Multnomah County Library Podcasts

Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez. After his family hires migrant Mexican workers to help save their Vermont farm from foreclosure, eleven-year-old Tyler befriends the oldest daughter, but when he discovers they may not be in the country legally, he realizes that real friendship knows no borders.

Masterpiece by Elise Broach. After Marvin, a beetle, makes a miniature drawing as an eleventh birthday gift for James, a human with whom he shares a house, the two new friends work together to help recover a Durer drawing stolen from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Mostly True Adventures of Homer P Figg by Rodman Philbrick. Twelve-year-old Homer, a poor but clever orphan, has extraordinary adventures after running away from his evil uncle to rescue his brother, who has been sold into service in the Civil War.

Groan! Fall's here and it's back to school. But in your spare time, check out these books about book crafts: things involved with writing, making and publishing your own books. Books reviewed include:

Indie Publishing; How to Design and Produce your Own Book ed. by Ellen Lupton

In Print! 40 Cool Publishing Projects for Kids by Joe Rhatigan

Cool Calligraphy by Anders Hanson

Making Books that Fly, Fold, Wrap, Hide, Pop Up, Twist and Turn by Gwen Diehn

T-shirt reconstruction is the new knitting!  Listen to some great book and online resources for turning your t-shirts into fabulous things to wear, including T-Shirt Makeovers, Generation T, Tease, and threadbanger.com. 

Elfriede Wuckert walked up the steps of the Albina Library (now Titlewave) in the late 1920's holding her mother's hand.  Her family emigrated in 1925 from Germany and quickly became library "regulars.”  Listen to her stories of the citizenship classes her mother attended along with the memories of what it was like to be new in town and find friends in the books she carried home by the “armfuls.”  Hear what is different, but also what remains stable and familiar in the library for people new to the country.

Zine readings by Shawn Granton, Editor of The Zinesters Guide to Portland and the author of Temporary Relocation Project and Ten -foot-rule and Erica Schreiner, author of The Way Things Used to Be and Argyle. Adult program Zinesters Talking, recorded live at Central Library August 26, 2008.

Always tired, but can't sleep? Is your productivity suffering? Come explore the causes and learn about natural simple therapies to help you snooze through the night to improve your efficiency and mood during the day.

FaceBook, MySpace; what are they and why would I be interested if I'm over 25? Learn why social media sites are THE way to connect with your target audience.

Date of Event: Thursday May 7, 2009

Carolyn Main is a freelance cartoonist from Portland, Oregon, and a featured speaker of Stumptown Comics Fest 2009. She specializes in the cute, gross and bawdy world of animation, comics and graphic novels. Here she discusses her work, webcomics and the differences between publishing on the web vs. paper. Adult programming recorded live at Central Library April 16, 2009.