The Evanston Public Library (both the Main Library and Robert Crown Branch) will be closed this Thursday, April 25, for a Staff Development Day.
After seeing it on the shelf in the Loft and on display at nearly every bookstore I went into, I finally broke down and read this book. Boy, I’m glad I did! Breakthrough is really two stories. One is the story of how Jack, a science whiz and probable genius, develops a cheap and effective […]
The Lovely Reckless by Kami Garcia (co-author of Beautiful Creatures) was absolutely amazing!!! It doesn’t come out until October; I received an ARC of it from the author at BookCon. The first twenty or so people in line at Kami’s signing got one. The Lovely Reckless follows a girl named Frankie and a boy named […]
I have to be honest with you, magical girl stories are my jam. They’ve been near and dear to my heart ever since Sailor Moon first appeared on the scene. Yes. I’m that old. I remember when Sailor Moon was NEW. Anyway, enough about me, let’s talk about Zodiac Starforce. This is a comic that […]
This is my new favorite series…ever! At first, I had to be sold on the idea of a YA fantasy novel that involved faeries and such but I am so glad I stuck with it. The first book introduces you to Feyre (Fay-ruh), our illiterate heroine, who is badass and snarky and can completely hold […]
Kate DiCamillo’s effortless prose and endearing young characters shouldering heartbreak make this a beautiful book for both middle grade readers and adults. It slides along so quickly and cleanly with so much humor and good cheer, you don’ t realize at first how much you are hurting for Raymie and her friends. This is the […]
A wonderful collaboration between Mo Willems and Tony DiTerlizzi, the story of Diva the small dog who lives in a Parisian apartment and Flea, the large cat who fancies himself a flaneur, an urban explorer. Great for the kids who are just getting into chapter books, but delightful for anyone, especially those headed to Paris […]
A fun and very timely story about a girl in an apartment complex in a town in India. Yasmin loves getting free books from Book Uncle who shares his private library with the people of the city by means of a stall on the street near her apartment. When the town bureaucracy shuts down Book […]
This is a very imaginative and humorous quest tale, a story about how kids can battle religious intolerance, and also a simple introduction to the medieval roots of our three major monotheistic faiths — meaty and much needed fare for adults as well as children. Throw in a frame for the story that partakes of […]
Peter Brown took 2 1/2 years to complete this book, making his middle grade debut. It is devilishly difficult to infuse a short simple book with deep resonance, harder still if the genre is science fiction. Perfect for as young as 1st or 2nd grade, the chapters are short and the sentences simple and the […]
The Selection. 2012, The Elite. 2013, The One. 2014 This wonderful YA series is kind of like a cross between The Bachelor and The Hunger Games (with less death and gore). It takes place in a society where citizens are divided in castes, numbered One through Eight, each with its own role to play. Ones […]
