Baseball season is upon us and today is a truly memorable day in baseball history.  April 15^th is Jackie Robinson Day; the 72^nd anniversary of his very first baseball game and the first time an African American played Major League Baseball. 

His uniform number, 42, was retired long ago, but every year on April 15^th, every Major League Baseball player wears the number 42 in honor of this baseball legend.  To commemorate the occasion, enjoy a baseball game or check out library materials based on the life of Jackie Robinson.  Here are a few that I recommend!

42 is Not Just a Number: the Odyssey of Jackie Robinson, American Hero by Doreen Rappaport: A youth biography about Jackie Robinson that is nominated for this year’s Caudill Award.

42: the Jackie Robinson Story:  A film based on the life of Jackie Robinson

The United States v. Jackie Robinson by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen: A youth non-fiction book about Jackie Robinson’s fights against prejudice during his military career

There will be a vacancy on the Fox River Valley Public Library District’s Board of Trustees effective May 21 due to a lack of candidates to fill all open positions on the April 2 consolidated election ballot. 

The vacancy will be filled by way of nomination of a candidate by the board President, subject to the approval of the full board at their June 18 meeting.  The appointee will serve for two years until the next consolidated election. 

Trustees serve without monetary compensation and must meet statutory eligibility requirements.  For information about the requirements, duties and responsibilities of a library trustee contact Library Director, Roxane Bennett, at (224) 699-5829.  To apply, please submit letter of interest and resume via email to: rbennett@frvpld.info by Monday, May 20 at 5 p.m.

The district serves 70,000 residents of Carpentersville, East Dundee, West Dundee, Sleepy Hollow, Gilberts, and parts of Algonquin. 

Are you a Monopoly expert? Love guessing games? Or do you want to show off your drawing or linguistic skills? We’ve got games for all of these and more! From classic games like Yahtzee and Uno to contemporary games like Exploding Kittens and Sushi Go!, we’ve got something for everyone.

If you haven’t seen them or been one of the lucky patrons playing them yet, dozens of table-top games have recently been added to the collections at Dundee and Randall Oaks and we’re excited to offer this in-house entertainment to our patrons. Bring a group of friends to either library to play for a single night, or go ahead and start a weekly/monthly/whatever game night meeting. Drop in Dundee’s Corner 68 anytime there isn’t a class and grab a game, or take a look at the collection anytime near Randall Oaks’ information desk. 

We have Game Nights for teens and adults coming up on April 11 and May 9 in Corner 68 that will feature the table-top games, video games, and snacks. And International Table-Top Game Day is coming up in the not-so-distant future on April 27, so what better time to check these out?

This Saturday, March 2^nd, is Dr. Seuss’s birthday and Read Across America, inviting every child in every community to celebrate reading.  Created by the National Education Association, Read Across America is simply a holiday for the love of reading.  You can find more information here.

How do you celebrate Read Across America?

SIMPLE!  Read your favorite book!  Share your favorite book with a friend! Find a new favorite book!  Celebrate your love of reading in whatever way serves you and your family best.

Why is Read Across America celebrated on Dr. Seuss’ birthday?

When this program was created, Dr. Seuss was chosen as a perfect example of a beloved Children’s book author.  His books are still praised and loved decades later and maintain their excellency in helping kids learn how to read.  His perseverance in his writing career, his hidden morals within fun and colorful stories, and his innovative writing styles targeting new readers have made him a key figure in Children’s literature.  However, with a slew of scrutiny surrounding Dr. Seuss’s political background and controversial imagery, the organization has taken a step back from a main focus on Dr. Seuss and re-focused on inspiring diverse literature in this annual celebration.  Book lovers may choose to celebrate this holiday as a Seuss-ical day or celebrate in a way that honors the books you love most.

Read Across America and Dr. Seuss at the Library:

Visit us at the library this weekend to discover the books you love.  For Dr. Seuss's birthday, we currently have a craft of a truffula tree from The Lorax, a Seuss book focused on environmentalism.  There is also a display of Geisel Award Medal and Honor books, titles that have been chosen to be the best American books for beginning readers, alongside a collection of Seuss classics.

Here are some new teen books that deal with love, relationships, romance, and all of the good/bad/ugly/hilarity/uncertainty that goes along with having crushes and falling hard for someone:

In Paris with You by Clementine Beauvais
Ten years after they parted, Tatiana and Eugene meet again in the Paris Metro and begin to explore their past, when they might have fallen in love, as well as their possible future. A novel in verse good for fans of Eleanor & Park.

29 Dates by Melissa de la Cruz
A rom-com perfect for fans of To All the Boys I've Loved Before; Ji-su's parents set her up on matchmaker-organized dates to meet a guy.

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.

When We Caught Fire by Anna Godbersen
Historical romance involving a love triangle between childhood friends, set in 1871 Chicago.

The Me I Meant to Be by Sophie Jordan
Best friends Willa and Flor are tempted by love that would violate the Girl Code when Willa's long-term crush, Zach, breaks up with Flor, who is fighting her own crush on her math tutor. For fans of Jenny Han and Simone Elkeles.

The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan
Seventeen-year-old Rukhsana Ali is looking forward to going to Caltech and getting away from her conservative Muslim parents' expectation that she will marry, especially since she is in love with her girlfriend Ariana--but when her parents catch her kissing Ariana, they whisk Rukhsana off to Bangladesh and a world of tradition and arranged marriages, and she must find the courage to fight for the right to choose her own path.

The State of Grace by Rachael Lucas
Grace is autistic and has her own way of looking at the world. She's got a horse and a best friend who understand her, and that's pretty much all she needs. But when Grace kisses Gabe and things start to change at home, the world doesn't make much sense to her any more. 

Only a Breath Apart by Katie McGarry
Childhood best friends Jesse and Scarlett reconnect at his grandmother's funeral and start to share their secrets and feelings for each other.

The Stars at Oktober Bend by Glenda Millard
Alice, who sustained a brain injury after a brutal rape, and Manny, a refugee and former child soldier, find and help each other heal after their horrible traumas. This book is told in verse; Alice cannot speak and instead communicates through poetry. 

You are the Everything by Karen Rivers
When sixteen-year-old Elyse Schmidt and her crush, Josh Harris, are the sole survivors of a plane crash, she believes that everything is perfect and their love story is meant to be, but she finds that fate is not always what you expect it to be. For fans of unreliable narrators and twist endings!

Odd One Out by Nic Stone
High school juniors and best friends Courtney and Jupe, and new sophomore Rae, explore their sexuality and their budding attractions for one another.

Love a la Mode by Stephanie Kate Strohm
High school juniors Rosie Radeke and Henry Yi, both enrolled in an elite cooking program in Paris, must balance rivalry and romance.

Pulp by Robin Talley
Tells the story of four different lesbian romances spanning different times and genres.

Pride by Ibi Zoboi
A retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in an ethnically diverse Brooklyn neighborhood.

The Seven Torments of Amy and Craig (A Love Story) by Don Zolidis
A coming-of-age story set in 1994 Wisconsin, chronicling the on-again-off-again relationship of Amy and Craig, who come to understand each other better through multiple disastrous breakups. Good for fans of Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman.

You’ve seen enough “Best Of” lists for 2018 by now, so the Randall Oaks staff thought we’d just share some of our favorites, whether they're critically lauded or not. Here’s a sampling of books and movies that came out last year that we enjoyed for various reasons- they made us think, they made us cry, they were just plain fun, etc.

Sam B.

Books:

Calypso by David Sedaris-  I don’t think it’s possible for Sedaris to write a book that doesn’t have me laughing out loud (which is why I can't read him in public anymore), though this one is heavier than a lot of his previous work.

Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics by Stephen Greenblatt-  Beautiful, scary, and relevant. Greenblatt once again brings Shakespeare’s work to life for our world today, proving that not much really changes from century to century. 

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones-  Unfortunately, the events of this novel felt all too real. Switching between multiple first person narrators and an epistolary format, the reader gets multiple sides of one tragic event and the consequences it reaps. 

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White-  An interesting re-telling of the Frankenstein tale (in honor of the 200 year anniversary of the original publication) narrated by Victor’s childhood companion/fiancé/eventual wife Elizabeth.

Movies: 

The Escape-  A very slow-paced film in which not a lot happens, this definitely isn’t for everyone. But I loved the non-judgmental portrayal of a woman’s struggles of the type that are usually shied away from in our culture.

BlacKkKlansman-  Alternatively funny and miserable, the end is particularly powerful.

The Favourite-  As a lover of British history, it was nice to see Queen Anne finally get some love. 

Mandy-  Nic Cage in a chainsaw duel. Enough said. 

Keri

Books: 

Laid-Back Camp by Afro-  A slice-of-life manga about five girls who really enjoy winter camping. That's it. It's amazing.

We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix-  The former guitarist of a heavy metal band finds out that the price of fame is really high.

The Second Life of Ava Rivers by Faith Gardner- Vera's twin sister Ava disappeared twelve years ago on Halloween night. Now, when Vera is 18 and ready to start her life over somewhere new - ready to become someone other than the sister of the missing girl - a woman who claims to be Ava appears.   

Movies: 

A Simple Favor

A Star is Born

A Quiet Place

Crazy Rich Asians

A Simple Favor was bonkers. Also shout out to Henry Golding for being in two of my favorite movies this year.

Shannon

Books: 

Girl, Wash Your Face: stop believing the lies about who you are so you can become who you were meant to be by Rachel Hollis  

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James 

Girl, Wash Your Face... wasn't actually a favorite, but one of the only couple released last year that I read. I read it mostly to see why it was so popular but I didn't see the appeal. 

Samantha Q.

Books: 

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: a sortabiography by Eric Idle

A Star is Born: Judy Garland and the film that got away by Lorna Luft

In Pieces by Sally Field 

My Girls: a lifetime with Carrie and Debbie by Todd Fisher

Movies: 

Bohemian Rhapsody

Incredibles 2

Andrea

Books:

Citizen Illegal by Jose Olivarez-  This is a collection of poems that looked into the life of being a first generation Mexican American. I felt that it spoke to many aspects of my own life and Jose is a very good acquaintance of mine.  

Ghosts in the Schoolyard: racism and school closings on Chicago’s South Side by Eve Ewing-  I'm studying to one day be an high school English teacher so I try to read up on a lot of educational topics. This book blew my mind about schools on Chicago's Southside. Definitely a good read! 

On My Way to Liberation by H. Melt-  This is a collection of poems that depict life as a trans non binary person navigating Chicago. H. Melt is honest and very vocal about issues regarding trans identity and I feel like this is a very important read. 

If They Come for Us by Fatimah Asghar-  I love reading about people who are different than me. The only Muslim representation I was given was reading the Kite Runner so it was nice to see another interpretation of what life as a Muslim is like. Fati is one of my favorite people and this book is so well written.   

This was a superaltive year for music, particularly by female artists such as Janelle Monae, Kacey Musgraves and Cardi B, who made many music critics' top of albums of the year lists.  While my list is still mostly female-centric (well done, ladies!), I tend towards the indie and depressive in taste.  Below are my five favorite albums of the year, definitely worth checking out whether you share my lugubriousness or not:

Robyn- Honey

Yay! Swedish pop star Robyn is back from an eight year-hiatus with an album about loss, grief and recovery that somehow manages to be both life affirming and danceable.

Mitski- Be the Cowboy

Exploring the darker, toxic side of love through a series of vignettes, this album has a dark edge that’s not softened by Mitski’s icy vocals.  But with fuzzy 90s shoegaze guitars, a black sense of humor, and a propulsive beat, there is a lot to enjoy!   

Lucy Dacus- Historian

This album is currently in heavy rotation at my house. Sound-wise, Dacus’s warm vocals, literary lyrics and bigger rock sound remind me of later albums by Sharon Van Etten.  Opening track “Night Shift” is one of the most perfectly rendered break-up songs ever.

Blood Orange- Negro Swan

Anxiety pulses through the tracks on this sublime R&B album, which explores feelings of being a marginalized person in today’s environment, including spoken word narration between songs by trans activist Janet Mock.   

Ariana Grande- Sweetener

Grande has had a tumultuous couple of years, including having a terrorist attack at one of her concerts and losing a former boyfriend to drug addiction.  However, Sweetener transcends the sorrow and is a joyful listening experience.  Grande’s vocals and rhythms do a good job of capturing the fun of early 90s R&B tracks, with a positive feminist message.