Find out what inspired Kristen Pipps to write "The Library of Lost Girls" below.
What was your inspiration behind your most recent book?
I have always been drawn to stories about powerful girls: girls who grow not only through their own resilience but also through the bonds they form with one another. When I first started writing "The Library of Lost Girls", I knew it was about more than just the mystery of what happened to Gwen’s sister. It’s also about the ways sisterhood extends beyond blood, and how connection can become a source of strength. At the Delphi School for Girls, Gwen Donovan finds home in friendships that she’d never before experienced, trust and joy in a world that is otherwise trying to keep her and the other girls under the thumb of a patriarchal society.
What does Reading Rainbow mean to you?
To me, Reading Rainbow means celebrating the full spectrum of humanity: from the way we love to the truths that make us who we are. Reading to me has always been a way to experience the true breadth of life experiences, but it’s also a way of finding pieces of ourselves in stories and honoring those pieces of others different from ourselves. Reading Rainbow is about embracing the whole expanse of the rainbow.
Why do you feel representation of a variety of people is so important when it comes to writing books?
Books shape how we see ourselves and the world. Sometimes they act as mirrors, reflecting our own experiences back to us. Other times they act as windows, opening onto lives and perspectives that expand our understanding. I want my stories to do both, to affirm readers who recognize themselves on the page and to invite others into identities and experiences that might be new to them. Representation isn’t just important; it’s necessary.
Tell us a little more about the book and why you decided to write it.
"The Library of Lost Girls" is a young adult dark fantasy novel set in 1893. It follows Gwen Donovan, whose sister returns from the Delphi School for Girls transformed into someone unrecognizable: eerily perfect, completely unlike her former rebellious self. After Gwen tricks her way into Delphi, she uncovers secrets hidden between the bookshelves that line each wall from floor to ceiling. She learns that the greatest terrors are not just supernatural shadows, but something that stems from the men who first designed the school.
I began writing "The Library of Lost Girls" during the pandemic, when I found myself immersed in all sorts of horror media. The genre felt like the perfect way to explore sisterhood, feminism, and the haunting power of secrets through a gothic lens. At its heart, the story is also one about queer longing, deep friendship, and the courage girls find in one another — even in places that try to confine or change them.
What can fans expect from your book?
Expect eerie halls lined floor to ceiling with books, each labeled with the name of a girl on its spine. Unsettling mysteries, creaking floorboards, locked doors, missing memories, and shadows that move in eldritch manners. Expect a heroine who refuses to back down. Gwen is determined to uncover the truth, and in the process, she finds not just friendship for the first time, but also a romantic love with a girl who shares her hunger for answers. "The Library of Lost Girls" is about defying fear and expectation in pursuit of light, freedom, and the fierce joy of girlhood.
What's up next for you in the bookish world?
Right now, I’m focused on connecting with readers and sharing "The Library of Lost Girls" with the world. I’m also deep in the creative process (as I somehow always find myself), researching and drafting my next project: another story that weaves together magic, friendship, and sapphic yearning.
