Teens & Tweens

Photo of seating, tables, shelves, colorful decorations, and white board in the library teen and tween area

Teen & Tween Events

This event is in the "Teen & Tween" group.

Teen Board

7:00pm - 8:00pm
Teen & Tween
Library Branch: Thomas Ford Memorial Library
Room: Teen/Tween Room
Age Group: Teen & Tween
Program Type: Arts & Crafts, Clubs & Groups, Hands On, Library Boards
Event Details:

Teen Board can be a great way to earn volunteer hours! If you have ideas for how the library can better serve teens and tweens, come join us!

This event is in the "Teen & Tween" group.

Clay Nature Imprint Kit

All Day
Teen & Tween
Library Branch: Thomas Ford Memorial Library
Room: Teen/Tween Room
Age Group: Teen & Tween
Program Type: Arts & Crafts, Hands On
Event Details:

Celebrate Earth Day by making a clay impression of the beauty of nature! Available in the Teen Room while supplies last.

This event is in the "Teen & Tween" group.
This event is in the "Adult" group.

Western Springs Writers' Society

7:00pm - 8:30pm
Teen & Tween, Adult
Library Branch: Thomas Ford Memorial Library
Room: Board Room
Age Group: Teen & Tween, Adult
Program Type: Clubs & Groups
Event Details:

Have a writing itch? The Western Springs Writers' Society welcomes all writers from the community to discuss and hone their craft with other local writers. Whether this is your career or hobby, writers of all levels and genres are invited.

This event is in the "Teen & Tween" group.

DIY Kites

3:45pm - 4:45pm
Teen & Tween
Registration
Library Branch: Thomas Ford Memorial Library
Room: Program Room
Age Group: Teen & Tween
Program Type: Hands On, STEAM
Registration Required
Seats Remaining: 7
Event Details:

Go fly a kite!  But first make your own design, then see how it flies!

This event is in the "Teen & Tween" group.

Tween Book Club

7:00pm - 8:00pm
Teen & Tween
Registration
Library Branch: Thomas Ford Memorial Library
Room: Reading Room
Age Group: Teen & Tween
Program Type: Book Discussion, Clubs & Groups
Registration Required
Seats Remaining: 11
Event Details:

Join us for a meeting of the Tween Book Club! We will discuss The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman. Extra copies are available one month before the discussion. 

This event is in the "Teen & Tween" group.
Library Branch: Thomas Ford Memorial Library
Room: Teen/Tween Room
Age Group: Teen & Tween
Program Type: Hands On
Event Details:

Fight off hunger with these delicious candy dipped light saber pretzel sticks! Available in the Teen Room while supplies last.

The Teen Space

Welcome to the Teen Room, a space specifically for teens and tweens in grades 5 through 12. The teen room has study space with built in charging stations, as well as comfy chairs for reading and gathering with friends. The teen room houses our Young Adult and Tween books, as well as Graphic Novels for teens and tweens. We have gaming laptops, ipads, maker kits, board games, and much more for you to explore!  

Study table in teen area

Study Areas

The teen room has study space specifically for teens and tweens.  All tables have built-in charging stations.

Laptops set up in the teen area

Gaming Laptops and iPads

Gamers unite in the teen room!  With five gaming laptops loaded with Epic Games, Fortnite, and Roblox, as well as three iPads preloaded with games from Apple Arcade, we have plenty to keep you entertained!

Maker Kits

Maker Kits

Looking for something to do? Our maker kits are always available for fun, screen-free entertainment. Make your own pinback buttons, greeting cards, and much more!

Shelves filled with board games

Game Collection

Gather some friends and get together in the teen room for a game of Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza, Jenga, Clue, or many other card games and board games!  Located under the bench seat by the south window.

White board with "what's your favorite book you've read this summer" and hand written responses in different color markers

Community Art Boards

Two whiteboards in the teen room provide fun prompts, magnetic scrabble tiles, and dry erase markers for our creative teens and tweens.

Graphic novels label on book shelf

YA Graphic Novels

Manga, graphic nonfiction and much more are all available in the teen room on the graphic novel shelf.  Teal dots on the spine highlight graphic novels that are great for tweens.

Tween Fiction section in the library

Tween Section

Look for our YA TW section to find books that are recommended for our younger teens, grades 5-7.  

Teen & Tween Services

Homework Help

Biography in Context

Biography in Context logo

Biography in Context includes nearly a million biographical entries spanning history and geography. Great for biography reports.

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Britannica Library (Away from Library)

Britannica Library logo

Britannica Library is a respected general purpose encyclopedia. Adult, teen, and children’s versions of the encyclopedia are available on this site.

View Resource

Literary Reference Center Plus

Literary Reference Center logo

Novels, short stories, poems, plot summaries and synopses, and literary criticism. Research guides, lesson plans, and citation tools support student learning.

View Resource

2025 Award Winning Young Adult Books

Image for "Twenty-Four Seconds From Now"

Twenty-Four Seconds From Now

“Jason Reynolds has done it again!...Fresh from start to finish…This is what it could be, should be, if only we were all as lucky as Aria. Girls (and everyone) wait for your Neon!” —Judy Blume, New York Times bestselling author of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. and Forever...

#1 New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds tackles it—you know…it—from the guy’s perspective in this unfiltered and undeniably sweet stream of consciousness story of a teen boy about to experience a huge first.

Twenty-four months ago: Neon gets chased by a dog all around the parking lot of a church. Not his finest moment. And definitely one he would have loved to forget if it weren’t for the dog’s owner: Aria. Dressed in sweats, a t-shirt, hair in a ponytail. Aria. Way more than fine.

Twenty-four weeks ago: Neon’s dad insists on talking to him about tenderness and intimacy. Neon and Aria are definitely in love, and while they haven’t taken that next big step…yet, they’ve starting talking about…that.

Twenty-four days ago: Neon’s mom finds her—gulp—bra in his room. Hey! No judging! Those hook thingies are complicated! So he’d figured he’d better practice, what with the big day only a month away.

Twenty-four minutes ago: Neon leaves his shift at work at his dad’s bingo hall, making sure to bring some chicken tenders for Aria. They’re not candlelight and they definitely aren’t caviar, but they are her favorite.

And right this second? Neon is locked in Aria’s bathroom, completely freaking out because twenty-four seconds from now he and Aria are about to…about to… Well, they won’t do anything if he can’t get out of his own head (all the advice, insecurities, and what ifs) and out of this bathroom!

Image for "Everything We Never Had"

Everything We Never Had

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD!

From the author of the National Book Award finalist Patron Saints of Nothing comes an emotionally charged, moving novel about four generations of Filipino American boys grappling with identity, masculinity, and their fraught father-son relationships.

Watsonville, 1930. Francisco Maghabol barely ekes out a living in the fields of California. As he spends what little money he earns at dance halls and faces increasing violence from white men in town, Francisco wonders if he should’ve never left the Philippines.

Stockton, 1965. Between school days full of prejudice from white students and teachers and night shifts working at his aunt’s restaurant, Emil refuses to follow in the footsteps of his labor organizer father, Francisco. He’s going to make it in this country no matter what or who he has to leave behind.

Denver, 1983. Chris is determined to prove that his overbearing father, Emil, can’t control him. However, when a missed assignment on “ancestral history” sends Chris off the football team and into the library, he discovers a desire to know more about Filipino history―even if his father dismisses his interest as unamerican and unimportant.

Philadelphia, 2020. Enzo struggles to keep his anxiety in check as a global pandemic breaks out and his abrasive grandfather moves in. While tensions are high between his dad and his lolo, Enzo’s daily walks with Lolo Emil have him wondering if maybe he can help bridge their decades-long rift.

Told in multiple perspectives, Everything We Never Had unfolds like a beautifully crafted nesting doll, where each Maghabol boy forges his own path amid heavy family and societal expectations, passing down his flaws, values, and virtues to the next generation, until it’s up to Enzo to see how he can braid all these strands and men together.

Recommended by Thomas Ford Teens and Tweens

Image for "You'd Be Home Now"

You'd Be Home Now

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the critically acclaimed author of Girl in Pieces comes a stunning novel that Vanity Fair calls “impossibly moving” and “suffused with light”. In this raw, deeply personal story, a teenaged girl struggles to find herself amidst the fallout of her brother's addiction in a town ravaged by the opioid crisis.

For all of Emory's life she's been told who she is. In town she's the rich one--the great-great-granddaughter of the mill's founder. At school she's hot Maddie Ward's younger sister. And at home, she's the good one, her stoner older brother Joey's babysitter. Everything was turned on its head, though, when she and Joey were in the car accident that killed Candy MontClaire. The car accident that revealed just how bad Joey's drug habit was.

Four months later, Emmy's junior year is starting, Joey is home from rehab, and the entire town of Mill Haven is still reeling from the accident. Everyone's telling Emmy who she is, but so much has changed, how can she be the same person? Or was she ever that person at all?

Mill Haven wants everyone to live one story, but Emmy's beginning to see that people are more than they appear. Her brother, who might not be "cured," the popular guy who lives next door, and most of all, many "ghostie" addicts who haunt the edges of the town. People spend so much time telling her who she is--it might be time to decide for herself.

A journey of one sister, one brother, one family, to finally recognize and love each other for who they are, not who they are supposed to be, You'd Be Home Now is Kathleen Glasgow's glorious and heartbreaking story about the opioid crisis, and how it touches all of us.

Image for "Al Capone Does My Shirts"

Al Capone Does My Shirts

The Newbery Honor Book and New York Times Bestseller that is historical fiction with a hint of mystery about living at Alcatraz not as a prisoner, but as a kid meeting some of the most famous criminals in our history. Al Capone Does My Shirts has become an instant classic for all kids to read!

Today I moved to Alcatraz, a twelve-acre rock covered with cement, topped with bird turd and surrounded by water. I'm not the only kid who lives here. There are twenty-three other kids who live on the island because their dads work as guards or cooks or doctors or electricians for the prison, like my dad does. And then there are a ton of murderers, rapists, hit men, con men, stickup men, embezzlers, connivers, burglars, kidnappers and maybe even an innocent man or two, though I doubt it. The convicts we have are the kind other prisons don't want. I never knew prisons could be picky, but I guess they can. You get to Alcatraz by being the worst of the worst. Unless you're me. I came here because my mother said I had to.

A Newbery Honor Book
A New York Times Bestseller
A People magazine "Best kid's Book"
An ALA Book for Young Adults
An ALA Notable Book
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A Krikus Reviews Editor's Choice
A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
A Parents' Choice Silver Honor Book
A New York Public Library "100 Titles for Reading and Sharing" Selection
A New York Public Library Best Book for the Teen Age

*"Choldenko's pacing is exquisite. . . . [A] great read."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
*"Exceptionally atmospheric, fast-paced and memorable!"—Publishers Weekly, starred review
*"The story, told with humor and skill, will fascinate readers."—School Library Journal, starred review

"Al is the perfect novel for a young guy or moll who digs books by Gordon Korman, or Louis Sachar."—Time Out New York for Kids

"Funny situations and plot twists abound!"—People magazine

"Heartstopping in some places, heartrending in others, and most of all, it is heartwarming."—San Francisco Chronicle


 

cover of "City Spies" book

City Spies

A New York Times bestseller!
A GMA3 Summer Reading Squad Selection!
“Ingeniously plotted, and a grin-inducing delight.” —People
“Will keep young readers glued to the page…So when do I get the sequel?” —Beth McMullen, author of Mrs. Smith’s Spy School for Girls

In this thrilling new series that Stuart Gibbs called “a must-read,” Edgar Award winner James Ponti brings together five kids from all over the world and transforms them into real-life spies—perfect for fans of Spy School and Mrs. Smith’s Spy School for Girls.

Sara Martinez is a hacker. She recently broke into the New York City foster care system to expose her foster parents as cheats and lawbreakers. However, instead of being hailed as a hero, Sara finds herself facing years in a juvenile detention facility and banned from using computers for the same stretch of time. Enter Mother, a British spy who not only gets Sara released from jail but also offers her a chance to make a home for herself within a secret MI6 agency.

Operating out of a base in Scotland, the City Spies are five kids from various parts of the world. When they’re not attending the local boarding school, they’re honing their unique skills, such as sleight of hand, breaking and entering, observation, and explosives. All of these allow them to go places in the world of espionage where adults can’t.

Before she knows what she’s doing, Sara is heading to Paris for an international youth summit, hacking into a rival school’s computer to prevent them from winning a million euros, dangling thirty feet off the side of a building, and trying to stop a villain…all while navigating the complex dynamics of her new team.

No one said saving the world was easy…

Image for "The Benefits of Being an Octopus"

The Benefits of Being an Octopus

One of Edutopia's "25 Essential Middle School Reads from the Last Decade," NPR Best Book of 2018, Bank Street List for Best Children's Books of 2019, Named to the Vermont Dorothy Canfield Fisher List, Maine's Student Book Award List, Louisiana Young Reader's Choice Award List, Rhode Island Middle School Book Award 2020 List, 2020 Oklahoma Sequoyah Book Award Nominee, 2021 South Carolina Junior Book Award Nominee, 2020-2021 Truman Award​ (Missouri) Nominee, Middle School Virginia Readers’ Choice Titles for 2020–2021​, Charlie May Simon Award 2020–2021 List, 2021–2022 Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee, and 2023 Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award nominee​​.

Some people can do their homework. Some people get to have crushes on boys. Some people have other things they've got to do. 

Seventh-grader Zoey has her hands full as she takes care of her much younger siblings after school every day while her mom works her shift at the pizza parlor. Not that her mom seems to appreciate it. At least there's Lenny, her mom's boyfriend—they all get to live in his nice, clean trailer. 

At school, Zoey tries to stay under the radar. Her only friend Fuchsia has her own issues, and since they're in an entirely different world than the rich kids, it's best if no one notices them. 

Zoey thinks how much easier everything would be if she were an octopus: eight arms to do eight things at once. Incredible camouflage ability and steady, unblinking vision. Powerful protective defenses. 

Unfortunately, she's not totally invisible, and one of her teachers forces her to join the debate club. Even though Zoey resists participating, debate ultimately leads her to see things in a new way: her mom’s relationship with Lenny, Fuchsia's situation, and her own place in this town of people who think they're better than her. Can Zoey find the courage to speak up, even if it means risking the most stable home she's ever had? 

This moving debut novel explores the cultural divides around class and the gun debate through the eyes of one girl, living on the edges of society, trying to find her way forward.