L’insolito destino di Gaia la libraia

Bibliodiversity is an ecosystem in crisis. The story of Ellen is the story of a bookseller forced to close her shop due to the economic crisis. The narrative voice belongs to a child, who is experiencing at first-hand the painful separation from the magical place of reading and knowledge, of sharing and growth embodied by a bookstore. The story of Ellen is the story of a rebellious neighbourhood that goes out on the streets to defend the future of an independent bookstore, the future of all the independent bookstores. And then, there are the itinerant booksellers: “In a world where books are all the same, we are running the risk of becoming dull; we are running the risk of giving up what is most important: the ability to look at the world from a different perspective, in an atmosphere of mutual respect, in order to find the right key to happiness in life. That\’s why we have decided to remain independent in our choice of books, even if this means going out on the street driving a van.” The strenght of this book is that it is loosely based on the true story of the author: a reading education project born on the road on a three wheeled book- mobile in a suburban neighborhood of Rome.