Informational Resources:

Author Information:

Author Website: http://www.jacquelinewest.com/

Cover reveal and author interview from the Mixed Up Files of Middle Grade Authors: https://fromthemixedupfiles.com/cover-reveal-for-long-lost-by-jacqueline-west/

Activities & Resources:

Activities:

Ice Skating:

Ice Skating: https://www.britannica.com/sports/ice-skating

Science of Ice Skating: https://gosciencegirls.com/science-of-ice-skating/

Science of the Olympic Winter Games: Figure Skating Physics (5:07): https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=2SW_3fiqntM

Olympic Figure Skating: https://olympics.com/en/sports/figure-skating/

Ghosts:

Ghosts: https://www.britannica.com/topic/haltia

The Science of Ghosts: https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/science-ghosts

Libraries:

History of Libraries: https://www.britannica.com/topic/library

What’s the Dewey Decimal System?: https://kids.kiddle.co/Dewey_Decimal_System

How to Use a Public Library: https://www.wikihow.com/Use-a-Public-Library

Become a Librarian: https://www.ala.org/educationcareers/libcareers/become

American Library Association: https://www.ala.org/

MakerSpace Activities:

Design a layout for a brand new town as a bird’s eye view. Place houses, buildings, parks and more. Connect and name all of the streets.

Code without computers in Fiona and Arden’s Neighborhood. First, draw a neighborhood with houses and streets. Write an algorithm (instructions) on how to navigate a path through the neighborhood using up, down, left, and right directions. Switch papers with a classmate and see if they can use your algorithm to successfully navigate the neighborhood.

Ice Skate Craft: https://inthebagkidscrafts.com/ice-skate-craft-for-kids/

Write your own spooky ghost story and share it with a classmate or the whole class.

Discussion Questions:

At a very early age, Fiona expresses that Arden gets more attention. She has to “squeeze [her] life into whatever space was left for [herself]”. Have you ever felt that way with another sibling or friend? If not, how do you think it would make you feel?

Have you ever moved to a new town or school? What is it like leaving what you know and going somewhere new?

Fiona wants to become either a historian or an archeologist because she thinks they would be interesting. What future career do you think would be interesting?

How does Fiona describe herself compared to Arden? How does that relate to their relationship as sisters?

Why do you think Fiona hid Arden’s medal? What events and feelings ultimately led up to her seemingly harmless prank?

The plaque under the portrait on the second floor landing of the public library reads, “Our stories are what bind us together”. Do you think that’s true? In what ways do stories bind us together?

How are the Crane sisters similar to Pearl and Hazel? How are they different?

Hazel says she sometimes felt like the grownup being responsible for herself and Pearl. In what ways are older siblings responsible for their younger siblings?

In what ways does Fiona relate to Pearl? How are they alike in their relationship with their sisters?

Arden ties a knot in her left skate lace for luck in competitions. Do you have any rituals or traditions you do before a competition? If you don’t, why do you think athletes have these rituals?

Why do you think Pearl would bury Hazel’s pocket knife?

Have you ever read a book you couldn’t put down? What was it? How would you feel if your favorite book stopped halfway through the story?

Do you think it was fair that Arden’s competition was chosen over Fiona’s event with her friends? How did this make Fiona feel?

How does Arden feel about Fiona never coming to her skating events?

Do you think the woman and the dog were really there? Why or why not? Do you believe in ghosts?

Who do you think wrote the mysterious note?

When Fiona and Charlie visited the diner, they overheard some townspeople talk about Arden in a negative way. How did their gossip make Fiona feel? How does gossip in your life make you feel?

Do you think The Lost Ones book is a reliable narrator of the story? Why or why not?

How does Arden and Pearl’s fight mirror Hazel and Pearl’s fight earlier in the book outside the carnival?

Ms. Miranda told Charlie, “there’s a right book for every reader, and a right reader for every book”. What do you think that means? Do you think that’s true?

Book Talk Teasers:

Watch the book trailer embedded at the bottom of the page.

Read Alikes:

Complicated Sisters in Mystery and Fantasy

Ursu, Anne. Lost Girls. Separated for the first time since birth when they are put into different fifth-grade classes, identical twins Iris and Lark struggle with insecurities over their individual identities at the same time things begin to go missing in their city. (Novelist Plus)

Mystery in a New Town

Lawrence, Lorien. The Stitchers. Thirteen-year-olds Quinn Parker and Mike Warren uncover the awful truth about their strange neighbors and the gruesome secret of how they stay young. (Novelist Plus)

Surrisi, Cynthia. The Maypop Kidnapping. Quinnie's teacher has disappeared. Quinnie suspects a kidnapping but her mom, even though she's the sheriff of their small Maine town, disagrees. So Quinnie teams with her glamorous new neighbor to investigate the mystery. (Novelist Plus)

Suspenseful

Arden, Katherine. Small Spaces. After eleven-year-old Ollie's school bus mysteriously breaks down on a field trip, she has to take a trip through scary woods, and must use all of her wits to survive. She must stick to small spaces. (Novelist Plus)

Hahn, Mary Downing. The Thirteenth Cat. Unnerved by the overgrown forest near her aunt’s house and the wild black cats that live there, Danni encounters a mean old woman who claims to be their owner and makes a discovery that places her life in danger. (Novelist Plus)

Reviews:

West, Jacqueline. Long Lost. Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2021.

Booklist

Long Lost.

By Jacqueline West.

May 2021. 288p. Greenwillow, $16.99 (9780062691750). Grades 4-7.

REVIEW. First published May 1, 2021 (Booklist).

Fiona Crane isn’t at all pleased about having to move to a peculiar New England town, Lost Lake, just so her older sister, Arden, can be closer to the ice rink where she trains. Things get decidedly more interesting, however, when Fiona ventures to the library, formerly a grand old house, and

finds a curious leather-bound book in the mystery section that draws her like a magnet. Clearly very old, The Lost One tells a haunting story of two sisters that echoes some of her relationship with Arden and, as will later play a much greater role, the two sisters who once resided in the very house that is now the library. Fiona becomes obsessed with the book, which is swathed in secrets, including an inconvenient habit of disappearing and the unfortunate absence of an ending. As Fiona tries to piece together the story’s true ending, she dives into the town’s history and creepy lore and confronts her own needs and faults as a sister. A good choice for those who enjoy atmospheric mysteries. —Julia Smith

Used with the permission of Booklist https://www.booklistonline.com/

School Library Journal starred (June 1, 2021)

Gr 4-9-Fiona's family has just picked up and moved across Massachusetts to the sleepy town of Lost Lake, all because of her sister Arden and her figure skating. Fiona cannot help feeling slighted at having to leave everything behind just so they can be closer to Arden's practice rink. When the opportunity arises, Fiona chooses to explore the town library rather than watching skating practice. Deep in the mystery room, Fiona finds a book on the shelf that does not appear to belong to the library. Intrigued, she begins reading and is drawn immediately into The Lost One: the story of Hazel and Pearl and the mystery of how one of them disappeared. This book is a captivating narrative that draws the reader into two stories of two sisters living over a century apart. The stories of Fiona and Arden, and of Hazel and Pearl, parallel each other as both sets of siblings drift apart. Ultimately, Hazel goes missing, and that is where the mystery begins: What happened all those years ago? Fiona is determined to find out. The story breaks frame when the worlds of Fiona and Arden and Hazel and Pearl collide in a supernatural twist that will test the bond of sisterhood. Fiona and Arden have dark hair and brown eyes, but there are no explicit references to their ethnicity or race beyond this detail. VERDICT A spooky sisterhood mystery that is sure to be a hit with readers who enjoy titles such as Katherine Arden's Small Spaces, Ellen Oh's Spirit Hunters, or Lindsay Currie's Scritch Scratch.-Jessica Caron, Bancroft Sch., MA © Copyright 2021. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Reprinted with permission from School Library Journal ©2021