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Owen always heard such odd, but interesting 

things about the girl in the library.   “Her hair is 

as red and poofy as a clown's wig.”   “Her eyes 

are like slits from staring at pages and pages 

of books all her life.”   “Her feet have fallen off 

from sitting in a chair reading all day long.”  

“She’s Mad!”   “She’s Crazy!” “Stay away from 

the girl in the library…” 

It was mostly the older children who’d tell 

everybody this, but sometimes you could hear 

the kids in Owen’s second-grade class repeat 

what they’d heard.   One time Owen asked the 

5th graders at lunch how they knew all of this 

stuff about the girl, but they just laughed, 

shook their heads at him and said, “She’s 

Crazy! Stay away from the girl in the library…”

 After school, Owen asked his parents what 

they thought about the rumors.   Owen’s 

Mom, who was cooking dinner, said that he 

shouldn’t believe all the gossip that the kids 

around his school spread because it’s 

probably untrue.

Owen’s father, who was in his office, said that the older kids were just 

filling Owen’s head with stories, but Owen still didn’t get it.   Why would 

the 5th graders even 

make up stuff like that?

 Still curious about what he should believe, Owen went to the park where he 

his older brother, Nathan, passing a football with his friends.   Owen went up to 

Nathan and told him about his problem.   Nathan told Owen, “You should 

never listen to rumors or gossip, but should instead find out the 

information for yourself, so you’ll know what’s true and what’s false.”  

Nathan let Owen play football with him and his friends for the rest of the 

night, but Owen still couldn’t get the rumors out of his head.   “Stay away 

from the little girl in the library…”

 The next day Owen decided to find out for himself if the rumors about the girl were true, so 

he walked to the library.   Owen saw the shape of a girl walking up the library steps.  

Because not many kids Owen’s age went to the library, he knew it had to be her.   Owen 

studied the girl’s appearance and saw that none of the rumors were true.   She had bright red 

hair that was pulled back into a ponytail and a face that glowed with excitement.   Her hazel 

eyes were big and filled with wonder.   Owen took a look at the ground below the girl and 

found that she, in fact, did have feet, that were covered by black sneakers. “Hello,” said the 

girl, “I’m Amber.” Owen was shocked that Amber’s voice was soft but clear.   Nothing like the 

voice of a crazy person.   “Um,” Owen hesitated, “I’m Owen.” Amber tilted her head like a 

puppy who was too curious for her own good.   “Do you like to read, Owen?” she asked.   Owen 

was caught off guard.   Why would she want to know this?   It was odd, but Owen 

answered, “Well, kind of I guess.   I mean, I don’t read a lot.”   “Perfect!” Amber 

exclaimed and she grabbed Owen by the hand and pulled him into the library.   Owen 

couldn’t help, but hear a little voice in the back of his mind whisper, “Stay away from the 

girl in the library…”

 The moment Owen stepped through the elaborate, wooden doors of the 

library he was shocked.   There were colors everywhere and books that were 

lined up in neat stacks and bookshelves.   So many book titles and 

authors’ names everywhere!   The bookshelves looked like tunnels in an 

intricate maze and if he wasn’t careful, Owen would be forever lost in the 

stacks of novels, chapter books, short stories, myths, fables, and nursery 

rhymes.  

Amber smiled as she watched Owen’s face shroud in awe and 

fascination.   She pulled him along and gave him a tour of the vast 

library.   Amber explained how all of the books were organized by the Dewey 

Decimal Classification system and that each book had a number that told the 

librarians where it needed to go.    Amber made sure to remind Owen that 

everyone had to be quiet in the library because people were reading and 

working.   She showed him the different sections in the library for adult 

books, children’s books, and young-adult books.   Amber paused in the 

children’s book section and showed Owen where the different genres for that 

section were.   Then she pulled out a book with an alien pictured on the 

cover.

“This book’s genre is science fiction or sci-fi.   All books are 

classified in certain genres fiction, non-fiction, adventure, mystery you 

name it!   If you can think of it, they got it!” Amber said joyfully.  

“See, this book is about aliens who try to take over the universe, but 

the good guys stop them before they can achieve their goals!”  

“Wow,” was all Owen could say.   He was speechless!   Owen never 

knew that books could be so interesting.   He’d always thought that 

all books were like the textbooks his teachers made him read at 

school.  

They walked towards another part of the children’s section and Amber 

pulled a book called “The Tortoise and The Hare” off of the shelf.   She 

opened the book and Owen could see all of the pictures and words printed 

neatly onto the pages. “That’s weird,” Owen said, “Why would the 

Tortoise win the race if he was way slower than the Hare?”   Amber laughed 

and replied, “Because slow and steady wins the race.”   Amber could tell by 

Owen’s questioning look that he didn’t get it.   “It’s the moral of the 

story.” Amber clarified. “The moral is the lesson that the book teaches.” 

“Oh,” Owen said and they continued through the library.

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