Kid Start-Up: How You Can Be an Entrepreneur by Mark Cuban, Shaan Patel, and Ian McCue

Students who know the TV show Shark Tank may be interested in this  book co-authored by the American billionaire Mark Cuban, former Shark Tank contestant Shaan Patel,  and Ian McCue who is a successful teen entrepreneur.

The book offers direct, practical advice for younger readers with a section on “10 businesses that any kid can start”  including pricing and strategy suggestions, procedural directions, and a list of supplies needed - it is a how-to book rooted in the practical.  

Chapter 5  “The Nuts and Bolts of Launching Your Business” gives screenshot-illustrated directions on creating an advertising flyer,  setting up social media, building a weekly website, and selling items on eBay.  These directions link to templates that unfortunately may frustrate detained readers who are without Internet at present, but may be usual nevertheless and in the future.

Chapter 7 is designed like a workbook with lines where readers can write their comments and responses.  Backmatter includes info on affiliate marketing, a glossary, and affiliate links to resources.  Page 65 lists legal tips and may spark additional interest.

While not a perfect fit for all older NYC adolescents,  nor culturally relevant to most Passages students,  the book nonetheless offers useful information and a reader-friendly table of contents.  Older readers may find the book valuable despite the  “kid” focus and language.  --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Cuban, Mark and Shaan Patel, Ian McCue.   Kid Start-Up: How You Can Be an Entrepreneur.  New York: Diversion Books, 2018.

How to Turn $100 into $1,000,000: Earn! Invest! Save! by James McKenna, Jeannine Glista and Matt Fontaine

The title and cover of this book make it hard to keep on our library shelves.   Although  the book lacks cultural  and class-sensitivity,  it is straightforward.  The authors put forth their concept of the “million-dollar mindset (MDM)”  using examples of famous American multi-millionaires, emphasizing how entrepreneurship career choices paid off. 

While providing ideas for suburban adolescents hoping to make money, the authors do not provide detailed, specific information for making the crucial savvy investments required to generate the power of compound interest.  

Nevertheless this book is good for teens of all backgrounds who want to gain financial literacy.

Click here for Daria Plumb’s twenty-page educator guide offered by the publisher.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Magic Card Tricks by Nicholas Einhorn

I cannot begin to tell you how many times students have asked me for books about card tricks.  Magic Card Tricks features a range of tricks at different levels of ability, each with step by step instructions and full color photographs illustrating each step.  Most tricks are managed with a deck (or two) of cards, though more advanced gimmicks require materials that may not be immediately available to students.  A thorough introduction gives an overview of magic performance and a brief history of card magic that segues smoothly into a section on basic card handling techniques.  Front and back matter includes a table of contents, glossary, index, and an international list of suppliers.  While there is no substitute for learning from a pro (or from video), Magic Card Tricks is a well-organized resource which manages to pack a great deal of information into a slim, accessible volume.  --Regan Schwartz

Einhorn, Nicholas. Magic Card tricks. Leicestershire, UK: Southwater, 2012. Print.

Easy Origami by Mary Meinking

Are you intimidated by origami? Not sure where to begin? Easy Origami is a good place to start. With a short introduction to the craft and the materials needed, a slightly longer section on how to read the folding symbols (complete with clear, color photographs), this book is a very friendly text for beginners. Continuing in the “keep it simple” vein, there are directions for ten easy projects -- each explained by step-by-step instructions and helpfully illustrated with photographs and a picture of the completed work. At Passages, we’ve often used the heart as our go-to beginning origami project for programs around Valentine’s Day. Other student favorites include the paper cup, the spinning top and the fortune teller. --Anja Kennedy

Meinking, Mary. Easy Origami. Mankato, Minnesota: Capstone Press, 2009. Print.

DIY Nail Art by Catherine Rodgers

Calling all manicurists, manicure-lovers and nail art admirers. Are you looking for creative inspiration? This slim volume is packed with fun ideas for a wide range of technical skills, illustrated with full color, realistic photographs. In just a few succinct pages, the reader learns how to prep the nails for a flawless and long-lasting manicure and exactly which tools will be needed to achieve the decorative designs. The following format is straightforward and simple; the left page has a picture of the finished manicure, the right side has pictures of each step along with written instructions. Students and staff alike enjoy flipping through the pages and choosing their favorites. Recommended for how-to collections, for both independent reading and instructional use on procedural nonfiction. --Anja Kennedy

Rodgers, Catherine. DIY Nail Art. Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2013. Print.

Halloween Programming Spotlight

Raawwwr!  Papertoy Monsters came to life inside three of our libraries last week at Crossroads on Monday and at Horizon and Belmont on Friday. Said one student at Belmont, "I'm nice at this!  I'm gonna make a million monsters!"  At Bronx Hope, students made Halloween-themed bookmarks. Hope you all had Happy Halloweens!

Graffiti School: A Student Guide With Teacher’s Manual by Chris Ganter

Acknowledging in his introduction that the graffiti scene is split into two groups:  illegal sprayers and legal sprayers, and noting that the legal sprayers need experience and ideas to create the detailed pieces worthy of a legal wall, author Chris Ganter has written the missing “how-to” book for the less experienced writer.  With the care of a teacher, Ganter covers graffiti’s relationship to society, its history, the hip-hop context, terminology, and related media before jumping into directions for designing graffiti.  These chapters are separated out into a) designing and b) dealing with spray paint.  The last chapter of the book is devoted to teachers, suggesting approaches to planning a graffiti unit and including a sample lesson plan, exercises, and corresponding “solutions.”  Back matter contains a smattering of sample alphabets (for more of these, see Walde’s Graffiti Alphabets), a European-oriented timeline of graffiti’s evolution beginning in 1970, a glossary, a bibliography for further reading, photo credits and an index.  Strongly recommended for independent use, as well as art educators.  Highly popular with Passages students at Belmont.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Ganter, Chris.  Graffiti School: A Student Guide with Teacher’s Manual.  New York: Thames & Hudson, 2013.  Print.

Whatcha Mean, What’s a Zine?: The Art of Making Zines and Minicomics, by Mark Todd and Esther Watson Pearl

Looking for a unique and engaging way for your students to publish their work?  Offering a brief history of zines as well as step-by-step how-to instructions, Whatcha Mean, What’s a Zine? is the perfect volume for teachers interested in leading a zine-making project.  The entire zine-making process is broken down into easily digestible bites, with great potential for application to individual lesson plans.  From brainstorming a topic to write about to distribution methods, each section serves as an example of zine design and layout.  Noteworthy are the photocopier tricks and tips for getting a wow factor from a low budget production method.--Anne Lotito Schuh

Todd, Mark, and Esther Watson Pearl. Whatcha Mean, What’s a Zine?: The Art of Making Zines and Minicomics. Boston: Graphia, 2006. Print.

Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon

“All art is theft.” - Pablo Picasso

This provocative quote opens this intriguing tome of creative advice, wherein Kleon goes on to  expound on his ten essential secrets to unleashing your creative potential in whatever way you can.  Organized like an exploded PowerPoint presentation, each tip is scrawled across a two-page spread, and then elucidated via cartoons, photos, graphic organizers, black-out poetry, and quotes from creative types ranging from John Cleese to Gustave Flaubert.  With advice like, “quit picking fights and go make something,” and “start copying,” Steal Like an Artist is sure to stoke the creative fires in many a frustrated creator.  Included are a list of next steps to take, recommended reading, and deleted scenes of advice that did not make the cut. --Regan Schwartz

Kleon, Austin.  Steal Like an Artist:10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative.  New York: Workman Publishing, 2012.  Print.

Arrest-proof Yourself by Dale Carson and Wes Denham

Want to “stay free?”  Carson and Denham acknowledge that “racism is a problem for society.”  Cluelessness, however, is the reader’s problem, and it’s one that the authors believe the reader can address and control through the study of this self-help volume.  The density of information on the close to 300 pages that follow will overwhelm most developing readers.  The content, however, is so extraordinarily useful to urban teens that educators may consider offering selections and encouraging the reading of the introduction and reader-driven use of the index.  While Carson calls himself out on his own political incorrectness, this does not lessen the value of his perspective and generous information.  Carson is a retired Miami city cop and FBI agent, currently employed as a criminal defense lawyer.  This book remains among the most popular non-fiction titles in our libraries.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber


Carson, Dale C.  and Wes Denham.  Arrest-proof Yourself.  Chicago:  Chicago Review Press, 2007.

Papertoy Monsters: 50 Cool Papertoys You Can Make Yourself by Brian Castleforte

Like monsters?  Wish they weren’t quite so large and dangerous?  Have I got the book for you!  Paper Toy Monsters is a treasure trove of so-ugly-they’re-cute miniature monsters you build yourself.  Armed with a little time, some glue, and a lot of patience, you can craft an army of tiny, full-color monsters with names like Lil Vamp, Wolfman Joe, and Halloweeny.  Rated “easy” to “advanced,” there’s a monster for everyone.  Once you’ve worked your way through all of the artist-designed monsters, there are templates for you to design your own!

Not only is Paper Toy Monsters a craft book, it is a wonderful introduction to the features of nonfiction texts and technical writing.  With a table of contents, headings, subheadings, pictures with captions, and multi-step directions, there is plenty of information for students to explore. --Regan Schwartz

Castleforte, Brian. Papertoy Monsters: 50 Cool Papertoys You Can Make Yourself. New York: Workman Publishing, 2010. Print.

Library Alchemy

William Bevill, librarian at Pima County Public Library's Juvenile Detention Center Branch has landed! He's in town to teach us unconference attendees how to perform a magic trick: turning hardcovers into softcovers for circulation. William kindly provided us with some photos of what we'll be able to do by Friday afternoon. For more information about our upcoming unconference, click here. --Jessica Fenster-Sparber