Biracial Dally, 11, lives on the family estate with her mom (white), who runs the family business and is already training Dally to take over. Dally hates her mom’s workaholic ways and demanding expectations. Dally’s dad (Black) died years before. More recently, Dally lost her beloved maternal grandfather. When Dally discovers The Secret Library, it’s clear the mysterious librarian, Jennacake, knows who Dally is. Jennacake explains the library rules: only secrets to which Dally has a connection will reveal themselves to her, and she can read just one a day. Each secret transports Dally back to the place and time of its origins. She witnesses her mom and dad’s early romance, when a failed dare led to love that transcended racial and economic differences. And she repeatedly finds herself with the crew of an 1850s pirate ship. It becomes clear that the captain, Eli (white), and first mate, Pete (Black), are life partners, a secret it would be dangerous to reveal, and that they created the treasure map that Dally’s Grandpa cherished. It’s also on the ship that she meets Jack, another crew member and, she later discovers, another time traveler. Jack’s connection to Dally is a welcome surprise, but one that reveals another unsettling truth about race and racism in the past. Dally’s discoveries bring clarity to her family history and identity, as well as her mother’s grief, while setting her on a surprising yet seemingly destined course in this captivating tale.

An instant New York Times bestseller!

Travel through time with National Book Award Finalist Kekla Magoon in a page-turning fantasy adventure about family secrets and finding the courage to plot your own life story.

Since Grandpa died, Dally's days are dull and restricted. She's eleven and a half years old, and her exacting single mother is already preparing her to take over the family business. Starved for adventure and release, Dally rescues a mysterious envelope from her mother's clutches, an envelope Grandpa had earmarked for her. The map she finds inside leads straight to an ancient vault, a library of secrets where each book is a portal to a precise moment in time. As Dally "checks out" adventure after adventure--including an exhilarating outing with pirates--she begins to dive deep into her family's hidden history. Soon she's visiting every day to escape the demands of the present. But the library has secrets of its own, intentions that would shape her life as surely as her mother's meticulous plans. What will Dally choose? Equal parts mystery and adventure--with a biracial child puzzling out her identity alongside the legacy of the past--this masterful middle-grade fantasy rivets with crackling prose, playful plot twists, and timeless themes. A satisfying choice for fans of Kindred and When You Reach Me.