Halifax-based author Richard Levangie is inviting families and kids to go on a treasure hunt inspired by his debut novel Secrets of the Hotel Maisonneuve.
The novel features a 13-year-old boy who finds a hundred-year old letter hidden in an Edwardian hotel his parents are renovating, which sends him on a treasure hunt. And now, book lovers can follow in the main character’s footsteps.
Levangie has hidden more than 20 copies of his book around Halifax and the province of Nova Scotia in Little Free Libraries – a non-profit organization expanding book access through their book-sharing boxes – for people to find.
These boxes are filled with books that people can take out and read, but in exchange they have to put another book in.
“I just became taken with the idea of something, that’s a little bit of a surprise, might brighten somebody’s day,” Levangie said in an interview with Global News.
He said he came up with the idea after he and his wife came across a Little Free Library on their trip along the coast of Musquodoboit, N.S.
Levangie said he took a book out, but didn’t have any to put in, so he decided to come back when his book was published and left it there.
“The more we thought about that, we thought that was kind of a fun and cool idea.”
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In early December, when his novel arrived, Levangie said he ordered a stack of books from his publisher ‘Nevermore Press,’ and together they went out and delivered them to book-sharing boxes.
“The books are signed and it has a message to whoever finds it. So we just sort of are amused by the thought that the kids will come along and find the book and find that it was signed. And it might be a nice little surprise for them,” he said.
People will have to go to the little library site, look the book up and figure out where the author is hiding it.
“It felt very much like a treasure hunt within a treasure hunt,” Levangie said.
He said the publication of his novel means a lot to him because he was a writer for a very long time, but after he got sick he couldn’t write anymore.
Levangie had a misdiagnosed neuroendocrine tumour that gave him migraines, chronic fatigue and affected his hormone production.
“I didn’t write for more than 20 years, just little bits and pieces here and there. And when I finally started getting some treatment and after surgery, I started feeling better,” he said.
“I had the idea of two books in my head just sitting there waiting for me to write them and this was the first one. So it was important for me to, now that I’m older, to finally start doing some things to make myself proud.”
He said due to COVID-19, he couldn’t celebrate the release of his book with many people or do any in-person events, but the thought of running around hiding his book made things more exciting.
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“I started looking forward to the weekend where I go to three or four libraries,” Levangie said. “And people are just leaving really kind and sweet notes. It seems like if this is the way that book publishing is, it’s not such a bad thing.”
He said the idea behind Little Free Libraries is wonderful as it brings the community together.
“When you look at what’s going on in Nova Scotia, COVID-19 is not a huge factor. Everybody’s wearing a mask. Everybody is social distancing,” Levangie said.
He said not many people are sick because of COVID-19 and “it could be just blind luck,” but he thinks it’s because people in Nova Scotia genuinely care about each other.
“That’s what it felt like going around seeing the libraries because people care about their community, and trying to make their house or their private neighbourhood a nicer place for kids. And I just think that’s wonderful.”