Talking Twain at the Urbana Free Library

Have you had a chance to pick up a copy of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer?   People all over Champaign-Urbana are reading the classic as part of this year’s CU Reading: Two Cities, One Book.  There are great cultural programs for all ages at both the Urbana Free Library and the Champaign Public Libraries.  Here at the Urbana Free Library you can attend an amazing free performance by the Station Theatre, a guest appearance by the Storyteller–In-Residence from the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum, and a Treasure Hunt especially for kids.  Check out the full schedule of events here.

This Monday, October 8 at 7:00pm we’ll be taking on one of the most provocative and controversial  themes in Twain’s books – his views of race and ethnicity.  Was Twain racist?  What is the message from his books about African Americans and American Indians?  We hope you’ll come with your own questions and opinions to what promises to be a very thought-provoking conversation.  We’re lucky two have to guest speakers who will get the discussion started:  RobertWarrior (Director of American Indian Studies at the University of Illinois) and Bruce Michelson  (Director of the University of Illinois Campus Honors Program andthe former president of the Mark Twain Circle of America).  Hope to see you there!

Fever Crumb

Assassins made of paper able to slip in the narrowest of openings. Skinners who work to eliminate the world of Patchskins. And, an army of living dead made up of Stalkers. For 14 year old Fever Crumb, these are just the beginnings of her troubles. An orphan raised by a college of engineers to value logic above all else, she stumbles upon a secret that threatens to shed light on who she really is and where she came from. Follow her as she races around a futuristic London trying to find out the truth of her past as chaos and bloodshed blossom around her.

Exciting and suspenseful, FEVER CRUMB by Philip Reeve is a believable fantasy with a satisfying ending. Not your typical coming of age story, Fever is a character who struggles between being rational and giving in to her emotions as she desperately tries to find out who she really is. Full of science and humorous references to our daily indulgences, "blog off!," it enables us to connect to a future which is not as sleek or highly cultured as we commonly imagine.

This prequel to the Mortal Engines Quartet (Hungry City Chronicles) is able to stand alone as its own story. Or, it can become the doorway that invites you to read on, following the path of society after the Sixty Minute War.