Long Lost - by Jacqueline West

About the Book

Fiona Crane's family has just moved to Lost Lake, a tiny, unwelcoming town full of old houses, old forests, and old secrets. Fiona is miserable, and it's all because her older sister needed to be closer to her figure skating club. The only bright spot is Lost Lake's library, a rambling mansion that was once home to a wealth local family. That's where Fiona finds the book with the soft leather cover and the drawings of a forest with reaching hands and string eyes. The book about another pair of sisters who lived long ago, in a town eerily like Lost Lake. The book that doesn't exist- at least, not if you ask anyone about it. The book is leading Fiona toward something. Something that has been waiting to be found. Maybe it's been waiting for her. --

Book Synopsis

Winner of the Minnesota Book Award * A Texas Bluebonnet Book

"Perfect to be read late into the night."--Stefan Bachmann, internationally bestselling author of The Peculiar

"A spooky sisterhood mystery that is sure to be a hit with readers."--School Library Journal (starred review)

"Grab a flashlight and stay up late with this one."--Kirkus Reviews

Once there were two sisters who did everything together. But only one of them disappeared.

New York Times-bestselling author Jacqueline West's Long Lost is an atmospheric, eerie mystery brimming with suspense. Fans of Katherine Arden's Small Spaces and Victoria Schwab's City of Ghosts series will lose themselves in this mesmerizing and century-spanning tale.

Eleven-year-old Fiona has just read a book that doesn't exist.

When Fiona's family moves to a new town to be closer to her older sister's figure skating club--and far from Fiona's close-knit group of friends--nobody seems to notice Fiona's unhappiness. Alone and out of place, Fiona ventures to the town's library, a rambling mansion donated by a long-dead heiress. And there she finds a gripping mystery novel about a small town, family secrets, and a tragic disappearance.

Soon Fiona begins to notice strange similarities that blur the lines between the novel and her new town. With a little help from a few odd Lost Lake locals, Fiona uncovers the book's strange history. Lost Lake is a town of restless spirits, and Fiona will learn that both help and danger come from unexpected places--maybe even from the sister she thinks doesn't care about her anymore.

New York Times-bestselling and acclaimed author Jacqueline West weaves a heart-pounding, intense, and imaginative mystery that builds anticipation on every page, while centering on the strong and often tumultuous bond between sisters. Laced with suspense, Long Lost will fascinate readers of Trenton Lee Stewart's The Secret Keepers and fans of ghost stories.

Review Quotes

"A spine-tingling brew of ghosts and half-forgotten mysteries, but just as much, a warm and real story of sibling bonds and small-town adventures. This has all the makings of a classic, and readers will be clamoring for just one more chapter. Perfect to be read late into the night." -- Stefan Bachmann, internationally bestselling author of The Peculiar

"Deep in the mystery room, Fiona finds a book on the shelf that does not appear to belong to the library. . . . This book is a captivating narrative that draws the reader into two stories of two sisters living over a century apart. The stories of Fiona and Arden, and of Hazel and Pearl, parallel each other as both sets of siblings drift apart. . . . A spooky sisterhood mystery that is sure to be a hit with readers." -- School Library Journal (starred review)

"A mysterious book leads a girl into a century-old supernatural mystery. . . . Reading this book within a book, Fiona learns about characters Hazel and Pearl . . . Although the two sets of sisters have different relationships and dynamics, the complexity of sisterhood links both storylines, resulting in nuanced relationships. . . . Grab a flashlight and stay up late with this one." -- Kirkus Reviews

"In a spooky middle grade love letter to libraries and the mystery genre, West crafts a spellbinding exploration of sisterhood. . . . Alternating a contemporary third-person narrative with the found book's parallel telling, West draws readers into a supernaturally tinged dual story, simultaneously offering an authentic portrait of sibling angst." -- Publishers Weekly

"A mysterious uncatalogued book at the local library proves a welcome distraction from new-town blues, and Fiona becomes absorbed in the book's story of two sisters, Hazel and Pearl, only to find that the pages go blank after one of them disappears. . . . A series of increasingly eerie incidents occur as she investigates. . . . [Long Lost] will please mystery lovers, while chills and thrills satisfyingly intertwine with the focus on sisterly relationships." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Eleven-year-old Fiona blames her older sister Arden for their family's move to the 'quaint' (fictional) Massachusetts town of Lost Lake. . . . Finding solace in the town's library, Fiona discovers a mysterious book called The Lost One that tells the story of two sisters . . . one of whom disappeared a hundred years ago. . . . What starts as rather a cozy mystery--small town, quirky librarian, strange book--builds up to a spooky denouement . . . Readers will be eager to learn the fates of both pairs of sisters." -- Horn Book Magazine

"Fiona Crane isn't at all pleased about having to move . . . When Fiona ventures to the library . . . and finds a curious leather-bound book in the mystery section . . . Fiona becomes obsessed with the book, which is swathed in secrets, including an inconvenient habit of disappearing and the unfortunate absence of an ending. As Fiona tries to piece together the story's true ending, she dives into the town's history and creepy lore and confronts her own needs and faults as a sister. A good choice for those who enjoy atmospheric mysteries." -- Booklist