Meet Raina!

When I was younger my absolute favorite book series in the world was the Babysitter's Club by Ann M. Martin. What's the Babysitter's Club? It's about a group of girls who met weekly to take calls to arrange babysitting jobs for themselves for parents in their neighborhood. They were awesome. When I was a kid that was what I wanted to do.

So imagine my complete happiness when a couple of years ago I discovered that the first four books of the series had been adapted as graphic novels by Raina Telgemeier. Raina is an incredible graphic novelist. She did a fantastic job with the stories. When I read them, it was like I was revisiting my childhood and Raina captured exactly how I imagined the characters to be and seem in her amazing drawings.

Then two years ago she released another book that was even more incredible. Her book Smile is an autobiographical account of her time in middle school. In it she deals with friends (if your friends are mean to you are they really your friends?), family (sometimes mom, dad, and siblings just don't understand), as well as the trauma of unending trips to the dentist to repair her mouth when she knocked out her two front teeth. Raina, in her personal experience, captured the highs and lows (and there are many--at least for me) of middle school and high school. Both boys and girls have enjoyed reading it--a rare treat.

I'm so happy to announce that Raina will be hosting a program for the library called Creating Comics: A Hands-on Workshop. In the program, teens from grades 6-12 will learn about writing stories and making illustrations for comics and then get a chance to start their own. After the program Raina will be signing copies of Smile for them. Each teen who comes will get a copy of Smile to take home with them as a memento of the program. Copies of Smile were generously donated by the Friends of the Library.

This program is being held at Algonquin Middle School in the Library Media Center. A map of where Algonquin Middle School is located can be found here.

When: Thursday, March 22 from 4:30-5:30, book signing to follow
Where: Library Media Center in Algonquin Middle School

Smile
BSC #1 Kristy's Great Idea
BSC #2 The Truth About Stacey
BSC #3 Mary Ann Saves the Day
BSC #4 Claudia and Mean Janine

That's a WRAP!

2011 was a year of great gifts for the Des Plaines Public Library Youth Services Department. We were able to do some moving, some rearranging, some purchasing of new furniture; all to help make your visits to the Youth Services Department more accessible and enjoyable. Many of our collections have been consolidated, expanded, or moved to new locations to better serve you and we have some exciting new things we hope you will enjoy.

Some of these new developments you can see for yourself. The first thing you may notice when you next visit the 2nd floor is the new wall of magazines on display. Where this wall used to hold only the most current issue of your favorite kids magazines, now all the issues are right there, ready to go home with you. Each magazine has its own container so they are easy to locate. Magazines are great for trips to the grocery store, rides in the car, or any time.

Make sure you check out the new and improved Holiday collection. What does it mean if there is no shadow on Groundhog Day? Want to make a great Hanukkah potato latke? Need a good story to share with your child's class at the Chinese New Year? It's so easy to find the answers with newly arranged shelves that are clearly labeled and books identified with holiday stickers.

We got some new chairs! They are bright, sturdy, attractive, and mobile. Both adults and children who have had an opportunity to sit in them comment on how nice and comfortable they are.

When asked if they liked the new chairs, this group of boys answered, "Yeah."

Another addition is our beautiful new LEGO table

outfitted with duplo blocks, perfect for little hands and big imaginations. Imaginative play is an essential part of building early literacy skills. Come play at the table with your young children and create buildings or animals or anything you wish. This memorial table was made possible in part by a generous gift from the family of former library staff and Youth Services team member Judy Reiss, who passed away in 2010.

There is a new section just for Graphic Novels, new shelving for movies and music in the Foreign Language collection, the audio books on CD have moved and expanded, and there's so much more!

We give many thanks to the pages of the Circulation Department who planned and plotted and dusted and measured and moved so many items. We also give many thanks to the Technical Services Department staff who re-moved, re-cataloged, and re-stickered so much of our collection. And I want to thank the staff of the Youth Services Department who worked hard, organized projects, communicated with other departments, waited (mostly) patiently, and celebrated the gifts we were given this year.

Please come and visit us at the library soon to see the many additions and changes that have come to the department in 2011. Have a happy New Year, and we will look forward to seeing you and dreaming up more new projects for the library in 2012.

2011 Graphic Novel Wrap Up

Here at the library we love graphic novels! In fact, we recently started a new section just for juvenile graphic novels. This way kids can easily find these popular materials. 2011 has been a strong year for graphic novels. As an avid reader of the genre there are many I would recommend. Here are my top choices for the year. Drumroll please!

J Graphic Novels

Squish by Jennifer Holm and Matt Holm (ages 7-9)

From the creators of Babymouse comes a funny new character. Squish was introduced in Babymouse: Mad Scientist when Babymouse discovered a new kind of amoeba. Squish is just your regular amoeba. He reads graphic novels starring his favorite super hero Super Amoeba. He's late to school. His best friend mooches his lunch money every day. And Squish has a problem with the school bully. If he doesn't let the bully cheat off his test the bully will hurt one of Squish's friends. What's an amoeba to do?

Lunch Lady and the Field Trip Fiasco by Jarrett Krosoczka (grades 3-4)

The Lunch Lady graphic novels is hands down one of my favorite series. This is an imaginative take on what if the school's lunch ladies were crime busters and their inventive food related items actually helped them with their crime fighting abilities. Only the Breakfast Bunch gang knows their secret. In the latest addition to the series Lunch Lady fills in as a chaperone for the field trip to the art museum. However she's so excited to see how the fantastic works of art that she's oblivious to the fact that something is suspicious about the museum. Can the Breakfast Bunch figure out what's going on and wake Lunch Lady up to the misdoings at the museum?

Sidekicks by Dan Santat (ages 8-12)

Sidekicks is my pick for older J Graphic Novel readers. Captain Amazing decides that since he's getting older it's time for a sidekick. His dog, hamster, and chameleon decide that want the job. While out working on their training that run into Captain Amazing's old sidekick, Static Cat. Static Cat agrees to help train them. Which sidekick will Captain Amazing choose? Will he defeat the villain Dr. Havoc? Older readers will enjoy this superhero comic with plenty of heart and adventures.

YA Graphic Novels

Stickman Odyssey: An Epic Doodle by Christopher Ford (grades 5-8)

Once this graphic novel starts the action never stops. It's a clever retelling of The Odyssey. Zozimos is the King of Sticathia and he's trying to make his way back to his kingdom. The figures are all cleverly done in stick figure style and there's lots of sly humor mixed with potty jokes ("By Zeus' butt!") which is perfect for middle school boys (and girls).

Astronaut Academy by Dave Roman (ages 10-14)

Author Dave Roman takes the drama and fun of middle school and sets it in a futuristic space academy that includes a panda as an instructor. Hakata Soy is new transfer to the school. Starting a new school is challenging and it's about to get even worse for Hakata when his enemy creates a duplicate robot version of Hakata and sends it to the school to destroy him. Ah, the joys of middle school.

Next time you're at the library stop by to check out one of these titles for your child or feel free to ask a librarian for more great suggestions. If your child loves graphic novels please tell them to come to the desk and tell us about their favorites! We always love to hear what they enjoy reading.

New Graphic Novels

Many great new graphic novels have come into the library lately. Here are a couple of titles kids will want to start reading right away:

The Coliseum Con by Demetrio Bargellini (in the Geronimo Stilton graphic novel series)

Lunch Lady and the Summer Camp Shakedown by Jarrett Krosoczka

Zeus: King of the Gods by George O'Connor (Athena also available)

The World of Cars: Radiator Springs by Allan J. Porter

Investigating Machu Picchu: An Isabel Soto Archaeology Adventure by Emily Sohn

Hamster and Cheese by Colleen A. F. Venable

Donald Duck and Friends by Fausto Vitaliano

The Incredibles: Family Matters by Mark Waid

Looking for more great graphic novels? The Youth Services department has lots of great suggestions! Just stop by the Youth Services desk on the second floor and ask. We'll be happy to tell you more.