On May 26, 1982, a copy of Jumanji vanished from Stillman Elementary School. It was supposed to be returned five days after its initial checkout, but the book was never returned. However, after spring break concluded this year, a secret sender from Pennsylvania sent a package with the picture book and a $40 check.
The package arrived on April 21, the day school resumed after spring break.
“I thought it was strange since I hadn’t ordered anything, and I didn’t recognize the sender,” Ms. Jill Brave, the librarian at Stillman School, said. “I made a comment to the teachers [who] were in the office with me, something like ‘Hmm… What’s this? Should I open it?’”
To everyone’s surprise, the parcel contained a 1981 edition of Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg. It was still bearing a handwritten checkout card with the most recent checkout date stamped: May 26, 1982. The secret sender was revealed to be a woman named Jessica.
“We know from the check-out card that the last person to check it out was Jessica in room 112,” Ms. Brave said. “That has typically been a 2nd grade classroom. There was a Jessica who was in 2nd grade in 1982. She moved after the school year ended and didn’t return to Stillman. I am thinking […] that the book got packed up with other stuff in the move and wasn’t found for many years later.”
As there was neither a note nor a return address, further details remain unavailable, leading some students to wonder if the sender prefers to remain anonymous.
“I was so bummed, because I wanted to reach out to whoever sent it to say thank you!” Ms. Brave explained. Students at Stillman have taken the mystery to heart, playing detective and diving deep into research.
“I think it was a 4th grade class who helped me search the return address in Google Maps, which turned out to be a post office in Pennsylvania,” Ms. Brave said. “Then I later searched the Western Union office where the money order came from, and it was also Pennsylvania, about 5.5 miles from the post office.”
There are contrasting clues as to who last checked out the library book. The money order came from “Sugarloaf, Pennsylvania, [but] the package itself was mailed from the Drums, Pennsylvania,” according to NBC News. The book was in good condition despite being missing for 43 years, which the librarian believes supports the theory it was safely packed during a move.
“There’s no water damage or mold, which is great,” she noted. “This kind of reinforces my theory that it was boxed up in a move and then somehow forgotten.”
Some students are even taking memorable measures to figure out who the mysterious “Jessica” is. A fourth grader reportedly created a website to help track people using ZIP codes and other digital breadcrumbs.
“It reinforced creative and critical thinking, curiosity, and problem-solving. But mostly, it was just fun!” Ms. Brave said.
The copy of Jumanji will not return to circulation. Instead, it will be a part of a display in the school library alongside the clues that sparked this real-life mystery.
“We have another copy of Jumanji,” Ms. Brave said. “I think I will make a little display with the original book and some of the clues. We hear a lot of bad news each day and it can be discouraging. This was a reminder that there is still a lot of good in our world. That’s what I hope we remember.”
As students continuously work to uncover the mystery behind the overdue library book, the heartwarming story has left a strong impression on them. Despite the story that lies between its crinkled pages, the library book’s journey ultimately served as a story in itself.
