Review Detail

Dally (Delilah) Peteharrigan is grieving the death of her beloved grandfather, especially since she has already lost her father, who was Black, and her mother, who is white, is very busy managing the family's company. Her mother is determined that Dally learn a lot, so she is not only enrolled in a private school, but also has lessons in subjects like economics afterwards. Her free time is limited to one hour, so even after Dally makes an impressive plea to join the school Adventure Club, she is not allowed. After this, Dally is determined to get the envelope that her grandfather left her, and breaks into his office. There's a puzzle and a map involved, and Dally pins to location to a bakery too far from her home to walk. She enlists the aid of a car service the family often uses, and when she arrives at the location, a magical library appears. She is greeted by the librarian, Jennacake, who tells her that the library houses secrets, and that Dally is allowed to see one a day. There are a wide variety of secrets, and Dally sees some about how her parents met, and small lies that people tell. Nothing too earth shaking happens at first, and her time spent in the vesions of the past is short, but she eventually ends up in a rousing adventure on the high seas, along with well-meaning pirates Pete and Eli, as well as a boy about her age, Jack. She can't really figure out what the secret is, but the more she pops into various timelines, the more she finds out about the history of her family, and the reasons why her mother is so cautious with the family finanaces. She also learns that Jack is using the library to travel into secrets as well, but he is from 1960. Her mother's controlling behavior doesn't stop, and when Dally learns that her own future might be very circumscribed, she has to think about the path she should take. The library just holds the secrets, but how those secrets effect Dally and her family can be earth shattering. (Don't want to give away too much!)