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Dumpty Review: My first time reading political poetry

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  Hello, I feel like my final blog was an unsatisfying conclusion this year’s blog. My recent post, "Recommending a book based on your favorite class this year" was mostly based on research: I didn’t review many books I actually read. I also did not finish reading any books this cycle. With this in mind, I decided to read and write about a new book for my true final blog. I have read a lot of poems before. From my independent readings of Shel Silverstein and Edgar Alan Poe, to the Poetry unit in subbie English class, to the recent in-depth exploration of poems this quarter. However, I have never seen poems of Political satire. Enter Dumpty . This book is a collection of poems discussing the Trump administration. My parents had really liked this book, so I decided to give it a try. Dumpty, written by the well-known actor and author John Lithgow, is a witty and satirical book of poems about the scandals committed by the Trump Administration. While some of the poems seem...

Recommending a book based on your favorite class this year - Linden

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              Hey guys! Summer is almost upon us, and that means summer reading. I'm not sure why I chose something as arbitrary as a favorite class to base my recommendations, but here we go.                                                                  If your favorite class this year was consumer ed, first of all why? But in all seriousness, if you liked consumer ed then you are probably a big fan of economics and finance. I have not read any books about that, but after a bit of research, I found something interesting:  Making Money by Terry Pratchett.  The Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork is facing a crisis and needs a change in management. Moist von Lipwig, Postmaster General and former con artist is invited to rescue the city’s failing financ...

Robenas Tadesse's Top 3 Recommended Books to Read Over the Summer

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Summer is filled with nostalgic and never-forgettable memories that you cherish throughout the school year. Although it feels slightly early, allow me to guide you through my top picks for books you should read over the summer, in order from least recommended to most recommended. Enjoy while our last bittersweet moments of the school year fade away… Dune by Frank Herbert I am sure that many of you have seen or heard of the two Dune movies (featuring Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, and Timothée Chalamet). Well, the movies were developed from a book. I can’t say too much about the book because I am only 200 out of 700 pages in but Dune by Frank Herbert is a science fiction novel published in 1965 and is actually the first book of a six-book series. The book mostly takes place on a planet called Arrakis (A.K.A. Dune). Arrakis is a desert planet covered in sand dunes. Pretty much no one can live in Arrakis’ harsh conditions except for the Fermen, a group of resourceful and resilient people who hav...

Ain’t Burned All The Bright - Krishna Jaswal

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  Ain’t Burned All The Bright Sneak Peek and Review By Krishna Jaswal  One Monday morning, after putting all my folders and notebooks away in my locker, I realized I did not have a book to read during Language and Literature class. So, I decided to head to the library in hopes of finding something that might interest me. I was walking and ended up in the back room of the library looking at random books, until one caught my eye. Ain’t Burned All The Bright is a young-adult poem picture book written by Jason Reynolds and artwork by Jason Griffin published in 2022. To break it down, each page has no more than twenty words on it with unique artwork going with it and all the pages join together to form a beautiful, breath-sucking story. The book is split into three parts: Breath One, Breath Two, and Breath Three. I think what originally caught my eye was the fact that the spine of the book looked like someone had glued the words of the title onto it.  To put it simply Ain’t Bu...

The Song of Achilles: My new favorite book?

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  The Song of Achilles Review by Linden      A few years back, I read Homer's The Iliad and the Odyssey. I thought it was a very interesting story (I personally enjoyed the Odyssey more) that complimented my addiction to ancient Greek mythology at the time. When I found this book, I thought it would be an interesting addition to the story.       The novel starts by introducing Patroclus, the son of King Menoetius and narrator of this book. From the very beginning, Miller sets the scene of Ancient Greek culture extraordinarily well. The writing balances perfectly between description and pacing. I am going on a rant, but the writing of this book is honestly addictive.      Anyway, back to the story.  Patroclus, unlike other princes, is not special in any way, just an ordinary child. This caused his father to be extremely disappointed in him. After Patroclus accidentally commits a horrible crime, he is exiled from the kingdom and ...

Scythe - Krishna Jaswal

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Without the threat of suffering, we can’t experience true joy.      In the year 2042, humans have become immortal by discovering the ability to revive and heal people and the government is replaced with the Thunderhead. The Thunderhead is an artificial intelligence “cloud” that possesses some compassion and sympathy for humans but also rules over the world solving global problems like climate change, diseases, crime, etc. Due to humans becoming immortal, a new organization, Scythedom, rises to control the deaths of humans. Scythes glean (kill) people at random; they have to meet a certain number of gleanings per year to keep their position and follow many other rules. Scythes are also immortal and aren’t supposed to be killed by their fellow scythes. They keep their youth by “turning the corner” when they reach a certain age which means changing their appearance to look younger.  One day Scythe Faraday shows up at 17-year-old Citra Terranova’s house and invites h...

Spin by Rebecca Caprara (Robenas Tadesse)

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I come back yet again with a captivating Greek mythological story retold in poem form. This time centered around the story of Arachne. Most of you who are reading this have at least some knowledge of the myth of Arachne so I am going to dive right in!  Unlike the original myth, Caprara begins the book when Arachne is a little child. Arachne’s life as a child is horrible. She has an abnormal gait because of her bow-leggedness, everyone calls her ugly and malformed, her family is poverty-stricken and uneducated, and practically everyone dislikes her except for her mother, little brother, and her best friend, Celandine. Her mother always reassures her and tells her to not let the fools judge her, and that there are other ways to make her voice heard. Arachne’s mother teaches her how to weave intricate tapestries that depict almost any kind of image she wants. Over the years, Arachne becomes an extremely skilled weaver, but she also begins to pick up some of her own opinions. One of th...