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The Overdue Book

On her first week alone at the school library desk, a strict student librarian catches a boy returning a book three years late, with a new ending pencilled into the back.

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Casting range
Ada 10-12; Milo 9-11. Either role may be cast without regard to gender or ethnicity.
Duration
3 min
Difficulty
Beginner
Relationship
Classmates who barely know each other
Role balance
balanced
Setting
A primary school library at lunchtime. A returns desk, a date stamp, and a trolley of new books waiting to be shelved.
Scene heading
INT. SCHOOL LIBRARY - RETURNS DESK - LUNCHTIME
Content notes
The death of a pet in a story is discussed & Mild rule-breaking
Language
English
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Scene work

What is playable here

Objective
Milo wants the book returned quietly and the sequel in his hands; Ada wants to do her job exactly right.
Obstacle
The book is three years late and written in, and Ada is in charge on her own for the first time.
Relationship
They are in the same school but different worlds: Ada keeps every rule, Milo has never met one he could not talk round.
Stakes
For Milo, the Red Folder means never borrowing again. For Ada, a stamped damaged book could cost her the badge.
Turn
Milo admits he hid the book to protect his little brother from the sad ending, and Ada, who knows the book by heart, rewrites his ending herself.

Playing age 10-12

Ada

Wants: Run the desk by the rules on her first week in charge and prove she deserves the badge.

Up against: Milo is charming, the damage is real, and his new ending is about a dog she cried over too.

Choice prompts

  • Ada loves rules because they make her feel safe in a job that is new. Play every rule as if a grown-up is watching from behind the shelves.
  • When she reads Milo's ending, let her fight the urge to like it. 'Librarians do not cry' is a rule she is inventing on the spot.
  • When Ada takes the pencil, decide whether she is breaking a rule or making a better one.

Playing age 9-11

Milo

Wants: Return the book without landing in the Red Folder, so he can borrow the second book before anyone else does.

Up against: Ada cannot be bribed, the fine is enormous, and he has written all over the evidence.

Choice prompts

  • Milo is a salesman who has never closed a sale. Every joke is an attempt to get out of the room.
  • Hold back the real reason he kept the book until Ada has nearly decided against him.
  • When Ada starts editing his ending, choose whether Milo feels told off or finally understood.
Full script

The Overdue Book

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INT. SCHOOL LIBRARY - RETURNS DESK - LUNCHTIME

Ada, eleven, sits very upright behind the returns desk wearing a laminated badge that says STUDENT LIBRARIAN. Milo slides a battered book onto the desk and turns to go.

Ada

Stop right there. Books are returned to a librarian, not to a desk.

Milo

The desk is right next to you. It is basically your arm.

Ada

This book went out when we were seven. We are ten.

Milo

I am a careful reader.

Ada

Three years is not careful. Three years is moving in with it.

Milo

How much is the fine? I have four coins and a button. It is a very good button.

Ada

One coin a day. I worked it out at lunch. One thousand and ninety-six coins, because there was a leap year. And Mrs Pell left me on the desk on my own this week. On my own means no buttons.

Milo

Okay. What if you stamp it, and nobody ever opens it again?

Ada opens the book to the last pages and goes very still.

Ada

Milo. Somebody has written on page one hundred and twelve. And the back cover. And the little card pocket.

Milo

Not written on. Fixed. I ran out of space.

Ada

Writing in a book is damage. Damage goes in the Red Folder, and nobody in the Red Folder ever borrows again.

Milo

Just read it before you decide. Please.

Ada

'Biscuit did not die. Biscuit was only extremely tired. He got up and had a sandwich.'

Milo

The sandwich is so you know he is fine.

Ada

Biscuit dies on page one hundred and eleven. That is the whole book. Our entire class cried. Mr Haddad cried, and he teaches football.

Milo

Did you cry?

Ada

Librarians do not cry. We stamp.

Milo

I read the last page eleven times. He died every single time. Somebody had to do something.

Ada

And then you hid it for three years.

Milo

I hid it from my little brother. He thinks every dog in every book is our dog.

Ada

So why bring it back today?

Milo

Because book two came in on Monday. It is on your trolley. Biscuit is on the cover. So either he is alive, or that is a really mean cover.

Ada takes the pencil from behind Milo's ear, rubs out a line, and writes in small, neat letters.

Ada

No. He would never have a sandwich. He only eats crusts, it says so on page nine. And he does not fly over the school, that is just silly. He walks home the long way, past the bakery, and everyone is waiting at the gate.

Milo

You know page nine?

Ada stamps the old book, then slides the new one off the trolley and across the desk.

Ada

Returned. Due back in two weeks, not three years. And if anything happens to him in this one, you bring it to me first.

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