Insights

Favorite Book Quotes by Karina D., 6th grade, & Emma Y., 7th grade

• “Sometimes, things that appear very different on the surface are actually the exact same at their core.” – Jameson Winchester Hawthorne from The Inheritance Games (the first book) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
  • This quote stuck out to me as I was reading the book, this specific scene stuck in my head. Basically, the main character, Avery, was trying to unlock her new inherited billionaire house and she had a task of finding the key. The thing is, the keychain that the key was attached to contained a bunch of other keys – all similar to each other in shape and size. She figured the odd one out in record time while on a call with Jameson Winchester Hawthorne – who inhabits a part of the billionaire mansion. He was surprised, and then decided to say this quote, which stuck out to me since it hints at a deeper mystery in the book. – Emma

• “Break my heart. Break it a thousand times if you like. It was only ever yours to break anyway.” – Maxon Schreave from The One (the third book of The Selection) by Kiera Cass
  • This quote stuck out to me as I was reading this book, because it really wrapped a lot of things up in the story. They were in a situation where it was life or death, which adds a lot more suspense to the book itself, and the quote. It also provides information about who Prince Maxon chooses in The One to marry and spend the rest of his life with. This moment filled my heart with joy, which is why I definitely like this quote. Also because it’s something that I would understand myself, if I were to be in love I’d think back to this quote and smile, to fully understand the meaning behind the words.  – Emma

• “I’ve been waiting for you a long time, Alina” He said. “You and I are going to change the world.” ― The Darkling from Shadow and Bone (the first book) by Leigh Bardugo
  • This quote stuck out to me because it’s really funny, it’s misleading because of what happens with the Darkling – let’s just say it’s an interesting thing to take note of. He really acknowledges the fact that the darkling and Alina can change the world together, change the Grishaverse and The Fold itself, which may or may not happen in this book, the first book of the series.. They make a powerful duo, but we find out later in the book if it’s for better or for worse. Definitely recommend, there’s also a bunch of other good lines in this story to take note of. – Emma

• “There is no water and still less soap. We have no city, but lots of hope.” ― Mary Pope Osborne, Earthquake in the Early Morning
  • This quote stuck out to me because just when they lost their house to an earthquake, with all their belongings, (and continued) the one thing they didn’t lose was their hope, just as inspiring as it sounds. That told me when times are rough, just don’t lose hope. – Karina

• “I love teaching. It’s a job that lasts forever. Whatever you teach children today travels with them far into the future.” ― Mary Pope Osborne, Twister on Tuesday
  • This book Quote stuck out to me cause it shows that the knowledge you teach is the knowledge that could lead to the future. Which shows that knowledge can last for eternity and just will be taught over and over again. – Karina

Books vs. Movies by Nour B., 7th grade

Is the book always better than the movie? In most cases, yes. The reason behind this is that most of the time the book is too boring to turn into a film. So the directors had to add extra parts to make it more interesting or leave stuff out because it wouldn’t add anything to the movie. 

When the book is being turned into a film, it’s probably better to let the author direct it so they can portray the book exactly like they wanted it to be. The movie is almost always the directors point of view of the book which can be interpreted differently so many times. While authors can portray the book just how they wanted to. Most people say the book is better than the movie or TV show because they’ve read the book and were disappointed by how they left out some of their favorite parts from the book. 

One of the reasons the book is (almost always) better than the book is. The director has to fit the book into about a 1.5-3 hour movie. That’s pretty hard considering all the details included in the book. When you read books you get to see what the character is thinking while in movies you often don’t get that privilege This leaves us to fiure out what the character is thinking through what they say or do in the given situation. Books also provide background knowledge while the movie doesn’t have enough time for that. When you read a book you get a lot of information about the characters, in the movie they just show the characters and give you no information on who they are and what happened to make them who they are.

Reading the book leaves you with some type of imagination to picture where they are or what the character looks like while the movie the characters and setting look completely different than what is described in the book. The book gives you freedom to imagine what the character look like and what the setting is like. This is often ignored by movie directors  and many fans of the book are left disappointed or upset.

In conclusion, the book is almost always better than the movie. While there are some exceptions to this, it is correct most of the time. Reading allows you to feel like you are also experiencing it while the movie just feels like you’re just watching it. 

The Truth About The Hunger Game Series (Spoiler Alert!) by Maria F., 8th grade

The inner workings of what actually happens! 

Warning: A lot of unpopular opinions are present 

The Hunger Games series is such a good book series but have you ever thought about who is the true villain or looked at who we should blame for prim’s death. Also what is truly going on with every character and their motives. Today I’m going to be going into more depth on what I think of the series and provide several theories that might even answer some of the questions above. 

Gale Is One of the Villains Of Our story! 

Hey I know what you might be thinking, Gale how could Gale be a villain, he was always there for Katniss! Or was he? From the very beginning of our story we were introduced to Gale and the author introduced him as a side character who played a protagonist role in the series. But why would we question his actions then. Well let’s look a little deeper, in the beginning gale acted like he and Katniss were just good friends and “he cared for her.” But later on in the story it proves that he did actually have secret feelings for Katniss and this had inevitably confused Katniss on who to chose, which didn’t help her mental health state. At Katniss’ lowest point in life Gale showed up and made it more confusing. Fine this doesn’t make him a villain but it does serve us every right to call him not a good person. But now let’s look more into Gale’s character throughout the book series. Gale has been proven time and time again that he hates the way the government is run, and clearly despises the capital.  So lets flash forward to the third book when gale designs that nuclear bomb that ends up killing one of my favorite characters Prim! He claims he did not know what the purpose of the bomb was and had no idea it was going to kill prim. But clearly he knew that designing a bomb is made to kill people. So Gale was willing to kill innocent people all around the capital? Also the real question is he designed a super powerful bomb but yet didn’t even take one second to ask what it was for! He killed his people and not only that, he ruined Katniss as well. So in conclusion, gale is a secret villain in disguise you decide!

Peeta Is the Best Character In the books! 

In the Hunger Games series peta is presented as a main side character so how can he be the best character in the whole series. Well let’s just say Susan Colonies knew what she was doing when she presented peta. She made peta a lovable character from the start who just happened to fall head over heels for our main character Katniss. The reason why Katniss is not the best character is because of her thought process on things, and instead of character development in Katniss we saw none of it. But yet in peta we did, peta even with his PTSD that he got in the hunger games, Yet he was still able to think with a strong mind. Peeta Is a character who went through so much for Katniss and we love him for that. 

Katniss went through too much and yet she still didn’t fail us? 

I feel like this is a given idea that Katniss has been through so much that mentally is not ok. But I did feel like putting it in here since it does contribute to topic one. What I mean by that is clearly Katniss has been through a lot from going through the hunger games and losing her sister. But yet Gale never helped,I feel like Gale just worried her more than helped which is why I say that he was never the best character. But yet Katniss didn’t fail us because in the end she ended up killing president coin. Many might say that was a foolish move on her behalf. But I think even in her terrible mental state her killing president coin was the best move she could have made. It was brave due to the fact that was her own leader and she knew what she was risking. The killing coin has stopped form another version of hunger games arising and yet she did this all in her terrible state of mine!

Effie Trinket Hates The Games! 

How could Effie hate the games if she announces the whole procure and draws the names. I don’t have that much evidence to support this theory but you can tell that Effie never enjoyed having to see Katniss and Peeta go through what they went through. You can tell that she had a soft spot for them and her having to see all that happen to them just didn’t sit well with her. 

President Snow Just wanted what was best for the Capital 

I had left the best one for last! How could someone as cold as president Snow want something good that is not for himself. Well hear me out although we can all agree president snow had the most evil character traits in the books. He did unfortunately care for the capital but never for the right reason. President Snow had worked so hard to create the evil foundation that he made from the districts divisions to the capitol. So just like anybody that worked hard on something they don’t want it to crumble. So when Katniss had posed a threat he was shocked on how somebody could have dared to do such a thing. Which is why what happened in the second book happened. President Snow did that in hopes of having Katniss’ death come true which didn’t happen and resulted in President Snow’s enemy never to be gone. So he had to take drastic measures due to the fact that he just wanted to protect the capital. So in the end president snow never cared for the district people but for his capital. 

My Mixed Feelings on the Author of Harry Potter by Bianca C., 8th grade

Although I do love the Harry Potter series: I think it pretty amazing. I love the whole story line of Harry Potter adventures to defeat lord Voldemort… But I do have a big problem with the Author J.K Rowling because of her being anti- trans. As someone who is in the LGBTQ+ community, it is something I have a problem with because I believe that just because you weren’t biologically born a woman doesn’t mean you aren’t because I believe we can be whoever we want to be.  

I get that she is a huge feminist, but it just isn’t right telling trans- women that they aren’t real women because they weren’t born as one but they can still be a women in their heart, and if you feel like you are a women then you are you don’t have to go through being pregnant or getting your period 7 days a month to be a she. So that why I have a huge problem with J.K Rowling.

We should all get to choose who we want to be: even our gender.  We choose the decisions in our lives we can be who we want to be and J.K ROWLING HAS NO RIGHT SAYING WE CAN’T MAKE THAT CHOICE. And by her treating trans- women like this, she’s making people feel tarnished by the Harry Potter books because of J.K Rowling anti trans posts on twitter And a lot of the actors from the harry potter movies totally disagree on J.K. Rowling’s views on trans women. They have repeatedly argued on the trans topic.

She is totally mistaken if she believes trans women aren’t real women because they are and that the truth is why I have mixed feelings on Harry Potter because I hate what she’s been saying about trans people, but I do love her books so you can see why I’m confused.

4 Classics I Want to Read That Actually Sound Good by Anabella S., 8th grade

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Stetson

The Yellow Wallpaper is a short story with only about 64 pages, and It sounds like every last page is going to be a masterpiece. The story follows a woman and her husband who rent a house for their summer vacation. The Narrator (the woman) suffers from depression while her husband John, who’s a doctor, belittles her illness, thoughts, and concerns. The Narrator’s treatment for her depression (given to her by her husband) is that she must do nothing active.  However, she feels that writing is a form of freedom for her and so she decides to start a secret journal to help calm her mind. In this Journal, she mostly describes the house. She speaks mainly positively about the house but then some disturbing elements start to pop up. The Narrator becomes obsessed with the yellow wallpaper in particular in one of the rooms and she starts to believe she can see things (a woman) trapped in the wallpaper. What was first believed to be a fun summer getaway turns into a psychological battle of terror, solitude, and freedom. A woman who slowly goes insane trapped in a room surrounded by dull yellow wallpaper. 

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Crime and Punishment is one of the most well-known pieces of classical literature and for good reason. The story is about Raskolnikov, a former student who lives in poverty in Saint Petersburg, and one day he decides to murder an elderly local pawnbroker who has made her way to a small fortune. Raskolnikov wants this fortune for himself and so he kills her as his solution to get the money. Then from the point in which he kills her onward, his mental states start to darken and deteriorate. Raskolnikov becomes enveloped by his guilt and then has to deal with moral dilemmas on whether he should confess or continue to lie about what he did. This book has me crazy with the urge to read it and get a full understanding of everything that happens and I’m also really intrigued by Dostoevsky’s style of writing. 

The Setting Sun by Osamu Dazai 

Osamu Dazai is a great classic Japanese author who also wrote the book No Longer Human. No Longer Human is my favorite book to this day so I have high expectations for The Setting Sun and I have a feeling it won’t disappoint. (The Setting Sun is originally in Japanese and translated to English). The story of The Setting Sun is set in the early post-war years of WW2. It follows a 29-year-old aristocrat called Kazuko who divorced her husband and decided to move back in with her mother. After the war had ended the family had lost most if not all of their money due to the war and would now have to move from Tokyo to the countryside. We get to follow Kazuko as she tries to make a living for herself while her mother’s health is declining and her brother is trying to come to terms with the new state of the world after the war. The biggest reason why I want to read this book so much is due to Dazai’s amazing way of being able to show the change in society after so much harm was done to the people post-war and how the spirit, culture, and moral code at the time were changing. He also does an amazing job of showing how society and the changes happening put a strain on the main character. You get to see clearly into the mind of the character and how they think, making the character feel real while making you connect with them and understand all that is happening to them at the time. 

The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger

This is again another common classic piece of literature most people know, but it should be noted that the book does touch on a lot of hard topics, so I recommend you look into the book more before you decide to read it. The story is set in the 1950s and follows Holden Caulfield who is 16 years old. We first meet him right when he is released from an institution and his story starts at Pencey prep, Pennsylvania (The fourth school he has gone to and is on his way to failing again). After getting into a fight with a friend Holden packs up early and goes home to Manhattan. In Manhattan, he stays in a hotel where he finds a girl and asks her to run away with him but when she denies him he gets angry and heads to his childhood home where his little sister is. He tells her that he has failed out of yet another school and she gets angry telling him that he can’t go around hating everything. He ends up going to the same school as his little sister and continues to try to find himself and form some kind of future for himself. The story doesn’t have much of an elaborate plot besides an angry kid having to change schools over and over yet the book calls my attention and I think it might be because of all the things I’ve heard about the style of writing and the way that the characters are expressed. I feel like there is a lot more to the book which I don’t know yet and I’m crazy to figure it out. 

Thank you so much to my student voices today and their look at ___!

A Look at Representation and Reading

Guide to Books with Indian/Desi Representation by Kanak S., 8th grade

Representation is so important. Finding books with characters that either look like me or have the same cultural background as me can be so hard. It is even harder to find books written by Indian/Desi authors as they are hardly ever spotlighted. So here is a list of books with Indian representation written by Indian authors. 

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

Maya is cursed princess with a horoscope that promises a marriage of death and destruction. The Raja, her father arranges a wedding for political gain which breaks her whole world apart. Soon Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of a man named Amar. Or at least she though he was a man… Neither roles are what she expected: As Akaran’s queen, she finds her voice and power and as Amar’s wife she finds more about herself than she ever thought possible. But Akaran has its own secrets-Maya suspects her life is in danger. The fate of the human and Otherworldly realms hanging in the balance of Maya’s hands. She must discover an ancient mystery that spans many reincarnated lives to save herself and those she loves the most. 

Under Lock and Skeleton Key by Gigi Pandian

After a disastrous accident derails Tempest Raj’s career, and life, she heads back to her childhood home in California. Though she does not want to, she comes closer to having to work for her father’s company with every passing day. Tempest goes to visit her father’s newest project, she discovers her former stage double dead inside a wall that had apparently been sealed for more than century. Tempest believes that she was supposed to be the victim of this crime so, she sets out to solve this crime. As she continues to investigate this mystery, Tempest starts to wonder if the Raj family curse had finally come for her. 

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

Kaikeyi the only daughter of the kingdom of Kekaya group up on tales of the might of the gods. Yet she watched her father banish her mother and amount her worth to how wonderful of a marriage alliance she would be able to secure. When she called for the gods they never came. Desperate for independence she turns to the tales her mother and her used to read where she found magic that is hers alone. With this new discovered power Kaikeyi transforms herself many a times determined to create a better world for the women around her and herself. However, as the evils from her fairytales threaten cosmic order, the path she has chosen has clashed with the destiny the gods had assigned to her family. Now Kaikeyi must decide whether her resistance is worth all the chaos it will create – and what legacy she chooses to leave behind. 

Sari, Not Sari by Sonya Singh

Manny Dogra a CEO of a successful company that helps people manage their relationship breakups. She is also planning her wedding to architect Adam Jamieson while dealing with the death of her parents. Manny never understood her immigrant parents who wanted her to be an All-American girl. She knew nothing about her South Asian heritage and it was never a problem till her parents passed away and an image of Manny had been edited to make her appear whiter. Suddenly, the women who had built an empire helping people to be true to themselves was having an identity crisis. When an annoying client by the name of Sammy Patel approaches Manny with an out of the ordinary breakup request the best solution presents itself: If they both agree to a set of terms he will give her a crash course in being Indian at his brother’s wedding. What follows is Manny indulging herself in all things Indian. Manny meets the wonderful aunties and uncles of the Patel family and discovers much more than she had ever thought possible. 

Keya Das’s Second Act by Sopan Deb

Shantanu Das has been living in the shadows of his past. In his fifties, he finds himself isolated from his traditional Bengali community after his divorce from his wife Chaitali; he hasn’t had a conversation with his eldest daughter Mitali in months; and he lives everyday with regret for not accepting his teenaged daughter Keya after she came out as gay. As the anniversary of Keya’s death approaches, Shantanu wakes up alone in his suburban New Jersey home and realizes it is time to move on. This is when he discovers a box in his attic that could change everything. He begs Mitali to come home. She does come home out of pity not realizing that her life is about change. Inside the box is an unfinished manuscript that Keya and her girlfriend were writing. Neesh Desai, a new love interest for Mitali with regrets of his own, comes up with an idea, one that would give a sense of permanence to Keya: what if they are to stage the play? It could be an homage to Keya’s memory, and a way to make amends. First, the Dases need to convince Pamela Moore, Keya’s girlfriend, to give her blessing. And they have to overcome ghosts from the past they haven’t met yet.

Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdaz

Everyone likes Humaira Khan, but when she comes out as bisexual to her friends, they invalidate her identity saying that she can’t be bisexual if she’s only dated guys. Hani blurts out that she’s in a relationship with a girl her friend’s absolutely hate Ishita Dey. Ishu is an academic overachiever who hopes that becoming head girl will set her on the right track to college, the complete opposite of Hani. Ishita agrees to help Hani, if Hani will help her become more popular so she has the chance to become head girl. Despite their pact they start to have real feelings for each other. However, relationships are complicated, and certain people will do anything to stop two Bengali girls from getting their happily ever after. 

Why Darius the Great is One of the Best Mixed Representations Out There by Naomi G., 8th Grade

Recently I read Darius the Great is Not Okay, and it blew my mind with how much it related to me. I related to this book on such a deeper level than others because, Darius, our protagonist is biracial, and most of the book follows him going to Iran for the first time, while dealing with clinical depression, and learning the ways of friendship. 

Darius is half Persian. His mother is Persian and his father is white. We see how he struggles with feeling Persian enough, which is a similar problem for many mixed children because you’re too much and not enough. For example, Darius gets picked on at school for being different, too Persian, but in Iran he feels isolated and different because in this case he is not Persian enough. I feel the same thing growing up in a Jewish school where everybody spoke English, and I would struggle knowing some English words, or I had different ways of saying things; I was different. Though when I was with my mom’s side of the family, from Costa Rica, it was also hard because I was isolated and had a hard time fluently speaking Spanish because I was scared my pronunciation still wasn’t good enough, so again I was different; it made me feel at though I just wasn’t Hispanic enough. I could barely speak Spanish, and I still struggled with English. 

To this day I still have the same struggle because I had to pick up how to speak from my surroundings, from home, similar to Darius. My mom spoke a different language but never ended up teaching me, at least not very well. Darius’s mother tried to teach him proper Farsi too late, so he also has the struggle of not being able to communicate. 

This book shows how being biracial/mixed can be a struggle, yes its full of different cultures, but sometimes it can be hard to handle. This book and the sequel continue to represent mixed BIPOC in the best possible way. 

Reading Opens Up Portals to Your Imagination by Jaz P., 7th Grade

What does reading have to do with your imagination you may ask? Well, for starters, it expands it, leading you on to new journeys filled with more adventure and excitement! The best thing about reading is that there is a book for everyone. From romance to science fiction to horror to comedy, there’s books about almost anything you can think of. Once you find one you like, you’ll learn to love reading it and want to continue more. Reading doesn’t just open up new portals to your imagination, it even increases your vocabulary, too. One benefit to reading is that it will cause you to look at things from different perspectives, and you’ll learn to appreciate it for what it is. According to thebookbuff.com reading can enhance your problem solving skills and also preserve your memory as well. Studies have shown that if you continue to read even after retirement 73% of those who do so won’t develop dementia. Adding on, it triggers one’s curiosity. You may have questions about everyday items but after reading, trust me, you’ll have plenty more. You can be more creative, too. Thebookbuff.com states that “a side-effect of this imagining of different scenarios is that it leads to exploring new possibilities. In this pursuit of your imagined solutions, you acquire more and more knowledge and skills.” This is added on to the idea of how it can trigger your curiosity. Who knew reading had so many up-sides?!

Thank you so much to my student voices today and their look at representation and reading!