By Allie Millington
New York: Feiwel and Friends. 2024. 249 pages.
A typewriter's life is not always as easy as it looks. Sure it sits on a desk a lot of the time and it appears to be doing nothing but the stories that have been typed from their keys are important and inspiring. A typewriter's job is to keep memories alive and Olivetti just happens to be such a typewriter who sits on the desk of Beatrice Brindle. He can remember everything that was typed on him and he feels strongly that "memories are like heartbeats. They keep things alive. They make us who we are."
Olivetti and young Ernest Brindle, who is a quiet, shy boy who loves reading the Oxford English Dictionary, work together to tell their story. In alternating narration, Olivetti and Ernest try to solve the mysterious disappearance of Beatrice, Ernest's mother and Olivetti's owner. Ernest feels like it's his fault that his mother disappeared and he makes it his quest to find her. Along the way he finds two allies who help him, a girl named Quinn, who likes to go dumpster diving and Olivetti, his mother's typewriter. The search for Beatrice takes the friends all over town as they look for clues. Olivetti's job is to type out everything Beatrice ever typed on him. While Quinn and Ernest then take those typed pages and look for clues. Working together the three friends begin to piece together the mystery of what happened to Beatrice.
This sweet, powerful story is perfect for older middle grade readers, but beware, you may finish the book and find yourself wanting your very own typewriter.
Memories are like heartbeats. They keep things alive. They make us who we are.
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