“Linda, what’s this teddy’s name?” It was Monday morning and I had him wedged between my knees while I tried to sew his ear back on. One of the children at the Story Time session had loved him a little too vigorously.

The senior librarian was reading her horoscope in a celebrity gossip magazine while drinking her morning tea. I’d learned not to speak to her until she had the first mug of the day in her hand.

“No idea.”

“We could have a competition to get the kids to name him.”

“Um.” She turned the page.

When I returned the Bear With No Name to his windowsill in the children’s room I found dozens of books tossed around the floor and sprawled on the small plastic table. It is amazing the dest...

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