Hispanic Heritage Month

September 15^th starts Hispanic Heritage Month!

Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15) honors the cultures and traditions of Hispanic and Latinx Americans. September 15 is an important date for many Latin American countries as Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua all gained independence on that date, and Mexico celebrates their Independence Day on Sept. 16.  There are so many different countries and cultures under the umbrella of Hispanic Heritage month, so it was hard to narrow down our list, but here are a few book and music selections that we’re excited to share!

We are also excited to have some of our regular programs reappearing after a long absence, with safety procedures in place.  Our Movers & Makers program is back in September and we’ll be making banderitas (little flags) and maracas and incorporating songs in Spanish.

 

If you’re interested in the roots of Cuban music, Chicano graphics, or are curious about the Americas literature award, be sure to check out the Hispanic Heritage Month website this month: https://www.hispanicheritagemonth.gov/

 

Below are a few of our favorite Latinx books and songs/artists.  We’d love to hear about your favorites, too!

Picture Books

Islandborn by Junot Diaz

Mango, Abuela and Me by Meg Medina

Dreamers by Yuyi Morales

Teen Books

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Emoni dreams of being a chef and has a talent for creating amazing dishes, but after becoming pregnant her freshman year, she has other responsibilities that threaten her dream. (Fair warning: the food descriptions here may make you hungry…)

 

Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibanez

(Fantasy) Ximena is a decoy spy for a royal with the power to spin thread from moonlight and must find an ancient artifact to return her queen to power.

 

Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older

(Modern Urban Fantasy) Sierra is a teen artist who learns she can embed the spirits of her ancestors into her murals.  She must learn to harness her ability before another shadowshaper kills her and the few others that possess the power.

 

 The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante

(Science fiction) When an undocumented teen girl from El Salvador is denied entry into the U.S., she chooses to take part in an experimental psychological study that would allow her to cross.

 

Adult Books

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

(Gothic Horror, 1950s) Noemi receives a frantic letter from her cousin and travels to visit her in a creepy mansion and drawn into a web of secrets. (Soon to be a series on Hulu)

Children of the Land by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

When Castillo crossed the border as a child, he suffered from a temporary blindness due to stress, which became a metaphor for the invisibility he felt in his new country. (NPR “Best Book of the Year”)

Music

Latin rock

Luis Fonsi

Shakira

Bebe

Singer/songwriter (poetic)

                Rosana

                Carla Morrison

Children’s bilingual

                Nathalia (“Muevate” is one we are using a lot in Movers & Makers this month!)

Back to School!

 

DO Judge a Book by its Cover (Well, sometimes anyway)

We all know the saying right? "Don't judge a book by its cover." This is generally a good rule to live by both in and out of the book world, but there are almost always exceptions to rules. When you don't have a specific title or author in mind and you're just browsing for books, what's going to draw you in? A lot of the time it might be the cover art. Maybe a book with a really beautiful cover will suck you in and you'll end up reading something totally outside of your norm. (You might even end up loving it!) On the flipside, maybe an intriguing cover totally lets you down and you give up on page thirty. Judging a book by its cover can be a gamble like that. There are definitely tons of really great books that don't have the most attractive covers, but that doesn't mean you should explore those too. Below you will find some books that are just plain pretty or interesting to look at. It's up to you to judge those covers and read something new based on what catches your eye. If you do need a little more,  you can click the link and read the book's summary before placing your hold in SHARE. 

The Lost Apothecary 
By Sarah Penner

The Madness of Crowds 
By Louise Penny

The Ten Thousand Doors of January By Alix E. Harrow

The Storyteller's Daughter 

By Victoria McCombs

A Spark of Light

By Jodi Picoult

The Wren Hunt

By Mary Watson

The Electric Kingdom 

By David Arnold

Wilder Girls By Rory Power

The Library of the Unwritten 

By A.J. Hackwith

Ghost Forest By Pik-Shuen Fung

A Constellation of Roses 

By Miranda Asebedo

Dreamtreaders 

By Wayne Thomas Batson

Author Spotlight: Taylor Jenkins Reid

Fiction write Taylor Jenkins Reid is back with a new one for us! Malibu Rising hit our shelves recently and it sounds just an enthralling as her other novels. The cover may make it look like a fun and light summer read but it has quite a bit more going for it. A yearly end of summer party thrown by siblings is filled with extra drama, secrets and ends up taking a dark turn. This twenty four hour epic adventure will change the siblings' lives forever and keep you guessing. You can place a hold on Malibu Rising by clicking the link above. While you wait for your turn with that one, take a look at Taylor Jenkins Reid's other novels below! (If you're a fan of the movie Almost Famous or the 60s music scene in general, we definitely recommend checking out Daisy Jones & the Six!)  

Forever, Interrupted

After I Do

Maybe in Another Life

One True Loves

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Daisy Jones & the Six

David Landau Concert

Join us for an all ages concert on the morning of Wednesday August 18th from 10:00 to 10:45. Local musician David Landau will be performing on the library's front lawn! (You may want to bring a blanket or chair to sit on.) This will be a funny, upbeat musical program full of singing, dancing and laughing for the whole family. David Landau takes his storytelling and musical performances all over the area to educate, entertain and motivate children. 

If the weather decides not to cooperate, the concert will be in our Multipurpose Room. This is sure to be a super fun time either way!

Ready for more musical fun? You can check out David's YouTube channel by clicking here. 

You can also place a hold in SHARE on one of his CDs or a concert DVD by clicking one of the titles below:

Kids and Kitties

David Landau, Live at the Noodle Factory

Arr-gust is National Pirate Month!

Shiver me timbers! We be settin' sail on National Pirate Month! Jenn of our library crew put togther a display in the children's area full of all kinds of treasures. There are even coloring sheets, pirate hats, and treasure maps, so be sure to ask the captain of the circulation desk for one before they're all plundered!

Down below ye will find stories to get you in the mood to set sail. These tales for lads and lassies will help ye get yer sea legs and make sure all is shipshape. Savvy?

Pirate Stew by Neil Gaiman

Pirate Girl by Cornelia Funke

A Pirate Cookbook by Sarah Schuette

Race to the Bottom of the Sea by Lindsay Eager

Space Boy and Space Pirate by Dian Curtis Regan

Archie and the Pirates by Marc Rosenthal

Aye, My Eye! by Nadia Higgins

If You Ever Want to Bring a Pirate to Meet Santa, Don't! by Elise Parsley

A is for Arrr! by Laura Purdie Salas

Goodnight Pirate by Michelle Robinson

Friends of the Library Used Book Sale

Calling all book lovers! The Friends of the Library are hosting a HUGE used book sale this Friday August 6th from 9:00am to 5:00pm and Saturday August 7th from 9:00am to 1:00pm. The event will be held in the lower level of the Grange Building at 19 W. Main Street in Evansville. The sale will include over 3,000 titles for adults, young adults and children with a mix of fiction and nonfiction. (Please note that no book donations will be accepted during the event.) You can stay up date on this event and more by visiting the Friends of the Library's Facebook Page.

Interested in getting more involved? The Friends of the Library are looking for people who love books and want to support the library's ongoing programs for children and adults. They would like to update their list of library friends who are able to help them continue their mission.

You can help by:

- Coming  to fundraisers like the recent Ice Cream Social Car Hop, this Book Sale and the Pie Sale in November

- Helping with event planning or the events themselves

- Joining the Friends of the Library Board, which meets monthly to plan events to raise funds for library programs that help bring the community together

If you would like to learn more, or to be sure the Friends of the Library have your correct contact information on their member list, please send an email to friendsefpl@gmail.com.