Get ready for the most "lit" youth event in Chicago! On Friday, September 19 from 5–8 PM come to the Harold Washington Library Center for a night celebrating YA literature, art, and culture. This event is hosted by teens, for teens and young adults 13-22 years old.
One of our featured authors is K. Ancrum, author of Icarus. She will be hanging out in our Teen Lounge where you can get some time to ask questions about her books, her writing process, or anything else you'd like to know about being an author. In Icarus, Icarus Gallagher and his father are art thieves, replacing priceless works of art with almost indistinguishable forgeries as a way of seeking revenge against the man responsible for Icarus' mother's death, Mr. Black. One day, Icarus is caught by Mr. Black's son, Helios, but instead of turning him in, he wants to strike up a friendship. As the friendship grows and his father's desire for revenge gets more out of control, Icarus has a difficult choice to make.
The other featured author and Teen Lounge attendee you can meet and chat with is Jamia Wilson, author of Make Good Trouble. Inspired by Civil Right's Activist and congressman John Lewis's call to "Make Good Trouble", this book explores activism around the globe. These movements include causes like climate change, civil rights, LGBTQIA+ pride, women's suffrage and more. From the Newsboys' Strike in the 1890s to Greta Thunberg's School Strike for Climate, learn about how people of all backgrounds have made "good trouble" and made big change.
Another book you'll be able to get from the Free Pop-Up Library is Biology Lessons. High school senior, Grace, gets pregnant accidentally, which goes against all of her life plans. She is unable to receive access to an abortion, however, due to Texas strict laws. She and her friends devise a risky plan to road trip together over state lines to get her the access she needs.
More of a manga fan? We have something for you too! Gachiakuta. Within the slums of a floating city, Rudo is falsely accused of murder. His punishment? To be thrown off the edge of the city, where all the residents throw their trash. What he discovers when he's tossed over, is that there's a whole other world where others who have been tossed off the side battle mutated monsters made of trash.
If you like graphic novels, you can go home with Bunt! Molly Bauer's first year of art school starts off with the horrible realization that her full ride scholarship has disappeared. She finds a loophole that if she can start a softball team and win a single game, all the players will receive a huge athletic scholarship. She puts together a team of nine other art students, and the teammates have to try and work their way to victory.
Come for the stories that grab your attention, connect over themes that matter, and find your next favorite read! We hope to see you there!
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