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We’re still in the midst of a pandemic so it should come as little surprise that Halloween celebrations and trick-or-treating will look different this year.

Do not let this stop you from getting into the Halloween spirit though!

Check out one of these spooky titles to get the adrenaline going and give you those frights you are looking for, all from the safety of your home.

Costumes optional.

Continue Reading "Creepy Reads for Teens to get into the Halloween Spirit" →

October brings many things—the changing of the leaves, pumpkins, new latte flavors… but one facet of October that sometimes gets missed is LGBTQ+ History Month.

This month commemorates National Coming Out Day on October 11th, as well as the first and second marches on Washington for LGBTQ+ rights in 1979 and 1987.

It’s also interesting to note that LGBTQ+ History Month directly follows Banned Books Week, the last week of September.

LGBTQ+ books are some of the most frequently challenged books in schools, from Captain Underpants to The Color Purple.

Continue Reading "Read With Pride" →

Even if you've never read Proust, you might have some inkling that there's a strong association between madeleines, a small rich cake, typically baked in a shell-shaped mold and often decorated with coconut and jam, and memory. 

About 50 pages into the 3000 page behemoth of the novel Remembrance of Things Past, the author describes a flood of memory coming back to him with the first bite of this little scalloped French pastry.

Who doesn't have sentimental taste memories?

Continue Reading "Marcel Proust’s Madeleines" →

Fairy tales are generally associated with children, of good triumphing over evil. 

But what if the stories that we know and love were twisted on their head? 

What if Cinderella was actually a cyborg sent to save the world, or what if the evil queen was simply misunderstood? 

Often, fairy tales are told from one perspective, that of the hero or princess. 

But what if we heard the story from the so-called villain's perspective? 

Continue Reading "Twisted Fairy Tales: The Villain’s Perspective" →

Halloween is almost here and – because we’re living in the year 2020 – it seems extra scarier than ever!

Wouldn’t it be nice to focus on some less frightening Halloween memories of the past? Of course it would! ⁠

This month we share spooky-but-cute moments from the files of the Des Plaines Public Library Youth Services Department. And more! ⁠
 

Continue Reading "Halloween in Des Plaines" →