Posts by Kathlyn, Teen Librarian

July & August Teen Book Clubs

July & August Teen Book Clubs

Virtual book club sessions have been the highlight of spring for librarians Lauren and Kat. We are looking forward to four more sessions this summer, this time with the theme of summer reading. Each month, one book club meeting will feature one title from a Highlands Middle School recommended reading list, and the other will feature a title from the White Plains High School recommended reading list. All four books are available with unlimited copies on Hoopla, and multiple copies on OverDrive. While these books are on recommended reading lists for various grade levels, the book clubs are open to
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June 11, 2020 12:02 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books and Library News.
Tags: book club, book discussion, diverse reads, teen book club, teen books, YA books, and YA Fiction.

Antiracism YA Fiction

Antiracism YA Fiction

Typically, when choosing books for my Dive into Diversity posts, I mostly try to avoid titles that focus on racism, police or gun violence, or other trauma. Instead, I prefer to highlight books that show a diverse range of teens dealing with everyday life. In this moment, though, it's time to feature books that demonstrate the impact of violence and oppression on teens. These stories are heavy, but they are important. Especially if you don’t identify with the protagonist, I challenge you to read and consider the character’s situation with an open mind. Let these stories be windows into another
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June 10, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: Antiracism, Antiracism Reading List, Dive into Diversity, diversity, eBooks, staff picks, staff recommendations, YA Fiction, and YA literature.

Antiracism Resources for Teens & Adults

Antiracism Resources for Teens & Adults

This may seem irrelevant to the topic of antiracism, but I want to start by saying that I’m a knitter. In January 2019, the knitting community began a moment of reckoning with racism in the fiber arts industry. If you’re interested, you can read more about those conversations here, but suffice it to say that this event brought me to a new awareness of racism. After that, I thought a lot more consciously about my privilege, my place as a white librarian working with primarily teens of color, and my responsibility to teach my young children about antiracism. By no
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June 4, 2020 11:26 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: Antiracism, Antiracism Reading List, Racism, staff picks, staff recommendations, and YA books.

Family Month: YA Fiction

Family Month: YA Fiction

In addition to being Pride Month, June is also Family Month. I wanted to take the opportunity to showcase YA fiction that celebrates families in their many wonderful forms. I’m happy to share one of my favorite YA books, The Other F-Word by Natasha Friend: the story of four teens who share the same sperm donor. Milo Robinson-Clark has serious food allergies; after yet another doctor visit, he makes the decision to track down his sperm donor in hopes of finding medical information. Along with his one known half-sibling, Hollis Darby-Barnes, he embarks on a quest to find genetic relatives.
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June 3, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: Dive into Diversity, diverse reads, Family Month, Observances and Celebrations, staff recommendations, and YA Fiction.

Pride Month: YA

Pride Month: YA

The last couple years have seen an avalanche of excellent YA fiction featuring a broad range of LGBTQIA+ characters. This made it difficult to pick one to review for Pride Month, which is a very good problem to have. I ultimately chose We Contain Multitudes by Sarah Henstra, and absolutely loved it. The story is told entirely through the letters of two high school students randomly paired up for an English assignment. At first, dedicated Walt Whitman cosplayer Jonathan Hopkins and football star Adam Kurlansky seem totally incompatible. But as the weeks pass, their lives slowly intertwine. Jo and Kurl
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May 28, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: LGBTQIA+, Observances and Celebrations, Pride Month, staff recommendations, YA Fiction, and YA literature.

Virtual Book Club for Teens

Virtual Book Club for Teens

Due to uncertainty about large public gatherings this fall, the Battle of the Books (BOB) competition has been postponed until October 2021. We (librarians and BOB coaches Lauren and Kat) are glad this decision has been made in the interest of safety… but we worry we’ll miss our BOB team too much! So, we’re excited to begin a monthly virtual book club for teens. Each month, we’ll read and discuss a book that’s available with unlimited copies on Hoopla. We’ll also keep our BOB skills sharp with Jeopardy games, trivia questions, and maybe even drills to improve our speed on
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May 20, 2020 11:27 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Featured, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: battle of the books, book club, book discussion, book group, events, and teen book club.

Bullet Journaling

Bullet Journaling

A few years ago when I returned to work after maternity leave, I found myself struggling to balance my new full-time jobs: mom and librarian. I’ve kept a bullet journal ever since, allowing me to keep my calendar, to-do list, a running list of questions for my pediatrician, and meeting notes all in the same place. My bullet journal has helped me prioritize work tasks, remember funny things my kids say, and train for a half marathon. While my bullet journal is plain and practical, for many it’s an opportunity to incorporate artistic expression and even mindfulness into daily life.
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May 20, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Teens, and Teens.
Tags: Bujo, Bullet journal, bullet journaling, how-to, journaling, and planners.

Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month: YA Fiction

Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month: YA Fiction

Having missed out on Star Trek as a child, I first heard of George Takei about ten years ago when he began posting hilarious memes on Facebook. More recently, he’s been known for his political activism and for sharing his childhood experience in an internment camp during WWII. This is the topic of his 2019 graphic novel They Called Us Enemy. Takei relates the circumstances of his family’s forced removal from their Los Angeles home and the four years they spent behind bars. He tells the story as he experienced it as a child, layered with facts he learned from
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May 11, 2020 4:35 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Observances and Celebrations, staff recommendations, YA Fiction, and YA literature.

Jewish American Heritage Month: YA

Jewish American Heritage Month: YA

While making a list of potential titles for this month, I was drawn to In the Neighborhood of True by Susan Kaplan Carlton. It’s historical fiction, set in Atlanta in 1959 (rather than WWII, as many other YA historical fiction titles are). I just had to see what the author would do with this setting and time period. When Ruth’s father suddenly dies, her mother resettles the family in a guest house belonging to her own wealthy parents. Ruth’s grandmother is heavily invested in the local debutante scene and encourages Ruth not to mention her Jewish faith around her new
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May 11, 2020 10:32 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: digital audiobooks, eBooks, hoopla, Jewish American Heritage Month, Observances and Celebrations, OverDrive, and YA Fiction.

Hoopla Creative Writing Resources

Hoopla Creative Writing Resources

Writing can be a cathartic and stress-reducing activity, making it well suited to our current reality. Just as reading a good book can be a comfort right now, getting lost in a writing prompt can also be a portal into another world. Luckily, Hoopla offers a wealth of resources for writers of all ages, from children to adults. I’ll start by recommending a creative writing book by one of my favorite authors, Gail Carson Levine. I’ve loved her books since middle school, when I read Ella Enchanted, an original fairy tale about a girl who is cursed with the gift
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May 6, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: creative writing, hoopla, and writing.

Star Wars YA Fiction

Star Wars YA Fiction

I am something of a latecomer to the Star Wars universe. In fact, a couple of years ago I assembled a Halloween costume from a Stormtrooper helmet and a lightsaber, blissfully unaware of my error. But recently my preschooler has begun reading Star Wars graphic novels, helping me become more familiar with the setting and characters. For example, he now refers to his baby sister as “a Sand People from Tatooine”—that’s a good thing, right? He adores Kylo Ren and celebrates the accomplishments of “Separatist Leader General Grievous.” Actually, I’m afraid my child might be turning to the Dark Side.
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April 29, 2020 10:07 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: book recommendations, May the 4th Be With You, May the Fourth Be With You, Observances and Celebrations, Star Wars, and YA Fiction.

Arab-American Heritage Month

Arab-American Heritage Month

For this month’s column highlighting titles by Arab-American authors, I leaped at the chance to open a book from my to-read list: Darius the Great is Not Okay, by Adib Khorram. When Darius’ grandfather is diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor, his parents take Darius and his little sister on their first trip to Iran. Even the pronunciation of Darius’ name is different in Iran, but the change frees him to try new experiences, discovering a talent for soccer and making new friends. The book addresses a range of issues in Darius’ life: the medication he takes to treat his
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April 17, 2020 12:30 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: Arab-American Heritage Month, eBooks, Observances and Celebrations, YA books, and YA literature.

DIY Masks and FAQ

DIY Masks and FAQ

Over the past few weeks, recommendations on the use of fabric masks have evolved rapidly. At first, there was skepticism that homemade alternatives were effective. However, since the recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that everyone should wear a fabric face cover in public, I’ve seen an explosion of mask-making information online. With Governor Cuomo's new decree requiring everyone to cover their mouths and nose in public, we will likely see even more. Sorting through the sheer number of patterns, and the contradicting information about the effectiveness of various filter materials, has been overwhelming and even
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April 15, 2020 11:00 am | by | 2 Comments
Categories: COVID-19, eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: coronavirus, covid-19, mask tutorial, and masks.

Autism Acceptance Month

Autism Acceptance Month

While browsing available ebooks on the Libby app, I was pleased to find a Big Library Read selection that complements Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month. The current selection is a memoir: Funny, You Don’t Look Autistic, by comedian Michael McCreary. I enjoyed reading about McCreary’s experiences, beginning with his diagnosis at age five and continuing along his path to success as a stand-up comedian. McCreary shares hilarious anecdotes of relatable social awkwardness and moments of self-discovery. He also has a knack for explaining autism—at least, his experience of it—in an approachable way. As McCreary says, not every 22-year-old might feel
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April 9, 2020 1:54 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: Autism, Autism Acceptance Month, book recommendations, Observances and Celebrations, staff recommendations, and YA literature.

Lynda.com for Teens

Lynda.com for Teens

By Kathlyn Carroll, Edge Librarian. As we enter week three (has it only been three weeks?) of quarantine, you may find yourself with some extra time on your hands. Now’s the time to get the hang of that new skill you’ve always wanted to learn, or spend some serious time on a project you’ve been hoping to finish. I’ve selected some beginner-friendly videos on a range of topics from Lynda.com. If you don’t see your specific interest here, feel free to browse the list of subjects. Once you login here, you can search for the courses listed below. Photography Photography
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April 6, 2020 3:48 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: lynda.com, tutorials, and youtube.

Lynda.com Writing Resources

Lynda.com Writing Resources

By Kathlyn Carroll, Edge Librarian. Like many others suddenly working from home, I’ve been focusing on professional development opportunities that would otherwise go on the back burner. While browsing a Library database, Lynda.com, I came across a surprising variety of writing tutorial videos that would also help teen writers. Whether you’re struggling through ELA essays assigned virtually by your teachers, or using the extra time to tackle a personal creative writing project, one of these videos may guide you on your quest. Once you login at the link above, you can search for the learning paths and videos below. ELA
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March 25, 2020 2:26 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: creative writing, lynda.com, and writing tips.

Battle of the Books Inspired Reading List

Battle of the Books Inspired Reading List

As part of the book selection committee for Westchester’s Battle of the Books trivia competition, I spent January and February reading and considering books for the 2020 reading list. Librarians across Westchester nominated titles for the teen division and I tried to read as many as possible. While this year’s reading list hasn’t yet been finalized, I had so much fun with the nominated titles that I wanted to share a few of my favorites. These are all available in eBook format through Westchester Library System. Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan Libby: eBook only A very light summer romance
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March 19, 2020 11:53 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Evergreen, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: battle of the books, digital audiobooks, eBooks, hoopla, libby, and young adult fiction.

Dive Into Diversity: Black History for Teens

Dive Into Diversity: Black History for Teens

White Plains is a wonderfully diverse community! Parents, children and teens have expressed an interest in titles that reflect the diversity in the community, and Ashley, Kathlyn, and Raquel's “Dive Into Diversity” column will spotlight noteworthy children's and teen titles that are inclusive, diverse and multicultural to fulfill that interest. Kathlyn‘s portion is aimed at readers in grades 7-12. Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America, edited by Ibi Zoboi Grades 9 and up “No collection could represent the entire spectrum of blackness, however, the presence of trans, Afro-Latinx, and physically disabled characters is missed: a clarion
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February 14, 2020 2:26 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: black history month, Dive into Diversity, Observances and Celebrations, teen books, and young adult fiction.

Doing Good in the Edge: Project Linus

Doing Good in the Edge: Project Linus

Kathlyn's “Doing Good in the Edge” column highlights projects from the Do Gooders teen community service group agencies and organizations in the community Doing Good. The Allstate Foundation supports the Do Gooders in their work. Sewing handmade blankets for Project Linus has been one of the Edge’s longest-running service projects, even before the Do Gooders community service group formed. Project Linus is a nationwide, volunteer-led organization that collects handmade blankets and distributes them to children in hospitals and shelters. Adele Shapiro, Chapter Coordinator for Project Linus in Westchester, says the handmade blankets bring warmth, love, and security to children in
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January 30, 2020 12:00 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: eNewsletter, Events, Evergreen, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: community service, Do Gooders, Project Linus, and volunteers.

The Edge Launches New Community Service Group for Teens

The Edge Launches New Community Service Group for Teens

On Monday, September 18, the Edge, the White Plains Public Library’s teen library, will hold its first Volunteer Interest Meeting for the “Do Gooders,” a new community service group for teens. “Do Gooders” follows the announcement that The Allstate Foundation awarded the White Plains Public Library a $25,000 grant for teen programs through “Good Starts in the Edge.” With the launch of “Do Gooders,” teens can earn volunteer hours for school or clubs, or just work to make a difference in their community. The library will provide resources and assist the teens in planning their own projects, such as learning
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September 14, 2017 9:28 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Events and Teens.
Tags: teens, The Allstate Foundation, and The Edge.