And he remembered something Lord Patch had said to him. You have no idea what you are, do you? It was true. “I don’t know what I am,” he concluded. He studied the letters on his wrist to see if they’d oh-so-helpfully give him some advice. But of course they didn’t.
“I do,” Miss Bug said. “I know what you are.”
“Oh, really,” Alex muttered crossly, and pulled down his sleeve again to cover the letters.
“Yes.” Miss Bug’s little face grew serious, the eyes huge behind the thick lenses of her spectacles. “You’re not just a librarian.” Somehow the words sounded weighty. “You are the Librarian.”
As she spoke, the bracelet of letters around Alex’s wrist itched. He pushed up his sleeve again to see what the letters had to say.
POIEDSOINXLIEIEKSXXWQOINX
“That’s not particularly helpful,” Alex told them. Then, like spindly-legged ants, the letters crawled over each other, shifted again, and spelled out two words.
THE LIBRARIAN
And it was true.
He was.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to all the librarians. You know who you are. Specifically thanks to the librarians who kindly gave me permission to kill them off in this book (with their names slightly altered): Mary Rumsey, Maeve Clark, Jackie Hockett Biger. And to the memory of Kathryn Farnsworth, storyteller, librarian, and the person who first pointed me toward books.
To the bestest BFFs in the world: Jenn Reese, Deb Coates, and Greg van Eekhout. You guys.
And seriously, without Michelle Edwards this book might not exist. Thanks, pal, for all the long talks and long walks and for urging me to send the “librarian kid book” to my agent. All the pompons and all the woolly hats in this book are for you.
To my friend Luke Reynolds and my intern, Lee Hartley. And to the memory of my dearest Ellie Ditzel.
To my awesome colleagues at Prairie Lights Books, a great bookstore. You should all visit it, especially on Sunday afternoons when I’m working in the kids section downstairs.
To this book’s readers. This was the most fun I’ve ever had writing a book—and I hope you have as much fun reading it.
About the Author
Photo courtesy Sarah Prineas
SARAH PRINEAS lives in the midst of the corn in rural Iowa, where she wrangles dogs, cats, chickens, and goats, goes on lots of hikes, and finds time to write. Her previous books include the Magic Thief series, Winterling, Summerkin, and Moonkind. She is married to a physics professor and has two kids.
You can visit Sarah online at www.sarah-prineas.com.
Books by Sarah Prineas
THE MAGIC THIEF SERIES
The Magic Thief
The Magic Thief: Lost
The Magic Thief: Found
The Magic Thief: Home
The Magic Thief: A Proper Wizard
Winterling
Summerkin
Moonkind
Thrice Sworn
A Digital Short Story
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Copyright
THE LOST BOOKS: THE SCROLL OF KINGS. Copyright © 2018 by Sarah Prineas. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
Cover art by Jim Madsen
Cover design by Joel Tippie
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017954075
Digital Edition JUNE 2018 ISBN: 978-0-06-266560-7
1819202122CG/LSCH10987654321
FIRST EDITION
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