Summer Hours at the Robbers Library by Sue Halpern

Book Description:

"From journalist and author Sue Halpern comes a wry, observant look at contemporary life and its refugees. Halpern’s novel is an unforgettable tale of family...the kind you come from and the kind you create.
People are drawn to libraries for all kinds of reasons. Most come for the books themselves, of course; some come to borrow companionship. For head librarian Kit, the public library in Riverton, New Hampshire, offers what she craves most: peace. Here, no one expects Kit to talk about the calamitous events that catapulted her out of what she thought was a settled, suburban life. She can simply submerge herself in her beloved books and try to forget her problems.
But that changes when fifteen-year-old, home-schooled Sunny gets arrested for shoplifting a dictionary. The judge throws the book at Sunny—literally—assigning her to do community service at the library for the summer. Bright, curious, and eager to connect with someone other than her off-the-grid hippie parents, Sunny coaxes Kit out of her self-imposed isolation. They’re joined by Rusty, a Wall Street high-flyer suddenly crashed to earth.   
In this little library that has become the heart of this small town, Kit, Sunny, and Rusty are drawn to each other, and to a cast of other offbeat regulars. As they come to terms with how their lives have unraveled, they also discover how they might knit them together again and finally reclaim their stories."

I was not easily drawn into this book. I found most of the first half to be boring. Why? Because this book was written without us knowing the whole story behind Kit's mental instability. I don't usually mind if the main character's background is unfurled slowly, but this was absurd (to me).

Once Rusty shows up (and I can understand why the author threw in a guy, but I didn't like it) Ket starts to change just a tiny bit.

I didn't believe that this was supposed to be a romance -but there you go. Not an obvious one, but it's in the background hovering.

As for Sunny, well she was the best part of the book.

Yes this book was beautifully written and the characters are well drawn, but it was still missing that something that would have kept me intrigued instead of looking for something else to read.

*ARC supplied by publisher/Edelweiss