Board Games for the Bored
By the LJ and SLJ editors
For many folks, it's been eight weeks or more of sheltering at home, oftentimes balancing remote work and digital school. Families or roommates in need of some screen-free activities will want to check out our roundup of the best board games that encourage cooperation, friendly competition, and belly laughs. Meanwhile, home gardeners—perhaps inspired by our recent roundup of virtual tours of botanical gardens around the country—may want to dig into these delightful horticultural guides.

 

Though schools may be months away from reopening in most states, some parents may be interested in the latest update from the Centers for Disease Control. For families preparing for an unusual summer break, there are, at least, plenty of excellent reading options for adults, teens, and young readers, including another round of free digital comics for kids.

 

Looking for more reading and binge-watching inspiration? Check out what our own staffers have been consuming this week.

The Best Board Games for Quarantine
By Melanie Kletter
Bored in the house? Try one of these eight family-friendly board games. 

Zombie Teddy Bears Attack and Readers Meet a Young Snow in the Hunger Games Prequel
By SLJ Reviews
Five titles for kids, tweens, and teens—including the much-anticipated prequel to The Hunger Games—hot off the presses this week. 

Light Reads, Edge-of-Your-Seat Thrillers, & a Novel That Imagines Hillary Persisting Without Bill
By LJ Reviews
Summer book picks, deep discussion-starters perfect for (virtual) book clubs, a novel that imagines what would have happened if Hillary Rodham never married Bill Clinton, and Joe Biden's senior adviser with an of-the-moment deep dive into 2020 Democratic politics.

CDC Releases School Reopening Guidelines
By SLJ Staff
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released reopening guidelines for schools. A checklist decision tree shows what needs to happen to get students and staff safely back in the classrooms, including social distancing, symptom monitoring, and a plan to protect at-risk kids and employees.

Free Digital Comics for Kids
By Brigid Alverson
To help support kids reading at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, publishers and creators have made an enormous amount of their work free to read digitally. Here are a few of the latest offerings.

The Hottest Summer Reads, Librarian Picks, and Who’s on NPR | Books in the News
By LJ Reviews
Entertainment Weekly releases its summer picks, the Library Reads June list is out, and readers the world over are dying to dig into the Hunger Games prequel.

What Our Staffers Are Reading & Watching This Week
By Liz French
Junior Library Guild, School Library Journal, and LJ staffers are getting into sweet reads and viewings, cat fiction and nonfiction, miniseries and maxiseries, women power, and the joys and sorrows of family and famiglia.

A Library of Garden Delights
By Neal Wyatt
Flowers, ever popular, are enjoying even more admiration at the moment. These books will help you grow your own—at any scale, from windowsill to farm.