This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer

May 27 It’s May 27, just nine days after May 18. If you’ve read my diary (Life As We Knew It), you know what that means. Exactly one year and nine days ago, life as I had known it was gone forever. On that fateful evening, an asteroid sucker-punched the moon with such force that it must have doubly and [...]

Airlifted By Poetry: An Interview with Ann E. Burg

When Ann E. Burg’s first YA novel, All the Broken Pieces, was published in 2009, it quickly became a Loft staff favorite.  Written in free verse, Pieces is the story of seventh grader Matt Pin, a child of war, who leaves his mother and brother behind when he is airlifted out of Vietnam by American [...]

May is Jewish American Heritage Month

The Loft celebrates Jewish American Heritage Month! Visit this website which pays tribute to the generations of Jewish Americans who have helped shape American culture, society and history. Marc Aronson is the Sibert Award-Winning Author of many nonfiction titles for young adults. One of his recent books, Unsettled: The Problem of Loving Israel, is a deeply personal, soul-searching and fact-filled [...]

Sherlock Holmes

Did you know that Sherlock Holmes was killed off only to be resurrected eight years later? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, his creator, ended the life and career of the great detective for fear that if he didn’t, the stress and strain of his creation would lead to his own early demise.  It was a case [...]

Get this FREE iPhone App!

INSTANT HOMEWORK HELP FROM YOUR iPHONE! Do you have an iPhone? If so, use these top-notch, online resources from the Evanston Public Library straight from your phone. How? Download the AccessMyLibrary app!* AccessMyLibrary uses GPS to find libraries within a 10-mile radius of your location, and then gives you free, unlimited access to their high-quality [...]

A Complicated Playlist

“Music really is the glue of our relationship, isn’t it?…  Music’s probably altered our DNA so you and I are like twins now… We’ll feel the same thing at the same time even if we are miles apart.” – Nomi Nickels, A Complicated Kindnesss, (Pg. 126). A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews is a book [...]

May is Mental Health Awareness Month!

May is Mental Health Awareness Month! Are you feeling stressed out? Do you have a friend who has experienced something very difficult in his or her life? Do you suffer from depression, or know someone who does? There is help! Visit our selected websites on teen health. Featured articles on the TeensHealth website include: A [...]

Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month

May is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month – a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. Check out some of the young adult titles in the slide show here. Visit our online resources. Did you know we have manga in Japanese (and English) in the Loft? Stop by and browse our collection and [...]