
‘Girls rule’: Teen-led event offers inspiration, empowerment
“No Scrubs” by TLC and “Déjà vu” by Olivia Rodrigo echoed through a speaker as dozens of young girls sang along at the Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center. Nearly 100 girls from around Illinois participated Saturday in Girls Who Lead, a day of empowering workshops hosted by the founder of the Her Rising nonprofit, Cherie Animashaun, who is a junior at Niles West High School. Animashaun has been hard at work distributing her workbooks – Compass: Her…
Bookends & Beginnings battles pandemic effects and Amazon’s giant shadow
When Nina Barrett first visited Bookman’s Alley, the quaint downtown Evanston bookstore tucked away in an alley off Sherman Avenue, she never imagined she’d be writing the store’s next chapter…
Mudlark Theater presents ‘I’m Smiling Beneath This Mask’ May 27-June 2
Mudlark Theater, an Evanston-based youth theater company that presents new, youth-centered stories, is pleased to present “I’m Smiling Beneath This Mask,” which will be performed outdoors in Evanston’s Ridgeville Park,…
Evanston’s Umbrella Arts Festival celebrates local Asian, South Asian, Pacific Island American community
Editors’ note: Full disclosure, this story is written by contributor Sam Molitor, a high school student who is related to the event’s organizers. For more information on the rest of…
Friends of the Robert Crown Center transfers another $600,000 to City of Evanston
Friends of the Robert Crown Center (FRCC) announced Monday that it transferred another $600,000 to the City of Evanston for the new Robert Crown Community Center, bringing the total transferred…
books

Bookends & Beginnings’ top 10 April bestsellers
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel. Narratives from the past, present and future overlap through time travel, the beauty of the North American wilderness and the song of the violin. Fans of The Glass Hotel…

Robert Crown hosts literacy carnival – a fun event with a serious purpose
In addition to the lively and spirited activity outdoors on Robert Crown Community Center’s athletic fields May 8, there was another inviting, free event indoors on the center’s second floor: From 9 a.m. until noon,…

Join one of the many book groups at the Evanston Public Library
The Evanston Public Library offers a wide range of book discussion groups for community members. Check out the many offerings with details below. Better Off Read Book Group The genres read run the gamut from…

Book Bird: Hidden treasures of the Evanston Public Library
My colleague sent the email first thing in the morning. “TOTALLY OPTIONAL, but if you’d like to participate in RAILS’ collection challenge to show off unusual items on social media, I’m happy to facilitate.” Come…

Questions for Nina Kraus
Nina Kraus is Hugh Knowles Professor of Communication Sciences, Neurobiology, and Otolaryngology at Northwestern University. As a biologist and amateur musician, she thinks about sound and brain health. Her research has found that our lives…

Bookends & Beginnings goes beyond the page with author workshops
When Nina Barrett opened Bookends & Beginnings in 2014, she had hoped one day to offer accessible programming to readers. Barrett, an author herself, said she wanted to raise the profile of Evanston’s writers. “There…

Former Evanston teen librarian finds his true calling as a children’s book author
Evanston-born author Jarrett Dapier says he thinks he was always a children’s book writer, even before he realized it. For high school creative-writing prompts, for example, Dapier said he tended toward “absurdist, Shel Silverstein sort…

Book review: The year of living frugally
Food. Toiletries. Light bulbs. A few pairs of shoes for the kids. How much other stuff does a family truly need in one year? That question – and the consumption of household items in general…
MORE ART & LIFE

Thursday Night Markets return to Fountain Square this summer
Downtown Evanston is excited to host the second summer of Thursday Night Markets, an outdoor market featuring local shops, artists and makers. All are invited to spend…

The week in photos: May 16-23
This week’s spring photography is all purple and green, with falling lilac pedals and a “green alley.” Neither rain nor mud hindered Saturday’s rodeo-themed Dillo Day…

Evanston Garden Fair returns after pandemic hiatus
This weekend saw the return of the annual Evanston Garden Fair, which took a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. Located in Independence Park at Central…

Celebrate the opening of the Gibbs-Morrison Teen Center with ribbon-cutting
Over the past few months, the Gibbs-Morrison Cultural Center at 1823 Church St. has gone through a transformation with a new Teen Center added for high…

Film review: Elegant escape to ‘Downton Abbey’ offers movie therapy at its best
Downton Abbey: A New Era is the second full-length sequel to the popular 2010-2015 PBS series. This Focus Features film, written by Julian Fellowes and directed by…