Build with straws and connectors, architecture blocks, and other construction materials. 

We read the beginning of a book and then have fun with related activities such as games and crafts. Find out how this story ends!

Show off your building and engineering skills! Each month, we share a story with you and then provide a building challenge to test your LEGO building know-how. 

Can you do a STEAM mystery challenge? Drop by to see what science, technology, engineering, art, or math adventure we have for you. 

We will discuss the book, No One Writes to the Colonel, by Gabriel García Márquez in Spanish and meet online over Zoom. This novel is about a retired colonel and his wife as they struggle to survive while they wait for his promised pension to arrive. The book club is for adults who want to increase their confidence in reading in Spanish. Adults 

Capítulos 1 y 2: miércoles, 8 de febrero, de 7–8pm / Chapters 1 & 2: Wednesday, Feb 8, 7–8pm 

Capítulos 3 y 4: miércoles, 8 de marzo, de 7–8pm / Chapters 3 & 4: Wednesday, Mar 8, 7–8pm 

Capítulos 5 a 7: miércoles, 12 de abril, de 7–8pm / Chapters 5–7: Wednesday, Apr 12, 7–8pm

Join us for a magical evening with New York Times bestselling author Lana Harper as she discusses the enchanting third installment of her immensely popular The Witches of Thistle Grove series, Back in a Spell.

Back in a Spell follows Nineve Blackmoore and even though she won’t deny her love for pretty (and pricey) things, Nineve Blackmoore (known by Nina by most) is almost painfully down-to-earth and sensible by Blackmoore standards. But after a year of nursing a broken heart inflicted by the fiancée who all but ditched her at the altar, the powerful witch is sick of feeling low and is ready to try something drastically different: a dating app.

At her best friend’s urging, Nina goes on a date with Morty Gutierrez, the nonbinary, offbeat soul of spontaneity and co-owner of the Shamrock Cauldron. Their date goes about as well as can be expected of most online dates—awkward and terrible. To make matters worse, once Morty discovers Nina’s last name, he’s far from a fan; it turns out that the Blackmoores have been bullishly trying to buy the Shamrock out from under Morty and his family.

But when Morty begins developing magical powers—something that usually only happens to committed romantic partners once they officially join a founding family—at the same time that Nina’s own magic surges beyond her control, Nina must manage Morty’s rude awakening to the hidden magical world, uncover its cause, and face the intensity of their own burgeoning connection. But what happens when that connection is tied to Nina’s power surge, a power she’s finding nearly as addictive as Morty’s presence in her life?

About the Author: Lana Harper is the New York Times bestselling author of the Witches of Thistle Grove series, including Payback’s a Witch, From Bad to Cursed, and Back in Spell. Writing as Lana Popović, she has also written four YA novels about modern-day witches and historical murderesses. Born in Serbia, Lana grew up in Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria before moving to the US, where she studied psychology and literature at Yale University, law at Boston University, and publishing at Emerson College. She lives in Chicago, where she spends most of her time plotting witchy stories and equally witchy tattoos.

Build with straws and connectors, architecture blocks, and other construction materials. 

We read the beginning of a book and then have fun with related activities such as games and crafts. Find out how this story ends!

Show off your building and engineering skills! Each month, we share a story with you and then provide a building challenge to test your LEGO building know-how. 

Can you do a STEAM mystery challenge? Drop by to see what science, technology, engineering, art, or math adventure we have for you. 

View Picture Book Chat on our Facebook page at www.scld.org/facebook. 

You’re invited to an insightful chat with award-winning author Grace M. Cho as she discusses her memoir, Tastes Like War.

Grace M. Cho grew up as the daughter of a white American merchant marine and the Korean bar hostess he met abroad. They were one of few immigrants in a xenophobic small town during the Cold War, where identity was politicized by everyday details—language, cultural references, memories, and food. When Grace was fifteen, her dynamic mother experienced the onset of schizophrenia, a condition that would continue and evolve for the rest of her life.

Part food memoir, part sociological investigation, Tastes Like War is a hybrid text about a daughter’s search through intimate and global history for the roots of her mother’s schizophrenia. In her mother’s final years, Grace learned to cook dishes from her mother’s childhood in order to invite the past into the present, and to hold space for her mother’s multiple voices at the table. And through careful listening over these shared meals, Grace discovered not only the things that broke the brilliant, complicated woman who raised her—but also the things that kept her alive.

About the Author: Grace M. Cho is Associate Professor of Sociology at the College of Staten Island. She received a PhD in Sociology and Women’s Studies from the CUNY Graduate Center and an MEd from Harvard School of Education. Her work crosses disciplinary boundaries and seeks to engage popular audiences. From 2005 to 2007 she was a contributing performance artist for Still Present Pasts: Korean Americans and the Forgotten War, a collaborative art project based on the oral histories of Korean War survivors and their children. Her participation in Still Present Pasts influenced the form and content of her first book, Haunting the Korean Diaspora: Shame, Secrecy and the Forgotten War (University of Minnesota, 2008) which combined fiction, performance, autoethnography and sociological research. It won a 2010 book award from the American Sociological Association for its innovative methodology. Her second book, Tastes Like War, was a finalist for the 2021 National Book Award for Nonfiction and the winner of the 2022 Asian Pacific American Literature Award for Adult Nonfiction.

Build with straws and connectors, architecture blocks, and other construction materials. 

We read the beginning of a book and then have fun with related activities such as games and crafts. Find out how this story ends!

Show off your building and engineering skills! Each month, we share a story with you and then provide a building challenge to test your LEGO building know-how. 

Can you do a STEAM mystery challenge? Drop by to see what science, technology, engineering, art, or math adventure we have for you. 

We look forward to seeing you for an invigorating conversation with highly acclaimed author Sadeqa Johnson as she talks about her brand new novel, The House of Eve! 

In The House of Eve, Fifteen-year-old Ruby Pearsall is on track to becoming the first in her family to attend college, in spite of having a mother more interested in keeping a man than raising her daughter. But a taboo love affair threatens to pull her back down into the poverty and desperation that has been passed onto her like a birthright. 

Eleanor Quarles arrived in Washington DC with ambition and secrets. When she meets the handsome William Pride at Howard University, they fall madly in love. But William hails from one of DC’s elite wealthy Black families, and his parents don’t just let anyone into their fold. Eleanor hopes that a baby will make her finally feel at home in William’s family and grant her the life she’s been searching for. But having a baby—and fitting in—is easier said than done. 

The lives of these two women collide in the most unexpected way as they both face life altering decisions. The House of Eve is a fast-paced, harrowing story that hinges on what it means to be a woman and a mother, and how much one is willing to sacrifice to achieve her greatest goal. 

About the Author: Sadeqa Johnson is the award-winning author of four novels, including Yellow Wife. Her accolades include the National Book Club Award, the Phillis Wheatley Book Award, and the USA Best Book Award for Best Fiction. She is a Kimbilio Fellow, former board member of the James River Writers, and a Tall Poppy Writer. Originally from Philadelphia, she currently lives near Richmond, Virginia, with her husband and three children. To learn more, visit SadeqaJohnson.net.

Build with straws and connectors, architecture blocks, and other construction materials. 

We read the beginning of a book and then have fun with related activities such as games and crafts. Find out how this story ends!

Show off your building and engineering skills! Each month, we share a story with you and then provide a building challenge to test your LEGO building know-how. 

Can you do a STEAM mystery challenge? Drop by to see what science, technology, engineering, art, or math adventure we have for you. 

Join us for an exciting evening online as we chat with mega-bestselling author, Cassandra Clare, about her newest and final book in The Last Hours series, Chain of Thorns.

In Chain of Gold, the first book of The Last Hours Series, the readers meet Cordelia. Cordelia Carstairs is a Shadowhunter, a warrior trained since childhood to battle demons. When her father is accused of a terrible crime, she and her brother travel to London in hopes of preventing the family’s ruin. Soon Cordelia encounters childhood friends James and Lucie Herondale and is drawn into their world of glittering ballrooms, secret assignations, and supernatural salons, where vampires and warlocks mingle with mermaids and magicians. All the while, she must hide her secret love for James, who is sworn to marry someone else. But Cordelia’s new life is blown apart when a shocking series of demon attacks devastate London. Trapped in the city, Cordelia and her friends discover that their own connection to a dark legacy has gifted them with incredible powers—and will soon learn the true cruel price of being a hero.

Chain of Iron, the second book in the series, Cordelia seems to have everything she ever wanted. She’s engaged to marry James Herondale, the boy she has loved since childhood. She has a new life in London with her best friend Lucie Herondale and James’ charming companions, the Merry Thieves. She is about to be reunited with her beloved father. And she bears the sword Cortana, a legendary hero’s blade. Together with the Merry Thieves, Cordelia, James, and Lucie must follow the trail of the knife-wielding killer through the city’s most dangerous streets. All the while, each is keeping a shocking secret: Lucie, that she plans to raise Jesse from the dead; Cordelia, that she has sworn a dangerous oath of loyalty to a mysterious power; and James, that he is being drawn further each night into the dark web of his grandfather, the arch-demon Belial. And that he himself may be the killer they seek.

In the third and final installment in the series, Chain of Thorns, Cordelia has lost everything that matters to her. Even worse, she is now bound to an ancient demon, Lilith, stripping her of her power as a Shadowhunter. After fleeing to Paris, Cordelia hopes to forget her sorrows in the city’s glittering nightlife. But reality intrudes when shocking news comes from home: London is under new threat by the Prince of Hell, Belial. Cordelia returns to a London riven by chaos and dissent. The long-kept secret that Belial is James and Lucie’s grandfather has been revealed by an unexpected enemy, and the Herondales find themselves under suspicion of dealings with demons. Left alone in a shadowy London, they must face Belial’s deadly army. If Cordelia and her friends are going to save their city—and their families—they will have to muster their courage, swallow their pride, and trust one another again. For if they fail, they may lose everything—even their souls.

About the Author: Cassandra Clare was born to American parents in Teheran, Iran and spent much of her childhood traveling the world with her family, including one trek through the Himalayas as a toddler where she spent a month living in her father’s backpack. She lived in France, England and Switzerland before she was ten years old.

After college, Cassie lived in Los Angeles and New York where she worked at various entertainment magazines and even some rather suspect tabloids where she reported on Brad and Angelina’s world travels and Britney Spears’ wardrobe malfunctions. She started working on her YA novel, City of Bones, in 2004, inspired by the urban landscape of Manhattan, her favorite city. She turned to writing fantasy fiction full time in 2006. Her first book, The City of Bones, became and led to numerous instant #1 New York Times and USA Today Bestsellers including but not limited to The rest of The Mortal Instruments series, The Infernal Devices series, and The Last Hours series.

Build with straws and connectors, architecture blocks, and other construction materials. 

We read the beginning of a book and then have fun with related activities such as games and crafts. Find out how this story ends!

Show off your building and engineering skills! Each month, we share a story with you and then provide a building challenge to test your LEGO building know-how. 

Can you do a STEAM mystery challenge? Drop by to see what science, technology, engineering, art, or math adventure we have for you. 

We will discuss the book, No One Writes to the Colonel, by Gabriel García Márquez in Spanish and meet online over Zoom. This novel is about a retired colonel and his wife as they struggle to survive while they wait for his promised pension to arrive. The book club is for adults who want to increase their confidence in reading in Spanish. Adults 

Capítulos 1 y 2: miércoles, 8 de febrero, de 7–8pm / Chapters 1 & 2: Wednesday, Feb 8, 7–8pm 

Capítulos 3 y 4: miércoles, 8 de marzo, de 7–8pm / Chapters 3 & 4: Wednesday, Mar 8, 7–8pm 

Capítulos 5 a 7: miércoles, 12 de abril, de 7–8pm / Chapters 5–7: Wednesday, Apr 12, 7–8pm

You’re invited to a conversation with New York Times bestselling author David Epstein as he chats about his most recent book, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. 

What's the most effective path to success in any domain? It's not what you think. 

Plenty of experts argue that anyone who wants to develop a skill, play an instrument, or lead their field should start early, focus intensely, and rack up as many hours of deliberate practice as possible. If you dabble or delay, you’ll never catch up to the people who got a head start. But a closer look at research on the world’s top performers, from professional athletes to Nobel laureates, shows that early specialization is the exception, not the rule. 

David Epstein examined the world’s most successful athletes, artists, musicians, inventors, forecasters, and scientists. He discovered that in most fields—especially those that are complex and unpredictable—generalists, not specialists, are primed to excel. Generalists often find their path late, juggling many interests rather than focusing on one. They’re also more creative, agile, and able to make connections their more specialized peers can’t see. 

Provocative, rigorous, and engrossing, Range makes a compelling case for actively cultivating inefficiency. Failing a test is the best way to learn. Frequent quitters end up with the most fulfilling careers. The most impactful inventors cross domains rather than deepening their knowledge in a single area. As experts silo themselves further while computers master more of the skills once reserved for highly focused humans, people who think broadly and embrace diverse experiences and perspectives will increasingly thrive. 

About the Author: David Epstein is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World and of the New York Times bestseller The Sports Gene, both of which have been translated into more than 20 languages. His writing has been honored by an array of organizations, from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, to the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Center on Disability and Journalism, and has been included in the Best American Science and Nature Writing anthology. His story “Following the Trail of Broken Hearts,” on sudden cardiac death in athletes, was chosen as one of the top 100 stories of the last 100 years by Columbia Journalism alumni. He has master’s degrees in environmental science and journalism and lives in Washington, DC.

Build with straws and connectors, architecture blocks, and other construction materials. 

We read the beginning of a book and then have fun with related activities such as games and crafts. Find out how this story ends!

Show off your building and engineering skills! Each month, we share a story with you and then provide a building challenge to test your LEGO building know-how. 

Can you do a STEAM mystery challenge? Drop by to see what science, technology, engineering, art, or math adventure we have for you. 

View Picture Book Chat on our Facebook page at www.scld.org/facebook. 

A talk that will leave you starving for more! Join us as we chat with celebrity chef Jernard Wells about his newest cookbook Southern Inspired: More Than 100 Delicious Dishes from My American Table to Yours. 

Delicious and inventive recipes that remix the traditional flavors and classic dishes of Southern food and celebrate African-American culinary contributions to tables worldwide—from the host of CLEO TV’s New Soul Kitchen. After growing up in Mississippi, Jernard Wells brought the familiar dishes and bold flavors of the South along his culinary journey to become a chef, restaurateur, and TV host. With Southern Inspired, Jernard continues his journey—retracing the steps of generations of African American cooks whose creations have contributed to global kitchen tables since slavery. Southern food defines American food at large, and Chef Jernard takes it to a whole new level while still honoring its roots. Chef Jernard also brings in flavors from the Caribbean, Latin America, Asia, and Europe, always with his signature Southern flair. This cookbook shares 100 recipes that are approachable for both beginners and more experienced cooks. 

About the Author: Jernard Wells is an Award Winning TV Host/Celebrity Chef/Bestselling Cookbook Author. He is the host of "New Soul Kitchen" & "New Soul Kitchen Remix" on CLEO TV and is well-known for appearing on numerous cooking shows on Food Network & Cooking Channel over the last decade. Wells has worked with Tyler Perry, NBA Allstar Brandon Ingram, Lady Antebellum, Tom Joyner, New Edition & BBD. He has been featured on "Today Show", “Good Morning America”, PEOPLE, "Steve Harvey Morning Show", “The Rickey Smiley Morning Show”, ESSENCE, “Daily Blast Live”, USA Today, Lifetime, Oprah Winfrey Network to name a few. The James Beard House Honored Chef is affectionately called "The Family Chef" because he loves using food to promote positive family images. He and his wife of 25 years have 9 children and live in the Atlanta area. All 6 of his books, sauces & spices are available on www.hautecuisine.store. Follow him on all his verified social media pages at @ChefJernard

Build with straws and connectors, architecture blocks, and other construction materials. 

We read the beginning of a book and then have fun with related activities such as games and crafts. Find out how this story ends!

Show off your building and engineering skills! Each month, we share a story with you and then provide a building challenge to test your LEGO building know-how. 

Can you do a STEAM mystery challenge? Drop by to see what science, technology, engineering, art, or math adventure we have for you. 

Listen to a story, make a craft inspired by hojalata (Mexican tin art), and chat with other children in Spanish while you create. This program is intended for children who understand basic Spanish and want to practice speaking Spanish with kids their age. Kids in grades 2–4 & their families 

Join us for an exciting trip through time as we chat with New York Times bestselling historical fiction author Pam Jenoff about her newest book Code Name Sapphire! 

In Code Name Sapphire, a woman must rescue her cousin's family from a train bound for Auschwitz in this riveting tale of bravery and resistance. 

It’s 1942 and Hannah Martel has narrowly escaped Nazi Germany after her fiancé was killed in a pogrom. When her ship bound for America is turned away at port, she has nowhere to go but to her cousin Lily, who lives with her family in Brussels. Fearful for her life, Hannah is desperate to escape occupied Europe. But with no safe way to leave, she must return to the dangerous underground work she thought she had left behind. 

Seeking help, Hannah joins the Sapphire Line, a secret resistance network led by a mysterious woman named Micheline and her enigmatic brother Mateo. But when a grave mistake causes Lily’s family to be arrested and slated for deportation to Auschwitz, Hannah finds herself torn between her loyalties. How much is Hannah willing to sacrifice to save the people she loves? Inspired by incredible true stories of courage and sacrifice, Code Name Sapphire is a powerful novel about love, family and the unshakable resilience of women in even the hardest of times. 

About the Author: Pam Jenoff was born in Maryland and raised outside Philadelphia. She attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and Cambridge University in England. Upon receiving her master’s in history from Cambridge, she accepted an appointment as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Army. Following her work at the Pentagon, Pam moved to the State Department. Pam left the Foreign Service in 1998 to attend law school and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. She now teaches law school at Rutgers. 

Pam is the NYT bestselling author of The Woman With The Blue Star, The Lost Girls of Paris, The Orphan’s Tale, The Kommandant’s Girl, The Diplomat’s Wife, The Ambassador’s Daughter, The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach, The Winter Guest, The Things We Cherished, Almost Home, and A Hidden Affair. She also authored a short story in the anthology Grand Central: Original Postwar Stories of Love and Reunion. She lives outside Philadelphia with her husband, three children, dog, cat, lizard and bird.