It’s finally here! It’s award season … for books! Early every year, the American Library Association (ALA) hosts its annual Youth Media Awards Press Conference. At this time, authors and illustrators of children’s and young adult literature are honored for the outstanding works they have published over the last year. Recognized worldwide for the high…
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What is Afrofuturism? There are some dictionary definition answers I could give, but they wouldn’t fully encompass the idea and there is still disagreement about what exactly defines it. The genre was born decades ago but is still developing and even some people who are categorized into it do not want to be. Also, I’m…
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My daughter, Samantha, and I joined a mother-daughter book club when she was in fourth grade. The club consisted of the two of us and Samantha’s best friend and her mother. That club lasted until we had to move just before the start of sixth grade. And even though we are now just a club…
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As 2017 comes to an end, the children’s staff at DBRL have been reminiscing about the fabulous new books that arrived on our shelves this year. While it’s hard to pick a favorite, there are some books that stood apart from the rest. Here are our favorite 20 favorite books for kids published in 2017…
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We’ve all got a lot to learn, whether about the world we live in, the people around us, or simply how to be a better human. In my short time at DBRL, I’ve found that the most accessible information on any topic will be in the children’s section, broken down into pictures and phrases that…
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Hello Winter Break! If you’d like a little escapism in your reading before diving back into the next semester, check out these new books I ordered. We’ve got a heist, a magical mystery and a summer romance. “A Million to One” by Adiba Jaigirdar Are you ready for an all girl heist set aboard the…
Continue reading "The Selector’s Selections: December 2022" Teens
November is Native American Heritage Month! It is a time to celebrate the traditions, languages, and stories of Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Island communities and to acknowledge the important contributions of Native people. So if you want to learn (or re-learn) some North American history or take a dive into Indigenous futurism…
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When Shakespeare wrote “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown,” it was King Henry IV moaning that people with great responsibility don’t sleep very well. While riches and power don’t seem like much of a problem to me, fictional royalty often has a lot of kingdom-saving and evil battling to do. So if…
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What happens when you ask a mischievous panda to help explain the rules of your book? Total, adorable mayhem! In “This Is My Book!” by Mark Pett, a gangly chap (who represents Pett himself) talks to the reader, explaining that he’s the author and illustrator of the book. He sets up some guidelines, instructing the…
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“A truly great library contains something in it to offend everyone.” ~Mary Jo Godwin, Librarian It’s fall again and another Banned Books Week is here, September 26 to October 2. This year’s theme is Books Unite Us: Censorship Divides Us. I have written several posts about banned books in the past detailing why various books…
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