The Keeper of What Cannot Be Told
The wait is over.
“You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.”
Madeleine L’Engle
Today is the day! After months of editing (and eight years in the writing process), Living Tome Publishing is proud to bring you The Keeper of What Cannot Be Told by Vanessa Matelski.
This is a story about friendship, about family, and about secrets. It’s a story that shows us things in life that aren’t fair, and shows us the different ways we can respond to the unfairness around us. It’s a story that pulls from the past to speak to who we are today, and it holds up a mirror to ask us who we will be in the future.
It’s a story that, though a work of fiction, is true in the deepest sense of the word.
A 200-year-old librarian.
A sword-wielding vigilante.
A girl who sees what others can’t.
Sophie Sage is lonely…and her weekly homeschool group at the library never changes that. When classes are over, she roams the children’s section by herself looking for the next Henrietta Holt book. Until one day, she meets a woman who is invisible.
Jada Tamsin, Master of The Books, is one of the Unseen: an ancient people with special talents who are invisible to most. In secret tunnels beneath the library, she lives surrounded by her books and records the history of her people.
But as Sophie and Jada begin their peculiar friendship, everything is threatened when Lilith—Jada’s sister and the Master of The Sword—tries to remake the very fabric of reality itself.
While The Keeper of What Cannot Be Told is billed as the first middle grade novel from LT Publishing, we believe that, like many great middle grade novels, the story is truly wonderful for both children and adults. Following closely the legacy of novels like A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle, there is a story here that is heartwarming at times, as well as deeply profound.
It has maps and chapter illustrations created by the author (see image below), and our team has also developed a free study guide download to go along with the book. The guide is available on the Living Tome Publishing website, for parents, teachers, librarians, book club leaders, and homework-loving-kids-at-heart looking to dig deeper into the topics this story addresses and grow their writing skills.
For those of you familiar with our thoughts on excellent art here at Living Room Disciple, this a book that has something to say. For those of you still getting to know us (hello and welcome and thank you), we believe that this is a book that, a hundred years from now, will still deserve to be read. We do hope you won’t wait that long to read it, though.
Like The Tragedy of Oli Ricker1, The Keeper of What Cannot Be Told is a story that points to something truly real. It invites readers of all ages to wrestle with challenging questions, knowing that the most satisfying answers are the ones you come to yourself.
The usual marketing way to end this newsletter would be one more call to action to get you to buy this book for yourself and a kid you care about. And, sure, we want you to do that. But more than that, we want you to pray with us. Our prayer is that this will be a book that leads to restored relationships—that it will work in each reader’s imagination to plant a seed of forgiveness and self-sacrificing love. In short: We’re praying that this book will show a sliver of God’s Kingdom to each person, young or old, who reads it. And we want you to join us in that prayer. Pray that God will plow up hard hearts so that this seed finds good soil. Pray that it is just one step in the spiritual formation of the next generation. Pray that God does immeasurably more than we’re hoping—or even imagining—for this little book to do.
It’s a big ask. Or at least that’s how it seems in our tiny, finite, human perspective.
God probably wants us to ask for even more.
So, if you feel so inspired, ask for something bigger. And while you pray for the work, we ask that you pray for the workers. We don’t know what’s coming next. But we know God is already guiding us, gently and steadily, into it. Pray that we will walk the path well.
Thank you for joining us in this work. We are exceptionally grateful.
P.S. To those who preordered: Thank you so much for your support. Please check out this announcement video on Living Tome Publishing’s Instagram to see if you’ve got the super secret special first edition.
Fun fact for those who’ve been here a minute. Keeper is dropping on July 31st, exactly one year after Oli was released. It wasn’t intentional, but it’s kinda cool LT Publishing lore.