The Letter in the Library Book
A short story about a letter hidden in an old library book, with eight questions on inference, language and what the writer is saying.
Read the passage
The book smelled like rain on an old coat. Amara had chosen it only because the cover was torn, which made it feel as though it had a story to tell before she even opened it.
She curled up in the beanbag in the corner of the school library and turned to the first page. A folded square of paper slid out and landed in her lap.
It was a letter, written in blue ink that had faded to the colour of a bruise. Amara glanced around. Nobody was watching. She unfolded it carefully, as if it might crumble.
Dear stranger, it began. If you are reading this, then you have found my favourite book, and that means we have something in common. I am writing this on my last day at this school. I am nervous about moving to a new town, where I will not know a single person. I hope that one day somebody will read this and feel a little less alone than I did. Whoever you are, I hope you are brave. Yours sincerely, Edie.
Amara read it three times. Edie had sat in this very library, perhaps in this very beanbag, with her heart pounding in the same way Amara’s did on the first day of every school term. Somewhere, years later, Edie was probably a grown-up with a house and a job. And yet her words had travelled through time and found their way into Amara’s hands.
Amara thought about the lonely feeling she had carried around since the summer, when her best friend had moved away. She hadn’t told anyone about it. Now, strangely, she felt as though somebody understood.
She took a pencil from her bag and turned the letter over. Dear Edie, she wrote. I found your book. Thank you. I am trying to be brave. When she had finished, she folded the page back into its square and slipped it between the pages, ready for the next reader.
Answer the questions
- Where was Amara sitting when she found the letter? (1 mark)
- Find and copy one word that means “moved without a sound or with ease”. (1 mark)
- The ink had faded “to the colour of a bruise”. What does this simile suggest about the letter? (2 marks)
- Why did Amara fold the letter back up “carefully, as if it might crumble”? (1 mark)
- How did Amara feel about the new school term at the start of the story? Use evidence from the passage. (2 marks)
- Why do you think Amara felt “as though somebody understood”? (2 marks)
- Why do you think Amara decided to write back to Edie instead of keeping the letter? (2 marks)
- Write two sentences to sum up what happens in the story and what it is about. (2 marks)
Answer key for parents and teachers
1. In a beanbag in the corner of the school library. (1 mark)
Finding information (2b). A detail to find early in the story.
2. slid (1 mark)
Word meaning (2a). The child matches a word to its meaning.
3. That it was very old and its colour had become dull and sad-looking, like a bruise that is healing (any sensible answer about age and faded colour). (2 marks)
Language choices. A simile creates a picture, and the child explains what it suggests about the object.
4. The paper was very old and fragile. (1 mark)
Explaining from the text. Understanding why a character acts as she does.
5. Nervous or anxious. Evidence: her heart pounded “on the first day of every school term”, and she felt lonely since her best friend moved away. (2 marks)
Inference (2d). The child has to piece together a feeling from hints in different places.
6. Edie had felt nervous and alone in the same school, so Amara realised she was not the only person to feel that way. (2 marks)
Inference (2d). The text never says this directly, so the child has to work it out.
7. She wanted to answer Edie’s hope that a reader would feel less alone, and to pass on the same kindness to the next reader (any sensible view with a reason). (2 marks)
Giving a view with evidence. The child gives a view and supports it with ideas from the story.
8. One mark for the events (Amara finds a letter from a girl called Edie and writes back) and one for the main idea (kindness and understanding can connect strangers and help with loneliness). (2 marks)
Summarising (2c). A summary says what happens and what the story is really about.
What this practises
Finding information (2b), Word meaning (2a), Language choices, Explaining from the text, Inference (2d), Giving a view with evidence, Summarising (2c). The codes in brackets are the reading content domains from the national curriculum test framework. Marks and answers are a guide: accept any sensible answer that is backed up by the text.
Now try the writing task
Write the letter that Amara hopes the next reader will find. What does she want them to know?
Aim for eight to twelve sentences. Read it back aloud together and fix anything that does not sound right.
Want feedback on your child's own writing?
You mark the worksheet yourself with the answer key. LiteracyLab AI is different: it reads what your child has written and gives specific feedback, such as what worked, one thing to try next, and a corrected version, matched to their year. The Free plan includes 3 pieces a month and needs no card.
More Year 6 worksheets
Free to print and copy for your own family or classroom. Please do not sell or republish. The passage and questions were written for LiteracyLab AI.