Jon Schafle's blog

By now might have seen WandaVision, or certainly seen the Agatha memes making their rounds on the internet. WandVision is one of the latest installments in the MCU (along with The Falcon & The Winter Soldier) released on the streaming service Disney Plus, taking place after the events of Avengers: End Game and following the Scarlet Witch and featuring some familiar faces and lots of nods to the original source material. Below I've put together a list of some relevant titles available in the catalog and online through Hoopla to further your witchy cravings if you're still looking for more after binging the series:

Juneteenth is celebrated on June 19th and is also called Emancipation Day, Liberation Day, Jubilee Day, or Freedom Day and celebrates the emancipation of slaves in the United States and originated in Glaveston, Texas on the date in 1865 when Union General Gordon Granger proclaimed freedom from slavery in the state of Texas. In the 21st century the holiday is celebrated throughout the United States in a variety of ways, I've been together a few of books from our collection to share with your children to learn more about the history behind this holiday:

Creator Spotlight: Grant Morrison

Grant Morrison is a Scottish author and playwright and is known for several fan favorite series for Marvel, DC and European publishers. They are known for their bizarre, psychedelic and counterculture themes and are responsible for breathing new life into a number of obscure characters like Animal Man and the Doom Patrol as well as their own creations like The Invisibles and Zenith. Below are a few of my favorites we have available in our collection:

Can't get enough super-heroes? A great way to bridge the gaps while you're waiting for the next volume of your favorite series is checking out a audiobook featuring some of your favorite costumed characters on Hoopla! Take a look at just a sampling of the great audio adaptions featuring various Marvel characters:

Captain America: The Death of Captain America by Larry Hama, read by Richard Rohan

Jewish American Heritage Month is observed in May and I've selected some of my favorites to showcase, though Jewish American heritage is intrinsically linked with the history of comics stretching back to the Golden Age of Comics and the creation of Superman by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and the Silver Age of comics and the rise of Marvel by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, among countless other examples.

In honor of Asian & Pacific Islander Heritage Month I've put together a few of my favorite titles spotlight characters and creators of Asian and Pacific Islander descent- I even tried to select a good mix of fiction and non-fiction offerings. It's a great opportunity to branch and and try something new and learn about different cultures, mythologies and ways of life and broaden your mind and your own experiences!

Almost American Girl by Robin Ha

Nevermind May the Fourth, It's All About Revenge of the Fifth

Hungry for something good to read? A glutton for comics and graphic novels? Today I'm cooking up some of my favorite foodie books throughout all three of our graphic collections to satisfy even the most discerning appetite.

Juvenile

Before the onset of the pandemic last year, the Downtown Branch had a weekly meeting for teens to hang out and play board games, as well as Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder thanks to our volunteer Dungeon Master. With things as they are, meetings in person have been cancelled since the library has been back to work but the group has still been meeting virtually to continue to hang out and create new adventures! Utilizing Discord voice chat and Roll20 to facilitate our games remotely Wednesdays from 4-6pm, if you have a teen or are a teen interested in joining the group please contact jschafle@hmcpl.org for more information.

What is Dungeons & Dragons?

During the quarantine last year I took the time at home to practice my sewing and stitch one a bunch of band patches to my denim jackets and decided to make it into one of our library guides when I got back, showing how to make your own battle jacket and I even complied some lists of heavy metal and punk inclined reading for our youth, young adult and adult collections (you can find the full guide here). Below I've curated some of my favorite family friendly titles to share with your children to introduce them to some of your favorite genres and artists...though I must admit I am a bit partial to punk and metal:

Picture Books