The Lonely Book: Meg Grehan

Every morning, when Annie’s moms open up their bookshop, there’s a pile of books on the counter, waiting for the right reader to come and find them. But one day, there’s a book nobody comes for. Nobody ever comes, and each day the book gets lonelier, and the bookshop becomes an unhappy place. Who can the book be for, and why don’t they come?

Then someone starts borrowing the book. Eventually, we realise it’s Annie’s sibling Charlotte — and it is a book about being non-binary. Mum explains what ‘non-binary’ means to Annie. Charlotte asks to be called Charlie and says that their pronouns are they/them.

The bookshop cheers up. Customers start buying books again.