagen touches an object in the library, however, her own memory resets, the physical library changes, and whatever she touched vanishes. The girl seeks to understand this process but has nothing to guide her except her journal, filled with confusing notes, and Lawrence, an uptight mechanical bird who has taken it upon himself to protect her. Eventually, she learns that someone named the Bookkeeper is responsible for relocating the lost artifacts to the boiler room, where their contents can be forgotten forever. When Copenhagen enters the room, she finds more hidden objects than just the ones she has touched; these additional items are vaguely familiar and grief filled. Copehnhagen worries this means her own memories might be held here, and she endeavors to protect them all from their mysterious keeper.
Barbara Perez Marquez (who adapted the graphic-novel edition of To All the Boys I've Loved Before) and Lissy Marlin (illustrator, The Magic Misfits series) together deliver a darling tale that depicts joy in all types of memories. Copenhagen's hopefulness and exuberance are accentuated by her tear-filled experiences with the boiler room's artifacts ("I can feel the grief like it's my own"), yet these complex emotions only embolden her resolve to stop the Bookkeeper. Marlin's dramatic digital art allows Copenhagen's endearingly spirited personality to shine; the exaggerated anime-style expressions show her many moods, and metafictional activity--such as Copenhagen turning the page of the actual book--highlight her playfulness. Jets of cotton candy-colored magic slip into sepia memories, all in a detailed, visually arresting steampunk setting. An abundance of humor keeps this graphic novel lively, and Sophie Escabasse and K. O'Neill enthusiasts will likely enjoy this moving adventure. --Samantha Zaboski, freelance editor and reviewer
Shelf Talker: A girl who can't remember who she is races to save an infinite space that contains strange memories in this wondrous middle-grade graphic novel about the bittersweet nature of the past.