Our Banned Books Club will meet on Tuesday, March 24 at 7:30 p.m. to discuss One Day In the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Our club, aimed at middle-schoolers, will discuss Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck at our April meeting -- Monday, April 20 at 7:30 p.m. Copies of the book will be available at the library for check-out, courtesy of the Friends of the Takoma Park Maryland Library.
You're invited to a special performance of Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! on Tuesday, March 31 at 7:30 p.m. Middle school students will bring medieval characters to life as they perform poems from the Newbery Medal-winning book, and music will be provided by local musician Wendy Lanxner and her students. The performance will open the annual meeting of the Friends of the Takoma Park Maryland Library, but you don't have to be a member of the Friends to come and enjoy the show, as well as some goodies to eat and drink. No registration required; the show is best for school-aged children and older.
The middle school students first performed Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! in December, as the culmination of a four-week workshop with local poets Elizabeth Rees and Rosanne Singer. During the workshop, the students first read the book, written by Laura Amy Schlitz, then decided which character they would like to be. In addition, the students wrote "persona" poems, in which they created a character inspired by one of the characters in the book. Like the poems in the book, the students' poems were alternately moving and humorous. Come and enjoy this unique performance of an award-winning book!
Do you want to write poetry, fiction, or creative non-fiction? Then join our new Tween Writing Club, led by Susan Katz-Miller, former Newsweek reporter and high school English teacher. Each month, the group will do some writing games together to warm up. Then, tween writers will read from their own work, and Sue will lead supportive group discussions. No assignments, no grading, no rubrics, just writing for the sheer joy of it. Bring some of your writing to the first class. Class limited to ten writers. Third Wednesdays, 7-8:30pm. March 18, April 15, May 20. Note: this program is aimed at kids ages 10-12. Thanks to the Friends of the Takoma Park Maryland Library for sponsoring this club!