Normal Public Library provides many enriching events and resources for teens. Find items from our teen collections and helpful online resources.
Activities
We have lots of activities going on every month for teens to enjoy. Whether you are into technology, poetry, crafts, anime, or more, there is something for you at NPL!
Learn more about current activities here.
Teen Spaces
The library is a great place to meet up with friends or spend some time studying.
We hope you will check out our Teen Department next time you are at the library.
Teen Mobile Maker Space
Our Teen Mobile Makerspace is an area that encourages participation in hands-on collaborative learning, sharing, and creating through the use of technology and do-it-yourself materials. Teens, take a look at the makerspace during your next visit.
Thanks to our Giving Tuesday campaign in 2015, we are pleased to offer our Teen Mobile Makerspace.
Collection
The library has a fantastic collection of the latest books for teens and we work hard to maintain a great selection of graphic novels.
You will also find tons of music and movies to check out and a huge selection of media to download & stream.
Top Titles for Teens
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All American Boys
When sixteen-year-old Rashad is mistakenly accused of stealing, classmate Quinn witnesses his brutal beating at the hands of a police officer who happens to be the older brother of his best friend. Told through Rashad and Quinn's alternating viewpoints.
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It's Trevor Noah: Born a Crime
The comedian traces his coming of age during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed, offering insight into the farcical aspects of the political and social systems of today's world.
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The Toll
Book 3 in the Arc of a Scythe trilogy
Citra and Rowan have disappeared. Endura is gone. It seems like nothing stands between Scythe Goddard and absolute dominion over the world scythedom. With the silence of the Thunderhead and the reverberations of the Great Resonance still shaking the earth to its core, the question remains: Is there anyone left who can stop him? The answer lies in the Tone, the Toll, and the Thunder.
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Throne of Glass
Book 1 in the Throne of Glass series
In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king's champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien. Something evil dwells in the castle of glass--and it's there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena's fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.
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Unwind
Book 1 in the Unwind series
In a future world where those between the ages of thirteen and eighteen can have their lives "unwound" and their body parts harvested for use by others, three teens go to extreme lengths to survive until they turn eighteen.
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Mockingjay
Katniss Everdeen's having survived the Hunger games twice makes her a target of the Capitol and President Snow, as well as a hero to the rebels who will succeed only if Katniss is willing to put aside her personal feelings of anger and distrust and serve as their pawn. She must accept responsibility for countless lives in order to change the course of the future of Panem. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.
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Scarlet
Book 2 in the Lunar Chronicles series
Scarlet Benoit and Wolf, a street fighter who may have information about her missing grandmother, join forces with Cinder as they try to stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana in this story inspired by Little Red Riding Hood.
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D&D Waterdeep Dragon Heist HC
Famed explorer Volothamp Geddarm needs you to complete a simple quest. Thus beings a mad romp through the wards of Waterdeep as you uncover a villainous plot involving some of the city's most influential figures. Pit your skill and bravado against villains the likes of which you've never faced before, and let the dragon hunt begin!
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A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe
In this poignant mixed voice, mixed form collection of interconnected prose, poems and stories, teen characters, their families, and their communities grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic
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Heartless Hunter
Book 1 in The Crimson Moth series
In a world where witches face persecution, Rune leads a double life, masquerading as a socialite during the day and transforming into the vigilante known as the Crimson Moth by night, and forms a complicated alliance with the witch hunter Gideon Sharpe, blurring the lines between love and danger.
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Piecing Me Together
Jade believes she must get out of her poor neighborhood if she's ever going to succeed. Every day she rides the bus away from her friends and to the private school where she feels like an outsider, but where she has plenty of opportunities. But some opportunities she doesn't really welcome, like an invitation to join Women to Women, a mentorship program for "at-risk" girls. Just because her mentor is black and graduated from the same high school doesn't mean she understands where Jade is coming from. She's tired of being singled out as someone who needs help, someone people want to fix. Jade wants to speak, to create, to express her joys and sorrows, her pain and her hope. Maybe there are some things she could show other women about understanding the world and finding ways to be real, to make a difference.
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The Drowned Woods
Eighteen-year-old Mererid "Mer" is the last living water diviner and has spent years running from the prince who bound her into his service. Mer went to great lengths to disappear from the prince's reach. Then Mer's old handler returns with a proposition: use her powers to bring down the very prince that abused them both. With a motley crew of allies, Mer may finally be able to steal precious freedom and peace for herself. After all, a person with a knife is one thing, but a person with a cause can topple kingdoms.
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A Door in the Dark
Ren Monroe is one of the best wizards in her generation, but top marks at Balmerick University will mean nothing if she fails to get recruited into one of the major houses. Enter Theo Brood. After a failed and disastrous party trick, fate has the two of them crossing paths at the public waxway portal the day before holidays: Theo's punishment is to travel home with the scholarship kids. A fight breaks out, and in the chaos the portal spell misfunctions. Six students are set down in the middle of nowhere, and one of them is dead on arrival. No magic could prepare them for the tangled secrets members of the group are harboring, or for what's following them in the dark woods
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Of Earthly Delights
After her family moves to Connecticut, high school senior and aspiring artist Rose falls for wealthy, handsome Hart, whose family's mysterious, sprawling garden hides a sinister secret.
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Pride Or Die
When an LGBTQ+ club meeting coincides with an attack on the head cheerleader, seventeen-year-old Eleanora and the other club members must solve the crime themselves to clear their names and save the club from disappearing.
Outreach
Our Teen Librarian regularly visits McLean County's Juvenile Detention Center to introduce teens there to books that they might enjoy. She also visits schools in Normal during the students' lunch breaks to introduce them to great books through our Books & Bites program.
Explore & Learn
America's News
Black Freedom Struggle Website
Brainfuse HelpNow
Creativebug
Creativebug.com offers award-winning art & craft video classes taught by recognized design experts and artists.