Three new digital newspaper databases from Newsbank were added in late July. I've already written blog posts about two of the three, America's News and HeritageHub. This post will focus on the third one, Black Life in America. Black Life in America from Newsbank offers comprehensive coverage of the African American experience from the early 18th century to the present day. Sourced from more than 19,000 American and global news sources, including over 400 current and historical Black publications. It is an easy-to-use online resource that is updated daily. It is free to use with a valid FRVPLD card, and it can be accessed from home.

Accessing Black Life in America

1. Go to the Research Page on the library's website.

2. The resources on this page are listed alphabetically. Black Life in America is at the top in the B's. Click on the Black Life in America logo or where it says "Access Black Life in America here" to open the Black Life in America homepage.

3. If you are accessing from home, you will now see a Newsbank login screen prompting you for your library card number. Type in your card number and then click "Log in."

4. You will now be at the Black Life in America homepage. NOTE: If you are accessing from within the library, you will not get the prompt from the previous step and instead will get taken right to the Black Life in America homepage.

Using Black Life in America

Now that we are at the Black Life in America homepage, there are a few different ways to use this resource. There is a "Suggested Searches" section below the main search bar that has categories organized by time period. You can click through these categories to view various topics, and when you click on a topic, you will get a list of newspaper articles that fit the topic. You can also use the main search bar to do a basic search by typing in any keyword, such as a name, event or topic. This will search every newspaper available for the keyword(s) you put in, but then there are filters along the left hand side you can use to narrow down the results, including source type, year, source name, and source location.

Back on the homepage, there are a few additional search options below the search bar. There's "More Search Options," "Date Search," and "Map Search." No matter which one you click on, you get taken to the same advanced search screen. At the top of this page, there is a search bar with an additional search field below it (it is set to date range by default). You can change this field to a different type by clicking the arrow next to "Date(s)" and you can add additional search fields by clicking the "+" button. Below that is a map of the world that you can use to limit your search by a certain location. You can click on a continent on the map or click on one on the list to the left on the map and the map will zoom in to specific countries, and so on. At any point, if you click on the boxes next to any continents, countries, states, etc. listed to the left of the map, those locations will be added to your search automatically. You just have to click the blue "Search" button towards the top right side of the page to run the search. Like the other two resources, some articles will come up as scanned images from the actual newspapers, and others will come up with just the text of the article.

This pretty much sums up how to use Black Life in America. Black Life in America is a great resource for researching black history and culture. There are over 19,000 American and global news sources, including over 400 current and historical Black publications. Access it for free now with a valid FRVPLD card. If you have any questions about Black Life in America, please feel free to stop by the Information Desk, call us at 847-428-3661, or email us at libraryhelp@frvpld.info. 

Last month, we added three new digital newspaper eResources from Newsbank: America's News, HeritageHub, and Black Life in America. We are so excited to offer digital newspaper resources once again! I will be posting a series of blog posts talking about each of these three products, and in this first post I am going to talk about America's News.

America's News is a powerful resource with over 3,650 digital newspapers from across the United States. Explore and stay informed on local and national topics, people and events in areas such as business, health, education, jobs and careers, political and social issues and more. Several local newspapers are available, including the Daily Herald, Northwest Herald, Courier News, Chicago Sun-Times, and the Kane County Chronicle. For all of the newspapers included in America's News, there are past and current issues available, so whether you want to find an article from a past issue or read the current issue each day, America's News is a great resource for you! America's News is free to use with a valid library card, and it can be accessed from home.

Accessing America's News

1. Go to the Research Page on the library's website.

2. The resources on this page are listed alphabetically, so America's News is right at the top in the A's. Click on the America's News logo or where it says "Access America's News here" to open the America's News homepage.

3. If you are accessing from home, you will now see a Newsbank login screen prompting you for your library card number. Type in your card number and then click "Log in."

4. You will now be at the America's News homepage. NOTE: If you are accessing from within the library, you will not get the prompt from the previous step and instead will get taken right to the America's News homepage.

Using America's News

Now that we're at the America's News homepage, there are several different ways to use this resource. Before I get into the different types of searches, I just want to point out that there are suggested topics that you can click on and browse articles that fit that topic. Also, there are some quick links to the right of the suggested topics that can quickly take you to a specific local paper, a small collection of digital magazines that are available, and more. Now to talk about searching! There is a basic search bar in the middle of the screen where you can search any keyword, such as a name, event, or topic. This will search every newspaper available for the keyword(s) you put in, but then there are filters along the left hand side you can use to narrow down the results, including source type, year, source name, and source location.

If we go back to the homepage, there are a few additional search options below the search bar. There's "More Search Options," "Date Search," and "Map Search." No matter which one you click on, you get taken to the same advanced search screen. At the top of this page, there is a search bar with an additional search field below it (it is set to date range by default). You can change this field to a different type by clicking the arrow next to "Date(s)" and you can add additional search fields by clicking the "+" button. Below that is a map of the United States that you can use to limit your search by a certain location. You can either click on a state on the map (or multiple states) or you can click on the box next to the state (or multiple states) in the list to the left of the map. Once you have set your search up the way you want it, click the blue "Search" button to run the search.

Another way to use America's News is to start with a specific newspaper title. On the top left of the homepage, there is a button that says "A-Z Source List." Click on this to see a complete list of Newspaper titles that are available in this platform. There is a search bar you can use to search for a specific title, or you can click on a letter to just see all of the newspapes that start with that particular letter. In addition to the titles, the list also shows the dates available for each paper, the location the paper is from, the type of resource (e.g. newspaper, web edition, video), the format, and the language. The majority of the content in here is in English, although there are a handful of Spanish newspapers as well.

In terms of the format, the majority of the newspapers are in text format. This means that when you choose a newspaper and then select the specific issue you want to view, you will see a list of the articles that are in that particular issue. When you click on an article, the text of that article will come up for you to read.

Some newspapers are available in image format, which is a little different. There are even some papers that are available in both, such as the Chicago Sun-Times. The image format is a scan of the actual newspaper, so when you choose a paper and then a specific issue, you can read the full newspaper online just like if you picked up the physical paper. There are arrow buttons you can use to change to the next page or go back to the previous page.

This pretty much sums up how to use America's News. America's News provides thousands of digital newspapers, both past issues and current, that you can read, including several of our local newspapers. It can be very useful in many ways, whether you are looking for a specific article from a newspaper, doing research and need news sources, wanting to read the new issue of a paper each day, and more! Access it for free now with a valid FRVPLD card. If you have any questions about America's News, please feel free to stop by the Information Desk, call us at 847-428-3661, or email us at libraryhelp@frvpld.info.

Not only did June 1 kick off our Summer Reading Challenge, but it was also the beginning of Pride month! Even the "Reading Colors Your World" theme this year segues nicely into Pride. Pride is a time in which the LGBTQIA+ community and their allies celebrate the progress the gay rights movement has made since the Stonewall Riots in 1969 and also serves as a reminder of the fight for equality that is still ongoing. The library celebrates and supports our rich and diverse community throughout the year, and Pride month is no exception. 

Below are some excellent newer titles (all released in 2021) showcasing the diversity of the LGBTQIA+ experience. Romance, Humor, Science Fiction, Literary Fiction, Fantasy, Thriller... the reading material is as varied as the characters. 

• How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole- Makeda Hicks has lost her job and her girlfriend in one fell swoop. The last thing she's in the mood for is to rehash the story of her grandmother's infamous summer fling with a runaway prince from Ibarania, or the investigator from the World Federation of Monarchies tasked with searching for Ibarania's missing heir. Yet when Beznaria Chetchevaliere crashes into her life, the sleek and sexy investigator exudes exactly the kind of chaos that organized and efficient Makeda finds irresistible, even if Bez is determined to drag her into a world of royal duty Makeda wants nothing to do with. When a threat to her grandmother's livelihood pushes Makeda to agree to return to Ibarania, Bez takes her on a transatlantic adventure with a crew of lovable weirdos, a fake marriage, and one-bed hijinks on the high seas. When they finally make it to Ibarania, they realize there's more at stake than just cash and crown, and Makeda must learn what it means to fight for what she desires and not what she feels bound to by duty.

• With Teeth by Kristen Arnett- If she's being honest, Sammie Lucas is scared of her son. Working from home in the close quarters of their Florida house, she lives with one wary eye peeled on Samson, a sullen, unknowable boy who resists her every attempt to bond with him. Uncertain in her own feelings about motherhood, she tries her best--driving, cleaning, cooking, prodding him to finish projects for school--while growing increasingly resentful of Monika, her confident but absent wife. As Samson grows from feral toddler to surly teenager, Sammie's life begins to deteriorate into a mess of unruly behavior, and her struggle to create a picture-perfect queer family unravels. When her son's hostility finally spills over into physical aggression, Sammie must confront her role in the mess--and the possibility that it will never be clean again.

• The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo- Immigrant. Socialite. Magician. Jordan Baker grows up in the most rarefied circles of 1920s American society--she has money, education, a killer golf handicap, and invitations to some of the most exclusive parties of the Jazz Age. She's also queer and Asian, a Vietnamese adoptee treated as an exotic attraction by her peers, while the most important doors remain closed to her. But the world is full of wonders: infernal pacts and dazzling illusions, lost ghosts and elemental mysteries. In all paper is fire, and Jordan can burn the cut paper heart out of a man. She just has to learn how.

• The Guncle by Steven Rowley- Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP, for short), has always loved his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant. That is, he loves spending time with them when they come out to Palm Springs for weeklong visits, or when he heads home to Connecticut for the holidays. But in terms of caretaking and relating to two children, no matter how adorable, Patrick is, honestly, overwhelmed. So when tragedy strikes and Maisie and Grant lose their mother and Patrick's brother has a health crisis of his own, Patrick finds himself suddenly taking on the role of primary guardian. Despite having a set of "Guncle Rules" ready to go, Patrick has no idea what to expect, having spent years barely holding on after the loss of his great love, a somewhat-stalled acting career, and a lifestyle not-so-suited to a six- and a nine-year-old. Quickly realizing that parenting--even if temporary--isn't solved with treats and jokes, Patrick's eyes are opened to a new sense of responsibility, and the realization that, sometimes, even being larger than life means you're unfailingly human.

• Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers- With her newly completed PhD in astronomy in hand, twenty-eight-year-old Grace Porter goes on a girls' trip to Vegas to celebrate. She's a straight A, work-through-the-summer certified high achiever. She is not the kind of person who goes to Vegas and gets drunkenly married to a woman whose name she doesn't know...until she does exactly that. This one moment of departure from her stern ex-military father's plans for her life has Grace wondering why she doesn't feel more fulfilled from completing her degree. Staggering under the weight of her parent's expectations, a struggling job market and feelings of burnout, Grace flees her home in Portland for a summer in New York with the wife she barely knows. In New York, she's able to ignore all the constant questions about her future plans and falls hard for her creative and beautiful wife, Yuki Yamamoto. But when reality comes crashing in, Grace must face what she's been running from all along--the fears that make us human, the family scars that need to heal and the longing for connection, especially when navigating the messiness of adulthood.

• Popisho by Leone Ross- Everyone in Popisho was born with a little something-something, boy, a little something extra . The local name was cors. Magic, but more than magic. A gift, nah? Yes. From the gods: a thing so inexpressibly your own. Somewhere far away--or maybe right nearby--lies an archipelago called Popisho. A place of stunning beauty and incorrigible mischief, destiny and mystery, it is also a place in need of change. Xavier Redchoose is the macaenus of his generation, anointed by the gods to make each resident one perfect meal when the time is right. Anise, his long-lost love, is on a march toward reckoning with her healing powers. The governor's daughter, Sonteine, still hasn't come into her cors, but her corrupt father is demanding the macaenus make a feast for her wedding. Meanwhile, graffiti messages from an unknown source are asking hard questions. A storm is brewing.

• It Had to be You by Georgia Clark- For the past twenty years, Liv and Eliot Goldenhorn have run In Love in New York, Brooklyn's beloved wedding-planning business. When Eliot dies unexpectedly, he even more unexpectedly leaves half of the business to his younger, blonder girlfriend, Savannah. Liv and Savannah are not a match made in heaven, to say the least. But what starts as a personal and professional nightmare transforms into something even savvy, cynical Liv Goldenhorn couldn't begin to imagine. It Had to Be You cleverly unites Liv, Savannah, and couples as diverse and unique as New York City itself, in a joyous Love-Actually-style braided narrative. The result is a smart, modern love story that truly speaks to our times. Second chances, secret romance, and steamy soul mates are front and center in this sexy, tender, and utterly charming rom-com.

• Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake by Alexis Hall- Following the recipe is the key to a successful bake. Rosaline Palmer has always lived by those rules--well, except for when she dropped out of college to raise her daughter, Amelie. Now, with a paycheck as useful as greaseproof paper and a house crumbling faster than biscuits in tea, she's teetering on the edge of financial disaster. But where there's a whisk there's a way . . . and Rosaline has just landed a spot on the nation's most beloved baking show. Winning the prize money would give her daughter the life she deserves--and Rosaline is determined to stick to the instructions. However, more than collapsing trifles stand between Rosaline and sweet, sweet victory.  Suave, well-educated, and parent-approved Alain Pope knows all the right moves to sweep her off her feet, but it's shy electrician Harry Dobson who makes Rosaline question her long-held beliefs--about herself, her family, and her desires. Rosaline fears falling for Harry is a guaranteed recipe for disaster. Yet as the competition--and the ovens--heat up, Rosaline starts to realize the most delicious bakes come from the heart.

• Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon- Vern--seven months pregnant and desperate to escape the strict religious compound where she was raised--flees for the shelter of the woods. There, she gives birth to twins, and plans to raise them far from the influence of the outside world. But even in the forest, Vern is a hunted woman. Forced to fight back against the community that refuses to let her go, she unleashes incredible brutality far beyond what a person should be capable of, her body wracked by inexplicable and uncanny changes. To understand her metamorphosis and to protect her small family, Vern has to face the past, and more troublingly, the future--outside the woods. Finding the truth will mean uncovering the secrets of the compound she fled but also the violent history in America that produced it.

• Milk Fed by Melissa Broder- Rachel is twenty-four, a lapsed Jew who has made calorie restriction her religion. By day, she maintains an illusion of existential control, by way of obsessive food rituals, while working as an underling at a Los Angeles talent management agency. At night, she pedals nowhere on the elliptical machine. Rachel is content to carry on subsisting--until her therapist encourages her to take a ninety-day communication detox from her mother, who raised her in the tradition of calorie counting. Early in the detox, Rachel meets Miriam, a zaftig young Orthodox Jewish woman who works at her favorite frozen yogurt shop and is intent upon feeding her. Rachel is suddenly and powerfully entranced by Miriam--by her sundaes and her body, her faith and her family--and as the two grow closer, Rachel embarks on a journey marked by mirrors, mysticism, mothers, milk, and honey.

• The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley- Joe Tournier has a bad case of amnesia. His first memory is of stepping off a train in the nineteenth-century French colony of England. The only clue Joe has about his identity is a century-old postcard of a Scottish lighthouse that arrives in London the same month he does. Written in illegal English-instead of French-the postcard is signed only with the letter "M," but Joe is certain whoever wrote it knows him far better than he currently knows himself, and he's determined to find the writer. The search for M, though, will drive Joe from French-ruled London to rebel-owned Scotland and finally onto the battle ships of a lost empire's Royal Navy. In the process, Joe will remake history, and himself.

• Malice by Heather Walter- Once upon a time, there was a wicked fairy who, in an act of vengeance, cursed a line of princesses to die. A curse that could only be broken by true love's kiss. You've heard this before, haven't you? The handsome prince. The happily ever after. Utter nonsense. Let me tell you, no one in Briar actually cares about what happens to its princesses. Not the way they care about their jewels and elaborate parties and charm-granting elixirs. I thought I didn't care, either. Until I met her. Princess Aurora. The last heir to Briar's throne. Kind. Gracious. The future queen her realm needs. One who isn't bothered that I am Alyce, the Dark Grace, abhorred and feared for the mysterious dark magic that runs in my veins. Humiliated and shamed by the same nobles who pay me to bottle hexes and then brand me a monster. Aurora says I should be proud of my gifts. That she . . . cares for me. Even though a power like mine was responsible for her curse. But with less than a year until that curse will kill her, any future I might see with Aurora is swiftly disintegrating--and she can't stand to kiss yet another insipid prince. I want to help her. If my power began her curse, perhaps it's what can lift it. Perhaps together we could forge a new world. Nonsense again. Because we all know how this story ends, don't we? Aurora is the beautiful princess. And I-- I am the villain.

• We Play Ourselves by Jen Silverman- Not too long ago, Cass was a promising young playwright in New York, hailed as "a fierce new voice" and "queer, feminist, and ready to spill the tea." But at the height of all this attention, Cass finds herself at the center of a searing public shaming, and flees to Los Angeles to escape--and reinvent herself. There she meets her next-door neighbor Caroline, a magnetic filmmaker on the rise, as well as the pack of teenage girls who hang around her house. They are the subjects of Caroline's next semidocumentary movie, which follows the girls' clandestine activity: a Fight Club inspired by the violent classic. As Cass is drawn into the film's orbit, she is awed by Caroline's ambition and confidence. But over time, she becomes troubled by how deeply Caroline is manipulating the teens in the name of art--especially as the consequences become increasingly disturbing. With her past proving hard to shake and her future one she's no longer sure she wants, Cass is forced to reckon with her own ambitions and confront what she has come to believe about the steep price of success.

• Bath Haus by P.J. Vernon (June 15 release)- Oliver Park, a recovering addict from Indiana, finally has everything he ever wanted- sobriety and a loving, wealthy partner in Nathan, a prominent DC trauma surgeon. Despite their difference in age and disparate backgrounds, they've made a perfect life together. With everything to lose, Oliver shouldn't be visiting Haus, a gay bathhouse. But through the entrance he goes, and it's a line crossed. Inside, he follows a man into a private room, and it's the final line. Whatever happens next, Nathan can never know. But then, everything goes wrong, terribly wrong, and Oliver barely escapes with his life. He races home in full-blown terror as the hand-shaped bruise grows dark on his neck. The truth will destroy Nathan and everything they have together, so Oliver does the thing he used to do so well- he lies.

• The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian (June 8 release)- Kit Webb has left his stand-and-deliver days behind him. But dreary days at his coffee shop have begun to make him pine for the heady rush of thievery. When a handsome yet arrogant aristocrat storms into his shop, Kit quickly realizes he may be unable to deny whatever this highborn man desires. In order to save himself and a beloved friend, Percy, Lord Holland must go against every gentlemanly behavior he holds dear to gain what he needs most: a book that once belonged to his mother, a book his father never lets out of his sight and could be Percy's savior. More comfortable in silk-filled ballrooms than coffee shops frequented by criminals, his attempts to hire the roughly hewn highwayman, formerly known as Gladhand Jack, proves equal parts frustrating and electrifying. Kit refuses to participate in the robbery but agrees to teach Percy how to do the deed. Percy knows he has little choice but to submit and as the lessons in thievery begin, he discovers thievery isn't the only crime he's desperate to commit with Kit. But when their careful plan goes dangerously wrong and shocking revelations threaten to tear them apart, can these stolen hearts overcome the impediments in their path?

Happy Earth Day! We offer heartfelt thanks to everyone who participated in our first ever Earth Day Poetry Contest. We were overwhelmed by the many beautiful and intriguing poems that were shared with us. We received thought-provoking poems that caution us to preserve and respect the environment, poems that celebrate animals and natural beauty, we even received a poem that syncs up with a TikTok video! You've made it very difficult for us to choose the winning submissions, because everyone who participated is a winner.

Our selection for the elementary school category is "Earth Day Poem" by 4-year-old Azaria Arellano, who used a voice-to-text app to record her poem. The winning submission for the adults category is "The Spring-Dreamer" by Hailey Rostollan. We selected three winners for the middle/high school category: "Earth Day Poem" by Ria Bakshi, "Autumn Tree" by Chloe Cina, "A Forest in My Eyes" by Annabelle Deang.

We invite you to read these thoughtful poems, and take some time to celebrate nature.

Earth Day Poem
Azaria Arellano

Mother Nature is the best,
The best there ever was.
I love mother nature because,
Mother nature loves me
She lets me play at the park
She gives me air to breath.
I pick up the garbage so she doesn't get mad,
Because I love Mother Nature a LOT!

The Spring-Dreamer
Hailey Rostollan

Spring
I open my eyes from a winter’s sleep,
Feeling the sun’s warmth soaking through my body.
Slowly it thaws my blood,
Sending it shooting out to the very tips of my fingers.
Luxuriously, I stretch and open my hands to the embrace of the rays,
Examining the cracking skin ravaged by winter’s chill.
Soon my bare arms will be smooth again,
Clothed in sleeves of delicate spring green,
And my tired body will be refreshed by cool drinks
Of freshly melted snow.

Summer
The nourishing heat of the sun has become so strong
That I have sheltered my face with a deep green hat.
Birds forego their inherent shyness,
Sharing the shade of the wide brim
As they also hide from the insistent sun.
Quietly, so as not to betray the trust of my new friends,
I stretch my toes deep into the earth,
Down to where it’s moist and cool;
Shivering whenever my skin brushes a slippery worm
Also searching for refuge.

Fall
I tremble as the wind pulls my orange coat from my shoulders,
Dropping it on the ground at my feet.
Already my hat – faded to brown –
Has been stolen by a capricious breeze,
Never to shield my head again.
My friends the birds have flow off,
Following the retreating warmth of the same sun
That we had hidden from for so long.
I stand alone,
My arms starkly empty,
And watch the last of the sun spin away from me
To where I cannot follow.

Winter
A dull ache in my bones holds me still,
Too stiff to move.
My thick white dress cannot protect me from the cold,
And only serves to scare away the shy sun.
A heavy tiredness fills my body,
And my eyes close
As I snuggle deeper into my dress,
Dreaming of a faraway spring.

A Forest in My Eyes
Annabelle Deang

Take a walk with me through my fantasy land
Come and catch me if you can!
Picking flowers, so beautiful!
The scent is so powerful!
High up in a tree,
Feeling so free
Roll down a hill,
So much time to kill
Find shapes in clouds above
What animals do you see? I spotted a dove!
Make footprints in the sand,
Feels so soft and grand
Splashing in the lake,
Then have a nice lunch break
Skipping stones,
It’s so fun, I know!
Hopping from big rocks,
Always running, never walk!
Balancing on thick logs,
Look! A tire swing! Give me an underdog!
Let’s go chase that butterfly,
Follow me, don’t be shy
Be as playful as a puppy,
Never be grumpy
Lie in the soft green grass,
And watch that bunny hop past
Spot a robin in its nest,
I love those birds, they’re the best!
Catching fireflies
And watch a shooting star pass by
What’s that? It’s only a forest, you say?
It’s magical to me, don’t like it? Then, go away!

Earth Day Poem
Ria Bakshi

The Earth is a song.
We are part of its tune.
Life is the rhythm
From which we are all strewn.
We must remember
We aren't alone.
There's so much beauty in the
World unknown.
There's so much to see,
From snow capped peaks of the mountains
To the little swimming fish.
There's so much to learn,
From the beauty of the lotus that
Sprouts in the darkness.
Earth is precious,
We must never forget.
It is where we were born.
It is where we have grown.
We must never forget.
Earth is life's home.

Autumn Tree
Chloe Cina

It was about late afternoon,
When you took me on a trip deep into the woods,
As we continued on our journey,
I could hear the rustling of the leaves in the wind
As they glided past our face
With their vibrant green, orange and red colors
The sun was setting right at the horizon
And all I could see was our shadows
As the fog formed at out feet
The birds started to quiet down
And the squirrels started to return back to their homes
The deeper we explored
The darker it got
The sunset turned into dusk
And my body warmth began to lower
But I still got the appreciate the silence
Of the flowing creek as we walked by
And the idea of you and me
Flowed throughout me
And your body beside me
Is what made me feel free

Women in Music Trivia: ‘90s Edition is coming up on Wednesday, March 24 at 6:30 p.m.! I’ll test your knowledge on the women who dominated the charts during the ‘90s: Mariah. Whitney. Celine. Aaliyah. Shania. Sheryl. Selena. Madonna. Janet. Alanis. Fiona. Jewel. Brandy. Monica. Britney. TLC. En Vogue. Spice Girls. Destiny’s Child... Plus so many more!

The trivia will be live streamed on YouTube Live, and we will post the YouTube link and link to the trivia game on social media on Wednesday afternoon. To sign up for the trivia and receive an email with the links, register here.

To go along with the trivia, I gave my all and put together an extensive Women in Music: ‘90s Edition playlist with 10 hours of music. Enjoy!

This Spring we are excited to announce “Your City @ Home”, which is a series of virtual field trips meant to give you the chance to explore all the Chicagoland area has to offer! This series is sponsored by multiple Illinois public libraries. Each Saturday afternoon throughout April and May you can visit another great Chicago museum from the comfort of your home. Here is the line up of events:

Saturday, April 3, 2021, 3-4 pm: Shedd Aquarium: It's time to meet the penguins - virtually! Experience a live virtual visit with the penguins that call Shedd home. During this 45-minute experience, you will meet a penguin up close and discover what makes these birds so amazing. Our animal care team will take you "behind the scenes" in the penguins' habitat to learn more about how penguins are able to "fly" underwater, stay warm in cooler waters and much more!

To regisiter:  https://www.frvpld.info/your-city-home-shedd-aquarium

Saturday, April 10, 2021, 1-2 pm: DuSable Museum of African American History: Fly Your Kite: A History of the Relationship Between Black People and Flight

“The People Could Fly” is a very relevant and layered statement used by and about people of African descent in America.  Join the discussion to learn about the history of Black people flying, literally and figuratively, above their circumstances.  Hear about Chicago’s role in this rich legacy. 
Buy a kite and prepare to soar!

To register:  https://www.frvpld.info/your-city-home-dusable-museum-african-american-history

Saturday, April 17, 2021, 1-2 pm: Garfield Park Conservatory: This exclusive tour will include a visit to Horticulture Hall, the beehives, and a behind-the-scenes peak at the propagation greenhouses.

To register:  https://www.frvpld.info/your-city-home-garfield-park-conservatory

Saturday, April 24, 2021, 2-3 pm: National Museum of Mexican Art: Explore the “Nuestras Historias” exhibition which includes works from the museum's permanent collection. Nuestras Historias highlights the Museum’s Permanent Collection to showcase the dynamic and diverse stories of Mexican identity in North America. The exhibition presents cultural identity as something that continually evolves across time, regions, and communities, rather than as a static, unchanging entity, and features ancient Mesoamerican and colonial artifacts, modern Mexican art, folk art, and contemporary works from both sides of the U.S.–Mexican border. The vast diversity of Mexican identities demonstrated in these works defies the notion of one linear history and a singular identity.

To register:  https://www.frvpld.info/your-city-home-national-museum-mexican-art

Saturday, May 1, 2021, 1-2 pm: Chicago Children’s Museum: Get an exclusive look at the Cloudbuster climbing exhibit, the Zoom Room and more! Chicago Children’s Museum’s mission is to improve children’s lives by creating a community where play and learning connect. Housed in Navy Pier, the Museum is intentionally designed for experimentation, creativity, and learning for all children. They focus on accessibility, inclusion, and the pursuit of childhood, ensuring valuable and memorable experiences for all visitors.

To register:  https://www.frvpld.info/your-city-home-chicago-childrens-museum

Saturday, May 8, 2021, 2-3 pm: Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center: Take a docent led tour of the Karkomi Holocaust Exhibition, a place for both those familiar with the Holocaust and those learning about it for the first time.

To register:  https://www.frvpld.info/your-city-home-illinois-holocaust-museum

Saturday, May 15, 2021, 1-2 pm: The Art Institute of Chicago: Explore ways to connect with the Art Institute of Chicago and discover little known stories that make ours one of the most renowned art museums in the world.

To register:  https://www.frvpld.info/your-city-home-art-institute-chicago

Saturday, May 22, 2021: Field Museum: Get an exclusive tour of the Dinosaur range with mammalian paleontologist William Simpson!

To register:  https://www.frvpld.info/your-city-home-field-museum

Saturday, May 29, 2021: Elmhurst History Museum: Just before the first man landed on the moon, Charlie Brown and Snoopy soared through space with NASA’s Apollo 10 mission in May 1969. The exhibition To the Moon: Snoopy Soars with NASA examines the history of Apollo 10 and the Peanuts characters’ role in that flight and in the NASA Manned Flight Awareness safety program. This travelling exhibit is organized by the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa, California.

Attendees will also get an exclusive tour of By All Accounts: The Story of Elmhurst which examines how the city has changed and grown over the past 165+ years.

To register:  https://www.frvpld.info/your-city-home-elmhurst-history-museum

Stay safe at home and enjoy these virtual field trips with your whole family!

The arrival of March means that we will have 31 wonderful days to celebrate Women’s History Month. The library has multiple events planned for March, including a handful of great Trivia nights that will focus on lots of diverse women. WOMEN IN MUSIC TRIVIA: 1980'S EDITION, will take place on March 11. With so many great women making music in the Decade of Excess, there are lots of possibilities for questions. Hopefully, you’re already catching up on all your radical faves by listening to “80s on 8” on your Sirius XM subscription, checking out playlists on Pandora, or digging out your old mix-tapes. You never know who will make an appearance during this Totally Awesome trivia night. Here is a Spotify playlist of 80 iconic songs to listen to while you revisit all the great Ladies of the Eighties:

Women of the Eighties Playlist

Sometimes it's nice to spend time with a lengthy book, absorbing yourself with the characters' lives day after day until you reach the end. At other times you just want to fly through a short book in one sitting. In honor of the shortest month of the year, below is a list of books under 250 pages you can start and finish within hours. The majority of books on the list have been released in the last year, with a handful of classics worth revisiting at the end. If you're behind in your reading goals, you can knock out one (or more) of these by the end of the month with no problem. 

• Weather by Jenny Offill (224 pages): Lizzie Benson has just accepted a job helping her former mentor by answering the mail she receives for her Hell and High Water podcast. As Lizzie dives into the polarized world emerging through the letters, she begins to wonder what it means to keep tending your own garden once you've seen the flames beyond its walls.

• Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi (231 pages): "In her youth, Tara was wild. She abandoned her loveless marriage to join an ashram, endured a brief stint as a beggar (mostly to spite her affluent parents), and spent years chasing after a dishevelled, homeless 'artist' - all with her young child in tow. Now she is forgetting things, and her grown-up daughter is faced with the task of caring for a woman who never cared for her. This is a love story and a story about betrayal. But not between lovers - between mother and daughter.

• Nothing Can Hurt You by Nicola Maye Goldberg (240 pages): On a cold day in 1997, student Sara Morgan was killed in the woods surrounding her liberal arts college in upstate New York. Her boyfriend, Blake Campbell, confessed, his plea of temporary insanity raising more questions than it answered. In the aftermath of his acquittal, the case comes to haunt a strange and surprising network of community members, from the young woman who discovers Sara's body to the junior reporter who senses its connection to convicted local serial killer John Logan. Others are looking for retribution or explanation: Sara's half sister, stifled by her family's bereft silence about Blake, poses as a babysitter and seeks out her own form of justice, while the teenager Sara used to babysit starts writing to Logan in prison.

• What are You Going Through? by Sigrid Nunez (221 pages): A woman describes a series of encounters she has with various people in the ordinary course of her life. In each of these people the woman finds a common need: the urge to talk about themselves and to have an audience to their experiences. The narrator orchestrates this chorus of voices for the most part as a passive listener, until one of them makes an extraordinary request, drawing her into an intense and transformative experience of her own.

• That Old Country Music by Kevin Barry (191 pages): Stories of rural Ireland in the classic mode: full of love (and sex), melancholy and magic, shot through with dark humor and the uncanny power of the primal and unchanging Irish landscape.

• Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier (208 pages): Eighteen years old, pregnant, and working as a pizza delivery girl in suburban Los Angeles, our charmingly dysfunctional heroine is deeply lost and in complete denial about it all. She's grieving the death of her father (who she has more in common with than she'd like to admit), avoiding her supportive mom and loving boyfriend, and flagrantly ignoring her future. Her world is further upended when she becomes obsessed with Jenny, a stay-at-home mother new to the neighborhood, who comes to depend on weekly deliveries of pickle-covered pizzas for her son's happiness. As one woman looks toward motherhood and the other towards middle age, the relationship between the two begins to blur in strange, complicated, and ultimately heartbreaking ways.

• American Delirium by Betina Gonzalez (224 pages): In a small Midwestern city, the deer population starts attacking people. So Beryl, a feisty senior and ex-hippie with a troubled past, decides to take matters into her own hands, training a squad of fellow retirees to hunt the animals down and to prove to society they're capable of more than playing bingo. At the same time, a group of protesters decides to abandon the "system" and live in the woods, leaving behind the demands of modern life--including their children. Vik, a taxidermist, is beginning to see the connections among the dropouts, the deer, and the discord. Each of these engrossing characters holds a key to the city's unraveling--despite living on the margins of society--and just as their lives start to spin out of control, they rescue one another in surprising ways.

• The Archer by Paulo Coelho (160 pages): Tetsuya was once famous for his prodigious gift with a bow and arrow. He has retired from public life when a boy comes searching for him. The boy has many questions, and in answering them Tetsuya illustrates the way of the bow and the tenets of a meaningful life. 

• The Lady in Residence by Allison Pittman (253 pages): Young widow Hedda Krause checks into the Menger Hotel in 1915 with a trunk full of dresses, a case full of jewels, and enough cash to pay for a two-month stay, which she hopes will be long enough to meet, charm, and attach herself to a new, rich husband. Her plans are derailed when a ghostly apparition lures her into a long, dark hallway, and Hedda returns to her room to find her precious jewelry has been stolen. All her hopes for the future seem lost as her sanity comes into question. In 2017, Dini Blackstone is a fifth-generation magician, who performs at private parties, but she also gives ghost walk tours, narrating the more tragic historical events of San Antonio with familial affection. Above all, her favorite is the tale of Hedda Krause, whose memoir, My Spectral Accuser, she has almost memorized. But when Dini meets Quin Carmichael, great-great-grandson of the detective who originally investigated Hedda's case, who's come with a box full of clues that might lead to a new side of Hedda's story. Can Dini see Hedda in a new light that is worthy of God's grace? 

• What You Could Have Won by Rachel Genn (228 pages): Fame is the only thing worth having. Love is temporary brain damage. Or so thinks Henry Sinclair, a failing psychiatrist, whose career-breaking discovery has been pinched by a supervisor smelling of nipple grease and hot-dog brine. An emotional miser and manipulator par excellence, desperate for the recognition he's certain his genius deserves, Henry claws his way into the limelight by transforming his girlfriend--a singer-in-ascendance, beloved for her cathartically raw performances--into a drug experiment. As he systematically works to reinforce feelings of worthlessness while at the same time feeding off Astrid's fame, and as Astrid collapses deeper into dependence, what emerges is a two-sided toxic relationship: the bullying instincts of a man shrunk by an industry where bullying is currency, and the peculiar strength of a star more comfortable offloading her talent than owning her brilliance.

CLASSIC SHORT NOVELS:

• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (180 pages): Midwest native Nick Carraway arrives in 1922 New York in search of the American dream. Nick, a would-be writer, moves in next-door to millionaire Jay Gatsby and across the bay from his cousin Daisy and her philandering husband, Tom. Thus, Nick becomes drawn into the captivating world of the wealthy and -- as he bears witness to their illusions and deceits -- pens a tale of impossible love, dreams, and tragedy.

• A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf (148 pages): Woolf imagines that Shakespeare had a sister—a sister equal to Shakespeare in talent, and equal in genius, but whose legacy is radically different. This imaginary woman never writes a word and dies by her own hand, her genius unexpressed. If only she had found the means to create, she would have reached the same heights as her immortal sibling.

• Animal Farm by George Orwell (140 pages): A farm is taken over by its overworked, mistreated animals. With flaming idealism and stirring slogans, they set out to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality. Thus the stage is set for one of the most telling satiric fables ever penned –a razor-edged fairy tale for grown-ups that records the evolution from revolution against tyranny to a totalitarianism just as terrible.

• The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (93 pages): Told in language of great simplicity and power, it is the story of an old Cuban fisherman, down on his luck, and his supreme ordeal -- a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream.

• The Stranger by Albert Camus (123 pages): Behind the intrigue, Camus explores what he termed "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd" and describes the condition of reckless alienation and spiritual exhaustion that characterized so much of twentieth-century life. 

Sometimes you know exactly what you want to pick up or place on hold, and sometimes you just need options. We know it can be a little tricky to find a new book when you can’t just browse the new section at the library for something that strikes your interest, so below are some of new titles that have just hit our shelves in the last week.

• The Girl Beneath the Sea by Andrew Mayne: Auxiliary officer and diver Sloan finds a fresh kill floating in a canal--a woman whose murky history collides with Sloan's. Their troubling ties are making Sloan less a potential witness than a suspect. And her colleagues aren't the only ones following every move she makes. So is the killer. Stalked by an assassin, pitted against a ruthless cartel searching for a lost fortune, and under watch within her ranks, Sloan has only one ally: the legendary DEA agent who put Sloan's uncle behind bars.

• One Day You’ll Burn by Joseph Schneider: A body so badly burned that it could be mistaken for a movie prop... except for the smell. That's not something California law enforcement finds lying on the street every day. And when Detective Tully Jarsdel is called to the scene, it's clear to him that something about the placement of the corpse is intentional, even ritualistic. Jarsdel isn't a classic noir detective, but his former career in academia seems to finally be coming in handy, rather than serving as material for jokes from his partner, Morales.

• Meet Me in Bombay by Jenny Ashcroft: It's New Year's Eve in Bombay, 1913, and Madeline Bright, new to colonial India, yearns for all she left behind in England. Then, at the stroke of midnight, Maddy meets Luke Devereaux, and as the year changes so do both their lives. Luke opens her eyes to the wonders of Bombay, while Maddy captures his heart. But World War I is on the horizon, and Luke will be given no choice but to fight. They will be continents apart, separated by danger and devastating loss, but bound by Luke's promise that they will meet again in Bombay.

• The Portrait by Ilaria Bernardini: Valeria Costas has dedicated her life to her work writing and to her secret lover, Martìn Acla, a prominent businessman. When his sudden stroke makes headlines, her world implodes. Desperate to find a way to be present during her lover's final days, Valeria commissions his artist wife, Isla, to paint her portrait--insinuating herself into Martìn's family home and life. The portrait takes shape as the stories of the women’s lives are exchanged, and as the portrait takes shape, and each struggles while the love of their lives departs.

• Imminent Threat by Jeff Gunhus: Once a ruthless assassin for the KGB, Jacobslav Scarvan is believed to be dead after CIA agent Scott Roberts shot him three times. Twenty years later Scott and his daughter Mara are working for the US president to form an elite Alpha Team of highly skilled operatives. When they learn that Scarvan is still alive--plotting revenge after undergoing a twisted radicalization that makes him more dangerous than ever--Scott and Mara must race across the globe to prevent an epic disaster.

• Sleep Well, My Lady by Kwei Quartey: Infamous for his overspending and womanizing, talk show host Augustus Seeza is dating the beautiful Lady Araba, who leads a self-made fashion empire. Her family fears Seeza is just after Araba’s money. When Araba is found murdered in her bed, her driver is arrested. A year later, still convinced Seeza is the real killer, Araba’s aunt Dele hires PI Emma Djan to go undercover to find the truth. Emma uncovers a long list of suspects with strong motives and quickly discovers they are all willing to lie for each other, and that one may still be willing to kill.

• Pretty Little Wife by Darby Kane: Lila Ridgefield lives in an idyllic college town, but not everything is what it seems. Lila isn't what she seems. A student vanished months ago. Now, Lila's husband, Aaron, is also missing. At first these cases are treated as horrible coincidences until it's discovered the student is really the third of three unexplained disappearances over the last few years. The police are desperate to find the connection, if there even is one. Little do they know they might be stumbling over only part of the truth....

• The Rib King by Ladee Hubbard: For fifteen years August Sitwell has worked amongst an all-black staff for the Barclays, a well-to-do white family who plucked him from an orphan asylum and gave him a job in order to “civilize” him. But now the Barclays fortunes have fallen, and their money is almost gone. When a prospective business associate proposes selling the family cook Miss Mamie's delicious rib sauce to local markets using a caricature of a wildly grinning August on the label, Mr. Barclay, desperate for cash, agrees. Yet neither Miss Mamie nor August will see a dime. Humiliated, August grows increasingly distraught, his anger building to a rage that explodes in shocking tragedy. 

• Joint Custody by Lauren Baratz-Logsted: The Man and The Woman split custody of Gatz, but he will do anything to bring them back together - even if it kills him. And it almost did. He knows chocolate is bad for him, but it's the risk he's willing to take to get them back together. Gatz knows that The Man and The Woman are perfect for each other - how can they not see it, too? But when New Man - so handsome, so nice, so perfect - enters The Woman's life, he realizes he'll need to step up his game. And you know what they say: drastic times call for drastic doggy measures.

• The Girl with Braided Hair by Rasha Adly: Art historian, Yasmine, is restoring an unsigned portrait of a strikingly beautiful girl from the Napoleonic Era, when she discovers that the artist has embedded a lock of hair into the painting. Yasmine becomes consumed by the secret concealed within this captivating work. Centuries earlier, sixteen-year-old Zeinab is drawn into French high society when Napoleon himself requests her presence. Enamored by the foreign customs of the Europeans, she finds herself on a dangerous path, one that may ostracize her from her family and culture.

• Ten Rules for Faking It by Sophie Sullivan: Catching your boyfriend cheating on you with his assistant? Even clichés sting. But Everly Dean has determined that this is her year. She'll pitch her podcast idea to her boss. There's just one problem. Her boss, Chris, is very cute. Also, he's extremely distant, which means he hates her, right? And, Stacey the DJ didn't mute the mic during Everly's rant about her cheating ex. That's three problems. Suddenly, people are lining up to date her, Bachelorette-style, fans are voting, and her interest in Chris might be a two-way street. It's a lot for a woman who could gold medal in people-avoidance. She's going to have to fake it 'till she makes it to get through all of this.

• Best Laid Plans by Gwen Florio: Nora Best is trading in her perfect life for an Airstream trailer and an adventure of a lifetime across the US with her perfect husband. But during their leaving party, Nora finds her husband in a compromising position with a friend. Storming out of the party she jumps into her truck and ends up in a campground in the mountains of Wyoming, drowning her sorrows with its managers, Brad and Miranda. When she is woken by a frantic Miranda after Brad has disappeared and bloodstains have been found around the campsite, Nora finds herself caught up in an adventure she could never have expected.

• The Effort by Claire Holroyde: When dark comet UD3 was spotted near Jupiter's orbit, its existence was largely ignored. But to individuals who knew better, the threat this eight-kilometer comet posed to the survival of the human race was unthinkable. Together, these men and women must fight to survive in an unknown future with no rules and nothing to be taken for granted. They have two choices: neutralize the greatest threat the world has ever seen (preferably before mass hysteria hits or world leaders declare World War III) or come to terms with the annihilation of humanity itself.

• The Fortunate Ones by Ed Tarkington: Working class Charlie was fine with his life until he’s admitted on scholarship to an elite private school and suddenly introduced to a world cushioned by money. There, Charlie is drawn into friendship with Archer and quickly adapts to life in the upper echelons of Nashville society. It’s irresistible- the lack of anxiety over money, the easy summers spent poolside, the lavish parties, the knowledge that any mistake can be glossed over or fixed? But over time, Charlie is increasingly pulled into Archer’s constant deceits and casual bigotry. At what point will the attraction of wealth and prestige wear off enough for Charlie to take a stand--and will he?

• Shiver by Allie Reynolds: When Milla accepts an off-season invitation to a ski resort in the French Alps, she's expecting an intimate weekend of catching up with four old friends. Yet no sooner do Milla and the others arrive for the reunion than they realize something is horribly wrong. The resort is deserted. The cable cars have stopped working. Their cell phones are missing. Inside the hotel is a game meant to remind them of Saskia, the sixth member of their group, who vanished years before and has long been presumed dead. Someone has gathered them there to find out the truth about Saskia and will stop at nothing to get answers.

Take a well deserved break from your daily grind and try something new like pour painting or crochet. We make it easy for you -- we provide all the materials, instruction, and virtual interaction. You just pick up your materials at the Dundee Library, sign on to the Zoom program and let the experience of creating something yourself while enjoying the camaraderie of others take you away for a little while.

How many times have you scrolled by photos of creative do-it-yourself projects finished by your friends and acquaintences and thought "I would like to try that!" It's easy to then let it pass by because the thought of buying all the materials and figuring it out yourself doesn't seem worth it. What if you end up not even liking it, but now you've invested time and money into the project?

FRVPLD patrons are discovering that our library is the perfect place to give something new a try. We have been offering a variety of craft programs that make it easy. To participate, you register for the program on our online calendar, swing by the Dundee Library to pick up your (free!) materials curbside, and then join the Zoom program for step-by-step instruction and a fun, positive atmosphere with other partcipants. 

Here are some comments from our most recent program, Make Your Own at Home: Pour Painting:

• "Hi! This was so much fun!! Thank you for putting this together! Really appreciate it!"
• "Thank you again so very much for coordinating this - these art things are so relaxing and therapeutic during all of the chaos right now. Our young children love doing the crafts each month - it’s fun to see them laughing and spending time together. We truly look forward to these - thank you thank you! Have a very Merry Christmas and a blessed new year."
• "Thanks so much for hosting the paint night! We had so much fun!"
• "Thank you so much. We had so much fun and we’re so impressed with the results!"
• "Thanks Cari for a fun program!! My mom's is on the blue tray, mine is on the right green tray (currently drying on top of the fridge!) I appreciate the fun program and love that it was your sister that did the class, she is talented!"
• "Thanks for a great class. Your sister is very talented. Loved how she made the jewelry from dried paint."
• "This was an awesome experience! Thanks for providing all of the materials!"
• "Thanks for offering such a wonderful program! I NEVER would have tried this on my own!"
• "It was nice that some people shared theirs, as you could see how even though we all followed the same directions....that everyone’s was different!  Thank you, again! I hope that is you have to report to someone higher up in the library, that you let them see everyone’s responses!"
• "It was fun and turned out better than I expected, other than paint on the rug and on my computer! But it will come off. Thanks for doing this."
• "We enjoyed last night's class, and look forward to more library crafts."
• "I loved our class and wanted to share my painting photo. Thank you so much!"

It's a well-know fact that getting crafty can reduce stress, encourage mindfullness, keep your brain sharp and provides an opportunity to put aside any worries or anxiety. Here are some upcoming programs you can still register for this winter. Check back often as we start to announce spring programs (like another pour painting program!). Click on the link to register:

Artist & Tea: Jacob Lawrence on Thursday, February 4 at 7 p.m.

Decorate Your Own at Home: Wine Glasses on Thursday, February 11 at 7 p.m.

I read a lot of books this year! Hey, it was 2020, what else was there to do to escape the world?  Many I liked, a few were just OK, several I decided not to finish, and some made their way into my heart and mind and stayed there. Below is the list of those favorite books that I read this year.  They were not all published in 2020, just read. 

1. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.  I did not want to read this book. It was super popular in 2019, and usually books that are super popular are disappointing.  BUT I loved this book! The writing was so beautifully descriptive.

2. Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. A couple of my co-workers recommended this book to me. It was a Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mack-esque story of a band that shot to super stardom. We also read of their triumphs and the pitfalls of fame.  Hint:  Listen to Fleetwood Mac's Rumors while you read this one.  

3. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. I loved this book so much-I got an education reading it. It is an amazing work of historical fiction, told through the generations of two half-sisters. READ THIS BOOK. 

4. Catch and Kill: lies, spies a conspiracy to protect predators by Ronan Farrow. This is a gut-wrenching, anger-provoking story of high-profile men sexually assaulting women (Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, etc.) and the media's complicity in NOT telling the stories.  After you read the book listen to the Catch and Kill podcast for interviews and more information.   

5. The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali. A brilliant and heartwarming story of love found and lost and the complications of family in the backdrop of the Iranian Revolution.    

6. Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson. The cover of this book is so good! How could I not read it. A funny and quirky story involving a two college friends and the spontaneously combusting children of a senator. 

7. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. The story of several Black boys sent to a Florida “reform” school in Jim Crow-era Florida.  Based on true events from the Dozier Reform School. Pulitzer Prize Winner.  

8. Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams. A touching story of a Jamaican British woman traversing life in London. Queenie makes many questionable decisions while trying to deal with never feeling like she is not enough. Great dive into dealing with mental health issues as well. 

9. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. A bookstore owner who is grieving widow has a surprise show up in his shop one day that changes him and his life forever. Tender and satisfying!  

10. Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff. I love monsters and aliens, but not straight up Sci-fi, and I don’t like anything too gory. This book was the perfect balance of great story, great characters, and great monsters. It also deals with real-life issues. Read the book and then watch the HBO series.  

11. Devoted by Dean Koontz.  Ever since I read Watchers, I have been waiting for another story about Koontz’ genetically altered/enhanced? golden retrievers. Although this is not a sequel, it follows well with Watchers. This is a Koontz book, so the bad guy is really, REALLY bad.  If you love your pups and a good thriller, you might want to try this one.  

I am looking forward to reading many more great books in 2021!

One of the library’s newest collections for 2021 is student hotspots: Wi-Fi hotspots that circulate for an entire semester.

COVID-19 accelerated the library’s vision of providing internet service to our entire district. Earlier this year, we increased the number of standard hotspots to 50 and ensured patrons could continue to access the library’s Wi-Fi from all corners of the Dundee parking lot while the buildings are closed. We want to continue that effort by offering the students of our district internet for an entire semester’s worth.

Student hotspots have different guidelines for checkout than standard hotspots:

• Patrons must have a valid student ID to check out student hotspots.
• While the buildings are closed, students or their parents/guardians can simply show a valid student ID during curbside pickup.
• Hotspots check out for an entire semester, not for a specific amount of time. The loan periods are:
  
  • Spring Semester: January 1 - May 31
  • Summer Semester: June 1 - August 31
  • Fall Semester: September 1 – December 31
• Only one hotspot per household.
• Student hotspots do not accrue late fees.
• Student hotspots are not eligible for home delivery.

If a hotspot is needed for a specific semester, patrons can set the hold activation date for the beginning of that semester when placing the hold.

Patrons can place a hold on these student hotspots starting today! You can access them in the online catalog here. If you have any questions regarding placing a hold, please email LibraryNotice@frvpld.info or call us at 847-428-3661.

2020 was the year where new and favorite Latin artists decided to create some amazing songs and albums. And their music is finally being played in the mainstream radio stations so this year has been big for them. Some of my favorites released multiples and others collaborated with top english artists, The Weeknd and Dua Lipa to name a few and a theme song for the Spongebob Squarepants movie. Yes, this year has been big for Latin artists so I have made a list of my top 5; trying to decide which song or album would have been impossible. 

#1 on my list is Bad Bunny. With 3 album releases in 2020 he really spoiled his fans, and his songs are always phenomenal. His style is one I really love, and I cannot wait when arenas are open to go to his concerts.
         

#2 is the one and only J Balvin with his amazing album COLORES. Every single song in this album is great, there is not one that I dislike and his creativity in the music albums are single one of a kind. It was the album I kept reaching for during the summer.

#3 is Karol G. She did not have an album release this year but her singles, and collaborations with other artists, are all on my playlist. Really looking forward to any new music she decides to release. There are few women Latin artists that make a name for themselves in this genre, so I am really excited to see her go big.

#4 on my list is Anuel AA with his album Emmanuel. Exceeding expectations from his last album I cannot stress how good this album is.

#5 and final artist is Ozuna with ENOC. I was debating between him and Maluma’s Papi Juancho, which had a few good songs in there, but Ozuna’s album had better songs, in my opinion; though Hawai is super catchy.   

    VS    

On Monday night the library held two different virtual Holiday Movie Trivia events, covering holiday classics old and new. During each event I shared some of my favorite scenes from films including Remember the Night, Christmas in Connecticut, The Shop Around the Corner, Elf, Holiday Affair, and White Christmas. Some of the trivia players requested a list of the movies covered during the trivia, so I compiled one! I tried to include any movie that was mentioned, even if it was just listed as a multiple choice option. The list links to the catalog, and I hope you discover a new Christmas classic to watch this year!

You can download a PDF copy of the list here: Holiday Films from Trivia

Holiday Movie Trivia: Movie List In Chronological Order of Release Date

• Little Women (1933)
  • Starring Katharine Hepburn
• Bachelor Mother (1939)
  • Starring Ginger Rogers, David Niven
• Remember the Night (1940)
  • Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Sterling Holloway, Beulah Bondi
  • Film clip shown during trivia: “The End of a Perfect Day” performed by Sterling Holloway
• The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
  • Starring Jimmy Stewart, Margaret Sullavan, Frank Morgan
  • Film clip shown during trivia: Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan in the café
• Meet John Doe (1941)
  • Starring Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck
• Holiday Inn (1942)
  • Starring Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Marjorie Reynolds, Virginia Dale
  • Film clip shown during trivia: Fred Astaire tipsy dancing on New Year’s Eve
• Going My Way (1944)
  • Starring Bing Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald, Jean Heather
• I’ll Be Seeing You (1944)
  • Starring Ginger Rogers, Joseph Cotten, Shirley Temple
  • Film clip shown during trivia: “O Come All Ye Faithful” at Christmas Eve dinner
• Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
  • Starring Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor, Lucille Bremer, Tom Drake, Marjorie Main
• The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945)
  • Starring Bing Crosby, Ingrid Bergman, Henry Travers
• Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
  • Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet, Reginald Gardier, S.Z. Sakall
  • Film clip shown during trivia: “The Wish That I Wish Tonight” performed by Dennis Morgan while Barbara Stanwyck trims the tree
• It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
  • Starring Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Beulah Bondi
• The Bishop’s Wife (1947)
  • Starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven, Monty Woolley
• Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
  • Starring Maureen O’Hara, Edmund Gwenn, Natalie Wood, John Payne
• Holiday Affair (1949)
  • Starring Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh, Wendell Corey
  • Film clip shown during trivia: Robert Mitchum feeds an orphan squirrel in Central Park
• In the Good Old Summertime (1949)
  • Starring Judy Garland, Van Johnson, S.Z. Sakall, Spring Byington, Buster Keaton
• Little Women (1949)
  • Starring June Allyson, Peter Lawford, Margaret O'Brien, Elizabeth Taylor, Janet Leigh
• The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)
  • Starring Bob Hope
• White Christmas (1954)
  • Starring Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye, Vera Ellen
  • Film clips shown during trivia: Vera Ellen “Abraham” dance, “Snow,” “Mutual, I’m sure”
• A Christmas Story (1983)
  • Starring Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, Peter Billingsley
• National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
  • Starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Randy Quaid
• Home Alone (1990)
  • Starring Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O’Hara
  • Film clip shown during trivia: McCallister family runs through O’Hare
• Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
  • Starring Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O’Hara, Tim Curry
  • Film clip shown during trivia: “Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal. And a Happy New Year!”
• The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
  • Starring Michael Caine
• Little Women (1994)
  • Starring Winona Ryder, Christian Bale, Claire Danes, Susan Sarandon, Kirsten Dunst
• The Santa Clause (1994)
  • Starring Tim Allen, Judge Reinhold, Wendy Crewson, Peter Boyle, Eric Lloyd, David Krumholtz
• The Preacher’s Wife (1996)
  • Starring Whitney Houston, Denzel Washington, Courtney B. Vance, Gregory Hines
• Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
  • Starring Jim Carrey, Christine Baranski, Taylor Momsen, Jeffrey Tambor, Molly Shannon; narrator, Anthony Hopkins
• Elf (2003)
  • Starring Will Ferrell, Bob Newhart, James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, Zooey Deshanel
  • Film clips shown during trivia: Buddy’s first moments in NYC montage, Buddy asks Jovie out using “the code”
• Love Actually (2003)
  • Starring Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Colin Firth
• The Santa Clause 2 (2003)
  • Starring Tim Allen, Elizabeth Mitchell, Judge Reinhold, Wendy Crewson, David Krumholtz, Eric Lloyd
  • Film clip shown during trivia: “Man! I Feel Like Some Christmas!” performed by Molly Shannon
• Christmas with the Kranks (2004)
  • Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Tim Allen, Dan Aykroyd
• The Polar Express (2004)
  • Starring Tom Hanks
• The Santa Clause 3 (2006)
  • Starring Tim Allen, Martin Short, Elizabeth Mitchell, Judge Reinhold, Wendy Crewson, Ann-Margret, Alan Alda
• Four Christmases (2008)
  • Starring Reese Weatherspoon, Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau, Mary Steenburgen, Robert Duvall, Dwight Yoakam, Kristin Chenoweth, Sissy Spacek
• A Christmas Carol (2009)
  • Starring Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins, Robin Wright Penn, Cary Elwes
• Arthur Christmas (2011)
  • Voices of James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, Ashley Jensen
• The Night Before (2015)
  • Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anthony Mackie, Seth Rogen, Jillian Bell, Lizzy Caplan
    • Film clip shown during trivia: “Christmas in Hollis” karaoke
• The Grinch (2018)
  • Voices of Benedict Cumberbatch, Rashida Jones, Angela Lansbury, Kenan Thompson
• Little Women (2019)
  • Starring Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern

Not only are the cold winter months always a great time to curl up in a blanket with a murder mystery, but this week in particular is fitting for picking up Agatha Christie. Today marks 94 years since the bestselling novelist of all time was found after an 11-day disappearance, the details of which remain unknown to this day. (There is a 2008 Doctor Who episode that comes up with a unique explanation.) Kenneth Branagh's film of Death on the Nile was also due for release this week following previous Covid-19 delays, but news broke a few days ago that it has been officially postponed until September 2021. Whether you only know Christie's work from Branagh's first outing as Hercule Poirot in 2017's Murder on the Orient Express or you're already a diehard fan of her intricate puzzles, there's never a bad time to dive in to some of her best mysteries.

There are often multiple editions of the ebook or eaudiobooks (featuring different narrators), so links for eresources will be to all copies of the title.

Death on the Nile: The tranquillity of a cruise along the Nile is shattered by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway has been shot through the head. She was young, stylish and beautiful, a girl who had everything – until she lost her life. Hercule Poirot recalls an earlier outburst by a fellow passenger: ‘I’d like to put my dear little pistol against her head and just press the trigger.’ Yet in this exotic setting’ nothing is ever quite what it seems…

 Book; CD audiobook; Hoopla; Overdrive

 1978 film    2004 film

And Then There Were None: 1939. Europe teeters on the brink of war. Ten strangers are invited to Soldier Island, an isolated rock near the Devon coast. Cut off from the mainland, with their generous hosts Mr and Mrs U.N. Owen mysteriously absent, they are each accused of a terrible crime. When one of the party dies suddenly they realise they may be harbouring a murderer among their number. The tension escalates as the survivors realise the killer is not only among them but is preparing to strike again…and again...

 Book; CD audiobook; Hoopla; Overdrive; Axis360

 2016 miniseries   1945 film    1965 film (under one of the book's earlier titles)

Murder on the Orient Express: Just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for the time of the year, but by the morning it is one passenger fewer. An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Isolated and with a killer in their midst, detective Hercule Poirot must identify the murderer—in case he or she decides to strike again.

 Book; CD audiobook; Hoopla; Overdrive; Axis360

 2017 film    2010 film    1974 film

The ABC Murders: There’s a serial killer on the loose, working his waythrough the alphabet - and the whole country is in a state of panic. A is for Mrs Ascher in Andover, B is for Betty Barnard in Bexhill, C is for Sir Carmichael Clarke in Churston. With each murder, the killer is getting moreconfident– but leaving a trail of deliberate clues to taunt the proud Hercule Poirot might just prove to be the first, and fatal mistake.

 Book; CD audiobook; Hoopla; Overdrive

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: The peaceful English village of King’s Abbot is stunned. First, the attractive widow Ferrars dies from an overdose of veronal. Not twenty-four hours later, Roger Ackroyd—the man she had planned to marry—is murdered. It is a baffling, complex case involving blackmail, suicide, and violent death, a cast that taxes Hercule Poirot’s “little grey cells” before he reaches one of the most startling conclusions of his fabled career.

 Book; CD audiobook; Hoopla; Overdrive

The Murder at the Vicarage: ‘Anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe,’ declared the parson, brandishing a carving knife above a joint of roast beef, ‘would be doing the world at large a favour!’ It was a careless remark for a man of the cloth. And one which was to come back and haunt the clergyman just a few hours later – when the colonel was found shot dead in the clergyman’s study. But as Miss Marple soon discovers, the whole village seems to have had a motive to kill Colonel Protheroe. 

 Book; CD audiobook; Hoopla; Overdrive

The Secret Adversary: Tommy and Tuppence, two young people short of money and restless for excitement, embark on a daring business scheme – Young Adventurers Ltd. Their advertisement says they are ‘willing to do anything, go anywhere’. But their first assignment, for the sinister Mr Whittington, plunges them into more danger than they ever imagined.

 Book; CD audiobook; Hoopla; Overdrive; Axis360

A Murder is Announced: The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn, including Jane Marple, are agog with curiosity over an advertisement in the local gazette which reads: ‘A murder is announced and will take place on Friday October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6.30 p.m.’ A childish practical joke? Or a hoax intended to scare poor Letitia Blacklock? Unable to resist the mysterious invitation, a crowd begins to gather at Little Paddocks at the appointed time when, without warning, the lights go out…

 Book; CD audiobook; Hoopla; Overdrive

The Mousetrap:  Not a novel, but a play, and the longest running one in history, at that. The Mousetrap ran continuosly on stage in London's West End for 67 years (!) until Covid-19 forced the shutdown of theaters in March of this year. It will be back when theaters reopen. The scene is set when a group of people gathered in a country house cut off by the snow discover, to their horror, that there is a murderer in their midst. Who can it be? One by one the suspicious characters reveal their sordid pasts until at the last, nerve-shredding moment the identity and the motive are finally revealed.

 Book; Hoopla

An Autiobiography: Composed by Christie between 1950-1965, then left untouched until it was edited and published in 1977 after her death.

 Book; Overdrive 

Curtain Up: Agatha Christie- a life in theatre by Julius Green: From the producer of numerous Agatha Christie stage plays comes the first book to examine the world’s bestselling mystery writer’s career and work as a playwright, published to commemorate her 125th birthday.

 Book; Hoopla; Axis360

Bonus Reads: With 5 Tommy and Tuppence, 12 Miss Marple, and 36 Poirot novels, and numerous standalones, short stories, and plays, Agatha Christie's work has unsurprisingly inspired many other authors over the years. The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict (coming December 29) is a novelization of the 11-day disappearance mentioned above. Sophie Hannah is authorized by Christie's estate to create new Hercule Poirot stories, with The Killings at Kingfisher Hill the most recent back in September. Anthony Horowitz's latest, Moonflower Murders, is the second Susan Ryeland novel that features a metafictional series with a Poirot-like foreign detective. One by One is Ruth Ware newest title and is inspired by And Then There Were None.

Book	Book; CD audiobook	Book; CD audiobook;	Book; CD audiobook;
		Overdrive; Axis360	Overdrive; Axis360

For those of you registered for our Winter Reading Challenge (hopefully all of you!), you know that along with logging reading minutes, you need to earn activity badges too.

The activities for adults are fun and easy to accomplish. The "Stay Cozy" badge, for example- "read a book in your pjs- pour yourself a cup of tea or coffee and curl up with your book." I knocked that one off my list immediately, as that's basically how I spend every morning before I start work. Here are a few more of the activities and some suggestions to help you mark them off on your log. 

For more details on the challenge itself and how to register, see Kirstin's blog post here.

Romantic Read: "Read a romance on Hoopla" or "Read a holiday-themed romance"- Here's some holiday-themed romances on Hoopla to combine both of those ideas. Click on the images for Hoopla links.

Cinephile: "Borrow and watch a movie on Hoopla" or "Borrow a Binge Box from the library"- for Binge Boxes, go to our online catalog here and type "Binge Box" in the search box. For Hoopla suggestions, I'll stick with the holiday theme from above, but you can choose any movie you like. Click on the images for Hoopla links.

Winter Blues: "Read a book with a blue cover" or "Photograph a snowy or winter scene and tag the library on Instagram"- I can't help you with the photography, but check out some of the blue covers below. SInce this is not a Hoopla specific activity, all formats FRVPLD owns are included in the links below the images. 

• Dear Edward: physical book; physical Large Print; Overdrive ebook; Overdrive audiobook; Axis360 ebook; Axis360 audiobook
• New Waves: physical book
• Memorial: physical book; Overdrive ebook; Overdrive audiobook
• The Peculiar Fate of Holly Banks: physical book
• All the Devils are Here: physical book; physical Large Print; Overdrive ebook; Overdrive audiobook; Axis360 ebook; Axis360 audiobook

• The Mirror and the Light: physical book; Overdrive ebook; Overdrive audiobook; Axis360 audiobook
• Such a Fun Age: physical book; physical Large Print; Overdrive ebook; Overdrive audiobook; Axis360 ebook; Axis360 audiobook
• Fairy Godmothers, Inc.: physical book; Overdrive ebook; Hoopla ebook
• Fortune and Glory: physical book; CD audiobook; Overdrive ebook; Overdrive audiobook; Axis360 audiobook
• The Girl in the Mirror: physical book; Overdrive ebook

The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University has compiled a recommended reading list with titles provided by over 25 different prominent Illinoisans. The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that provides opportunities to students and the community to learn more about public policy and important issues of society in the hopes that new solutions can be found to help revitalize and improve our state. For this reading list, the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute reached out to Illinois politicians, lawyers, professors, reporters, and more and asked each of them to submit some titles of books that they would recommend to people who want to learn more about the history, politics, literature, and more of Illinois. The titles included in the final, compiled reading list encompass a variety of types of books, including nonfiction, biographies, fiction, essays, and more. A digital version of the reading list is now available.

This list is definitely meant for adults. Even if you are not really into politics and public policy, you may still enjoy some of the titles on this list. Besides politics and the history of our state, there are also titles on this list about Illinois sports teams, historical figures from Illinois, historical events that took place in Illinois, plays and novels set in Illinois that also inlcude some history and culture of Illinois, and more. If you'd like to learn more about this reading list, click here. If you'd like to learn more about the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, click here. I encourage everyone to at least take a peek at the reading list, there really are some interesting titles on there. If you look at the list and find that you are interested in reading some of the titles, we'd be more than happy to help you get a copy of any of the titles on this list. We can check our catalog, and if we don't own a title we'll gladly request it from another library. If you have any questions or would like to get any of the titles, please give us a call at 847-428-3661 and ask for the Information Desk, or email us at libraryhelp@frvpld.info.

November is Native American Heritage Month, and The Library of Congress, National Archives, Smithsonian, and other great institutions have worked together to pay tribute to the history and contemporary culture of Indigenous people. The official website can be found here if you'd like to explore some of the webinars and other materials they have put together. 

Whatever your reading preferences, it's a great time to pick up a book or two by Native American authors and FRVPLD has a wide variety to keep you busy. Take a look at some of our collection below, available in multiple formats. While the library is closed to the public, we are still offering home delivery and curbside pickup for physical materials. 

FICTION: 

• This is Paradise by Kristiana Kahakauwila: This is the real Hawai'i: life is not the paradisical adventure that honeymooners or movie-goers see. Danger lurks on beautiful beaches, violence bubbles under the smooth surf, and characters come face to face with the inevitability of change and the need to define who they are against the forces of tradition and expectation. In these stories, a young woman decides to take revenge on the man who had her father murdered - only to find that her father wasn't who she thought he was. Three different groups of Hawaiian women observe and comment on the progress of an American tourist through one day and one night in Honolulu. And a young couple have an encounter with a stray dog that shakes their relationship to the core. Intimately tied to the Hawaiian Islands, This is Paradise explores the relationships among native Hawaiians, local citizens, and emigrants from (and to) the contiguous forty-eight states. There is tension between locals and tourists, between locals and the military men that populate their communities, between local Hawaiian girls who never leave, and those who do so forhigher education and then return.  Axis 360 ebook; Book (from outside FRVPLD)
• The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich: Thomas Wazhashk is the night watchman at the jewel bearing plant, the first factory located near the Turtle Mountain Reservation in rural North Dakota. He is also a Chippewa Council member who is trying to understand the consequences of a new "emancipation" bill on its way to the floor of the United States Congress. It is 1953 and he and the other council members know the bill isn't about freedom; Congress is fed up with Indians. The bill is a "termination" that threatens the rights of Native Americans to their land and their very identity. How can the government abandon treaties made in good faith with Native Americans "for as long as the grasses shall grow, and the rivers run"? Since graduating high school, Pixie Paranteau has insisted that everyone call her Patrice. Unlike most of the girls on the reservation, Patrice, the class valedictorian, has no desire to wear herself down with a husband and kids. She makes jewel bearings at the plant, a job that barely pays her enough to support her mother and brother. Patrice's shameful alcoholic father returns home sporadically to terrorize his wife and children and bully her for money. But Patrice needs every penny to follow her beloved older sister, Vera, who moved to the big city of Minneapolis. Vera may have disappeared; she hasn't been in touch in months, and is rumored to have had a baby. Determined to find Vera and her child, Patrice makes a fateful trip to Minnesota that introduces her to unexpected forms of exploitation and violence, and endangers her life. Book; Overdrive ebook; Axis 360 ebook; Axis 360 audiobook
• Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse: In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world. Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man's mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain. Book; Audiobook CD; Overdrive ebook; Axis360 ebook
• Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford: Tells the stories of Justine--a mixed-blood Cherokee woman--and her daughter, Reney, as they move from Eastern Oklahoma's Indian Country in the hopes of starting a new, more stable life in Texas amid the oil bust of the 1980s. However, life in Texas isn't easy, and Reney feels unmoored from her family in Indian Country. Against the vivid backdrop of the Red River, we see their struggle to survive in a world--of unreliable men and near-Biblical natural forces like wildfires and tornadoes--intent on stripping away their connections to one another and their very ideas of home. Book; Hoopla ebook; Axis 360 ebook

• Savage Conversations by LeAnne Howe: May 1875: Mary Todd Lincoln is addicted to opiates and tried in a Chicago court on charges of insanity. Entered into evidence is Ms. Lincoln's claim that every night a Savage Indian enters her bedroom and slashes her face and scalp. She is swiftly committed to Bellevue Place Sanitarium. Her hauntings may be a reminder that in 1862, President Lincoln ordered the hanging of thirty-eight Dakotas in the largest mass execution in United States history. No one has ever linked the two events-until now. Savage Conversations is a daring account of a former first lady and the ghosts that tormented her for the contradictions and crimes on which this nation is founded. Book; Hoopla ebook
• The Beadworkers by Beth Piatote: Told with humor, subtlety, and spareness, the mixed-genre works of Beth Piatote's first collection find unifying themes in the strength of kinship, the pulse of longing, and the language of return.
  A woman teaches her niece to make a pair of beaded earrings while ruminating on a fractured relationship. An eleven-year-old girl narrates the unfolding of the Fish Wars in the 1960s as her family is propelled to its front lines. In 1890, as tensions escalate at Wounded Knee, two young men at college-one French and the other Lakota-each contemplate a death in the family. In the final, haunting piece, a Nez Perce–Cayuse family is torn apart as they debate the fate of ancestral remains in a moving revision of the Greek tragedy Antigone. Hoopla ebook; Hoopla audiobook; Book (from outside FRVPLD)
• Where the Dead Sit Talking by Brandon Hobson: With his single mother in jail, Sequoyah, a fifteen-year-old Cherokee boy, is placed in foster care with the Troutt family. Literally and figuratively scarred by his unstable upbringing, Sequoyah has spent years mostly keeping to himself, living with his emotions pressed deep below the surface--that is, until he meets the seventeen-year-old Rosemary, another youth staying with the Troutts. Sequoyah and Rosemary bond over their shared Native American backgrounds and tumultuous paths through the foster care system, but as Sequoyah's feelings toward Rosemary deepen, the precariousness of their lives and the scars of their pasts threaten to undo them both. Book; Hoopla audiobook
• There, There by Tommy Orange: Twelve Native Americans came to the Big Oakland Powwow for different reasons. Jacquie Red Feather is newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind in shame. Dene Oxendene is pulling his life together after his uncle's death and has come to work the powwow and to honor his uncle's memory. Edwin Frank has come to find his true father. Bobby Big Medicine has come to drum the Grand Entry. Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield has come to watch her nephew Orvil Red Feather; Orvil has taught himself Indian dance through YouTube videos, and he has come to the powwow to dance in public for the very first time. Tony Loneman is a young Native American boy whose future seems destined to be as bleak as his past, and he has come to the Powwow with darker intentions--intentions that will destroy the lives of everyone in his path. Book; Overdrive ebook; Overdrive audiobook; Axis 360 ebook; Axis 360 audiobook

• Walking the Clouds edited by Grace L. Dillon: In this first-ever anthology of Indigenous science fiction Grace Dillon collects some of the finest examples of the craft with contributions by Native American, First Nations, Aboriginal Australian, and New Zealand Maori authors. The collection includes seminal authors such as Gerald Vizenor, historically important contributions often categorized as "magical realism" by authors like Leslie Marmon Silko and Sherman Alexie, and authors more recognizable to science fiction fans like William Sanders and Stephen Graham Jones. Dillon's engaging introduction situates the pieces in the larger context of science fiction and its conventions. Book
• In the Night of Memory by Linda LeGarde Grover: When Loretta surrenders her young girls to the county and then disappears, she becomes one more missing Native woman in Indian Country's long devastating history of loss. But she is also a daughter of the Mozhay Point Reservation in northern Minnesota and the mother of Azure and Rain, ages 3 and 4, and her absence haunts all the lives she has touched--and all the stories they tell in this novel. Book
• Dirty Copper by Jim Northrup: Dirty Copper, the prequel to Walking the Rez Road, tells the story of Luke Warmwater, an Anishinaabe soldier, as he returns to the Reservation after serving in Vietnam. Once again, Luke is torn between duty and morality as he becomes a deputy sheriff on the Rez and sees firsthand the war raging below the appearance of peace. Like all veterans, Luke struggles to heal amid a world that considers him an outsider. Hoopla ebook; Book (from outside FRVPLD)

NON-FICTION:

• As Long As Grass Grows by Dina Gilio-Whitaker: Interrogating the concept of environmental justice in the U.S. as it relates to Indigenous peoples, this book argues that a different framework must apply compared to other marginalized communities, while it also attends to the colonial history and structure of the U.S. and ways Indigenous peoples continue to resist, and ways the mainstream environmental movement has been an impediment to effective organizing and allyship. Book 
• Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot: Heart Berries is a powerful, poetic memoir of a woman's coming of age on the Seabird Island Indian Reservation in the Pacific Northwest. Having survived a profoundly dysfunctional upbringing only to find herself hospitalized and facing a dual diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder and bipolar II disorder; Terese Marie Mailhot is given a notebook and begins to write her way out of trauma. The triumphant result is Heart Berries, a memorial for Mailhot's mother, a social worker and activist who had a thing for prisoners; a story of reconciliation with her father-an abusive drunk and a brilliant artist-who was murdered under mysterious circumstances; and an elegy on how difficult it is to love someone while dragging the long shadows of shame. Mailhot trusts the reader to understand that memory isn't exact, but melded to imagination, pain, and what we can bring ourselves to accept. Her unique and at times unsettling voice graphically illustrates her mental state. As she writes, she discovers her own true voice, seizes control of her story, and, in so doing, reestablishes her connection to her family, to her people, and to her place in the world. Book; Overdrive ebook; Overdrive audiobook; Hoopla ebook; Hoopla audiobook
• An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo: A stunning new volume from the first Native American Poet Laureate of the United States, informed by her tribal history and connection to the land. In the early 1800s, the Mvskoke people were forcibly removed from their original lands east of the Mississippi to Indian Territory, which is now part of Oklahoma. Two hundred years later, Joy Harjo returns to her family's lands and opens a dialogue with history. In An American Sunrise, Harjo finds blessings in the abundance of her homeland and confronts the site where her people, and other indigenous families, essentially disappeared. From her memory of her mother's death, to her beginnings in the native rights movement, to the fresh road with her beloved, Harjo's personal life intertwines with tribal histories to create a space for renewed beginnings. Her poems sing of beauty and survival, illuminating a spirituality that connects her to her ancestors and thrums with the quiet anger of living in the ruins of injustice. Hoopla ebook; Book (from outside FRVPLD)
• Legacy by Suzanne Methot: Indigenous peoples have shockingly higher rates of addiction, depression, diabetes, and other chronic health conditions than other North Americans. According to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, these are a result of intergenerational trauma: the unresolved terror, anger, fear, and grief created in Indigenous communities by the painful experiences of colonialism, passed down from generation to generation. How are we to turn this desperate tide? With passionate argumentation and chillingly clear prose, author and educator Suzanne Methot uses her own and others' stories to trace the roots of colonial trauma and the mechanisms by which trauma has become intergenerational, and she explores the Indigenous ways of knowing that can lead us toward change. Hoopla ebook; Hoopla audiobook; Book (from outside FRVPLD)
• An Indigenous People's History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz: Today in the United States, there are more than five hundred federally recognized Indigenous nations comprising nearly three million people, descendants of the fifteen million Native people who once inhabited this land. The centuries-long genocidal program of the US settler-colonial regimen has largely been omitted from history. Now, for the first time, acclaimed historian and activist Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz offers a history of the United States told from the perspective of Indigenous peoples and reveals how Native Americans, for centuries, actively resisted expansion of the US empire. In An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, Dunbar-Ortiz adroitly challenges the founding myth of the United States and shows how policy against the Indigenous peoples was colonialist and designed to seize the territories of the original inhabitants, displacing or eliminating them. And as Dunbar-Ortiz reveals, this policy was praised in popular culture, through writers like James Fenimore Cooper and Walt Whitman, and in the highest offices of government and the military. Shockingly, as the genocidal policy reached its zenith under President Andrew Jackson, its ruthlessness was best articulated by US Army general Thomas S. Jesup, who, in 1836, wrote of the Seminoles: “The country can be rid of them only by exterminating them.” Spanning more than four hundred years, this classic bottom-up peoples’ history radically reframes US history and explodes the silences that have haunted our national narrative. Book (from outside FRVPLD); Overdrive ebook; Hoopla audiobook; Axis 360 ebook; Book (from outside FRVPLD)
  • An Indigenous People's History of the United States for Young People adapted by Jean Mendoza and Debbie Reese: The original academic text is fully adapted by renowned curriculum experts Debbie Reese and Jean Mendoza, for middle-grade and young adult readers to include discussion topics, archival images, original maps, recommendations for further reading, and other materials to encourage students, teachers, and general readers to think critically about their own place in history. Book; Overdrive ebook

November is once again a busy month for new adult book releases, so here's a sampling of all the great titles coming out. Take a peek and place a hold on whatever catches your attention so you can be one of the first to check it out upon its release. As usual, your hold can be for pick up at Dundee, Randall Oaks, or Home Delivery. Happy reading!

• Little Cruelties by Liz Nugent (November 10): All three of the Drumm brothers were at the funeral. But only one of them was in the coffin. William, Brian, and Luke: three boys, born a year apart, trained from birth by their wily mother to compete for her attention. They play games, as brothers do...yet even after the Drumms escape into the world beyond their windows, those games--those little cruelties--grow more sinister, more merciless, and more dangerous. And with their lives entwined like the strands of a noose, only two of the brothers will survive.
• Meet Isabel Puddles by M.V. Byrne (November 24): The only thing widow Isabel Puddles loves as much as her hometown of Gull Harbor on the shores of Lake Michigan is cozying up to a good mystery--but she never expected to be caught in the middle of one... Middle-aged widow Isabel Puddles makes ends meet through a variety of trades--preserving pickles, baking pies, working the counter at her cousin's hardware shop, and occasionally helping "fix-up" the hair of corpses at the local funeral parlor. When Isabel discovers a two-inch nail embedded in the skull of Earl Jonasson, it seems the octogenarian may not have died of a stroke. His son is quickly arrested when his alibi doesn't check out. But Isabel has known Earl Jr. since they were kids and can't believe he'd murder his own father, regardless of his financial difficulties. As gossip about Earl Sr.'s land and insurance policy money starts to spread around the county, Isabel finds herself conducting her own investigation to clear her friend's name. But real detective work isn't like Jessica Fletcher's Murder She Wrote mysteries, and she's meeting dangerous suspects who don't like Isabel poking around in their business...
• Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce (November 3): She's going too far to go it alone. It is 1950. London is still reeling from World War II, and Margery Benson, a schoolteacher and spinster, is trying to get through life, surviving on scraps. One day, she reaches her breaking point, abandoning her job and small existence to set out on an expedition to the other side of the world in search of her childhood obsession: an insect that may or may not exist--the golden beetle of New Caledonia. When she advertises for an assistant to accompany her, the woman she ends up with is the last person she had in mind. Fun-loving Enid Pretty in her tight-fitting pink suit and pom-pom sandals seems to attract trouble wherever she goes. But together these two British women find themselves drawn into a cross-ocean adventure that exceeds all expectations and delivers something neither of them expected to find: the transformative power of friendship.
• The Cul-de-Sac War by Melissa Ferguson (November 10): Bree Leake doesn't want to be tied down. She's had more jobs than she can count, and she plans to move as soon as the curtains fall on her less-than-minor stage role at The Barter--the oldest live performance theater in the US. But just when it's time to move on again, Bree's parents make her an offer: hold steady for a full year, and they will give her the one thing she's always wanted--her grandmother's house. Her dreams are coming true… until life at the theater throws her some curve balls. And then there's Chip McBride--her handsome and infuriating next-door neighbor. Chip just might be the only person whose stubborn streak can match Bree's. She would move heaven and earth to have him off her cul-de-sac and out of her life, but according to the bargain she's struck, she can't move out of her house and away from the man who's making her life miserable. So begins Bree's obsessive new mission: to drive Chip out of the neighborhood--and fast. Bree isn't the only one who's a tad competitive, and Chip is more than willing to fight fire with fire. But as their pranks escalate, the line between love and hate starts to blur--and their heated rivalry threatens to take a hilarious, heartwarming, and romantic new turn.
• The Museum of Forgotten Memories by Anstey Harris (November 3): Four years after her husband Richard's death, Cate Morris is let go from her teaching job and unable to pay rent on the London flat she shares with her son, Leo. With nowhere else to turn, they pack up and venture to Richard's ancestral Victorian museum in the small town of Crouch-on-Sea. Despite growing pains and a grouchy caretaker, Cate begins to fall in love with the quirky taxidermy exhibits and sprawling grounds, and she makes it her mission to revive them. But threats from both inside and outside the museum derail her plans and send her spiraling into self-doubt. As Cate becomes more invested in Hatters, she must finally confront the reality of Richard's death--and the role she played in it--in order to reimagine her future.

• At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop (November 10): Alfa Ndiaye is a Senegalese man who, never before having left his village, finds himself fighting as a so-called "Chocolat" soldier with the French army during World War I. When his friend Mademba Diop, in the same regiment, is seriously injured in battle, Diop begs Alfa to kill him and spare him the pain of a long and agonizing death in No Man's Land. Unable to commit this mercy killing, madness creeps into Alfa's mind as he comes to see this refusal as a cruel moment of cowardice. Anxious to avenge the death of his friend and find forgiveness for himself, he begins a macabre ritual: every night he sneaks across enemy lines to find and murder a blue-eyed German soldier, and every night he returns to base, unharmed, with the German's severed hand. At first his comrades look at Alfa's deeds with admiration, but soon rumors begin to circulate that this super soldier isn't a hero, but a sorcerer, a soul-eater. Plans are hatched to get Alfa away from the front, and to separate him from his growing collection of hands, but how does one reason with a demon, and how far will Alfa go to make amends to his dead friend?
• Little Wishes by Michelle Adams (November 17): On her favorite day of the year, Elizabeth Davenport awakens in her cottage on the wild and windy Cornish coast, opens her front door, and discovers a precious gift: the small blue crocus and a note that begins I Wish ... They are not signed, but she knows they've been left by her first and truest love, Tom Hale. Each of these precious missives convey a simple wish for something they had missed, and the life they might have shared. She has kept them all. But on this day, what should have been the fiftieth anniversary of their falling in love, the gift fails to arrive. Could something have happened to Tom? Elizabeth has always been plagued by thoughts of "what if?". Propelled by worry and decades of pent up longing, Elizabeth packs a little suitcase, leaves Porthsennenon, and journeys to London . . . to find the love of her life once again, years after circumstances forced them apart. Finding him, Elizabeth is faced with the desperate knowledge that any time they might have now is running out.  Never before had she thought that she might truly lose time--forever. And now, knowing that life is too short, Elizabeth vows to fulfill as many of Tom's wishes as she can. Yet she fears that her efforts may expose the shameful secret that, until now, has kept them apart. Can she continue to hide the truth, or will she have the courage to reveal herself completely and finally make their dreams come true--before it's too late?
• Murder in Old Bombay by Nev March (November 10): In 1892, Bombay is the center of British India. Nearby, Captain Jim Agnihotri lies in Poona military hospital recovering from a skirmish on the wild northern frontier, with little to read but newspapers. The case that catches Jim's attention is being called the crime of the century: Two women fell from the busy university's clock tower in broad daylight. Moved by the widower of one of the victims -- his certainty that his wife and sister did not commit suicide -- Jim approaches the Framjis and is hired by the Parsee family to investigate what happened that terrible afternoon.But in a land of divided loyalties, asking questions is dangerous. Jim's investigation disturbs the shadows that seem to follow the Framji family and triggers an ominous chain of events.
• Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur (November 10): After a disastrous blind date, Darcy Lowell is desperate to stop her well-meaning brother from playing matchmaker ever again. Love--and the inevitable heartbreak--is the last thing she wants. So she fibs and says her latest set up was a success. Darcy doesn't expect her lie to bite her in the ass. Elle Jones, one of the astrologers behind the popular Twitter account Oh My Stars, dreams of finding her soul mate. But she knows it is most assuredly not Darcy... a no-nonsense stick-in-the-mud, who is way too analytical, punctual, and skeptical for someone as free-spirited as Elle. When Darcy's brother--and Elle's new business partner--expresses how happy he is that they hit it off, Elle is baffled. Was Darcy on the same date? Because…awkward. Darcy begs Elle to play along and she agrees to pretend they're dating. But with a few conditions: Darcy must help Elle navigate her own overbearing family during the holidays and their arrangement expires on New Year's Eve. The last thing they expect is to develop real feelings during a faux relationship. But maybe opposites can attract when true love is written in the stars?
• Confessions in B-Flat by Donna Hill (November 24): The year is 1963. In Harlem, the epicenter of Black culture, the fight for equality has never been stronger. The time is now. Enough is enough. Yet even within its ranks, a different kind of battle rages. Love thy neighbor? Or rise up against your oppressors? Jason Tanner has just arrived in New York to help spread the message of his mentor, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., of passive resistance, while beat poet Anita Hopkins believes the teachings of Malcolm X with all her heart: that the way to true freedom is "by any means necessary." When Jason sees Anita perform her poetry at the iconic B-Flat lounge, he's transfixed. And Anita has never met anyone who can match her wit for wit like this... One movement, two warring ideologies--can love be enough to unite them?

• Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten (November 10): St. Petersburg, 1725. Peter the Great lies dying in his magnificent Winter Palace. The weakness and treachery of his only son has driven his father to an appalling act of cruelty and left the empire without an heir. Russia risks falling into chaos. Into the void steps the woman who has been by his side for decades: his second wife, Catherine Alexeyevna, as ambitious, ruthless and passionate as Peter himself. Born into devastating poverty, Catherine used her extraordinary beauty and shrewd intelligence to ingratiate herself with Peter's powerful generals, finally seducing the Tsar himself. But even amongst the splendor and opulence of her new life--the lavish feasts, glittering jewels, and candle-lit hours in Peter's bedchamber--she knows the peril of her position. Peter's attentions are fickle and his rages powerful; his first wife is condemned to a prison cell, her lover impaled alive in Red Square. And now Catherine faces the ultimate test: can she keep the Tsar's death a secret as she plays a lethal game to destroy her enemies and take the Crown for herself?
• A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem by Manda Collins (November 10): England, 1865: Newspaper columnist Lady Katherine Bascomb finds herself the subject of speculation when her latest article leads to an arrest in the murders plaguing London. The English believe women ought not to write about such vulgar things as crime, and a particularly attractive detective inspector is incensed that she's interfered with his investigation. To escape her sudden notoriety, Katherine heads to the country-only to witness a murder upon her arrival. Detective Inspector Andrew Eversham is appalled when Lady Katherine entangles herself in one of his cases-again. Her sensationalist reporting already nearly got him kicked off the police force, and he'll be damned if he permits her to meddle a second time. Yet, her questions are awfully insightful, and he can't deny his attraction to both her beauty and brains. As the clues point to a dangerous criminal, the two soon realize their best option is working together. But with their focus on the killer lurking in the shadows, neither is prepared for the other risk the case poses-to their hearts.
• The Cipher by Isabella Maldonado (November 1): To a cunning serial killer, she was the one that got away. Until now… FBI Special Agent Nina Guerrera escaped a serial killer's trap at sixteen. Years later, when she's jumped in a Virginia park, a video of the attack goes viral. Legions of new fans are not the only ones impressed with her fighting skills. The man who abducted her eleven years ago is watching. Determined to reclaim his lost prize, he commits a grisly murder designed to pull her into the investigation...but his games are just beginning. And he's using the internet to invite the public to play along. His coded riddles may have made him a depraved social media superstar--an enigmatic cyber-ghost dubbed "the Cipher"--but to Nina he's a monster who preys on the vulnerable. Partnered with the FBI's preeminent mind hunter, Dr. Jeffrey Wade, who is haunted by his own past, Nina tracks the predator across the country. Clue by clue, victim by victim, Nina races to stop a deadly killer while the world watches.
• The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar (November 24): Five years after a suspicious fire killed his ornithologist mother, a closeted Syrian American trans boy sheds his birth name and searches for a new one. The only time he feels truly free is when he slips out at night to paint murals on buildings in the once-thriving Manhattan neighborhood known as Little Syria. One night, he enters the abandoned community house and finds the tattered journal of a Syrian American artist named Laila Z, who dedicated her career to painting the birds of North America. She famously and mysteriously disappeared more than sixty years before, but her journal contains proof that both his mother and Laila Z encountered the same rare bird before their deaths. In fact, Laila Z's past is intimately tied to his mother's--and his grandmother's--in ways he never could have expected. Even more surprising, Laila Z's story reveals the histories of queer and transgender people within his own community that he never knew. Realizing that he isn't and has never been alone, he has the courage to officially claim a new name: Nadir, an Arabic name meaning rare. As unprecedented numbers of birds are mysteriously drawn to the New York City skies, Nadir enlists the help of his family and friends to unravel what happened to Laila Z and the rare bird his mother died trying to save. Following his mother's ghost, he uncovers the silences kept in the name of survival by his own community, his own family, and within himself, and discovers the family that was there all along.
• White Ivy by Susie Yang (November 3): Ivy Lin is a thief and a liar--but you'd never know it by looking at her. Raised outside of Boston, Ivy's immigrant grandmother relies on Ivy's mild appearance for cover as she teaches her granddaughter how to pilfer items from yard sales and second-hand shops. Thieving allows Ivy to accumulate the trappings of a suburban teen--and, most importantly, to attract the attention of Gideon Speyer, the golden boy of a wealthy political family. But when Ivy's mother discovers her trespasses, punishment is swift and Ivy is sent to China, and her dream instantly evaporates. Years later, Ivy has grown into a poised yet restless young woman, haunted by her conflicting feelings about her upbringing and her family. Back in Boston, when Ivy bumps into Sylvia Speyer, Gideon's sister, a reconnection with Gideon seems not only inevitable--it feels like fate. Slowly, Ivy sinks her claws into Gideon and the entire Speyer clan by attending fancy dinners, and weekend getaways to the cape. But just as Ivy is about to have everything she's ever wanted, a ghost from her past resurfaces, threatening the nearly perfect life she's worked so hard to build.

• The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany by Lori Nelson Spielman (November 17): Since the day Filomena Fontana cast a curse upon her sister more than two hundred years ago, not one second-born Fontana daughter has found lasting love. Some, like second-born Emilia, the happily-single baker at her grandfather's Brooklyn deli, claim it's an odd coincidence. Others, like her sexy, desperate-for-love cousin Lucy, insist it's a true hex. But both are bewildered when their great-aunt calls with an astounding proposition: If they accompany her to her homeland of Italy, Aunt Poppy vows she'll meet the love of her life on the steps of the Ravello Cathedral on her eightieth birthday, and break the Fontana Second-Daughter Curse once and for all. Against the backdrop of wandering Venetian canals, rolling Tuscan fields, and enchanting Amalfi Coast villages, romance blooms, destinies are found, and family secrets are unearthed--secrets that could threaten the family far more than a centuries-old curse. 
• Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (November 17): If you could go back, who would you want to meet? In a small back alley of Tokyo, there is a café that has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. Local legend says that this shop offers something else besides coffee--the chance to travel back in time. Over the course of one summer, four customers visit the café in the hopes of making that journey. But time travel isn't so simple, and there are rules that must be followed. Most important, the trip can last only as long as it takes for the coffee to get cold.
• The Orchard by David Hopen (November 17): Ari Eden's life has always been governed by strict rules. In ultra-Orthodox Brooklyn, his days are dedicated to intense study and religious rituals, and adolescence feels profoundly lonely. So when his family announces that they are moving to a glitzy Miami suburb, Ari seizes his unexpected chance for reinvention. Enrolling in an opulent Jewish academy, Ari is stunned by his peers' dizzying wealth, ambition, and shameless pursuit of life's pleasures. When the academy's golden boy, Noah, takes Ari under his wing, Ari finds himself entangled in the school's most exclusive and wayward group. These friends are magnetic and defiant--especially Evan, the brooding genius of the bunch, still living in the shadow of his mother's death. Influenced by their charismatic rabbi, the group begins testing their religion in unconventional ways. Soon Ari and his friends are pushing moral boundaries and careening toward a perilous future--one in which the traditions of their faith are repurposed to mysterious, tragic ends.
• Here is the Beehive by Sarah Crossan (November 17): Ana Kelly can deal with death. As an estate lawyer, an unfortunate part of her day-to-day is phone calls from the next of kin informing her that one of her clients has died. But nothing could have prepared Ana for the call from Rebecca Taylor, explaining in a strangely calm tone that her husband Connor was killed in an accident. Ana had been having an affair with Connor for three years, keeping their love secret in hotel rooms, weekends away, and swiftly deleted text messages. Though consuming, they hide their love well, and nobody knows of their relationship except Mark, Connor's best friend. Alone and undone, Ana seeks friendship with the person who she once thought of as her adversary and opposite, but who is now the only one who shares her pain -- Rebecca. As Ana becomes closer to her lover's widow, she is forced to reconcile painful truths about the affair, and the fickleness of love and desire.
• The Russian Pink by Matthew Hart (November 3): When "The Russian Pink"--a stunningly large rose-hued diamond--makes a surprise appearance around the neck of Honey Li, the wife of surging presidential candidate Harry Nash, Alex Turner, an investigator for the Treasury Department's diamond division and former C.I.A. agent, finds himself spiraling down a seemingly endless rabbit hole.  A diamond like that always carries secrets, but the web of mystery behind "The Pink" is more complex than Alex could ever image. Starting with the trail of damage from botched sting operation, Alex wavers between legal and illegal tactics, friends, family, and foes to find out why a mysterious Russian double agent betrayed him and the diamond ended up on a potential path to the White House. For wherever the Russian Pink goes, secrecy, deception, and death surely follow.

Although it feels like a lifetime ago, about 15 months ago I wrote a blog post about Lynda.com changing to LinkedIn Learning. We recently learned that LinkedIn is now ready to move forward with this change again, although with some differences. In preparation for this change, we do have to make a slight adjustment to the login procedures for Lynda.com now. 

Currently, you log in using your library card number and a password that you've created specifically for Lynda.com. Beginning next Monday, November 2nd, this will change and you will have to log in using your library card number and the password you use to log in to your library account on our website. So, rather than having a separate password for Lynda.com, it will now be the same password as your library account. This will also be how you log in to LinkedIn Learning, once the change has occurred. If you have any questions or are unsure what your library account password is, please feel free to call us at 847-428-3661 and ask for the Information Desk, email us at libraryhelp@frvpld.info, or stop by the Information Desk and we will be more than happy to help you.

As additional information is provided, we will keep you apprised.

Below is a selection of some of the newest adult Fantasy and Science Fiction titles that we have added to our collection. 

Fantasy

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

In France in 1714, a young woman named Addie LaRue makes a deal with the devil for immortality, but it comes with the curse of being forgotten by everyone she meets. She begins an extraordinary but lonely life that plays out across different continents, and different centuries, where she tries to leave her mark on the world in some way. After nearly 300 years, she meets a young man in a bookstore, and he remembers her name. The impossible has happened, and everything changes.

The Last Druid by Terry Brooks

This book is the riveting conclusion not only to the Fall of Shannara series, but also to the entire Shannara saga, which is comprised of 29 books that Brooks has written over the past 43 years. As the people of the Four Lands continue to confront the invasion of the Skaar, a plan is formed and one group of heroes stays to defend their homeland while another group travels across the sea to the Skaar homeland with a new piece of technology that could change the outcome of this war, and the face of the world forever. Meanwhile, Tarsha Kaynin works to rescue her mentor, druid Drisker Arc, from a hellish realm he has been banished to by the evil witch Clizia Porse.

The Tower of Fools by Andrzej Sapkowski

From the author of the popular Witcher series comes the first book in a new trilogy set during the Hussite wars. Reinmar of Bielawa, sometimes known as Reynevan, is a scholar of medicine and magic. After being caught in an affair with a knight's wife, Reynevan must flee his normal life and ends up in the Narrenturm, the Tower of Fools. The Tower is an asylum for the mad, or for those who dare to think differently and challenge the prevailing order. Can Reynevan escape the Tower, and avoid being drawn in to the conflict around him, without losing his own mind?

The Archive of the Forgotten by A.J. Hackwith

This is the second installment of the Hell's Library series (after The Library of the Unwritten). The Library of the Unwritten in Hell was saved from total destruction, but many books were destroyed. Former librarian Claire (now working as the Archanist of the Arcane Wing) and new librarian Brevity (ex-muse and Claire's former deputy) are adjusting to their new roles and dealing with the aftermath of the battle when the remains of the destroyed books begin to leak a strange ink. Realizing the power behind the ink, Claire, Brevity and their respective deputies, Ramiel and Hero, work together to find answers about the ink's properties and purpose and discover the secrets that the Library has kept from Hell, and its own librarians.

The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk

Beatrice Clayborn is a sorceress who practices magic in secret, as women are not allowed to practice the higher magics. Her family wants to have her participate in the Bargaining season, an event where eligible, unmarried men select their brides, as doing so will help them get out of debt. However, once a woman is married, she must wear a collar that cuts her off from magic. Beatrice would rather hone her magical abilities in the hopes of making money as a mage and helping her family that way. Beatrice finds a grimoire that contains the key to becoming a Magus, but it is stolen by Ysbeta, who also wants to pursue magic, and her handsome brother Ianthe. As she gets entangled with these siblings, Beatrice finds that her choice between marriage and magic becomes harder.

Science Fiction

Dune: The Duke of Caladan by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

Brian Herbert, son of Frank Herbert, the author of the original Dune series, and Kevin J. Anderson return to the world of Dune with a new prequel trilogy. Leo Atreides is the Duke of Caladan and father of Paul Atreides, the Muad'Dib, and we begin to learn more about him and his partner, Jessica, and how he rose to power. Leto serves the Golden Lion Throne with patience and loyalty, but his powerful enemies begin to see that he is rising in power and gaining the emperor's favor. Leto must decide if honor and duty are worth the price of of his life, family, and love.

Attack Surface by Cory Doctorow

A standalone novel set in the same universe as two of Doctorow's previous books, Little Brother and Homeland, this book follows technological wunderkid Masha Maximow, who has a lucrative job at a hug cybersecurity firm. At her job, Masha uses her hacking skills to help repressive regimes spy on dissidents, but in her free time she helps those same dissenters evade detection, if their cause was just. When her targets were strangers in faraway places, it was easy for her to compartmentalize and ignore the collateral damage, but when it hits close to home, Masha begins to learn the price of all the luxury her spying has provided her. Now Masha has a choice to make, and no matter what that choice is, someone is going to get hurt.

To Hold Up the Sky by Cixin Liu

Liu, author of The Three Body Problem, returns with a collection of 11 stories grounded in contemporary Chinese life and society. With these stories, Liu uses the Science Fiction genre to tackle questions about humanity's place in the universe and to explore how knowledge shapes and changes humanity.

The Valkyrie Protocol by David Weber and Jacob Holo

Agent Raibert Kaminski and the crew of his time-traveling ship, Kleio, have discovered a temporal implosion that has destroyed two universes and they believe it was caused by reckless time traveling. As they rush back to their home universe of SysGov with this dire report, a plan is being put in to motion to send a group into the past to prevent the Plague of Justinian, one of the worst pandemics in human history. Meanwhile, Admin, a neighboring universe, is planning to attack SysGov. Raibert and his crew try to get back to help save their universe and they won't go down without a fight, no matter where, or when, the threat comes from.

Machine by Elizabeth Bear

Dr. Jens and her ambulance ship are sent to respond to a distress call coming from a vessel docked aboard a lost generation ship that had launced from Earth centuries earlier. When she arrives, she discovers that the crew is suffering from a mysterious ailment and that the ship's AI has lost some of its memory. Dr. Jens can't resist a mystery and sets off to determine the cause of this ailment and if there is a way to cure it, as well as try to fix the AI issues. She has no idea that she is about to discover horrifying and life-changing truths.

Spooky season is upon us once again! It's the perfect time to dive into the dark side of fiction if it's not your usual cup of tea. So if you're in the mood for escapism (aren't we all right now?) that happens to be seasonal, check out these horror titles released in 2020. Horror comes in many forms, so these selections include gory, supernatural, gothic, and more for whatever style of scares you prefer.

• Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: Already in development for a Hulu limited series, this gothic suspense is a mix of Mexican folklore, horror, and science including the theory of evolution.
• Devolution by Max Brooks: From the author of World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide, Devolution is a faux scientific journey into the discovery of Bigfoot after it goes on a rampage.
• The Haunting of Rookward House by Darcy Coates: Coates has been popular in her native Australia for a while, and her books have now been released in the US throughout 2020. Check out this haunted house tale or any of her others for a good, chilling tale.
• The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher: Mysterious words discovered in a bunker behind a hole in a wall lead Kara to discover a portal to alternate realities, with each place haunted by threatening creatures that seem to hear her thoughts.
• Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay: Massachusetts is quickly overrun by a rabies-like virus that has an incubation period of only an hour or less. Those infected quickly lose their minds and are driven to bite and infect as many others as they can before they inevitably succumb.

• Home Before Dark by Riley Sager: Sager has been publishing a novel every summer for a few years now, each taking on a different horror subgenre. This one is his take on the haunted house story.
• The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones: Following a disturbing event in their youth, four American Indian men are tracked by an entity bent on revenge. The men are helpless as the culture and traditions they left behind catch up to them in a violent, vengeful way.
• The Hollow Ones by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan: Horror masters Del Toro and Hogan team up again (after writing The Strain trilogy together). An FBI agent is led to a mysterious figure who might be a madman or might be her only hope in defending humanity against a horrific evil.
• The Bright Lands by John Fram: Described as Friday Night Lights with a horror twist. Students go missing in Bentley, Texas (including star football players), some seem to know far more than they’re letting on, and a group of men use any means necessary to ensure their secrets stay buried.
• Don't Move by James S. Murray & Darren Wearmouth (October 20 release date): Things go horribly wrong on a church camping trip and the group ends up in an area never before surveyed by humans, which happens to house a prehistoric arachnid who begins hunting them.

• The Remaking by Clay McLeod Chapman: A historical witch hunt becomes the basis for a 1970s movie, then a 1990s remake, with the experiences ruining the life of a star actress. The witch hunt is cyclical, being remade time and again.
• 666 Gable Way by Dani Lamia with Frederick H. Crook: The House of Seven Gables is a temple to an ancient evil, a terrifying power unleashed by its inhabitant and a coven of friends. This dark entity haunts the stones of the old mansion, plotting its revenge upon the living.
• The Return by Rachel Harrison: Julie reappears two years after she disappeared with no memory of where she's been or what happened to her. Her closest friends reunite with her at a remote inn but immediately realize the Julie who vanished is not the same Julie who came back. But then who--or what--is she? 
• The Boatman's Daughter by Andy Davidson: Miranda Crabtree ferries contraband for a mad preacher and his declining band of followers to make ends meet and to protect an old witch and a secret child from harm. But dark forces are at work in the bayou, both human and supernatural, conspiring to disrupt the rhythms of Miranda's life.
• The Garden of Bewitchment by Catherine Cavendish: In 1893, Evelyn and Claire leave their home in a Yorkshire town for a rural life on the moors. But when a strange toy garden mysteriously appears, a chain of increasingly terrifying events is unleashed.

• Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth (October 20 release date): Metafiction in multiple timelines about a cursed New England school for girls.
• The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix: Billed as Steel Magnolias meets Dracula. A Charleston women’s true crime book club decides their new neighbor is a vampire who must be stopped before he harms their children.  
• The Reddening by Adam L.G. Nevill: One million years of evolution didn't change our nature. Nor did it bury the horrors predating civilisation. Ancient rites, old deities and savage ways can reappear in the places you least expect.
• The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson: In the lands of Bethel, witches were once killed by the Prophet. A young woman named Immanuelle is shocked to discover her mother consorted with the witches, but goes on to discover the darkness might be the Church itself.
• The Chill by Scott Carson: In the early 20^th century, a village was drowned in order to create a reservoir to bring water to the area, or so the story goes. A century later, the dark waters begin to rise and more than the village is hidden below.  

Special mentions- books that did not come out in 2020 but had related projects released this year.

• Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff: The story examines the line between racism in the Jim Crow era and the work of H.P. Lovecraft, following a Black military vet looking for his missing father with the help of a friend and his uncle. The new HBO series is currently airing.
• Locke & Key by Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez: Following the murder of their patriarch, the Locke family returns to his childhood home, where the children discover the magic contained within and take on the forces of evil threatening their family and new town. The Netflix series premiered earlier this year.
• The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (included in James's complete stories) : Henry James's chilling ghost tale about a governess hired by a charming bachelor to look after two young children in a grand mansion in rural England where sinister events place their lives in jeopardy. The film The Turning is now on DVD and The Haunting of Bly Manor just premiered on Netflix. Both are based on The Turn of the Screw, while not direct re-tellings.

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month we have a colorful "Celebrate Latinx Authors" display up in the Teen Area of the Dundee Library. In this blog post I'll highlight the books of Latinx authors, featured in the display, who you should check out! From Elizabeth Acevedo to Adam Silvera, these are prolific authors who have several titles published for teens. Part 2 of this blog post (coming soon) will focus on new authors who have recently released their first book.

Elizabeth Acevedo

Clap When You Land
The Poet X
With the Fire on High

Adi Alsaid

We Didn’t Ask For This
Never Always Sometimes
Let's Get Lost
North of Happy
Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak

Zoraida Cordova

Labryinth Lost
Bruja Born
Wayward Witch
A Crash of Fate

Guadalupe Garcia McCall

Shame the Stars
All the Stars Denied
Under the Mesquite
El Verano de las Mariposas


Anna-Marie McLemore

Miss Meteor (with Tehlor Kay Mejia)
Blanca & Roja
Dark and Deepest Red
When the Moon was Ours
Wild Beauty / Belleza Savaje

Tehlor Kay Mejia

Miss Meteor (with Anna-Marie McLemore)
We Set the Dark On Fire
We Unleash the Merciless Storm

NoNieqa Ramos

The Disturbed Girl's Dictionary
The Truth Is

Gabby Rivera

Juliet Takes a Breath / Juliet Respira Profunda
America vol. 1  
America vol. 2

Lilliam Rivera

Never Look Back
The Education of Margot Sanchez  / La Educación de Margot Sanchez
Dealing in Dreams 

Benjamin Alire Saenz

The Inexplicable Logic of My Life  / La Lógica Inexplicable de mi Vida 
Sammy y Juliana en Hollywood
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe / Aristóteles y Dante Descubren los Secretos del Universo

Adam Silvera

Infinity Son / El Hijo Infinito
History is All You Left Me -  / Solo Quedó Nuestra Historia
More Happy Than Not / Recuerda Aquella Vez
They Both Die at the End / Al Final Mueren Los Dos

Enola Holmes is an upcoming 2020 British mystery film set to premier September 23rd on Netflix.  It is based on the book series of the same name by Nancy Springer. 

I fell in love with Enola Holmes when I first read this series back in 2017.  She's an independent spitfire of a main character, brought up in a schockingly, un-ladylike way, by an aging mother who vanishes at the outset of the series.  Her two older brothers, Mycroft and Sherlock, don't know what to do with her, except pack her off to a finishing school.  At that point she does what many youngsters do when faced with a suffocating life that they have no control over: she runs away.  But it's not easy when her two older brothers are activly trying to hunt her down.  She always has to stay one step ahead of her enemies to keep her freedom and protect her life. Enola is on her own.  It's not easy for a young girl on the run in Victorian London.  This book series is targeted at middle grade and early YA readers.  I was beyond excited when I first heard that they were making a movie from the books, and my wait is only 2 days away now!

The Miss Enola Holmes Series by Nancy Springer featuring the latest cover design
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For another twist on the Serlock theme, I highly recommend the Lady Sherlock series by Sherry Thomas.  This features another young heroine, whose intellect is being undermined by her overbearing father.  When she finally realizes that her father is not going to pay for college, as he had promised and that he actually intends to marry her off, Charlotte takes matters in to her own hands.  What easier way to become unmarriagebale (in society), than to be caught in flagrante delicto with a married man, by his own mother and several other well-bred ladies.   Only Charlotte doesn't realize quite how completely society will cut her off.

When the city is struck by a trio of unexpected deaths and suspicion falls on her sister and her father, Charlotte is desperate to find the true culprits and clear the family name. She’ll have help from friends new and old—a kind-hearted widow, a police inspector, and a man who has long loved her. But in the end, it will be up to Charlotte, under the assumed name Sherlock Holmes, to challenge society’s expectations and match wits against an unseen mastermind. Nevertheless, she forges a way for herself.  This series is intended for adults or older teens (16+). 

Sherry Thomas turns the story of the renowned Sherlock Holmes upside down…
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Murder on Cold Street is slated for release on October 6th, 2020

Are you a recent graduate trying to decide what job and career path you want to take? Have you been working for awhile and now want to change careers but aren't sure which new career you want?  Are you a job seeker who just doesn't like the job options you've been looking at? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, eParachute may be super helpful for you!

Inspired by the best-selling career guide of all time, What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard Bolles, eParachute is a tool you can use for free with Brainfuse: JobNow that will help you find a career path and types of jobs that are right for you. It will do this by asking you questions about your skills, strengths, personality, interests, and more. To access eParachute, you will need to go to the Brainfuse: JobNow website through our Research page and create a free account. You can find the steps on how to do this in a previous blog post that I have written.

Once you are on the Brainfuse: JobNow website and logged in, click on "eParachute" in the "Careers" column on the right side. This will take you to the eParachute tool. Click on "Get Started" and the first thing it asks is what kind of work you find interesting or exciting. There's a text box that you can type in your answer. Below the text box, you can click where it says "Need some ideas? Click here..." to get some suggestions of types of things you can include in this section. In the text box, you have to write the thing you are interested in where it says "Title" and then give a brief reason why you're interested in that thing below that where it says "Description." Once you are finished, click on "Add Idea" and it will create a list and add the idea to it. You then have the option to keep adding more responses if you want. Once you have added as many responses as you'd like, click on "Move on" to the left of the text box to continue.

The next step deals with types of people. You are first asked to choose the type of person you identify with most. There are six choices: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Conventional, Enterprising, and Social. If you hover your cursor over each choice, you will get a description. Once you make a choice, hit "Next" and you will then be asked to choose the type you next most identify with. After your second choice, hit "Next" again and then you will choose the type you third most identify with. Finally, hit "Next" again after your third choice.

You will then see your three choices and you will be asked if you want to submit those choices or go back and re-select. If you're good with your choices, click "Submit" to move on to the next step.

In the third step, you are asked to choose fields that you love. There will be several suggested fields based on your answers from the first two parts. You can choose any fields you want and as many as you want, but you must select at least 4. The screenshot below shows a sample of the many field choices you can choose from. If you hover your cursor over a field, an "i" icon appears on the top right corner. You can hover over that icon to get more information about that field. Make your selections and then click on "Next step"  to continue.

You will be shown all of the fields you selected and will be asked to confirm your choices. Click "Back" if you want to go back and change your selections. If you are good with your choices, click "Confirm" to continue.

Now eParachute will you have prioritize your favorite fields by comparing your chosen fields against each other two at a time. They will create a variety of combinations to compare. Just go through and click on which one you pefer with each pair they give you.

Once you go through the pairs of fields, you will get a prioritized list of your chosen fields with the top 3 highlighted. If you want to redo the comparison of the pairs of fields, click "Prioritize again." You can also go back to the first part where you choose your favorite fields by clicking "Redo fields." Otherwise, if you are satisfied with your prioritized list of your chosen fields, click "Go to skills" to move on to the last step.

Similar to the Fields section, in the Skills section you will be given a list of 62 skills total organized into 3 different categories. There will be some skills suggested for you based on your responses from the previous 3 steps. You can choose whichever skills you want and as many as you want, but you must choose at least 5. Again, if you hover your cursor on a skill, an "i" icon will appear and if you hover your curser over that, you can get more information about that skill. Select the skills you enjoy using and then click "Next step" when you're ready to move on.

You will now see the skills you have chosen. You will have to narrow down and choose the ones you love the most. You must choose at least 4 but no more than 10. Once you make your choices, click on "Next step."

Like with the Fields in the previous step, you will now have to prioritize your favorite Skills. Again, you will have to compare pairs of Skills, and eParachute will create various pairs from different combinations of the favorite Skills you have chosen. Go through and choose which skill you prefer with each pair.

Once you go through the pairs of skills, you will get a prioritized list of your chosen skills with the top 3 highlighted. If you want to redo the comparison of the pairs of skills, click "Prioritize again." You can also go back to the first part where you choose your favorite skills by clicking "Redo skills." Otherwise, if you are satisfied with your prioritized list of your chosen skills, click "Continue" to move on.

At this point, you have completed all of the steps! Once you click "Continue," you will see a screen saying "Your profile is complete!" You then have the choice to click on "Go to the Work Explorer" or "View your profile." If you click on "Go to the Work Explorer," you can see a list of jobs that eParachute has chosen for you to take a look at based on all of the information you provided in the previous steps. If you click on "View your profile," you will come to a page that shows all of the items you chose from the previous steps. You can access other information from this page as well. Lets click on "View your profile."

As I said before, once in your profile, you will see the people types, fields, and skills you have chosen. On the left hand side, you can click on a few different items to see more information. If you click on "Find Career Ideas," you can click on any of the people types, fields, and skills that you chose and then click "Suggest Ideas" to generate a list of jobs that fit with the items you have chosen. If you click on "Suggest Majors," you can see a list of college majors that might be a good fit for you, again based on the people types, fields, and skills you had chosen. 

If you click on "Featured Ideas," you will see the list of jobs that eParachute has chosen as a possible match for you, based on everything you selected during those 4 steps earlier. There will be a score next to the job title, which is created by eParachute based on how many of your people types, fields, and skills the job matches with.

eParachute is an incredibly helpful tool free to use within Brainfuse: Job Now. Going through the 4 steps in eParachute is pretty straighforward and doesn't take a too much time to complete. It's a great starting point to help you find college majors and/or career paths that could be a great fit for you. Be sure to check out this free tool, all you need is a valid FRVPLD card and you can access it for free! If you have any questions about Brainfuse: JobNow or the eParachute tool, please don't hestitate to stop by the Information Desk, give us a call at 847-428-3661, or email us at libraryhelp@frvpld.info.

Binge Boxes are a themed collection of movies that patrons can check out all at once for a spectacular movie night. Each Binge Box contains four to six DVDs, all centered on a theme.  For example, the “Pixar Picks” box includes the movies The Incredibles, Inside Out, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., and Up.

Under current extended check out periods (due to COVID-19) Binge Boxes can be checked out for six weeks and renewed twice (if it has not been placed on hold by another patron). To find the Binge Boxes in the online catalog, just type “Binge Box” into the search field, or click on the Binge Box title below to go straight to that item.

Binge Boxes were originated by Midwest Tape, the library’s supplier of DVDs. FRVPLD took it to the next level and held a competition for staff to curate their own collection of Binge Boxes. Staff from all departments of the library submitted more than 100 entries in the Binge Box contest, and then voted for their favorites to narrow it down to the 20 that are now available for checkout. Here are the winners:

One Smart Cookie | Darla, Technical Services

Good Will Hunting

Rain Man

The Theory of Everything

Imitation Game

A Beautiful Mind

Pixar Picks | Karin, Technical Services

The Incredibles

Inside Out

Toy Story

Finding Nemo

Monsters, Inc.

Up

Sweet Home Chicago | Gene, Adult & Teen Services

Blues Brothers

Running Scared

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

The Untouchables (1987)

The Fugitive (1993)

While You Were Sleeping (1995)

Should Have Stopped at One | Darla, Technical Services

Ghostbusters (1984)

Pirates of the Caribbean

Alien

The Hunger Games

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

Back to the Future

I Can’t Believe It’s Not Disney! | Brittany, Randall Oaks Library

Anastasia

The Swan Princess

The Road to El Dorado

Balto

The Iron Giant

Sinbad

Hanks for the Memories | Darla, Technical Services

Turner & Hooch

The Green Mile

Saving Private Ryan

Forrest Gump

Captain Phillips

Sully

Rockin’ Robin | Samantha, Randall Oaks Library

The Birdcage

Mrs. Doubtfire

Fathers' Day

Patch Adams

Bicentennial Man

Flubber

Best of Hayao Miyazaki | Taylor, Adult & Teen Services

Castle in the Sky

My Neighbor Totoro

Kiki’s Delivery Service

Princess Mononoke

Howl’s Moving Castle

Spirited Away

Caution: This Binge Box Will Murder You | Taylor, Adult & Teen Services

Clue

Murder by Death

The Usual Suspects

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

Knives Out!

Noteworthy Hairdos of Nicolas Cage | Jason, Adult & Teen Services

Raising Arizona

Con Air

Adaptation

Valley Girl

Sad in Space | Heather, Administration

2001: A Space Odyssey

Moon

First Man

Arrival

Solaris (1972)

Jason Schwartzman is a Terrible Boyfriend | Heather, Administration

Listen Up Phillip

Shop Girl

Rushmore

Marie Antoinette

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Nobody Puts Baby In a Corner | Kirstin, Public Relations

Dirty Dancing (1987)

Flashdance

Footloose (1984)

Fame (1980)

Purple Rain

There's No Crying in Baseball! | Darla, Technical Services

Field of Dreams

Sandlot

The Natural

A League of Their Own

Filmed in Chicago | Darla, Technical Services

Home Alone

Risky Business

High Fidelity

The Fugitive (1993)

Ferris Buellers Day off

The Blues Brothers

One Binge Box to Rule Them All | Taylor, Adult & Teen Services

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

アニメ映画 or Anime Eiga (“Animated Films” in English) | Taylor, Adult & Teen Services

Summer Wars

Your Name

Akira

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Patema Inverted

Ghost in the Shell

Movies My Boyfriend Won’t Watch With Me | Amy, Account Services

The Longest Ride

The Notebook

A Walk to Remember

Me Before You

The Best of Me

Women of a Certain Age | Louanne, Technical Services

It’s Complicated

Something’s Gotta Give

RED

The Kids Are All Right

Calendar Girls

The Queen

Hitchcock: The Ultimate Cameo Man | Marjie, Account Services

The Birds (1963)

Rear Window (1954)

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

Psycho (1960)

Dial M for Murder (1954)

Vertigo (1958)

Here is a selection of non-fiction books for teens that are new to the shelves:

Mental Health, Well-Being, Psychology

Mindfulness for Teens in 10 Minutes a Day: Exercises to Feel Calm, Stay Focused & Be Your Best Self by Jennie Marie Battistin
Start feeling better with mindfulness, the practice of being fully present and cultivating calm, one moment at a time. Simple and effective exercises -- that fit perfectly into your daily routine -- make it easy to keep yourself in the here and now, tackle challenges one at a time, and make the most of every minute.

Goodnight Mind for Teens: Skills to Help You Quiet Noisy Thoughts & Get the Sleep You Need by Colleen Carney
Millions of teens struggle with sleep and feel exhausted as a result. Goodnight Mind for Teens will help teens cope with the anxious and over-stimulating thoughts that can lead to insomnia, identify and work with their own circadian rhythm, and set up a new sleep schedule so they can improve their alertness, feel more energetic, and be in a better mood throughout the day.

Positively Teen: A Practical Guide to a More Positive, More Confident You by Nicola Morgan
Teaches teenagers how to approach their adolescent years with optimism and understanding, giving them the skills they need to develop long-term well-being.

Heads Up: Changing Minds on Mental Health by Melanie Siebert
A guide to understanding mental health and coping with mental illness, trauma and recovery. It features real-life stories of resilient teens and highlights innovative approaches to mental-health challenges.

Creative Coping Skills for Teens and Tweens: Activities for Self Care and Emotional Support Including Art, Yoga and Mindfulness by Bonnie Thomas
Offers dozens of suggestions, interventions, and activities for ways that tweens and teens can care for their physical and mental health, including managing life's stressors, how to recognize 'red flags' in a relationship, and listening to their body's intuition more often. 

Biography & History

Call Me American: The Extraordinary True Story of a Young Somali Immigrant by Abdi Nor Iftin
Abdi Nor Iftin grew up amidst a blend of cultures, far from the United States. At home in Somalia, his mother entertained him with vivid folktales and bold stories detailing her rural, nomadic upbrinding. As he grew older, he spent his days following his father, a basketball player, through the bustling street of the capital city of Mogadishu. But when the threat of civil war reached Abdi's doorstep, his family was forced to flee to safety. Through the turbulent years of war, young Abdi found solace in popular American music and films. Nicknamed Abdi the American, he developed a proficiency for English that connected him--and his story--with news outlets and radio shows, and eventually gave him a shot at winning the annual U.S. visa lottery.

What the Eagle Sees: Indigenous Stories of Rebellion and Renewal by Eldon Yellowhorn and Kathy Lowinger
Indigenous people across Turtle Island have been faced with disease, war, broken promises, and forced assimilation. Despite crushing losses and insurmountable challenges, they formed new nations from the remnants of old ones, they adopted new ideas and built on them, they fought back, they kept their cultures alive, and they survived. Key events in Indigenous history with accounts of the people, places, and events that have mattered from the 12th century to present day are told from a vastly under-represented perspective--an Indigenous viewpoint.

Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists: A Graphic History of Women’s Fight for Their Rights by Mikki Kendall and A. D'Amico
Graphic novel-style primer that covers the key figures and events that have advanced women's rights from antiquity to the modern era. Illuminates the stories of notable women throughout history--from queens and freedom fighters to warriors and spies--and the progressive movements led by women that have shaped history, including abolition, suffrage, labor, civil rights, LGBTQ liberation, reproductive rights, and more.

Atomic Women: The Untold Stories of the Scientists Who Helped Create the Nuclear Bomb by Roseanne Montillo
Meet the World War II female scientists who worked in the secret sites of the Manhattan Project. Recruited not only from labs and universities from across the United States but also from countries abroad, these scientists helped in -- and often initiated -- the development of the atomic bomb, taking starring roles in the Manhattan Project. In fact, their involvement was critical to its success, though many of them were not fully aware of the consequences.

Science & Technology

Apollo 13: A Successful Failure by Laura Bufano Edge
The Apollo 13 mission in 1970 was the seventh manned mission in the Apollo space program and the third that was meant to land on the Moon. The landing was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded, threatening all lives onboard the craft. The crew returned home safely. This book explores how the team worked together and what the space program learned from the experience.

A History of Plants in Fifty Fossils by Paul Kenrick
An illustrated history of plants presented through the stories of 50 key fossil discoveries.

The Wide World of Coding: The People and Careers Behind the Programs by Jennifer Connor-Smith
An overview for young adult readers of coding, including discussion of various software programs, the types of problem solving that coding tackles, careers in the field, and activities.

Girls Garage: How to Use Any Tool, Tackle Any Project, and Build the World You Want to See by Emily Pilloton
This reference book is so comprehensive it's the only book you'll ever need to own to figure out how to build or fix anything. It features tool types, usage, projects, quick fixes, and other "how to" information, plus profiles of inspiring builder girls and women.

Current Events

Poisoned Water: How the Citizens of Flint, Michigan, Fought for Their Lives and Warned the Nation by Candy J. Cooper with Marc Aronson
Based on original reporting by a Pulitzer Prize finalist and an industry veteran, the first book for young adults about the Flint water crisis. Poisoned Water shows not just how the crisis unfolded in 2014, but also the history of racism and segregation that led up to it, the beliefs and attitudes that fueled it, and how the people of Flint fought--and are still fighting--for clean water and healthy lives.

True or False: A CIA Analyst's Guide to Spotting Fake News by Cindy L. Otis
A YA Nonfiction book about the history of Fake News and tips for how to spot it.

Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic by Sam Quinones (YA Edition) 
In 1929, in the blue-collar city of Portsmouth, Ohio, a company built a swimming pool the size of a football field; named Dreamland, it became the vital center of the community. Now, addiction has devastated Portsmouth, as it has hundreds of small rural towns and suburbs across America. How that happened is the riveting story of Dreamland. Quinones explains how the rise of the prescription drug OxyContin, a miraculous and extremely addictive painkiller pushed by pharmaceutical companies, paralleled the massive influx of black tar heroin--cheap, potent, and originating from one small county on Mexico's west coast, independent of any drug cartel.

This week, Vidcode added new content to the platform, which means there is now even more coding activities and projects you can do to learn Javascript. If you are not familiar with Vidcode, it is online platform geared towards students grades 3-12 (but anyone can use it!) where you can learn how to code using the Javascript programming language. I have written two previous blog abouts about Vidcode, one about how to access Vidcode and one discussing some of the activities you can do. Now I want to highlight the new content that was just added.

If you access Vidcode from our Research page, you can sign up as a "student" and join the group we created called "FRVPLD Learn to Code." Once you join, you can see all of the content under the "Assigned Courses" tab. Before the update, there was one large course called "Creative Coding" that had a bunch of activities to complete. Now you will see some new courses in addition to "Creative Coding" that you can access, as seen in the screenshot below.

If you look through each course, you will notice that some activities can be found in multiple courses, but there are plenty of new activities as well. Here is an overview of the new courses.

• Javascript 101 through Javascript 401: These courses have the same content as the "Creative Coding" course that was there before the update but broken down into 4 different, smaller courses. This was done to provide students the option to go through that content in smaller chunks rather than having all of the content in one large course. Doing it in smaller chunks may help with pacing and seeing how the coding progresses and adds on to the previous activities.
• Hour of Code: Has 7, hour-long activities that go through basics of coding to show that anyone can learn how to code. This course is designed to tie in with the Hour of Code movement.
• Game Development: Learn advanced programming concepts with a focus on game design. It is recommended that the "Creative Coding" (or Javascript 101 through Javascript 401) course be completed before doing this course.
• Digital Citizenship: This course has activities that tie in with concepts dealing with using technology in an effective and responsible way, including: online ethics and security, communicating online appropriately and responsibly, determining whether sources are valid and reuptable or not, and more.
• Cross-Disciplinary Coding 101 through 301: These courses have activities that connect coding with other subject areas, including: Math, Language Arts, Science, Art, and Social Studies.

VIdcode now also has some coding courses available in Spanish. If you go to our Research page and scroll down to the Vs (the resources on this page are in alphabetical order), you will see a box with a Vidcode logo and a description about Vidcode. Below the English description, there is a description in Spanish along with another link to click on (where it says "Acceda a Vidcode en Español aquí").

That link will take you to a different group called "FRVPLD Learn to Code en Español." In the "Assigned Courses" tab here, you will find 3 different courses in Spanish.

The three courses are Javascript en Español 101 through 301. These courses are similar to the English Javascript courses, but are completely in Spanish. We have a large number of Spanish speakers in our community, so we are happy that Vidcode has added this and hope we an reach even more people with this resource.

Vidcode is still available for free for FRVPLD cardholders, even with all of this new content. We are excited about this new content and can't wait to incorporate it with our Coding programs that we have been doing. If anyone has any questions about Vidcode, please feel free to call us at 847-428-3661 or email us at libraryhelp@frvpld.info. We hope you will enjoy this new coding content. Happy coding!

This summer the library held a creative writing contest, "What Happened Next?" open to elementary, middle, and high school students. To enter, participants considered the prompt: Dig deeper into your favorite book/movie/video game character and write a story, poem, or essay that answers the question: What happens to ___ character after the book/movie/game ends? Each winner receives a $50 gift card to the store or restaurant of their choice, and gets their writing published on the library's website.

Eighth grader Fatima Ahmed, of Carpentersville, is one of our "What Happened Next?" creative writing contest winners. Below is her entry "A World Away: What Happens After." Congratulations, Fatima!

A World Away: What Happens After

~Two Years After The Book Ends~

“I’ll be off then. I’ll see you after the weekend.”

I kissed Daniel on the cheek, and he returned the gesture.

“Stay safe out there, Eliza. I’ll always be waiting here come Sunday.” Daniel said with one of his slightly overprotective faces. Instead of getting annoyed like how I might’ve a couple years ago, I smiled and reached to give him a last hug. Then, I excitedly stepped onto the train and waited for my stop.

It was an hour or so until I finally reached my destination. As the train doors opened, I was acknowledged by many faces full of curiosity and confusion towards my outfit. But, I was also greeted with a warm, familiar grin.

“Josh, it’s been so long!”

I couldn’t help but to reach and give him a hug. As he hugged me back, he laughed and soon pulled away, still grinning.

“As old fashioned as always, hm?” He joked, elbowing my side and gesturing to my bonnet. I just smiled and lightly nodded, before looking up. I was scheduled to be at Ambers’ house at 12. It seemed roughly 9 o’clock ish. Maybe before I headed over...

“Well, I was hoping we had time to grab some coffee and catch up, for old time sake… it’ll be my treat, alright?”

“You took the words right out of my mouth.”

I grinned back, and we were off. Josh led me to his car, a new car. I was proud he had finally paid back the money for the damaged car and saved up enough money for his own car. Many long hours of work. When he saw me staring, he waved in front of me.

“You there Eliza?”

I waved my hand back, my smile returning again.

“Just remembering the… accident from when I was here before.”

“Oh, right… I was able to pay to repair the car, and then save up enough for my own car… I hated that part of the day, but… I used to think of the good parts a lot while you were gone.

“Those were… good times..”

I bittersweetly smiled, turning my eyes away as I opened the car door and stepped into his car. It was neat and tidy for the most part, and it surprisingly smelled sweet. Then, I remembered the things people hung in cars to freshen them up. It felt like I could never get used to this life, no matter how many times I came to work over here.

In the car after that, we were a bit awkward. Mostly making small talk, like how my family was doing, and I asked how Racheal and the kids had been. By the time we had gotten to the cafe though, Josh told me we only had 30 minutes to catch up.

We sat down, and we both ordered coffees. While we waited, I noticed Josh seemed to be holding back, as if he wanted to ask me something. Finally, it came out.

“So… how did things go with that Daniel guy back where you live..?” The silence that came afterwards was uncomfortable. I looked down at my hand before answering.

“We ended up… courting, actually, but it’s… it’s complicated.”

And then our coffee came, and that was it. Instead of talking about that, we laughed and talked about our past and the present, possibly the future. I told him that last weekend was the first time I had babysat for Parkers, and how I already loved them all. Josh’s attitude was a bit different, but he only smiled and laughed more as we talked. I loved catching up with him, it brightened my mood. The atmosphere was very happy too, many people chatting around the coffee shop. Familiar and comforting. Before long, I suddenly remembered my job and finished my coffee, dusting at my apron.

“I think it’s a little before the time Kathy is gonna pick me up. Do you mind driving me to the station, Josh?”

“Of course. Let’s go.”

Josh finished his coffee, and was soon standing next to me. I couldn’t help but feel he was sad. I was sad too. I missed our fun times everyday together, but.. I had made the decision before. I was lucky to even be allowed to be a nanny out here. I was happy. At least now I knew I could see Josh sometimes.

“Thank you for the coffee, Josh. It was really good and… comforting.”

“No problem… it was nice catching up, y’know?”

I smiled and nodded, turning to look out the window. Next thing I knew, we were pulling up to the train parking lot. I spotted Kathy's car immediately. It was pretty hard to miss. A sleek black van, accented in turquoise with decals of a family of five and two dogs on the back windshield. And you couldn’t forget how the rims were also turquoise. I smiled to myself again, before turning to find Josh looking a little sad.

“It’s been such a long time and we’ve been together such a short time, but… we can meet again soon, right?”

“I’m sure I can. I really hope so. It was a short time, but I’ll never forget this time, alright?”

I reached over the middle and gave Josh a long hug, remembering the satisfyingly familiar scent of his. Then, I pulled away and exited his car, bringing along my bag.

I knocked on the window of Kathy’s car. Her head turned up immediately, and she placed down her phone, unlocking the door.

“Eliza! Good afternoon!”

She greeted me cheerfully as I hopped into the cars front seat. “Good afternoon Kathy. Sorry if i’m a little late, I was chatting with… an old, close friend.”

“Oh that’s no problem! I didn’t know you were popular here from.. Your rumspringa?”

“Oh no no, I wasn’t popular, but they were just someone close to me.”

“It’s good to know you still have friends around here though.” Kathy finished in a hum, clicking her seatbelt back on and beckoning me to do the same. I adjusted to the seat and clicked on my seatbelt. This was only the second time I had come to help with her children, but I loved Kathy’s personality. Her kids were well behaved too.

“So, this weekend my husband and I are going to go out, I was hoping..” From there on until we reached the house, we talked about what she wanted me to help around with, and what were the plans. Finally, we arrived and I lugged my bag over my shoulder as we stepped out of the car. I don’t think I could ever get used to how big Kathy’s house was. And I had the honors of even going in it. Kathy led me up the stone pathway to her porch, where she unlocked the double doors for us. I could hear some barks inside near the front, and some excited voices. Kathy then pushed the doors open, and stepped inside onto the welcome mat.

“Guys, we’re back!” Kathy called, and I smiled when I was the three gathered children.

“Hey everyone!”

I was immediately rubbed by their two dogs, Cupcake and Cookie, but I was also greeted with three smiling children. As I walked out the doors, the smallest girl ran into my arms.

“Eliza! It felt like forever until it was the weekend! I’m super duper happy to see you!” Wendy cheered with her freckled grin. I hugged her back, but soon straightened and looked down on her with a fake frown.

“You haven’t been causing trouble for anyone, have you?”

“No! I was a good girl! But Eliza, you gotta see my new play set mommy got for me! Come, come!”

She took my hand and began dragging me towards the staircase.

“Wendy, don’t be rude and start right away! Let Eliza go put her bags in her room, and let her at least talk with your siblings too!”

This might’ve not been the future I would’ve predicted a few years ago, but I loved every bit of it. I could still be with all my family and friends back in my town, and then still meet some of my friends here and enjoy this world. Maybe it wasn’t what someone else would want, but I was happy. I love my current world exactly as it is.

This summer the library held a creative writing contest, "What Happened Next?" open to elementary, middle, and high school students. To enter, participants considered the prompt: Dig deeper into your favorite book/movie/video game character and write a story, poem, or essay that answers the question: What happens to ___ character after the book/movie/game ends? Each winner receives a $50 gift card to the store or restaurant of their choice, and gets their writing published on the library's website.

Seventh grader Sofia Lindgren, of West Dundee, is one of our "What Happened Next?" creative writing contest winners. Below is her entry "What Happened to Pinocchio?" Congratulations, Sofia!

What Happened to Pinocchio?
By: Sofia Lindgren

“Pinocchio! Breakfast!” A cheerful voice called. Pinocchio groaned as he sat up in bed, massaging his aching legs. Last night, he and his father, Geppetto spent all night dancing, singing, and laughing in ecstasy.

“Coming!” Pinocchio called back, slowly getting out of bed. He stood up and grinned his boyish grin. He was a human boy! A real, human boy! Pinocchio touched his legs, arms, and face, marvelling at the fact that they were real. He looked at his clothes and was dismayed to find that his red shorts and yellow shirt were wrinkled, and his white bow tie was lopsided. He adjusted his bow tie and smoothed out his shirt and shorts as best as he could before walking down the hall to the kitchen. On his way there, he passed Figaro, a black and white cat with an attitude. Figaro hissed at Pinocchio, still not accepting him for being a human.

Pinocchio ignored Figaro and walked into the kitchen. Geppetto was sitting at the kitchen table. When he saw Pinocchio, Geppetto’s merry blue eyes crinkled into a smile. Pinocchio slid into a chair next to Geppetto, eyeing the plate of food in front of him with confusion.

“Ah, I forgot that you’ve never eaten before! This, my dear boy, is bread.” Geppetto pointed to a large white piece of something that looked rather soft.

“And that is milk.” Geppetto pointed to a glass of white liquid.

“What do I do with it?” Pinocchio asked curiously.

“Eat the bread and drink the milk.” Geppetto said simply. Pinocchio picked up the bread, and took a bite out of it. It was as soft and as fluffy as a cloud in his mouth, with just the right amount of sweet and salty. He chewed the bite of bread, and swallowed. Another new and wondrous sensation. He then took a sip of the milk. It was smooth and rich in his mouth, with just a touch of sweetness.

“Do you like it?” Geppetto asked anxiously. Pinocchio nodded, his mouth full of bread. When Pinocchio finished his bread and milk, he waited for Geppetto to tell him what to do next, until he realized something. He hadn’t seen Jiminy Cricket all morning.

“Father, where is Jiminy Cricket?” Pinocchio asked. Geppetto’s face immediately fell.

“He... well, after you became a real boy, Jiminy Cricket became a real cricket.” Geppetto said sadly.

“What?” Pinocchio asked in disbelief. How would he make the right decisions without his friend and ‘conscience’?

“I suppose that since you had no magic left in you, that Jiminy Cricket didn’t either.” Geppetto sighed.

“Where is he?” Pinocchio asked.

“Right here.” Geppetto said, picking up a jar that was sitting at the far end of the table.Inside, a cricket hopped and chirped.

“I’m so sorry, Jiminy.” Pinocchio breathed, fogging the glass of the jar. The cricket put its legs up onto the jar, and it seemed to be staring right at Pinocchio.

“I think he wants to be free.” Pinocchio said, looking at the poor cricket that had once been his good friend. He felt something well up in his eyes. It was warm and wet. These strange things slid down his cheeks. One landed on his lips. He licked the wet thing, and found that it was salty.

“Oh, don’t cry, my boy.” Geppetto said, putting his arms around Pinocchio’s shoulders. Pinocchio’s tears fell onto the table as the father and son watched their good friend chirp in the jar.

“We must set him free. It’s the right thing to do.” Pinocchio steadied himself.

“You’re right.” Geppetto said, looking at Pinocchio. The father and son picked up the jar together and walked outside. It was a beautiful day. The sun shone brightly, and there was a gentle breeze. Geppetto and Pinocchio sat down in the soft grass together. Geppetto opened up the glass jar, and put it on the grass, sideways. The cricket that was once talking and wearing atop hat hopped out of the jar and into the tall grass.

“Good-bye Jiminy Cricket, and thank you for everything.” Pinocchio whispered, his vision clouding with that wet stuff again. Geppetto held Pinocchio in his arms, and the two of them sat outside, listening, wondering, and remembering.

Pinocchio watched Jiminy Cricket hop into a new world that he, too, was taking his first steps into.

Summer was here again. Summer, summer, summer. I loved and hated summers. Summers had a logic all their
own and they always brought something out in me. Summer was supposed to be about freedom and youth and
no school and possibilities and adventure and exploration. Summer was a book of hope. That's why I loved and
hated summers. Because they made me want to believe.

- Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

For more books that feature the possibilities, freedom, adventure, and exploration of summer, check out this list of teen summer reads:

	What if It's Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera Told in two voices, when Arthur, a summer intern from Georgia, and Ben, a native New Yorker, meet it seems like fate, but after three attempts at dating fail they wonder if the universe is pushing them together or apart.
	Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak by Adi Alsaid When she struggles with writing her column about relationships after being dumped by her boyfriend, Lu uses another couple's relationship to end her writer's block.
	Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett Seventeen-year-old Bailey moves to California to live with her father and, perhaps, finally meet an online friend and fellow film buff, but soon finds herself attracted to an annoying co-worker.
	The Whole Thing Together by Ann Brashares Summer for Sasha and Ray means the sprawling old house on Long Island. Since they were children, they've shared almost everything--reading the same books, running down the same sandy footpaths to the beach, eating peaches from the same market, laughing around the same sun-soaked dining table. Even sleeping in the same bed, on the very same worn cotton sheets. But they've never met. Sasha's dad was once married to Ray's mom, and together they had three daughters: Emma, the perfectionist; Mattie, the beauty, and Quinn, the favorite. But the marriage crumbled and the bitterness lingered. Now there are two new families--and neither one will give up the beach house that holds the memories, happy and sad, of summers past...This summer, the lives of Sasha, Ray, and their siblings intersect in ways none of them ever dreamed, in a novel about family relationships, keeping secrets, and most of all, love.
	No Filter by Orlagh Collins Emerald's seemingly perfect life is shattered and she is sent to spend a summer with her grandmother in an isolated beach town, where she connects with Liam, who has secrets of his own.
	Unclaimed Baggage by Jen Doll Told from three viewpoints, teens Doris, Nell, and Grant find friendship and the possibility of love while working in Unclaimed Baggage, a store that sells items that went missing during airline travel.
	Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan A lovesick teenager schemes to win the heart of her crush at her amusement park summer job, all while dressed as a hot dog.
	Two Summers by Aimee Friedman Two possible futures face Summer: either she will spend the summer in Provence with her father, uncovering family secrets, and exploring the old world, or she will stay in upstate New York, coping with her mother, and dreaming of her long time crush--and which future unfolds will depend on whether or not she answers a phone call.
	The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo Clara Shin lives for pranks and disruption. When she takes one joke too far, her dad sentences her to a summer working on his food truck, the KoBra, alongside her uptight classmate Rose Carver. Not the carefree summer Clara had imagined. But maybe Rose isn't so bad. Maybe the boy named Hamlet (yes, Hamlet) crushing on her is pretty cute. Maybe Clara actually feels invested in her dad's business. What if taking this summer seriously means that Clara has to leave her old self behind?
	Other Words for Smoke by Sarah Maria Griffin Fourteen-year-old twins Mae and Rossa's summer away from home takes a life-altering turn when they discover their great aunt Rita's home is full of secrets.
	We Were Beautiful by Heather Hepler Fifteen-year-old Mia's scarred face is a constant reminder of the car crash that killed her sister, but a summer at her grandmother's Manhattan apartment and new friends help her find happiness again.
	That Thing We Call a Heart by Sheba Karim High school has ended, and Shabnam Qureshi is facing a summer of loneliness and boredom. She's felt alienated from her gutsy best friend, Farah, ever since Farah started wearing the Muslim head scarf--without even bothering to discuss it with Shabnam first. But no one else comes close to understanding her, especially not her parents. All Shabnam wants to do is get through the summer. Get to Penn. Begin anew. Not look back. That is, until she meets Jamie...In her quest to figure out who she really is and what she really wants, Shabnam looks for help in an unexpected place--her family.
	Happy Messy Scary Love by Leah Konen Olivia plans to spend her summer in the Catskills, binge-watching horror movies and chatting with her online friend Elm, but things get complicated when she sends Elm her best friend's picture and she runs into the last person she thought she would ever see in real life.
	Again Again by E. Lockhart After a near-fatal family catastrophe and an unexpected romantic upheaval, high school senior Adelaide Buchwald finds herself catapulted into a summer of wild possibility. She will fall in and out of love a thousand times--while finally confronting the secrets she keeps, her ideas about love, and the weird grandiosity of the human mind. If you could live your life again, what would you do differently?
	Meet Me at Midnight by Jessica Pennington Eighteen-year-olds Sidney and Asher have spent every summer together, since they were twelve. Every summer it's the same--in between cookouts and boat rides and family-imposed bonfires, the two spend the dog days of summer finding the ultimate ways to prank each other. Now, the summer after their senior year, the two know that the end of their forced family vacations is nearing an end, and each is determined to make this last summer the most epic yet. But when the two families are kicked out of their beloved beach houses just one week into their eight-week vacation, their last summer is suddenly in jeopardy. When the two find themselves in uncomfortable new accommodations, Sidney expects summer to continue as usual. But then she gets a note--Meet me at midnight. And Asher has a proposition for her: join forces for one last summer of epic pranks, against a shared enemy--the woman who kicked them out of their beloved vacation homes. But can these two put their pasts aside and actually work as a team? And with their attention finally on something other than tormenting one another--can they ignore the obvious attraction building between them?
	Girl Out of Water by Laura Silverman When her aunt gets into a car accident, Anise is forced to leave her friends and surfing behind to spend the summer in Nebraska to help care for her cousins, and by doing so, forms familial bonds and new friendships that challenge her feelings of abandonment by her mother.
	The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth Seventeen-year-old cynic Saoirse Clarke isn't looking for a relationship. But when she meets mischievous Ruby, that rule goes right out the window. Sort of. Because Ruby has a loophole in mind: a summer of all the best cliché movie montage dates, with a definite ending come fall--no broken hearts, no messy breakup. It would be the perfect plan, if they weren't forgetting one thing about the Falling in Love Montage: when it's over, the characters have fallen in love...for real.
	The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles) by Amy Spalding Seventeen, fashion-obsessed, and gay, Abby Ives has always been content playing the sidekick in other people's lives. While her friends and sister have plunged headfirst into the world of dating and romances, Abby's been happy to focus on her plus-size style blog and her dreams of taking the fashion industry by storm. When she lands a great internship at her favorite boutique, she's thrilled to take the first step toward her dream career. Then she falls for her fellow intern, Jordi Perez. Hard. And now she's competing against the girl she's kissing to win the coveted paid job at the end of the internship.
	How You Ruined My Life by Jeff Strand Rod's life is going well until his rich, prankster cousin, Blake, moves in for three months--moving into his room and moving in on his girlfriend and band--ruining everything.
	Stay Sweet by Siobhan Vivian Seventeen-year-old Amelia has looked forward to her last summer before college working at the Meade Creamery, but when the owner of the local landmark passes away her nephew has big changes in mind.
	My Summer of Love and Misfortune by Lindsay Wong After a series of disastrous choices and rejections, seventeen-year-old Chinese American Iris Wang is thrust into the decadent world of Beijing high society as her cousin's English tutor.
	As Many Nows as I Can Get by Shana Youngdahl In one impulsive moment the summer before they leave for college, overachievers Scarlett and David plunge into a brief and irresistible swirl of romance, particle physics, and questionable decisions.
	Roomies by Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando While living very different lives on opposite coasts, seventeen-year-old Elizabeth and eighteen-year-old Lauren become acquainted by email the summer before they begin rooming together as freshmen at UC-Berkeley.

New graphic novels featuring Ms. Marvel, Squirrel Girl, the Joker, Superman, and more are just some of the recent additions to the teen graphic novel collection. Plus, we have two new books from Gene Luen Yang! I highly recommend Dragon Hoops--it's one of my favorites of the year. Whether you're looking for a quick whimsical read (The Postman from Outer Space), a book featuring a wizarding school that's not Hogwarts (The Black Mage), a memoir in graphic novel format (The Fire Never Goes Out), or continuations of popular series (Giant Days, Space Boy), these graphic novels have something for everyone:

	Ms. Marvel volume 2: Stormranger by Saladin Ahmed Between her space adventure, her complicated feelings for Bruno and a looming family tragedy, Ms. Marvel really needs a break, but when Zoe and Nakia decide to get Kamala out of town for a while, their road trip is about to be derailed by literal corporate zombies.
	Giant Days volume 13 by John Allison Everything's going fine for Esther - she's only dealing with a past break up, facing her own mortality and the pressure of an essay contest that could change her life. Don't worry, she's got everything figured out... except for the getting everything figured out part. Otherwise she's not racing towards imminent disaster. But for McGraw, the tough realities of life hit hard as he learns about the loss of someone close to him and has to find a way to process this shocking news.
	The Black Mage by Daniel Barnes When St. Ivory Academy, a historically white wizarding school, opens its doors to its first-ever black student, everyone believes that the wizarding community is finally taking its first crucial steps toward inclusivity. Or is it? When Tom Token, the beneficiary of the school's 'Magical Minority Initiative', begins uncovering weird clues and receiving creepy texts on his phone, he and his friend, Lindsay, stumble into a conspiracy that dates all the way back to the American Civil War, and could cost Tom his very soul.
	Eat, and Love Yourself by Sweeney Boo Mindy is a young woman living with an eating disorder and trapped in a battle for her own self-worth. When she accidentally discovers something that will give her a chance to revisit her past, she thinks she has a chance to put her life back on track. But will she be able to find a way back to her present and treat herself with love and kindness at any size?
	Long Story Short: 100 Classic Books in Three Panels by Lisa Brown One hundred pithy and skewering three-panel literary summaries, from curriculum classics like Don Quixote, Lord of the Flies, and Jane Eyre to modern favorites like Beloved, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and Atonement, conveniently organized by subjects including "Love," "Sex," "Death," and "Female Trouble."
	The Phantom Twin by Lisa Brown Isabel and Jane are the Extraordinary Peabody Sisters, conjoined twins in a traveling carnival freak show--until an ambitious surgeon tries to separate them and fails, causing Jane's death. Isabel has lost an arm and a leg but gained a ghostly companion: her dead twin is now her phantom limb. Haunted, altered, and alone for the first time, can Isabel build a new life that's truly her own?
	Gotham High by Melissa de la Cruz A reimagining of Gotham for a new generation of readers. Before they became Batman, Catwoman, and The Joker, Bruce, Selina, and Jack were high schoolers who would do whatever it took--even destroy the ones they love--to satisfy their own motives.
	The Joker: 80 Years of the Clown Prince of Crime DC celebrates the 80-year history of Batman's greatest foe, The Joker! Includes The Joker's most memorable appearances, from his 1940 debut in the pages of Batman #1 to more recent capers written by top talents including Scott Snyder, Tony S. Daniel, Paul Dini and more.
	The Strange Ones by Jeremy Jusay Filled with visceral and engaging prose, this graphic novella offers a nostalgic look at two young misfits who manage to find belonging and heartbreak in each other's friendship.
	Ping Pong Volume 1 by Taiyo Matsumoto Ace high school table tennis players push their passion to the limit in this story of self-discovery, told by Eisner Award winner Taiyo Matsumoto. Makoto Smile Tsukimoto doesn't smile even though he's got a natural talent for playing ping pong. As one of the best players in school, all hopes are on him to win the regional high school tournament, but winning is not what Smile really wants to do. Will the fierce competition to be number one bring out his best or drive him away from the game?
	Space Boy volume 7 by Stephen McCranie Amy investigates the secrets behind Oliver's identity, while a new romance blossoms between Schaefer and Tammie, and Zeph reveals his feelings for Amy.
	The Lost Carnival by Michael Moreci Before Batman trained him to be Robin, Dick Grayson was star of his family of trapeze artists, but when an enchanting new attraction opens nearby and threatens to lure away their remaining customers, Dick is among those drawn to its magical glow and may be too mesmerized to recognize the dangers ahead.
	Unbeatable Squirrel Girl volume 12: To All the Squirrels I've Loved Before by Ryan North To all things, an ending! As the series kicks off its final story, Brain Drain is missing! And the hitherto invincible Doreen Green will have to face certain defeat to save him! It's the nuttiest Squirrel Girl story ever as lives hang in the balance, narrative threads are resolved, shocking reveals are, um, revealed--and the greatest villains in Marvel history team up to take out the one thing that's stood in their way: Doreen! We're talking big bads like Doctor Doom here, people! Will Squirrel Girl survive? Friendship, explosions and friendships forged during explosions--it all comes down to this!
	The Postman from Outer Space by Guillaume Perreault A letter carrier who delivers mail across the galaxy in his spaceship finds adventure when he is assigned a new route.
	The Fire Never Goes Out: A Memoir in Pictures by Noelle Stevenson In a collection of personal comics that span eight years of her young adult life, author-illustrator Noelle Stevenson charts the highs and lows of being a creative human in the world.
	Supergirl: Being Super by Mariko Tamaki When an earthquake shatters Midvale, uncovering secrets sixteen-year-old Kara Danvers thought would stay buried forever, she must choose between blending in and embracing her differences to save her hometown.
	Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang Gene Luen Yang understands stories--comic book stories, in particular ... But Gene doesn't get sports. As a kid, his friends called him 'Stick' and every basketball game he played ended in pain. He lost interest in basketball long ago, but at the high school where he now teaches, it's all anyone can talk about. The men's varsity team, the Dragons, is having a phenomenal season that's been decades in the making. Each victory brings them closer to their ultimate goal: the California State Championship. Once Gene meets these young all-stars, he realizes that their story is just as thrilling as anything he's seen on a comic book page. He knows he has to follow this epic to its end. What he doesn't know yet is that this season is not only going to change the Dragon's lives, but his own life, as well.
	Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang When Dr. Lee moves his family to Metropolis, his son Tommy adjusts to the new neighborhood while daugher Roberta feels out of place, so when the evil Klan of the Fiery Cross begins a string of terrorist attacks on the city, Superman fights them, and Roberta and Superman soon learn to embrace their own unique features that set them apart.

Do you love dinosaurs? Would you like to discuss the 'lost world' of dinosaurs with a leader in the field of paleontology? Join us for a discussion with paleontologist Steve Brusatte, author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World. Reading the book is not required to enjoy the program, but it is highly recommended! We own multiple copies of the book, you can place a hold on it here. This program will be held on Saturday, July 25 from 1 pm to 2:30 pm. It will be held virtually via Zoom. Click here to get more details and register for the program. A Zoom link will be emailed to each registered participant on the morning of the program.

Steve Brusatte has named fifteen new species of dinosaurs, currently holds the position of Professor of Palaeontology and Evolution at University of Edinburgh, and has appeared on CBS Evening News, BBC News, and the National Geographic Channel documentary T. Rex Autopsy. You are invited to ask your questions directly to Professor Brusatte during the Q&A portion of the program, or send your questions in advance to QandA@frvpld.info and we'll read them aloud for you.

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs was chosen for our first ever One Book, One District program as part of this year's Summer Reading Challenge. The aim of this program is to get families reading and discussing books together, so we have chosen a book that will appeal to adults as well as teens. All ages are welcome to join us for this discussion with the author, paleontologist Steve Brusatte. If you have read the book and would like to discuss it even furthur, visit the library's Goodreads page where a discussion board has been set up for this title. Anyone is welcome to post there and keep the discussion going. 

Don't forget, if you read The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, you can earn the One Book, One District activity badge for the Summer Reading Challenge! If you want to learn more about the Summer Reading Challenge or haven't signed up yet, click here. There's still time to log reading hours and complete lots of fun activities! All patrons who complete the Summer Reading Challenge will be able to come in and pick out a free book!

If you have any questions about the Ask a Paleontologist program on July 25, or about the Summer Reading Challenge, please feel free to call us at 847-428-3661 or email us at libraryhelp@frvpld.info.

Just because libraries and bookstores were physically closed for months, that didn’t stop large numbers of books from being published during the lockdown period. Now that we’re back at Dundee, our Technical Services department has been working hard to process all the books on order that came out during that closure and since we’ve opened for curbside. Here’s a sampling of some of the new novels that have recently hit the shelves while you haven’t been able to browse.

• Flipped for Murder by Maddie Day- Nursing a broken heart, Robbie Jordan is trading in her life on the West Coast for the rolling hills of southern Indiana. After paying a visit to her Aunt Adele, she fell in love with the tiny town of South Lick. And when she spots a For Sale sign on a rundown country store, she decides to snap it up and put her skills as a cook and a carpenter to use. Everyone in town shows up for the grand re-opening of Pans 'n Pancakes, but when the mayor's disagreeable assistant is found dead, Robbie realizes that not all press is good press. With all eyes on her, she'll have to summon her puzzle-solving skills to clear her name, unscramble the town's darkest secrets, and track down a cold-blooded killer--before she's the next to die... (Not a new release, but the first in a new-to-the-library series, with books 7 & 8 being released in July and September!)
• Of Literature & Lattes by Katherine Reay- After fleeing her hometown three years earlier, Alyssa Harrison never planned to return. Then the Silicon Valley start-up she worked for collapsed and turned her world upside down. She is broke, under FBI investigation, and without a place to go. Having exhausted every option, she comes home to Winsome, Illinois, to regroup then move on as quickly as possible. Yet, as friends and family welcome her back, Alyssa begins to see a place for herself in this small Midwestern community. Jeremy Mitchell moved from Seattle to Winsome to be near his daughter and to open the coffee shop he's been dreaming of for years. Problem is, the business is bleeding money - and he's not quite sure why. When he meets Alyssa, he senses an immediate connection, but what he needs most is someone to help him save his floundering business. After asking for her help, he wonders if something might grow between them - but forces beyond their control soon complicate their already complex lives, and the future they both hoped for is not at all what they anticipated. With the help of Winsome's small-town charm and quirky residents, Alyssa and Jeremy discover the beauty and romance of second chances. 
• Masquerade at Middlecrest Abbey by Abigail Wilson- When the widowed Lord Torrington agreed to spy for the crown, he never planned to impersonate a highwayman, let alone rob the wrong carriage. Stranded on the road with an unconscious young woman, he is forced to propose marriage to protect his identity and her reputation, as well as his dangerous mission. Trapped not only by her duty to her country but also by her limited options as an unwed mother, Miss Elizabeth Cantrell and her infant son are whisked away to Middlecrest Abbey by none other than the elder brother of her son's absent father. There she is met by Torrington's beautiful grown daughters, a vicious murder, and an urgent hunt for the missing intelligence that could turn the war with France. Meanwhile she must convince everyone that her marriage is a genuine love match if her new husband has any hope of uncovering the enemy. Determined to keep her son's true identity a secret, Elizabeth will need to remain one step ahead of her fragile heart, her uncertain future, and the relentless fiend bent on her new family's ruin.
• Eliza Starts a Rumor by Jane L. Rosen- It wasn't supposed to happen this way. When Eliza Hunt created The Hudson Valley Ladies' Bulletin Board fifteen years ago she was happily entrenched in her picture-perfect suburban life with her husband and twin preschoolers. Now, with an empty nest and a crippling case of agoraphobia, the once-fun hobby has become her lifeline. So when a rival parenting forum threatens the site's existence, she doesn't think twice before fabricating a salacious rumor to spark things up a bit. It doesn't take long before that spark becomes a flame. Across town, new mom and site devotee Olivia York is thrown into a tailspin by what she reads on the bulletin board. Alison Le is making cyber friends with a woman who isn't quite who she says she is. And Amanda Cole, Eliza's childhood friend, may just hold the key to unearthing why Eliza can't step out of her front door. In all this chaos, one thing is for sure...Hudson Valley will never be the same.
• Love by Roddy Doyle- Davy and Joe were drinking pals back in their Dublin youth. Davy rarely sees Joe for a pint anymore--maybe one or two when Davy comes over from England to check on his elderly father. But tonight Davy's father is dying in the hospice, and Joe has a secret that will lead the two on a bender back to the haunts of their youth. Joe had left his wife and family a year earlier for another woman, Jessica. Davy knows her too, or should--she was the girl of their dreams four decades earlier, the girl with the cello in George's pub. As Joe's story unfolds across Dublin--pint after pint, pub after pub--so too do the memories of what eventually drove Davy from Ireland: the upheaval that Faye, his feisty, profane wife, would bring into his life; his father's somber disapproval; the pained spaces left behind when a parent dies. As much a hymn to the Dublin of old as a delightfully comic yet moving portrait of what it means to try to put into words the many forms that love can take…

• Recusal by R.L. Sommer- Jake Lehman, fresh out of law school at NYU, finds himself swept into the political intrigue and moral dilemmas plaguing the nation's capital when he lands in Washington, DC, for a clerkship with the venerable Supreme Court Justice White. As he begins falling for a fellow clerk--a brilliant and gorgeous Rhodes scholar from Stanford--a political scandal erupts, implicating the president and raising questions of Justice White's bias toward the case. Set in America's near future, Recusal provides an inside look into presidential pardons, censorship, and recusal issues, drawing on current events to show the gray spaces within judicial ethics.
• Pale by Edward A. Farmer- The summer of 1966 burned hot across America but nowhere hotter than the cotton fields of Mississippi. Finding herself in a precarious position as a black woman living alone, Bernice accepts her brother Floyd's invitation to join him as a servant for a white family and she enters the web of hostility and deception that is the Kern plantation household. The secrets of the house are plentiful yet the silence that has encompassed it for so many years suddenly breaks with the arrival of the harvest and the appearance of Jesse and Fletcher to the plantation as cotton pickers. These two brothers, the sons of the house servant Silva, awaken a vengeful seed within the Missus of the house as she plots to punish not only her husband but Silva's family as well. When the Missus starts flirting with Jesse, she sets into motion a dangerous game that could get Jesse killed and destroy the lives of the rest of the servants. Bernice walks the fine line between emissary and accomplice, as she tries her best to draw secrets from the Missus's heart, while using their closeness to protect the lives of the people around her. Once the Missus's plans are complete, families will be severed, loyalties will be shattered, and no one will come out unscathed.
• The First Actress by C.W. Gortner- From her beginnings as the daughter of a courtesan to her extraordinary transformation into the most celebrated actress of her era, Sarah Bernhardt is brought to life by an internationally bestselling author praised for his historical novels featuring famous women. Told in her own voice, this is Sarah Bernhardt's incandescent story--a fascinating, intimate account of a woman whose unrivaled talent and indomitable spirit has enshrined her in history as the Divine Sarah.
• A Tender Thing by Emily Neuberger- Under the bright lights of Broadway, one new musical pushes the boundaries of love, legacy, and art. Growing up in rural Wisconsin, Eleanor O'Hanlon always felt different. In love with musical theater from a young age, she memorized every show album she could get her hands on. So when she discovers an open call for one of her favorite productions, she leaves behind everything she knows to run off to New York City and audition. Raw and untrained, she catches the eye of famed composer Don Mannheim, who catapults her into the leading role of his new work, "A Tender Thing," a provocative love story between a white woman and black man, one never before seen on a Broadway stage. As news of the production spreads, an outpouring of protest whips into a fury. Between the intensity of rehearsals, her growing friendship with her co-star Charles, and her increasingly muddled creative--and personal--relationship with Don, Eleanor is forced to confront her own naïve beliefs about the world. And when explosive secrets threaten to shatter the delicate balance of the company, and the possibility of the show itself, she must face a new reality and ultimately decide what it is she truly wants.
• Passage West by Rishi Reddi- 1914: Ram Singh arrives in the Imperial Valley on the Mexican border, reluctantly accepting his friend Karak's offer of work and partnership in a small cantaloupe farm. Ram is unmoored; fleeing violence in Oregon, he desperately longs to return to his wife and newborn son in Punjab--but he is duty bound to make his fortune first. In the Valley, American settlement is still new and the rules are ever shifting. Alongside Karak; Jivan and his wife, Kishen; and Amarjeet, a U.S. soldier, Ram struggles to farm in the unforgiving desert. When he meets an alluring woman who has fought in Mexico's revolution, he strives to stay true to his wife. The Valley is full of settlers hailing from other cities and different continents. The stakes are high and times are desperate--just one bad harvest or stolen crop could destabilize a family. And as anti- immigrant sentiment rises among white residents, the tensions of life in the west finally boil over.

• Starling Days by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan- On their first date, Mina told Oscar that she was bisexual, vegetarian, and on meds. He married her anyhow. A challenge to be met. She had low days, sure, but manageable. But now, maybe not so much... Mina is standing on the George Washington Bridge late at night, staring over the edge, when a patrol car drives up. She tries to convince the policeman she's not about to jump, but he doesn't believe her. Oscar is called to pick her up. With the idea of leaving New York for London--a place for Mina "to learn the floorplan of this sadness"--Oscar arranges a move. In London, Mina, a classicist, tries grappling with her mental health issues by making lists. Of WOMEN WHO SURVIVED--Penelope, Psyche, Leda. Iphigenia, but only in one of the tellings. Of things that make her HAPPY--enamel coffee cups. But what else? She at last finds a beam of light in Phoebe, and friendship and attraction blossom until Oscar and Mina's complicated love is tested.
• The Garden of Bewitchment by Catherine Cavendish- In 1893, Evelyn and Claire leave their home in a Yorkshire town for life in a rural retreat on their beloved moors. But when a strange toy garden mysteriously appears, a chain of increasingly terrifying events is unleashed. Neighbour Matthew Dixon befriends Evelyn, but seems to have more than one secret to hide. Then the horror really begins. The Garden of Bewitchment is all too real and something is threatening the lives and sanity of the women. Evelyn no longer knows who - or what - to believe. And time is running out. 
• The New Life of Hugo Gardner by Louis Begley- After four decades of what he believes to be a happy, healthy partnership, Hugo Gardner's world is overturned when he learns that his wife, Valerie, is not only requesting a divorce but has left him for a younger, more vital man. Hugo, an octogenarian political writer and retired journalist for Time, must rethink the way he's lived, and reassess how he'd like to spend his remaining years. Reconsidering past relationships in his mind, with years of distance, Hugo begins to see things in a new light: Valerie, whose youth and ambition eventually came between them; his children, whose support might be more financially than emotionally motivated; and his friends, who, like him are rapidly aging before his very eyes. With an ominous oncologist's report hanging over his head, Hugo decides to get away for a bit, to a conference in Paris. There, a new romance blooms and Hugo finds himself wondering if growing old in Paris might be the perfect antidote to the drama he left behind in New York.
• Book of the Little Axe by Lauren Francis-Sharma- In 1796 Trinidad, young Rosa Rendón quietly but purposefully rebels against the life others expect her to lead. Bright, competitive, and opinionated, Rosa sees no reason she should learn to cook and keep house, for it is obvious her talents lie in running the farm she, alone, views as her birthright. But when her homeland changes from Spanish to British rule, it becomes increasingly unclear whether its free black property owners--Rosa's family among them--will be allowed to keep their assets, their land, and ultimately, their freedom. By 1830, Rosa is living among the Crow Nation in Bighorn, Montana with her children and her husband, Edward Rose, a Crow chief. Her son Victor is of the age where he must seek his vision and become a man. But his path forward is blocked by secrets Rosa has kept from him. So Rosa must take him to where his story began and, in turn, retrace her own roots, acknowledging along the way, the painful events that forced her from the middle of an ocean to the rugged terrain of a far-away land.
• What You Don't See by Tracy Clark- Wealth. Power. Celebrity. Vonda Allen's glossy vanity magazine has taken the Windy City by storm, and she's well on her way to building a one-woman media empire. Everybody adores her. Except the people who work for her. And the person who's sending her flowers with death threats… As Vonda's bodyguard, off-duty cop Ben Mickerson knows he could use some back-up-and no one fits the bill better than his ex-partner on the police force, Cass Raines. Now a full-time private eye, Cass is reluctant to take the job. She isn't keen on playing babysitter to a celebrity who's rumored to be a heartless diva. But as a favor to Ben, she signs on. But when Vonda refuses to say why someone might be after her, and two of her staff turn up dead, Ben and Cass must battle an unknown assailant bent on getting to the great lady herself, before someone else dies. Cass finds out the hard way just how persistent a threat they face during the first stop on Vonda's book tour. As fans clamour for her autograph, things take an ugly turn when a mysterious fan shows up with flowers and slashes Ben with a knife. While her ex-partner's life hangs in the balance, Cass is left to find out what secrets Vonda is keeping, who might want her dead, and how she can bring Ben's attacker to justice before enemies in the Chicago Police Department try to stop her in her tracks…

• Edgar Allan Poe and the Empire of the Dead by Karen Lee Street- Summer, 1849. When Edgar Allan Poe travels to Paris to help his dear friend hunt down the elusive criminal who bought the Dupin family to ruin during the French Revolution, the sleuthing duo are engaged by the prefect of police to recover the stolen letter of an infamous Parisian salonnière. Is the thief one of the French literary greats who attend her salons, or might it be Dupin's own enemy who is scheming to become the Emperor of France? Poe and Dupin are quickly embroiled in a deadly cat and mouse game that takes them to the treacherous tunnels of the city's necropolis, where few who venture into the notorious Empire of the Dead manage to return from the darkness... The third in the author's critically acclaimed Edgar Allan Poe series, Empire of the Dead is a thrilling historical mystery about alchemy, mesmerism and magic, the shadows of the past, and the endurance of love. 
• Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory- Dating is the last thing on Olivia Monroe's mind when she moves to LA to start her own law firm. But when she meets a gorgeous man at a hotel bar and they spend the entire night flirting, she discovers too late that he is none other than hotshot junior senator Max Powell. Because of Max's high-profile job, they start seeing each other secretly, which leads to clandestine dates and silly disguises. But when they finally go public, the intense media scrutiny means people are now digging up her rocky past and criticizing her job, even her suitability as a trophy girlfriend. Olivia knows what she has with Max is something special, but is it strong enough to survive the heat of the spotlight?
• The Shooting at Chateau Rock by Martin Walker- It's summer in the Dordogne. The heirs of a Périgordian sheep farmer learn that they have been disinherited, and their father's estate sold to an insurance company in return for a policy that will place him in a five-star retirement home for the rest of his life. But the farmer never gets his life of luxury--he dies before moving in. Was it a natural death? Was there foul play? Bruno begins the investigation that leads him to several shadowy insurance companies owned by a Russian oligarch with a Cypriot passport. The companies are based in Cyprus, Malta, and Luxembourg, but Bruno finds a weak spot in France: the Russian's France-based notaire and insurance agent. As Bruno is pursuing this lead, the oligarch's daughter turns up in the Périgord, and complications ensue, eventually bringing the action to the château of an aging rock star. But, as ever, Bruno makes time for lunch amid it all.
• Trace Elements by Donna Leon- When Dottoressa Donato calls the Questura to report that a dying patient at the hospice Fatebenefratelli wants to speak to the police, Commissario Guido Brunetti and his colleague, Claudia Griffoni, waste no time in responding. "They killed him. It was bad money. I told him no," Benedetta Toso gasps the words about her recently-deceased husband, Vittorio Fadalto. Even though he is not sure she can hear him Brunetti softly promises he and Griffoni will look into what initially appears to be a private family tragedy. They discover that Fadalto worked in the field collecting samples of contamination for a company that measures the cleanliness of Venice's water supply and that he had died in a mysterious motorcycle accident. Distracted briefly by Vice Questore Patta's obsession with youth crime in Venice, Brunetti is bolstered once more by the remarkable research skills of Patta's secretary, Signora Elettra Zorzi. Piecing together the tangled threads, in time Brunetti comes to realize the perilous meaning in the woman's accusation and the threat it reveals to the health of the entire region. But justice in this case proves to be ambiguous, as Brunetti is reminded it can be when, seeking solace, hereads Aeschylus's classic play The Eumenides.
• The Engineer's Wife by Tracy Enerson Wood- Emily Roebling refuses to live conventionally--she knows who she is and what she wants, and she's determined to make change. But then her husband asks the unthinkable: give up her dreams to make his possible. Emily's fight for women's suffrage is put on hold, and her life transformed when her husband Washington Roebling, the Chief Engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge, is injured on the job. Untrained for the task, but under his guidance, she assumes his role, despite stern resistance and overwhelming obstacles. But as the project takes shape under Emily's direction, she wonders whose legacy she is building--hers, or her husband's. As the monument rises, Emily's marriage, principles, and identity threaten to collapse. When the bridge finally stands finished, will she recognize the woman who built it? Based on the true story of an American icon, The Engineer's Wifedelivers an emotional portrait of a woman transformed by a project of unfathomable scale, which takes her into the bowels of the East River, suffragette riots, the halls of Manhattan's elite, and the heady, freewheeling temptations of P.T. Barnum.

Vidcode is a fun, engaging online platform that patrons can use for free to learn how to code using Javascript. I'd previously written a blog post explaining how to access Vidcode and create and account, and I talked a little bit about what you can do in Vidcode. You can view that post by clicking here. Now I'd like to go a little more in-depth and show you some of the kinds of projects you can code with Vidcode. Vidcode has all of their content organized into 12 units, and in each unit there are 5 to 10 activities for you to complete. Each unit and activity builds upon previous ones, so it is a nice, straightforward step-by-step learning system. Once you follow the steps in my previous blog post that I mentioned earlier, you should have an account and can click on "Start Coding" to jump right in.

The projects in Vidcode are fun and meant to let you use your creativity. You can create a variety of things, including: filters (like the ones you can find on Snapchat or Instagram!), memes, gifs, games, and more. Let's take a look at one of the projects so you can see how Vidcode works. The first project is creating a filter. When you choose that project, you will be brought to a screen that serves as your work space.

As you can see in the above screenshot, you will find instructions on the left hand side that guide you through the project. Typically, you start off by choosing an image or video clip. Vidcode provides some video clips and images on the right hand side that you can choose from, or you can upload your own. In my example here, I chose a clip of a lava lamp. As you progress through the instructions, you will learn lines of code and Vidcode will explain what the lines of code are and you'll be able to see how it changes your image or video clip. The white space in the middle is where lines of code will go. Right now it is just showing the code for the clip I chose, and the actual clip is playing on the right above where you can choose which image or video clip you want.

As you can see in this screenshot, there are now more lines of code in the middle part of the screen. You can see that my lava lamp clip on the right side looks a lot different from the original in the previous screenshot.  It is really cool to see how the lines of code change your clip or image right away. Vidcode provides very clear, straightforward explanations for each line of code. They will also walk you through on how to change the values associated with each line of code, which is the numbers or text you see in between the parentheses (i.e. "Green" and 50 in the parentheses next to Tint). Changing those values can create different effects. As you become more comfortable with coding, you can start to type in all different kinds of codes in that white space in the middle and create different effects, colors, animations, and more. That pretty much wraps up this first project. 

Vidcode provides a straightforward, step-by-step learning system to make learning code easier. There are a variety of fun, engaging projects for you to do, and this can all be done for free! We will be doing a couple of coding classes for teens this summer as well. They will be held virtually via Zoom. One class is called Code a Meme and it will be held on Monday, June 22 from 2 pm to 3 pm and also on Monday, July 27 from 2 pm to 3 pm. The other class we'll be doing is Code a Snapchat Filter and that will be on Monday, July 13 from 2 pm to 3 pm.

 If you have any questions about Vidcode, please feel free to give us a call at 847-428-3661 or email us at libraryhelp@frvpld.info or librarykids@frvpld.info.

Have you gone through your stack of library books at home and are looking for more to read? Here are some new books that were recently added to the teen collection. These books fall into a range of genres-- contemporary, science fiction, mystery, fantasy, historical fiction, romance, and a collection of short stories. You can sign up to have your holds delivered to you, or, starting Monday, you can pick up your holds that are ready for pickup curbside at the Dundee Library. At the time of writing, these titles were available to check out.

	The New David Espinoza by Fred Aceves Obsessed with the idea that he is not muscular enough and tired of being bullied, David, age seventeen, begins using steroids, endangering his relationships with family and friends.
	Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America edited by Ibi Zoboi Black is urban and rural, wealthy and poor, mixed race, immigrants, and more--because there are countless ways to be Black enough. Featuring some of the most acclaimed, bestselling Black authors writing for teens today, this is a collection of captivating coming-of-age stories about what it's like to be young and Black in America.
	Black Girl Unlimited: The Remarkable Story of a Teenage Wizard by Echo Brown From age six through her high school valedictory speech, believing she and her mother are wizards helps young Echo cope with poverty, hunger, her mother's drug abuse, and much more.
	Foul is Fair by Hannah Capin Jade and her friends Mads, Jenny, and Summer rule their glittering L.A. circle. Untouchable, they have the kind of power people envy. Every party is theirs and the world is at their feet. Until the night of Jade's sweet sixteen, when they crash a St. Andrew's Prep party. The night the golden boys choose Jade as their next target. They night they picked the wrong girl. Sworn to vengeance, Jade transfers to St. Andrew's and plots to destroy each boy, one by one. She'll take their power, their lives, and their control of the prep school's hierarchy. And she and her coven have the perfect way in: a boy named Mack, whose ambition could turn deadly.
	In the Shadow of the Sun by E.M. Castellan In 1661 France, seventeen-year-old Henriette of England must navigate her arranged marriage to Louis XIV's brother while keeping her magical abilities a careful secret from all at the Sun King's court.
	Wicked as You Wish by Rin Chupeco First book in a new series. Years after the evil Snow Queen desolated the magical kingdom of Avalon, Prince Alexei, his friend Tala, and a ragtag band, inspired by the appearance of the Firebird, try to reclaim their land.
	The Queen’s Assassin by Melissa de la Cruz First book in a new series. The Queen's Assassin is forced to take on a mysterious apprentice on his most dangerous mission yet, pulling them both into a vicious web of secrets and lies.
	Turtle Under Ice by Juleah Del Rosario Told in two voices, sisters Row and Ariana are frozen by grief over their mother's death, years before, until Ariana leaves for reasons Row does not understand.
	Not so Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles High school junior Del Rainey unwittingly joins a Purity Pledge class at church, hoping to get closer to his long-term crush, Kiera.
	A Love Hate Thing by Whitney Grandison When Tyson Trice finds himself tossed into the wealthy coastal community of Pacific Hills, he's ready for the questions, the stares and the feeling of not belonging. Not that he cares. After recovering from being shot and surviving the rough streets of Lindenwood, he doesn't care about anyone or anything, much less how the rest of his life will play out. Golden girl Nandy Smith has spent most of her life building the pristine image it takes to make it in her hometown Pacific Hills. After learning that her parents are taking in a troubled teen boy, Nandy fears her summer plans, as well as her reputation, will go up in flames. Now with Trice living under the same roof, the wall between their bedrooms feels as thin as the line between love and hate. Beneath the angst, their growing attraction won't be denied.
	Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez Ximena is the decoy Condesa, a stand-in for the last remaining Illustrian royal. Her people lost everything when the usurper, Atoc, used an ancient relic to summon ghosts and drive the Illustrians from La Ciudad. Now Ximena's motivated by her insatiable thirst for revenge, and her rare ability to spin thread from moonlight. When Atoc demands the real Condesa's hand in marriage, it's Ximena's duty to go in her stead. She relishes the chance, as Illustrian spies have reported that Atoc's no longer carrying his deadly relic. If Ximena can find it, she can return the true aristócrata to their rightful place.
	What I Want You to See by Catherine Linka Sabine's scholarship to a prestigious art school was a dream come true, but one desperate decision might bring her new life crashing down.
	What I Carry by Jennifer Longo Growing up in foster care, Muir has lived in many houses. And if she's learned one thing, it is to Pack. Light. Carry only what fits in a suitcase. Toothbrush? Yes. Socks? Yes. Emotional attachment to friends? Foster families? A boyfriend? Nope! There's no room for any additional baggage. Muir has just one year left before she ages out of the system. One year before she's free. One year to avoid anything--or anyone--that could get in her way. Then she meets Francine. And Kira. And Sean. And everything changes.
	Just Breathe by Cammie McGovern David Sheinman is the popular president of his senior class, battling cystic fibrosis. Jamie Turner is a quiet sophomore, struggling with depression. The pair soon realizes that they're able to be more themselves with each other than they can be with anyone else, and their unlikely friendship starts to turn into something so much more. But neither Jamie nor David can bring themselves to reveal the secrets that weigh most heavily on their hearts--and their time for honesty may be running out.
	Lucky Caller by Emma Mills When Nina decides to take a radio broadcasting class her senior year, she expects it to be a walk in the park. Instead, it's a complete disaster. The members of Nina's haphazardly formed radio team have approximately nothing in common. And to maximize the awkwardness her group includes Jamie, a childhood friend she'd hoped to basically avoid for the rest of her life. The show is a mess, internet rumors threaten to bring the wrath of two fandoms down on their heads, and to top it all off Nina's family is on the brink of some major upheaval. Everything feels like it's spiraling out of control--but maybe control is overrated?
	How to Build a Heart by Maria Padian Izzy Crawford's family has been selected for a new home by Habitat for Humanity, near where the very attractive Sam lives, but just when her neighbor and best friend needs her most.
	Twisted Fates by Danielle Rollins Second book in the Dark Stars series. One past. Two girls. Infinite futures. Stolen Time. As far as Ash knows, Dorothy has disappeared. The stowaway from 1913, the girl who Ash maybe--possibly--could've loved: she's gone. But what Ash doesn't know is that the girl he fell in love with has become Quinn Fox--the very same person who is fated to kill him. As Ash and his friends watch New Seattle fall to crime and decay, Quinn struggles to keep her hold on the bloodthirsty Black Cirkus. The two circle time and space, weaving strands of the past and present into a deadly knot. When they finally collide, can they change the course of the future entirely?
	The Vinyl Underground by Rob Rufus In small-town Florida in 1968, four teens who bond over music and their objection to the Vietnam War decide to take a stand against the U.S. government and violent racism.
	What Kind of Girl by Alyssa Sheinmel Told in multiple voices, when popular Mike Parker's girlfriend informs North Bay Academy's principal that he has been hitting her, students react differently, revealing their own insecurities and problems.
	Scammed by Kristen Simmons Second book in the Vale Hall series. Brynn's new assignment, to try to bring Grayson's father to justice, threatens not only the future graduating from Vale Hall would ensure, but her relationships with her friends and almost-boyfriend.
	The Blossom and the Firefly by Sherri L. Smith Seventeen-year-old kamikaze pilot Taro and fifteen-year-old war worker Hana meet in 1945 Japan, he with no future and she, haunted by the past.
	This Train is Being Held by Ismée Williams Ballet dancer and private school student Isabelle Warren and poet and baseball star Alex Rosario grow closer after meeting on a subway, bonding over their parents' expectations and their own dreams.

We are excited to announce that we have added a new eResource called Scholastic Teachables! Scholastic Teachables provides thousands of free printable activity sheets, lesson plans, reading passages, and more. It also has games and puzzles, clip art, and bulletin board ideas. Content is available for PreK - 8th grade. This database is great for parents, teachers, homeschoolers and students. Scholastic Teachables is free to use with a valid library card and can be accessed from home.

Accessing Scholastic Teachables

1. Go to the Research Page on the library's website.

2. The eResources on this page are listed in alphabetical order, so scroll down to the S's and then click on Scholastic Teachables

3. A Scholastic Teachables login screen that requires you to put in a library card number. Enter a valid library card number and then click on "Log In."

Using Scholastic Teachables

Once you log in, you should see the Scholastic Teachables homepage. The menu on the left hand side of the screen is the main tool you can use to navigate the website. You can view content by grade, subject area, type, theme, and more. There is also a search bar at the top of the screen that you can use to search for content using keywords. Also on the left hand side of the screen is a standards tool where you can input a standard and view available resources that fit that standard. There is also clip art and leveled learning kits that have multiple printouts and the printouts cater to different learning levels: below grade level, at grade level and above grade level.

Once you choose a category or search for materials, you will see a results screen. You can scroll through and see the kinds of items that fit your search or chosen cateogry. Above the search results, you add additional filters to narrow the results down even more. 

Once you see an item you want, simply click on the name of the item. A new screen will open and you can read more details about the item. To print that item out, click on the red "Open" button, and a new screen will open with the full item ready to print out. Just click print and it's yours!

Scholastic Teachables provides thousands of great, free printable resources, including: activity sheets, lesson plans, graphic organizers, mini books, student organizers/logs, and more. There are also lots of puzzles and games, clip art, bulletin board ideas, test prep resources, research and study tools, and more. his database is great for parents, teachers, homeschoolers and students. Access it for free now with a valid FRVPLD card. If you have any questions about Scholastic Teachables, please feel free to stop by the Children’s Desk, call us at 847-428-3661, or email us at librarykids@frvpld.info.