Austin, Lynn. Wonderland Creek (Minneapolis: Bethany House, c2011) 391 p.

The Blue Island, Illinois library is run by Mrs. Beasley, who resembles “a sturdy little bulldog, complete with jowls.” (p. 19). It is 1936 and depression-era budget cuts force her to lay off Miss Alice Grace Ripley. Alice is very young and only wants to be a librarian. She decides to take a load of donated books to Acorn Kentucky and volunteer there. Things are not the way she expects and she learns a lot. The librarian in Acorn is a man named Leslie MacDougal.