Albie Ashbrook

Lost but Found

by Albie Ashbrook
Over the course of one summer, ten year old Tippa spends a lot of time going through various lost and found bins. But unlike other kids, she is not there trying to retrieve her own lost items. With an uncanny sense of direction, Tippa has long been good at finding things. Now Tippa is finding a very strange message in the lost and found. A message that her skills may be useful for more than just finding her mother’s lost keys. An invitation to join an elite team of finders. But first she must find their school.

Living in Hong Kong, the American Tippa takes readers through crowded shops, across hot beaches and into high rise apartment buildings as she finds clues, deciphers their meaning and tries to stay one step ahead of those who want to intercept the messages. Aided by her eccentric piano teacher and her siblings, Tippa must figure it all out before summer is over. If not, time runs out and this golden opportunity to develop her skills passes to the next geographically gifted kid.

The Amazing Race Southeast Asia + Heroes for kids= this book.


Arielle: Who isn’t intrigued by lost and found bins?! And I love the fact that your book starts out here. I also adore the setting of Hong Kong. What I’m left wondering about is the “elite team of finders”. With the comparison to Heroes at the end, I’m sensing there’s a fantasy element to this book, but I’m not getting it from the pitch.


David: : First of all, I really like the title. And I don’t think I’m alone in finding lost and found bins fascinating. I love that she becomes part of a secret underground society of people who find things. And yes, Hong Kong is a very cool setting. But I’d like to know some more of the weird and interesting locales and places, people and things I’m going to see you take me on this fascinating journey through this strange world. The ending leaves me a little cold. I’m not sure what the stakes are here. “The next geographically gifted kid”? I don’t understand what that means exactly. And who is the villain? Who’s the person I’m going to love to hate in this story? I also don’t get the Heroes reference. It doesn’t seem to be supported within the pitch.