After a devastating Blight wipes out the world’s trees, paper becomes one of the most valuable resources on Earth. Juni knows this better than most — after her parents died, she and her Grandpa Edgar have gotten by through “plifting”: scavenging every scrap of paper they can find, just to make ends meet.
A Discovery Worth a Fortune — and So Much More
When Juni finds a real book — the first she’s ever seen — hidden in her grandfather’s closet, her first instinct is to think about how much money it could bring. But once she starts reading, everything changes. The book doesn’t just open her imagination; it contains clues pointing toward what might be the last library left on Earth.
Frank L. Cole builds a high-stakes adventure around a simple but powerful question: in a world that has forgotten the value of stories, what would it mean to find them again?
The Value of What We’ve Lost
Juni’s journey with her friends Doler and Quaze becomes about more than survival money for her grandfather’s health care — it becomes a race to preserve something the world desperately needs but doesn’t realize it’s missing. Cole’s premise invites readers to think about the real, irreplaceable value of books, knowledge, and imagination in a way that feels urgent rather than preachy.
Perfect For
6th through 8th grade readers who love high-stakes adventure, dystopian settings, and stories about the power of books and imagination. A natural pick for reluctant readers who might not realize how much they’d miss reading in a world without it.