Chicago Public Library recommends the Best of the Best for Teens each year. We recommend the titles in this video as our selections of the very best books published in 2020 for readers of teen literature, encompassing fiction, non-fiction, manga and graphic novels. Every year, our librarians evaluate the year’s new books and select the…
Indigenous Peoples’ Day: Learn More in Recent History, Memoir
In 1977, the United Nations International Conference on Discrimination against Indigenous Populations in the Americas asked to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples' Day. In 1990, South Dakota became the first state to do so and in 1992, Berkeley, Calif., the first city. Since then, more states and cities have followed. Indigenous People in Chicago…
From Miss Marple to Kinsey Millhone: The Female Detective
“I have solved some mysteries, I'll admit, and I enjoy it, but I'm sure there are many other girls who could do the same.”—Nancy Drew And so there are. Whether a historical cozy mystery to read along with a "cuppa tea" or a contemporary hard-boiled mystery that requires something stronger, female detectives have always been…
Time, Time, Time, See What’s Become of Me: Explorations in Time Travel
This year's One Book One Chicago asks us to "Imagine the Future." But what if we traveled back to the past instead? Would we then re-imagine the future knowing what we already know? Or would we just observe and watch things play out even though we already know the outcome? Time travel has been a…
We Are Still Here: A New Generation of Native Americans Demands Your Attention
A new wave of Native American writers and artists are creating works that reflect the realities of what it means to be Native American today. Up-and-coming authors Tommy Orange and Tommy Pico have moved off reservations to urban settings where, according to the Urban Indian Health Institute, 70 percent of Native American and Native Alaskans…