The Dots in the Library Book

Alba worked at the school library on Thursdays. She was sixteen. Her job was easy. She stamped books and put them on the shelves.

One Thursday, she opened a book about the sea. It was a returned book. A tiny dot sat under a letter on page ten. The letter was Y.

Alba smiled. Some readers made marks in books. She turned the page. Another dot sat under a letter on page eleven. The letter was O.

She looked at page twelve. A dot sat under the letter U. Alba stopped smiling. This was not a mistake. Someone made these dots on purpose.

She took a piece of paper and a pencil. She went through the book, page by page. She wrote each letter in a line.

Y. O. U. C. A. N. D. O. I. T.

Alba read the line three times. "You can do it," she said in a small voice.

On the last page, there was one more dot. It sat under the word "friend."

Alba felt a little shiver. Who wrote this? And why?

She carried the book to the desk. The librarian was there, with her glasses on her head.

"Look at this," Alba said. She showed the paper.

The librarian read the letters. Her eyes grew wide. "How lovely," she said. "I have never seen it before."

"Who had the book last?" Alba asked.

"Let us look at the card," said the librarian.

Inside the back cover, there was a paper card. It had names and dates. Alba counted five names. She read the oldest name. It said "Nia." The date was three years ago.

"Nia," said the librarian. "I remember her. She was a quiet girl. She always read about the sea."

"Is she still at this school?" Alba asked.

"No. She finished last year. She works at a school far away now. But her brother is in class eight."

Alba found him at lunch. He sat alone at a long table. He ate an apple.

"Excuse me," she said. "Is your sister Nia?"

The boy nodded. "Yes. Why?"

Alba showed him the paper. The boy read it. Then he laughed out loud.

"This is Nia," he said. "She did this every time she felt afraid. Before a test, before a race, before a big day. She put dots in a book. Then she gave the book to the next reader."

"Why?" Alba asked.

"A book can talk to a stranger," he said.

"That is what she said."

"She wanted that stranger to feel brave."

Alba thought about the message. She had a hard math test on Monday. She felt afraid of it. Now the words were a warm stone in her bag.

That afternoon, the library was quiet. Alba sat at the big table with the sea book. She took her pencil and opened to page twenty. She made a small dot under the letter S.

She found an O on the next page. Then C, A, N, Y, O, and U.

"So can you," she said to nobody.

She closed the book. She stamped it and walked to the shelf. She put it back, ready for the next reader.