Teens made the most amazing color-shifting potions using food coloring and mica powder in a water-rubbing alcohol solution, then decorated their bottles with various labels and sealing wax. These make great props for parties, or D&D, or cosplay! Lots of ideas and recipes and designs can be found here. Check out some of the potions we made!
A most excellent variety of wreaths were created by participants at the library’s Wreaths of Khan event this December. To Khan or not to Khan, that was the question. Check out our creations below!
Going on RIGHT NOW in Program Room #2 – the inaugural session of Girls Click Bricks, our new LEGO building program for girls in middle and high school. Today’s project is a candy dispenser and participants are already well on their way to completing their builds! Do you <3 LEGO? Join us next time! (Register for Girls Click Bricks events online, or call the library to sign up – 847-669-5386).
To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose Fantasy * * * * Stars (Great!) Anequs, a fifteen-year-old indigenous girl, discovers a dragon’s egg on her people’s island, and brings it back to her village – as tradition dictates – where everyone gathers to dance and sing and tell stories to welcome the dragon within. When the egg hatches, the hatchling, Kasaqua, chooses Anequs to be her Nampeshiweisit (her person). Anequs’ brother who has lived … Read more
Lonely Castle in the Mirror (manga series) by Mizuki Tsujimura & Tomo Taketomi Fantasy Manga Mystery * * * Stars (Pretty good) Kokoro and 6 other teens are chosen to visit a magical castle which they reach by traveling through mirrors. Ookami-sama (a girl in a wolf mask) greets them and explains that they have 1 year to find a key that will grant one of them their dearest wish. In the meantime, they can … Read more
Bliss Adair and the First Rule of Knitting by Jean Mills Realistic Fiction Romance * * * * Stars (Great!) Bliss Adair is an accomplished knitter as well as a math wiz. She spends a lot of time helping out at her folks’ yarn store, which puts her in the unfortunate position of hearing something she shouldn’t and now wishes she didn’t know. When she connects that piece of information with an acquaintance at school, … Read more
Meet Me on Mercer Street by Booki Vivat Graphic Novel Realistic Fiction * * * Stars (Pretty good) Kacie goes away for the summer and when she comes home to Mercer Street she discovers her best friend Nisha has moved away and Nisha’s dad’s convenience store has been turned into a fancy modern Smart shop. Kacie is an artist and is constantly drawing what she sees, so she documents a lot of what’s going on … Read more
The Magician’s Daughter by H.G. Parry Fantasy * * * * Stars (Great!) Biddy (Bridget) was orphaned as an infant and raised by a mage on a magical island (Hy Brasil) that most people don’t believe exist. She’s seventeen now, and getting kind of antsy to leave her home and see what the rest of the world (ideally, London) is like. Rowan, the mage who took her in, keeps promising that he’ll take her there … Read more
Focused by Alyson Gerber Realistic Fiction * * * Stars (Pretty good) Clea is finding it hard to focus and she’s falling behind in school and having problems at home, too. Her folks take her to see a specialist who diagnoses her with ADHD. While Clea isn’t thrilled with the assessment, she also starts seeing the benefits of getting treatment/help. She starts taking medication to help her concentrate, learns strategies to help her cope, and … Read more
Tell Me What Really Happened by Chelsea Sedoti Mystery Suspense Thriller * * * Stars (Pretty good) Maylee Hayes goes missing on a camping trip, and the police are trying to determine what happened to her by interviewing her friends who were there – Petra, Nolan, Abigail, and John. Each chapter is voiced by a different character in response to the questions they’ve been asked. Petra is Maylee’s BFF and she’s convinced that Maylee is … Read more