Staff Pick: The Camping Trip

In this picture book, a Black family explores the wonders and challenges of camping! Ernestine lives with her single dad in the city. When her aunt Jackie and cousin Samantha invite her to go camping with them she eagerly accepts. With dad's help, Ernestine gathers and packs all the essentials needed for an outdoor adventure. She imagines what camping will be like and can't wait!

But we all know that things don't always turn out the way we imagine... like the difficulty in putting up a tent, or that swimming in a lake - and not at the YMCA pool means - fish!

Ernestine tackles these new challenges with grace, and shows us that adventure and nature are for everyone willing to keep an open mind. Graphic novel style panels and the occasional word bubble pair perfectly with pencil collage illustrations. This is a slice of life story with a positive representation of a Black family, and a realistic and relatable main character. It is a great how-to book for first time campers! Recommended for ages 3-7.

Reviewed by Claire C., Senior Information Assistant

The Coiled Crown: A Fantasy-Themed Digital Escape Room

The Coiled Crown

Journey into a ruined fantasy world in search of an ancient queen's crown. Inspired by games like Dark Souls, Mortal Shell, and Metroid, you'll need to unearth the forgotten lore of haunted places like the Netherworld Forest, Scorched Keep, and Lost Catacombs in order to solve the adventure's puzzles.

You can attempt this escape room by yourself or as a group. Make sure to read the instructions on the first page of the escape room since it explains how the game is set up. This escape room is intended for teens, but adults can test out their mettle too! Good luck!

Created for the Library by Sersa Victory.

 

Start your adventure

 

 

Light-Up Winter Card: A Take & Make Teen Program

Follow along to learn how to make a light-up winter card! Watch the video then use the step-by-step instructions listed below for additional guidance in creating your card! This project uses supplies included in our Light-Up Winter Card: A Take & Make Teen program. If you weren't able to snag a kit you can still create a card, you'll just need the supplies listed below!

Supplies included in the Take & Make Teen kit:

  • Pre printed Cardstock paper Circuit Template
  • 2032 3v Coin Cell Battery
  • About 2-3’ Conductive Copper Tape
  • 4 LEDs
  • A Piece of transparency  
  • Assorted Cardstock Shapes
  • And the Paperclip that attached the bag to the template

 

Additional supplies needed:

  • Clear Tape
  • Scissors
  • A sharp knife
  • Permanent Marker
  • Drawing Materials, etc.

 

Step 1: Test the LEDs

If you look at the LEDs you’ll notice that it looks like a little bulb with two wires, also known as leads, emerging from it. One of the wires is longer than the other. The longer of the two leads is known as the anode or positive lead. The shorter of the two is called the cathode or negative lead. Electricity only can flow in one direction through this part, from the anode to the cathode or from positive to negative. We call components which work only in one direction “polarized”

The battery is also polarized. On the top of the coin cell battery, you should see a + sign. This is the positive side of the battery. The negative side is not marked.

We can create a simple circuit and test our LEDs in the process by connecting the + side of the LED to the + side of the battery, and the - side of the LED to the - side of the battery. The easiest way to do this is to take your battery and insert it between the two leeds of the LED, with the longer leed on the top part of the battery and the shorter on the rough underside. It should light up! If it doesn’t try flipping the LED around and reinserting the battery. Do this for all of your LEDs. Experiment, try putting more than one LED on? What happens?

 

Step 2: Create Your Paper Circuit

Included in this kit is a couple of feet of conductive copper tape. Conductive means in this case that you can use it to transmit electricity. We are going to create a circuit to provide power to light up our LEDs to use them as decoration for a fun, light-up wintery card.

We’re going to take out tape and stick it to the cardstock, following the pattern laid out here. This pattern is just like the ones used in conventional circuits, just a lot bigger, and we call these copper patterns traces. Our circuit consists of two traces, one of them leading from the positive side of the battery to the positive sides of our LED, and the other from the negative side of our battery to the negative side of the LEDs.

It is important that these traces never touch. If they do, this will cause a short circuit, and drain the battery prematurely. In general, it's better to use one strip of copper tape per a trace if you can, removing the backing as you go and sticking it down and folding it to get around corners. Many smaller strips may look neater, but can cause failures in the circuit if they are not joined properly and usually are not worth it.

After you’ve got your traces laid down, fold up the bottom corner of the card along the dotted line. Place the battery on the dotted circle with the + side facing up. Tape just the edges of the battery down, if you cover it in tape it will not work. Now when you press down on the folded  over portion, electricity can flow through your circuit.

Take one of your LEDs, and splay out the two leads in opposite directions, making sure that you remember which one was longer. I often find it helpful to add a small mark onto this lead with a permanent marker.

I like to be able to test my LEDs as I go to make sure I put them on the right way, so I use the paper clip to hold down the flap to the battery so that the circuit is always on. Make sure you have a good connection, and that the copper tape is being securely held to the battery.

Now take your LED and hold it across the two traces you have just made, with the longer of the two leads on the + trace and the shorter on the - trace. Hold it to the traces with your fingers, don’t worry, the amount of electricity that the battery can put out will not harm you when used like this. Press down on the battery flap, does the LED light up? If not, try flipping the LED around.

If it doesn’t work, check your traces, are they touching anywhere? Are they broken? Is the negative trace go underneath the battery? Does the positive trace touch the battery and not the tape holding the battery down? Is the battery flap securely held by the paper clip? Carefully inspect your circuit, and if trouble still persists, remove and test out the battery again with another LED.

Once you have your LED lighting up, consider using the paperclip to keep your circuit live while constructing the rest of the circuit. That way if there is a problem, you’ll know right away.

Ok, so now we’re going to attach the LEDs to the traces at the locations indicated on the template using the remaining copper tape.

I find that it works best to have the leads cross the copper trace and then to tape each of the LED’s leads to the traces with a small pieces of copper tape. I then use clear tape to secure the whole thing to the card.

Once you have your first LED in place, repeat the process of taping each of your LED’s leads to the appropriate trace, either positive for the longer leg, or negative for the shorter leg, making sure that they each light up.

Congratulations, you’re done with the electronics portion of this craft!

 

Step 3: Decorate!

Now for the creative part, You can decorate this card however you want, but we’ve included some supplies to make a card with a neat popup, backlit effect.  The first thing we need to do is to cut out these areas so that the LEDs can protrude from the front of the card. Start by folding the card in half on the dotted line.

Use your knife or another sharp implement to poke holes in the top part of the card so that the LEDs can protrude from the front of the card. Fold the card over to make sure the LEDs do poke out of these holes.

In the kit there will be several precut shapes, either snowflakes or trees or circles (ornaments). We’re going to raise them a bit above the LEDs, by making som pop-up supports out of the strip of clear acetate in your kit.

We will be making these strips in pairs, to evenly support the cut out shape. To make them the same length, fold the acetate strip in half and cut them both at the same time. I made most of mine about ¾” of an inch long, but feel free to improvise.

You are going to want to fold these into pairs of ‘z’ shapes. I did this by first folding them in half and then folding one side in half again the opposite direction. You then want to apply a bit of tape to them so that you can stick one side of them to the back of the shape, and the other to the card. I found it helpful to put both pieces of tape on at the same time,  Take your cardstock shape and stick it down to the card, covering one or more of the LEDs. When you turn the LEDs on, you should see a neat, backlit effect!

Do this for all of the shapes, overlapping them as you please. I added some other elements after I got my shapes on there, so feel free to get creative!

Example of the final light-up cards. One has snowflakes while the other is a snowman with a pine treen.

Now you’ve made yourself a fun, light up wintery card! Congratulations on your paper circuit!

Did you like this craft? Be sure and show us what you made. We’re on Instagram or join our new teen Discord and share it with us there! Thanks!

 

Get to Know Your Family!

Get To Know Your Family!

For many of us, connecting with friends and family has been especially challenging this year. If you’re unable to spend time with loved ones in person this holiday season, here are some tools to help you connect with them online! 

To access these resources you’ll need your library card number and password. If you’re not sure where to find that information, visit our eLibrary access guide to get started.

 

Ancestry.com

 

Discover your family’s story with Ancestry.com. Their 3,000+ databases hold billions of census records, immigration passenger lists, military records, and more that will help you piece together your family tree! Archived birth certificates and yearbook photos help you to connect and understand your family history. Through March 2021, Ancestry is temporarily accessible from anywhere with your library card number and password!

Newspaper Archive

Learn about the events that shaped your ancestors’ lives. Newspaper Archive covers Indiana history from 1800–2017 and its easy-to-use search interface makes it an invaluable tool for genealogy and family research. This resource can be especially helpful in uncovering obituaries and events involving ancestors. Use your findings as a springboard to contact relatives and ask them what they remember, then preserve their stories for future generations.

Access World News

This powerful database offers more than 665 million current and archived articles spanning more than three decades that can be searched, browsed, printed, emailed and even cited from over 10,000 news sources around the world. The database includes unique and trusted sources you won’t find anywhere else!

Reference Solutions

Did you discover new family members during your research? Lost touch with a loved one and want to reconnect? Reference Solutions can help you find their contact information! The resource gathers data from voter registration files, utility connects, real estate assessments and more to build a database which includes 89 million U.S. households. Reference Solutions is continuously updated to offer the most current and accurate information possible.

These four resources will keep you busy for a while, but they’re just the beginning! Dig even deeper with the databases in our local and family history eLibrary. Share your findings on social media and tag us @mcplindiana on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

November Teen Social Roundup

November Teen Social Roundup

Did you know that the Library has an Instagram account JUST for teens? We post fun things like craft ideas and book recommendations along with announcements for special programs. Here is a round up of some of the topics and events we posted in November, if you like what you see, give us a follow at instagram.com/mcplindianateen so you do not miss out!


Programs

Comics and Cookies

Comics and Cookies, our virtual graphic novel book club, resumed this month. We read and discussed This Place: 150 Years Retold, an anthology of stories by Indigenious authors.

In December we will be reading and discussing Sleepless Vol. 1 by Sarah Vaughn, you can access a copy instantly on Hoopla!

a drawing of two librarians in front of the cover of the book This Place

Books

We Need Diverse Books

We highlighted some new November YA books to keep an eye out for by Asian, Black, and Hispanic authors:

An Image titled New November YA Books by Asian Authors with the covers of The Ever Cruel Kingdom, The Surprising POwer of a Good Dumpling, These Violent Delights, Super Fake Love Song, White Ivy, and Tent a Boyfriend on it.
An Image titled New November YA Books by Black Authors with the cover of Rebel Sisters on it.
An Image titled New November YA Books by Latinx Authors with the covers of A cuban Girls Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, Tales of the Feathered Serpent, and Here the Whole Time on it.

Staff Mini Reviews

Looking for a good book to read? Here are two recommendations from our teen staff!

An Image titled Mini Book Review Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger with a picture of Lizzy given the book 4 stars and saying An adventurous, supernatural murder myster that is steeped in Lipan Apache culture. I love this reimagined world where all types of monsters are real and ghost dogs are your best friends!
An Image titled Mini Book Review This Place:150 Years Retold with a picture of Macklin giving the book 4 stars and saying This anthology of graphic short stories cover the last 150 years of Candian history from an Indigenous perspective. It contains psychic battles, space travels, and rebellion against unjust authority.

Native American Heritage Month

November is Native American Heritage Month, here are some of our favorites! If you’d like to see a full list of books by Native American authors, check out our Stories by and About Indigenous Peoples book list here.

An Image titled Native American Heritage Month Reads with the covers of Elatsoe, This Place, Hearts Unbroken, In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse, The Marrow Thieves, Strangers, Love beyond Body, Space, and Time, and Give me Some Truth on it.

Transgender Awareness Week

Each year between November 13 – 19, people and organizations around the country participate in Transgender Awareness Week to help raise the visibility about transgender people and address issues members of the community face. This all leads up to Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20. To learn more, go to glaad.org.

Here are some of our favorite books with trans characters!

An Image titled Transgender Awareness Week with the covers of Pet, Felix Ever After, Cemetery Boys, When the Moon was Ours, Gender Queer, The deep & Dark BLue, All OUt, and The Spire on it.

Want to join in the fun on our Discord server? Anyone aged 13-19 who lives in Monroe County can sign up for Discord here.

Staff Picks: Go with the Flow

What’s worse than being bullied the first week at your new school? Getting period on your white pants!

Thankfully, new sophomore Sasha Chen is whisked away by three friends, Brit, Abby, and Christine, who help Sasha and welcome her to their friend group. United over friendship and periods, the girls tackle the problem of the feminine product vending machines constantly being empty by appealing to the administration to keep the machines restocked or, even better, provide period products for free. Will the friends succeed on their mission?

Go with the Flow is the perfect book to demystify menstruation – it educates readers about various issues surrounding menstruation helping to break down common feelings of shame surrounding this natural part of life. Go with the Flow also provides facts about periods, a period history, and other resources for readers. It is a great book for fans of graphic novels like Shannon Hale’s Real Friends and Svetlana Chmakova’s Berrybrook Middle School series, or Kim Harrington’s novel Revenge of the Red Club. Appropriate for ages 9+

Reviewed by Kim B.

Race to the Sun

Nizhoni Begay is a young Navajo girl. Her mom left their family when she was just a toddler, leaving Nizhoni, her dad, and her younger brother Mac on their own. Though she has aspirations to become famous and make something of herself, Nizhoni considers herself to be a pretty standard kid—until she begins to see monsters, that is. Things become more dire when Nizhoni sees her dad's new boss for what he truly is—a monster. When her dad disappears suddenly, she, her best friend Davery, and brother Mac must make a run for it. Through their journey to recover their father, Nizhoni and Mac discover their true identity as Monster Slayers.

This middle grade fantasy novel centers on the Navajo legends of the Hero Twins, bringing in legendary cultural characters such as Spider Woman and Rock Crystal Boy. It's a much needed representation of Navajo and first nation stories and culture; however, adapting the cultural information into a fantasy narrative presents a large creative license taken by the author. Ultimately, it finds its value as a spin off variant of some of the traditional legends, not necessarily a firm example of the true legends. The fast pace, adventure, humor, and snark are sure to please fans of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series or Robert Beatty's Serafina series. Appropriate for ages 8-12.

Reviewed by Ginny H.

October Teen Social Roundup

October Teen Social Roundup

Did you know that the Library has an Instagram account JUST for teens? We post fun things like craft ideas and book recommendations along with announcements for special programs. Here is a round up of some of the topics and events we posted in October, if you like what you see, give us a follow at instagram.com/mcplindianateen so you do not miss out!


Crafts

We made some Spooky Crafts, including Halloween Popcorn and Painted Mason Jar Lanterns!

Halloween Popcorn

Making your popcorn Halloween themed is easy! You just need some candy melts and sprinkles to spookify this easy to make treat.

Banner for Popcorn Craft
image with the text you will need: 1/2 cup orange candy melts, 1/2 cup black candy melts, 12 cups plain popcorn, halloween sprinkles
you will need: microwave safe bowls, spoons, tongs, pan lined with parchment paper
step one: melt your candy melts in microwave according to the instruction on the bag. Spread the popcorn out onto the pan
step two: use a spoon to drizzle the candy melts over the popcorn. Use tongs to coat the popcorn
step three: add sprinkles before candy hardens. Let sit for 20 minutes.
You're Done!

Take and Make

Our October Painted Mason Jar Lantern Take and Make kits were very popular, we ran out within the first four days of putting them out! If you missed the kits, we do have a list of supplies and instructions in the caption for our corresponding YouTube video if you’d like to make them at home.

librarian holding take and make kit
contents of take and make kit

Keep an eye out for our November Take and Make kit announcement!

Books

We Need Diverse Books

We highlighted some new October YA books to keep an eye out for by Asian, Black, and Hispanix authors:

image of book covers of new october YA Books by Asian Authors. The books pictured are The shadow Mission by Shamin Sarif, This is All Your Fault byt Arniah Mae Safi, My Heart Underwater by Laurel Flores Pantuzzo, God Storm by Coco Ma, Broken Wish by Julie C. Dao, The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen, and Monstress by Marjore Liu.
image of book covers of new october YA Books by Latinx Authors. The books pictured are The Cup and the Prince by Day Leitao, Come On In by Adi Aisaid, and Blazewrath Games by Amparo Ortiz
image of book covers of new october YA Books by Black Authors. The books pictured are Class Act by Jerry Craft, Daughters of Jubilation by Kara Lee Corthron, Rebel Sisters by Tochi Onyebuchi, and the Deep Blue Between by Ayesha Haruna Attah
 

Spooky Books

Looking for a good spooky read?

Mini Book Review of Cemtery Boys by Aiden Thomas. 4 and a half stars. This book is full of fun, ghost filled adventures in LA, perfect for the October season! It also is about strong friendships, living as your true self, and that traditions can be altered to make room for others. Review from Lizzy
image of book covers titled spooky reads. The books pictured are Through theh Woods, by Emily Carroll, Odd & True by Cat Winters, Contagion by Erin Bowman, The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones, Wilder Girls by Rory Power, Scarlett Hart by Marcus Sedgwick and Thomas Taylor, Dread Nation by Justina Ireland, and The Lost Coast by Amy Rose Capetta
Mini Book Review of The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh. 4 stars. Set in 1872 New Orleans, this book follows Celine as she navigates the dangerously beautiful underbelly of the city known as the Court of the Lions. Read this one for gruesome murders, vampires, and romance. Review from Macklin
Mini Book Review of Through the Woods by Emily Carroll. 5 stars. A spooky graphic novel of short stories that will get you in the mood for Halloween. I loved the beautiful artwork and the dark fairy tale-like stories. Get ready for cellar monsters, creepy houses, and pitch dark woods. Review from Jen
 

Witchy Books

We also made this handy flowchart for finding your next witchy read:

 

Witchy Reads image description

If you’d like to see a full list of witchy reads that we recommend, check all our witchy reads out here.


Want to join in the fun on our Discord server? Anyone aged 13-19 who lives in Monroe County can sign up for Discord here.

Wink

Can someone write a funny book about a 12 year old with cancer?

Rob Harrell, the author of the Life with Zarf series, manages to do just that as he translates his own experience with a tumor that could have blinded him into a story about Ross, a 7th grader growing up right here in Bloomington, Indiana! Middle school is hard enough without being the "cancer kid" with an eye that won't stay open, goopy eye drops, hair loss, and ongoing radiation treatments. Ross just wants to be normal. With humor and compassion, the real story is built around the relationships in his life, good and bad, and the risks he takes to make his life worth living.

Despite the serious subject matter, this book will appeal to anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed or underwhelming but keeps trying anyway. Including comic panels and spot art, with chapters averaging 10 pages each, even reluctant readers will find this book engaging and enjoyable. Appropriate for ages 10+

Other Community Quaranzines

Other Community Quaranzines

During quarantine, many people either created, or submitted creations to, a Quaranzine! The Library and our community created our own quaranzine, and thank you all so much for your lovely contributions. We wanted to take the time and create some space to highlight other Quaranzines made by people from elsewhere in the world. Here are some of our favorites. We hope you enjoy them!

Minnesota Youth Collective’s Quaranzine

What This is a Picture Of

An amazing Quaranzine! A collection of photographs, poetry, prose, and artwork, this zine is something to behold. Made by Minnesota Youth Collective.

 

Quarantine Zine

What This is a Picture Of

This zine is shown through a long series of photographs of the zine - and they are beautiful and wildly creative! Showing feelings, thoughts, artwork, and poetry/prose, this zine truly shows what a community can create.

 

Public Collector’s Quaranzine

What This is a Picture Of

Public Collectors is a long running project based out of Chicago dedicated to archiving ephemera from public institutions, and during the quarantine lockdown, its creator, Marc Fischer, collaborated with writers and artists from around the world to design and publish 100 daily issues of a one page zine/newsletter each of which addressed a different topic or idea.

 

Rutherford County Library System’s Quaranzine

What This is a Picture Of

The August issue highlights beautiful artwork created by people of all ages, while the June issue showcases a felt hat that is absolutely stunning. These short zines show great creativity and craftsmanship.

 

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