I was having a reading crisis.

This happens sometimes, and I suspect that it’s when I’m not in the right frame of mind for a certain book.

After zipping through a few novels lately — including “Still Life” by Louise Penny, which was recommended by several friends — I just couldn’t get into a new release with good reviews, “The Housekeepers” by Alex Hay.

The story line was fun, but I found myself unable to follow the characters every time I picked it up. This may be, I suspect, partly due to constant interruptions to my reading, thanks to my talkative kids.

So I set aside “The Housekeepers.”

Then a notice came from the Baker County Public Library that I had a book on hold — “The Lost Library” by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass.

This middle grade novel, aimed at ages 8 to 12, was just what I needed.

For one, it involves some of my favorite topics — books, libraries and librarians.

Second, one of the narrators is a wonderful cat named Mortimer, who lives in the History House with three ghosts.

Third, the main character, a boy named Evan, is delightful.

OK, I have a fourth reason: the mice are hilarious. I do love books that bring colorful characters to life (Kate DiCamillo is fantastic at that — I especially enjoyed “The Tale of Despereaux”).

“The Lost Library” revolves around a bit of a mystery when a little free library suddenly appears in the center of town (along with an orange cat, who seems to be guarding the books). Evan chooses two books, and noticed that both were returned to the library on the same day.

After a quick survey of all the books in the little library, he discovers that all the books have the same date stamp: Nov. 5, 1999.

The night the library burned down.

Curious, Evan starts asking questions about the library, which was never rebuilt. But none of the adults are very willing to talk about it — especially not his dad, who was a library intern at the time.

Evan and his best friend, Rafe, slowly gather clues and piece together the story of the fire.

After some digging, and some help from a couple ghosts and the cat and the mice, the whole story finally comes to light and a mystery is solved.

I do so love happy endings.

But the middle is wonderful too, filled with nuggets that touch the heart of a reader.

One example is the character trait that impresses Mr. Brock (a ghost).

“Courage is Mr. Brock’s favorite thing to discover in a book,” recounts Al, a pivotal character who was the assistant librarian at the time of the fire.

Indeed, Mr. Brock — courage is superb. And in “The Lost Library,” courage abounds.