Student Voices

Students Voices: Book Recommendations from Sai B., Kyan V., Liam Z., and Gabi C., 8th Graders

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Book Recommendations

“5 Books with Indian Rep” by Sai B., 2022-23 8th grade

India being one of the biggest countries in the world as well as one of the most populous countries is still very unknown to people who haven’t been to the country. There are so many cultures, languages, food, and people that have come from different parts of the country and there is so much to explore. As an Indian person myself, the country is so beautiful and fun to visit. Moving on, many people continue don’t know the true beauty of this country as they haven’t visited the country or have a stereotypical ideology about the country. However, these 5 books can help people understand the cultural and beautiful aspects of the country.

Book 1: Aru Shah Book Series (Pandava Series) by Roshani Chokshi(Presented by Rick Riordan)

I am so happy I read this series as it was written by an Indian author and it was presented by my favorite author Rick Riordan. These books explore one of the biggest stories in Indian mythology called the Mahabharata. This event was about these two groups called the Pandavas and Kauravas in which they fought over the destiny of a  Kingdom. Many important gods took part in this event and are very important to the cultural part of India. These books go over a girl named Aruh Shah who learns she is a reincarnation of a Pandava who was the son of a god. She has to stop many evil spirits and demons through these books. These books do a great job in exploring the cultural part of India and explain a lot of the morals and values we learn from Indian mythology.

Book 2: The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman

This is another great book with representation of India but it digs deeper into the lifestyle of how Indian people live. Even though the scenario of Rukku and her brother Viji leaving their house after being violently hurt by their parents, this event is somewhat common to the poorer part of the country. Many families depend on their children to give them financial support and since in the book Rukku the older sister has intellectual problems, it is hard for the family to accept that type of child. Nevertheless, this book was an emotional rollercoaster as it did a really good job of depicting how poorer people live to survive in the country and also expresses the importance of family throughout the book.

Book 3: Save Me a Seat by Gita Varadajan and Sarah Weeks

This book is another great book with Indian representation. Even though it takes place in an American society it represents the adaptations Indian’s have to take after moving to a new country in order to have a better future. However, the lesson learned from the book does not just apply to Indians and is more of a broader moral. The book is about a character named Ravi who tries to adapt to a new way of experiencing things. He has to adapt to school and life in general. Throughout the book he meets Joe, an American, who is also struggling with fitting in and life. They both have the same problems and both try to fix them together. This book does a great job in depicting the values of friendship and the hardship it is for adaptation in a new society. 

Book 4: Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocca

This book is very similar to Save Me a Seat as it also explores a girl named Reha who is the only Indian-American in her school. However, this digs deeper into the way Indian homes are like. It shows how many kids have strict interpretations from their parents and feel disconnected from their parents. This is very common in Indian households as parents were raised to work hard and achieve success but they put these expectations on their kids. The kids feel very pressured by this expectation and feel distant from their parents. In the book Riha’s mom starts to feel really sick and this event allows Riha to be closer to her mom. This book does a great job in explaining the difficulties of fitting in and the importance of family.

Book 5: Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond Series by Sayanti DasGupta

This book is another cultural representation of India. It is about a girl named Kiranmala who lived in New Jersey. One day her parents disappear and a demon appears. We later learn she is a long lost Indian princess and goes on a journey to fight demons and save her family. Even though this book is somewhat fictional there are many cultural aspects included in the book and develops a lot of morals and values related to Indian culture. Overall, this book does a great job in representing Indian culture and is definitely a must read.

“5 Mystery Books You Need to Read Right Now” by Kyon V., 2022-23 8th grade

Within fiction, 12.5% of adult books are in the thriller genre. That is estimated to be about 23.6 million mystery books a year in the US alone.

So why are these books so popular? Everyone loves to read about a great mystery for several reasons. Some like to try and solve the mystery before someone in the books does. Some like the suspension and action the book brings. Some like imagining all sorts of things, like what they would do in the characters’ situations. For all these reasons, mystery books are one of the most popular genres. Here are my top 5 favorites for the year.

Concealed by Christina Diaz Gonzalez

Chrstina Diaz Gonzalez is an Edgar winning author from The US with heritage in Cuba. Concealed is part of the 2022-2023 SSYRA ( Sunshine State Young Readers awards books.) With its release just over 2 and a half years ago, this book has been very popular with all kinds of ages, but especially middle schoolers. It has a plot like no other book that keeps the reader glued to the pages of the book, wondering what will happen next.

Framed! And its sequels by James Ponti

This book is the first of a series of 3 thrilling mystery books by James Ponti. The main character is a 12 year old boy with a new technique to help solve mysteries. He, alongside the FBI, solve mysteries together. Each book has its own unique plot. The reader can try to solve the mystery before the characters, therefore providing a reason to keep reading.

City Spies and its sequels by James Ponti

This book, just like Framed!, is the first of a three book series by James Ponti. In these books, a group of young students work together to thwart evil. It provides a vision into the characters and is totally immersive. The characters all come from different backgrounds and countries, and have to figure out a way to become a team in beating evil.

All Fall Down and its sequels by Ally Carter

This book by Ally Carter is highly underrated. This book does not receive the credit it deserves. What is your next step of action when your mom gets murdered? Of course go for revenge and make the killer pay. Who can you trust is on your side? This Mystery series by Ally Carter is just as good as the most popular mystery books out there to date. 

One of us is Lying and its sequels by Karen McManus

5 kids from different backgrounds and social groups walk into a classroom. Only 4 make it out. This mystery book between 4 kids to find out which one is the killer is electrifying. I love this book because it relates to me as a middle schooler and different kids being forced to work together on something.

In conclusion, next time you want to find an exciting mystery book, come back to this blog post for 5 top mystery book recommendations that are sure to leave you excited and delighted.

“Favorite Between Two Favorites” by Gabi C., 2022-23 8th grade

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen vs Love & Olives by Jenna Evans Welch

It’s gonna be so hard to choose a favorite because I love both of these books. However, Love & Olives wins by a margin, and here’s why.

Love & Olives had a better slow-burn plot, but the character development prize goes to Flipped. Both books had an amazing plot with nice pacing especially for their varying lengths. The major difference between the books was the boys. The girls were easily confident in themselves, loving, nurturing, and overall good role models. The boys however, couldn’t have been more different. In Flipped, Bryce was a terrible guy. While he became a “good guy” in the end, in the beginning and end, he was a jerk! His whole persona was bullying Julie and being mean to her at every chance he got. In Love & Olives, Theo is an angel who does everything in his power to make sure Liv is comfortable and happy in her new environment. This makes such a good difference in a book! But Bryce did redeem himself in the end. Love & Olives wins.

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes vs AGGGTM by Holly Jackson

This may surprise some of you who know me in real life but I actually prefer AGGGTM by Holly Jackson.

Both books have creative mysteries with fun characters and unique plots. However, the way I am deciding these books is the small little details. I’m talking Romance, Sequels, etc. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love both but they each excel in different ways. AGGGTM did it a bit better… The romance won in the Inheritance Games, even though it was a bigger focus. I love the romance between Jameson and Avery in The Inheritance Games. Pip and Ravi were a bit plain but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt given that they were only getting together at the end of book. When it comes to sequels I also prefer AGGGTM. But both books were amazing.

Like a Love Song by Gabriela Martins vs Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor & Park wins by default.

As many of you know Like a Love Song wasn’t one of my favorite books, especially compared to Eleanor & Park. Park was one of my favorite book boys! He was so sweet. Everything he did, he did for Eleanor. He introduced her to his mom. He defended her in front of her dad and provided such a safe space for her, no questions asked. He knew when to let go. As you can see, I put a lot of weight into how much romance my books have. So Eleanor & Park wins.

Invisible by Christina Diaz Gonzales & Gabriela Epstein vs Starfish by Lisa Flipps

These Books. I LOVE these books. I have no complaints. The representation of Latino kids and Plus-size kids is exceptional. Both of these books make a safe space for kids who may feel a little different from everything else. Invisible made me see a little bit of myself in every character. Starfish made me see the perspective of someone different. Starfish was written so beautifully. It feels impossible for me to put these books against each other, So… I choose to break make an exception to my own rules. I have decided to make a tie between these two books!

“5 Underrated Books” by Liam Z., 2022-23 8th grade

Some books don’t get the credit they deserve. There are many good books but they are just not very heard of. While some books are lesser known, they are still extremely good and entertaining . Instead of searching for more known books, search for less popular books as they can be just as good or even better. Smaller books should get the credit that they deserve.

Rebel By Marie Lu

Rebel is an excellent book that not a lot of people read. This book is the 4th book of Legend but is normally outshined by the first three books. This is because this story took place many years later after the third book and it doesn’t contain June’s POV anymore. Despite that, the story is still incredibly good and contains Eden’s story of joining the republic. And also how Day reunites with June. I definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys fast paced action books.

Restart By Gordon Korman

This book is super unique and different from other books. It is about a kid in 8th grade who had an accident and banged his head on the ground. This caused him severe amnesia which made him forget all about his life and had to try and regain it. In my opinion, this has one of the best plots and stories but more people should know about it. Overall, this book is wonderful but not enough people read.

Slacker by Gordon Korman

This is an extremely funny book about a kid named Cameron. Cameron is an extremely lazy kid who slacks off and causes many problems, including almost burning down his house. I really liked it because it has tons of funny parts and it’s entertaining. recommend this book to everyone.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

This is an interesting story about a boy who has these nightmares of a monster in the shape of a tree. This is not all he has to deal with because he deals with death and grief and struggles to overcome it. This story can be emotional or sad but the ending is very happy and he finally overcomes all the things that have happened. I really enjoyed this book because of the good story and plot.

Framed (Swindle#3) By Gordan Korman

Framed is a really good book that contains the search of a very expensive ring. Griffin Bing was getting framed by who he thought was his bully.  But in the end, he discovered it was rats who ate the ring and coincidentally all evidence led to Griffin. This is not only a mystery book but also a comedy book. This book is better than it looks and should be more well known.

Thank you so much to my students for their book recommendations!

Student Voices: Sharing Webtoons, Mangas, and Graphic Novels by Emma Y. & Jorge G., 8th graders, and Bibi C., 6th grader

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“Sharing Graphic Novels, Mangas, and Webtoons”

“Introduction to Webtoons” by Emma Y., 2022-23 8th grader

What is Webtoon? 

Webtoon is a collection of wide-genre digital comics that are read vertically, that different authors have created from scratch. These comics get updated every week on certain days. These webtoons are all diverse and come from authors who originate all around the world, and many of these webtoons are also made into k-dramas, such as True Beauty! 

What kind of genres are there? 

There are SO MANY genres on webtoon! These are a list of all of them. My personal favorite is the romance section 😉 

Comedy, Fantasy , Romance, Slice of Life, Sci-Fi, Drama, Short Story, Action, Superhero, Heart-warming, Thriller, Horror, Post-Apocalyptic, Zombies, School, Supernatural, Animals, Crime/Mystery, Historical, Informative, Sports, and Inspirational. 

How do you access Webtoon? 

There are multiple ways to access webtoon, (1) being the website and (2) through the app on a mobile device, which doubles as the most popular way being through the app since it has more unlocked features – but the website gets the point across too! I will be explaining the mobile version instead of the computer, but it’s pretty similar to the website and still easy to figure out. 

As you load into the app you’ll be greeted with a lot of banners, colors, maybe even popups if there’s an event happening, etc. It may be overwhelming at first but to proceed further, you must register an account first by clicking the little person icon at the bottom of the screen. It’s easy, all that’s needed is to add a username, create a password, and verify an email address (remember to save your password)! Now you have full accessibility to Webtoon. 

What do all these buttons do? 

As I said before, Webtoon may have an overwhelming amount of stuff on you at first but to overcome this, exploring the app may help. At the bottom of the screen there’s a quick menu distinguishing the different categories on what to do on Webtoon, the very first one, is the main category. It has the more popular webcomics and by clicking “My Series” you’ll be directed to the “My” button in the bottom of the screen’s bar. Those two are intertwined! You can also

discover comics by looking at the very top. Where it says “The Remarried Empress” (see image below), these banners will contain new comics, comics coming back from hiatus, special promotions, etc, you can click on these different comics and then be directed to the menu. At the very top of your screen, you can also search for any webcomics that you’d like. 


This is the little bar at the bottom for easier navigation.

The next button there is the “Originals” button. By clicking on originals you will be able to find comics that are the most popular and have received the most attention, they go from “Canvas” comics to “Original” comics with the collaboration of many different authors, illustrators, and creators. To learn more about Canvas, which is the third button, see below! 

Going back to the “My” button, this button contains all of your recently viewed webcomics if you had clicked on any, and your subscribed webcomics. Subscribing to a webcomic means that you get notifications every time the webtoon updates weekly, and you can also support the author as well by doing this (you can also like different episodes by clicking on the heart in the bottom left corner of any panel you click on! In this “My” section, you can also view the different downloads you have on episodes, what unlocked episodes you have, an opportunity to follow the different creators of your webtoons that you are subscribed to + see status updates from them, and any comments you’ve made on webtoons. For example, these are some of the webtoons I’m personally subscribed to! 

And the final part of the hotbar, the “More” section. This is mainly just a place to keep track of all of your coins that you’ve accumulated. Different amounts of coins are used as “fast passes”. Since webtoons are updated weekly, you can also read ahead– if you choose to, by using coins.

You can either buy coins with money or get a few free coins from different events, just keep an eye out! The downside is that you have to use your coins, if you choose to, in a set time period otherwise they’ll expire and you won’t be able to use them anymore.

What is Canvas? 

The very middle button on that little hotbar at the bottom is called Canvas. These are where less-popular comics are put and just a way for different creators to share their creations! This is also where the “Originals” originate from (hahah, get it?), everybody has to start somewhere afterall! The thing with Canvas comics is that they won’t always update weekly, it’s just whenever the creator chooses to upload, but that doesn’t mean these comics are bad in any way– they just need a little love.

What happens when I click on a comic? 

When you click on a comic, at the very top you’ll be greeted with a few buttons. The subscription button, to add to your list of subscribed comics, the “i” button which is just a short description of the story, the download button which is an arrow down, and the last one is a share-comic button. You can see the genre at the top, my example, “Omniscient Reader” is an Action comic. You can also see the creator(s) and the description is present once more. You can also see how many views, likes, and the rating it has. 

Moving on to the gray parts at the middle-bottom, the less gray episodes are the ones that haven’t been read yet and the darker gray episodes at the bottom are the read ones. You can see the episode number on the right and the little arrow just above the very top episode number is all the Fast Pass episodes you can view. 

What are Daily Passes? 

Last but not least, the image below is on a tab called “Daily Pass”. These are comics that have been completed and longer updated! Since they are no longer updated, there’s no need for a full week wait, so the solution to this is to make it into a Daily Pass. This just means that if you click on it, you can only read one episode a day. This spans across any Daily Pass comic so if you click on an episode of “A Good Day to be a Dog” today and also an episode of “Devil Number 4”, you’ll only be able to read the former.

Now go and read and enjoy!

“5 Manga Series I Read and Liked This Year” by Jorge G., 2022-23 8th grader

Haikyu!! By Haruichi Furudate

This book series is mainstream but a lot less popular than most mainstream Manga, but it’s still good. This was the first and only sports manga I read. This book is about a boy who is short but wants to play volleyball, a sport that is dominated by height, but he can jump really high. Overall, really good in my opinion. Confession time, this manga was the reason I played volleyball in middle school, with my stature of 5’4.

A Silent Voice by Yoshitoki Ōima

This book was one of my first really emotional reads because I had read one chapter of it somewhere during 4th grade, so it was nice to find out the ending. It’s about a boy who bullied a deaf girl as a child and wants to ask for forgiveness and friendship and along the way make a nice group of friends with their own flaws. This book was leaving me in suspense during 4th grade because I didn’t know how it ended or the title so it was really nice to find out they had it in the library and that I could finish it in my last year in 8th grade. Shout out to Ms.Rokaw for letting me read books 4-7 because they didn’t have it in the library!

I Want To Eat Your Pancreas By Yoru Sumino

This book was so sad and happy at the same time.  I Want To Eat Your Pancreas is about a girl who has a terminal illness and a journal called “Living With Dying”, that is discovered by her classmate, and he’s the only one who knows other than her family. The ending made my cry a little(like a tear or two), overall, a roller coaster of emotions. Probably the most impactful manga I have ever read, and it really changed my outlook on life and how you have to live it to the fullest.

Orange by Ichigo Takano

This Series was about a group of high school students who received letters from the future that said one of their friends would die, and they were the ones who could change it. It is also sort of sci-fi, but not much. Overall, a really touching story that changes your view on how precious life is, and friendship and what it means.

Astra Lost In Space by Kenta Shinohara

This book holds a really special place in my heart because it was the FIRST EVER manga series I read. The reason why it is this year is because I had read the first chapter in 3rd grade in a Shonen Jump magazine I bought at a book fair, and couldn’t find it anywhere until I went into middle school and finished it. The reason why it’s rated is personal preference, and the first of anything always has a special place in my heart. But that being said, it is a really good book about teenagers stuck in space after an imposter failed to kill them, and they have to find out who it is, while also making it back home safely. This book has many twists and turns and surprised me many times when I read it. Overall, this has to be my favorite Manga series.

“Top 5 Favorite Graphic Novels and Why” by Bibi C., 2022-23 6th grader

Roller Girl

This was one of my favorite books because of the main character’s dedication.The main character’s name is Astrid and she wanted to do Roller Derby but she couldn’t. She did not stop and she sent a note to her idol who plays roller derby and she answered all her notes! She motivated Astrid to keep going and she kept going! Even though she could not play she kept going and didn’t quit and she was there until the end.

Frizzy

This was one of my favorite books because of the people who were actually nice to the main character. The main character’s name is Marlene. She has frizzy hair but her family hates it except for a couple of people in her family but especially her aunt. Most people in her family think straight hair is what’s best. Their family has a tradition that every Sunday they go to the salon to get their hair straightened. Overall I really liked the people who respected that Marlene likes her frizzy hair.

The Tryout

This was one of my favorite books because of when Christina (the main character) decided she wanted to try out for the cheer team. It was her first year in middle school and she really wanted to fit in. She is one of the few Asians there and is not treated fairly. Christina was very excited to try out with her best friend until her best friend decided she was trying out with someone else. In the end she did her best! Overall I really liked how Christina really was dedicated to try out for the cheer team.

Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy

This was one of my favorites books because of the support they gave each other. All went through tough times and their father was working in the military so they sent messages to their father but it was still really tough for them. Beth, one of the sisters, was really sick and had to be rushed to the hospital and she ended up almost dying. Overall I really loved this book because even though each and everyone of those girls were going through tough times they all supported each other no matter what.

The Witches

This was one of my favorite books because of the people who the witches turned into rats, then turning all witches into rats. Witches rented out some space in a hotel and they gave a kid chocolate which turned him into a rat. There were two rats because the boy who turned into a rat met another rat that the witch also was a kid but now was a rat. One of the kids’ grandma was informed and they did everything they could to get revenge. At the end they put the potion on the witches soup and the witches all turned into rats just like them. Overall I really liked how funny the ending was when the witches turned into rats.

Thank you so much to my students for sharing webtoons, mangas, and graphic novels today!

Student Voices: Book Recommendations from Ava G., Ana T., Aaron D., 8th Graders, & Shantal G., 7th Grader

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Book Recommendations

Top 8 Reads by Ava G., 2022-23 8th grader

17-year-old Avery inherits billions from an old man that she has never met. This series has been my favorite YA series i have ever read. First of all, the mysteries and riddles are totally not predictable and the romance is AMAZING. Also all the characters are so well-written (my favorite is Max), especially their character development.

Two high school boys meet, they both have feelings for each other but are too scared to say anything. . I loved this series because it’s so adorable! The character development that goes on with the main character and the side characters are realistic and heartwarming. This  definitely deserves to be in my top 8 reads.

Kids around the world get recruited into MI6 into a secret project to save the world. Together… they are City Spies.  I love this series! It was an amazing read and I love all the characters. The twists were really good and the action was great. I would highly recommend it!

A boy and a girl who have totally different lifestyles meet. One on a mission to kill the other, the other just wanting to keep his family safe. But they may not be as different as they think. This series is AMAZING. The twists, the romance, and the characters are all so excellent ! I loved the entire series, and I would totally recommend this series.

Pip is about to graduate high school but for her end-of-the-year project, she investigates a case that closed 5 years ago.In the process, she finds out something that might change the case forever. This book is so good! The amount of twists and turns this series has is crazy! The development of the mystery is extremely well written. I loved this book,  I would recommend it to fellow mystery lovers a million times over.

Christine meets her new neighbors, Moon and her family. Christine is unsure about Moon because Moon is different from the other kids. Maybe Moon is more than meets the eye. The book is so adorable and the character development is amazing. I loved how it talked about how differences aren’t a bad thing. This book was honestly so heartwarming.

Kid randomly gets invited to attend a spy school that trains kids for a future in the CIA but why would they pick him out of all the others that were probably way better than him. This is a great series too! I like how the stories all connect in some way or another. The characters are also amazing.

Allie releases a new app and she finally has a chance to win a coding competition with it, but a glitch might ruin it all… The plot of this book is so good! The pace was really good and the characters were so well written. So I would totally recommend this book and its sequel.

Books to Get out of a Reading Slump by Ana T., 2022-23 8th grader

This book follows the story of Anna, who is from Atlanta. When Anna enters her senior year of high school, she is unexpectedly sent to a boarding school in Paris. Anna is not thrilled at all to be leaving behind her high school, her best friend and this boy who’s she’s had a crush on for the longest time.

This book is perfect for getting out of a reading slump because it is fast-paced and entertaining. You may get scared by the number of pages but once you read it, it’s such a quick read and a great rom-com when you read it it feels like you’re watching a movie.

This book follows the story of sixteen-year-old girl Belly Conklin, who spends every summer with her mother and brother at her mom’s best friend’s beach house. But this summer Belly is all grown up and is excited to go back to the beach where her longtime crush Conrad aka Susanna’s son is there along with his brother Jeremiah. 

This is one of my favorite trilogies. It’s such a quick read and a great summer read. This is the type of book that once you  start reading you can stop and you’re imagining yourself in the book.

Princess Alosa, daughter of the pirate king, intentionally gets herself kidnapped by pirates aboard the Night Farer. While she’s their “prisoner,” Alosa uses her extra time to explore the Night Farer searching for a missing piece of an ancient map. But first-mate Riden isn’t making things easy for Alosa. He seems to understand her better than most, and he quickly suspects Alosa may be more than she appears.

This is such a good fast-paced read it’s an enemies-to-lovers trope which is great for those who like that! But besides that, it’s just such a great book to get back your love for reading.

When 17-year-old Lina loses her mom to cancer, she honors her mom’s dying wish that she spend a summer in Tuscany. Lina travels halfway around the world to meet and stay with her mother’s friend, Howard, who is the caretaker of an American WWII cemetery just outside Florence.

Love a Gelato is one of my favorite summer books it’s such a fun an amazing book it’s like watching a movie because you get so in the book that you actually forget you’re reading.

Pretty and popular high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who then killed himself and that was everyone could talk about. And five years later, Pip sees how the tragedy still haunts her town and people are still scared. But something is telling her there was more that happened that day…

Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is a great thriller book for people who like mystery and suspense. I LOVE THIS BOOK. It’s such an entertaining and fast-paced book, and I love the huge plot twist it has!

Top 5 Books I Read This Year by Aaron D., 2022-23 8th grader

This is the first book in the Young Elites trilogy and introduces the protagonist and also antagonist, Adelina Amouteru, a girl who was affected by the blood fever when she was little and was given the special power of illusions. She lives in a world where she and other people who were affected by the blood fever are hated because of their powers. She is then founded by the Dagger Society, a group of young elites that were also affected by the blood fever and are out to overthrow the king of Kennetra to give people who were affected by the blood fever the good treatment they deserved. She is invited into it and throughout the book she goes through all sorts of problems and hardships with the group and meets enemies and friends along the way, making the book very interesting and unpredictable. This book is filled with all sorts of twists and turns and is perfect for people who love fantasy and a bit of romance.

This is the second book in the Young Elites trilogy and continues the story of Adelina Amouteru, a girl who has the power to control illusions. She is out for vengeance after getting kicked out of the Dagger Society and is aiming for the crown of Kennetra. She created her own society of elites to help her called the Rose Society and goes through all sorts of hardships to get what she wants. The characters are all unique and have very interesting backstories that will surely make you fall in love with them. This book is filled with all kinds of twists and turns and has a very unique and interesting plot that makes it unpredictable and a very good read and is perfect for people who love fantasy and a bit of romance.

This is the second book of the Legend series and continues the story of June and Day where they are now on a mission to rescue Day’s brother, Eden, from the Republic. On their mission, they made the decision to go to the Patriots for help, but in order for them to help them they made a deal with June and Day to have them help them assassinate the elector of the Republic to make a change in the nation for the greater good. In exchange, the Patriots will agree to help them rescue Eden from the Republic. Both sides agree and they carry out the mission together with a plan, but throughout the book, some unexpected things happen that make the plan not go the way they planned. This book is perfect for people who love dystopian fiction and romance that is filled with twists and turns that make it a very good read.

This is the first book in the Magisterium series and introduces the character, Callum Hunt, a boy whose father hates magic and the Magisterium, the magic school he went to, because of a dark past there with terrible memories. Even though Callum’s father hates the Magisterium and magic, Callum was still admitted into it and went. There Callum met a lot of friends, but also people he didn’t like, and started learning magic with his friends. As he continues through the school year and feels more acquainted with it some unexpected things happen that completely change Callum’s life and reveal that he isn’t who he really thinks he is. This book is full of unexpected twists and turns that make it very interesting to read and is perfect for people who like to read fantasy books. 

This book introduces the protagonist, Katrina, a girl who changes her name constantly and doesn’t know anything about her past besides that she is part of the Witness Protection Program. She and her parents are constantly on the run from the people who want her and her family dead because of her dad’s secret past, but when her location was accidentally leaked her mom got kidnapped and her dad mysteriously disappeared. Now she is on an unexpected rescue mission to save her parents, and along the way she meets Parker, a young computer hacking genius, who decides to help her, and together they go and meet Agent X, a mysterious guy that is allegedly an ally to Katrina’s parents who can help her save them. As they continue on the mission and get closer to her saving her parents she uncovers some dark secrets about her and her past that change everything. This book is filled with unexpected twists and turns that make it a great book and is perfect for people who love a good mystery and thriller book.

Favorite Reads This Year by Shantal G., 2022-23 7th grader

This book is so relatable. It’s about a girl that goes to Honduras with their mom, dad and two sisters to visit their other family. There’s not much internet though, so it means no phone or communication through the phone. Sue’s mother wants to make a party for her for her quinces, but Sue doesn’t want that. It’s very entertaining to read this book and a lot of Hispanic readers will relate (including me).

I loved this book so much I took the time to read it in both English and Spanish and it was great! Twelve-year-old Malú violates the school’s dress code with her punk-rock look and disappoints her mom. Her dad, who lives really far away, says that everything will get better for her if she follows the first rule of punk, which is to be herself. Malú loves rock music and starts her own band and finally feels like she belongs somewhere and she will do anything to keep her rock band and stand up for herself.

This book is very entertaining. It is about a teenage Hispanic girl that lives in Chicago and is discovering herself, her family, and her culture. I won’t say more about it because I don’t want to spoil the whole book.

This book is about a girl named Callie who loves the theater. Even though she can’t wait to be in the musical Moon Over the Mississippi to be performed at her high school, she sings terribly. But when the students of the drama club offer her a position as a set designer, she doesn’t hesitate to accept. Her mission will be to create sets worthy of Broadway, but she doesn’t know anything about carpentry. To top it off, when two cute brothers enter the scene, things get even more complicated

This is my favorite book ever; it is so fun to read the different characters point of view. This book is about five very different kids who have to try and get along so they can complete the school community services and at the end they have more things in common than they thought. All of the characters are Hispanic and the characters speak Spanish in some situations.

Thank you so much to my students for their recommendations!

Student Voices: Book Recommendations from Laura L., Anna Liz R., Mai B., & Brielle P., 8th Graders

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Book Recommendations from 2022-23 8th Graders

“Books I Would Love to Live In” by Laura L., 2022-23 8th grader

This book is about Belly who every summer goes to her mom’s best friend beach house. Every summer she’s excited to be there and see everyone, but especially to see Conrad Fisher, the older son of her mom’s best friends.

I would love to live in this book because every summer Belly goes every summer to a beach house, and it seems fun to have something to look forward to every summer. I would also like to meet the characters, especially Belly because she seems like a great friend and fun to hang out with.

This book series is about the boy who lived, Harry Potter, every year since he was 11 where he was sent to magic school, but he also has fight for his life and run away from Voldemort.

Who wouldn’t want to live there? You go to a magic school every year and learn spells and see something interesting every day. I would also like to be friends with Harry, Hermione, Ron, and especially Luna. And if I get to live in the book I would get to see the whole school and see the Ravenclaw dorms.

This book is about Jenny, a girl who plays violin. One day her mom tells her they have to live in Korea for a time because her grandma is sick, and she starts attending a school of arts. 

I would like to live in this book because the school of the main character seems interesting and fun–it’s a school of art and can choose very different types of art. Plus , it is in South Korea because I’m really interested in their culture, and I might get to know the country and get to know the South Korean culture. Also, in the school there are celebrities, so I can meet them.

This book is about Mia who gets into summer ballet summer camp. Originally, her mind is only focused on ballet until she meets a boy and gets distracted.

This book was fun! If I danced ballet, I would like to live in this book. This book is about a girl that goes to summer camp in France. Apart from doing ballet in France, I would like to get to know the country. Like go to the museums, see the Eifel tower, meet new people and eat the food. I would also like to see the Eifel tower at night 

After her mom died, Lina goes to Florence to make her mom’s wishes come true. When she arrives at Florence she meets a man who now she thinks is her dad, but also meets new people and new love.

The whole time I read the book I was like, “I want to go there!” After reading this book, I was interested in going to Florence and seeing the city.

“Books I Read That Were Out of my Comfort Zone and Ended Up Being Some of my Favorites” by Anna Liz R., 2022-23 8th grader

At first, I was completely scared to read this book. Not because of the storyline, but only because of it being a classic old book, with big, complex words that I would not understand. It was on my bookshelf, waiting to be picked up. However, one day, after wanting something completely different from what I was reading (romance books), I decided to pick this one. If you read this book, you would know that this book starts with letters a man wrote from an expedition to his sister, and just by that I was so invested. I wanted to know how Frankenstein’s life escalated, and his motives. This book for me was written so well, and I loved every second of it. And before I knew it, I was done with this book in about a day. 

This book is so talked about on BookTok, so many varying reviews where people would absolutely love this book, or hate it. Not to mention the books get progressively big in terms of pages, and so you are committing to that when you start reading this series.  However, one day I was in a big need of a fantasy world, something with two opposing worlds, where it takes one person to change it all, and with a romance subplot. So of course, ACOTAR was the chosen one for me. I loved this book, it was definitely the book I was looking for. Without hesitation I needed to pick up the second book (A Court of Mist and Fury) which was even better. Cannot wait to continue the series! 

I never read a book that is 200-300 pages long divided in stanzas. And honestly I never thought I would. Yes, I do love poems, but they usually last a few pages. Now this book does not have rhyming words, or any complex hidden meaning. The word choices, the plot, the setting, literally just like any fiction chapter book, except the stanzas. I thought that was weird at first, I mean it’s not very common for me, but I was definitely willing to try it. As soon as I read the first page, I knew I had to continue. The meaning of this book was amazing. The character development, family hardships, friends standing up for you. I loved it, and I’m sure many people did too.

I definitely wouldn’t call myself the biggest graphic novel fan out there. For me, I prefer words rather than illustrations because then I get to picture the story myself, and that’s where I get to be creative. But due to the author’s visit at our school, I wanted to read more of her books, and so I decided to pick up this one. As I was reading, I loved the characters’ representation, how they have their own home problems, their difficulties in being familiar with the place and the language. The characters were so diverse! And not to mention the amazing ending that made me so happy! 🙂 

When I read romance, I usually go for enemies to lovers. It’s just so amazing, and something I would never get tired of. But this book is a cutesy romance…so why did I read it since it’s not my cup of tea? Well, besides the title/main character having the same first name as me, and it taking place in Paris, I wanted to read something different. I wanted to discover the new concept of falling in love in a different way, not just daggers-pointed-to-the-throat type of enemies to lovers. If it was me last year, I would not believe I read this book. However, I’m certainly glad I did! The setting of Paris was described so well, and you see the main character discovering Paris while being new to the school and language, new to everything basically, all without her parents. And her slowly falling for Etienne St. Clair. This book overall was so sweet and amazing, and I loved it!

“Books I Could Talk About for Hours” by Mai B., 2022-23 8th grader

This book talks about the story of Morgan, a girl who has a complicated relationship with her friends and family, as she is hiding lots of stuff from them. She meets a mysterious girl, who saved her from drowning, eventually they become closer and everything starts to change for Morgan. 

I’m so passionate about this book that I could talk about it for hours. I love the story so much and I find it kinda relatable. I love the characters and the way they develop their relationship with each other. I find the ending very sweet and even a little sad. What makes me the most passionate about the book is the story and how I find it relatable. 

This book talks about Lucia, a girl who lives happily in Cuba with her family. She’s caught up in a communist revolution and forced to immigrate to Nebraska, where everything changes for her, in both positive and negative ways. 

I find this book very relatable, as an immigrant. I loved the way the book developed and how it accurately portrayed the experiences of an immigrant, especially one that has to see their own country be ruined by its own people. I loved the ending and I don’t think it could’ve ended better, I absolutely adore it.

This book shows the story of Link, Hyrule’s famous hero, who’s looking for his dear friend, Navi. As he’s traveling on his horse, he is attacked by Skull kid who steals his ocarina and creates chaos upon Termina. Link has to get Majora’s mask back from Skull kid and save the town.

I love this book so much, the ending is perfect and the characters are very likable. Their personalities, backstories and the way they show it is something I love about this book. I love the art style too; it’s very cute. In my opinion, it shows what happened very well.

This book talks about the story of Giorno Giovanna, a young boy who joins the mafia so he can stop the dealing of drugs to minors. He enters a gang where he makes friends and is assigned an important mission, which he’s going to take advantage of and try to kill the headmaster.

This manga is honestly one of my favorites, but I specifically love part 5. I adore the characters and the way the story is narrated and developed, it honestly has a special place in my heart. The ending made me cry so much, and I still loved it.

This book talks about the story of Shoko and Shoya, two high-schoolers who have been bullied and caused them to have issues with themselves. They become friends, even after not having a great relationship as kids. And help each other be better, see things differently and change the way they think. It helps them have better relationships and react to things better.

I like this book so much because of the way it shows how social anxiety and self esteem issues can affect your relationships and the way you react to others, it’s a really sweet story too and I like the way the characters are shown. It made me cry a little, but it’s still really good. I also like how it realistically shows how having a disability can affect the ways others see you, and how different people can react to a disability. 

“Summer Recommendations” by Brielle P., 2022-23 8th grader

This series is perfect for summer. It has exciting romance and is overall a perfect summer book.

This book is perfect for that Outer Banks vibe this summer. It reminds so much of Outer Banks if it was in the keys.

The reason I added this book is because it gives me such summer vibes, even though the book isn’t by the ocean, it’s just the layout and colors of the book give me summer serotonin.

This book is perfect for the summer, reading by the beach or pool!

If you want to read a summer romance, this is the one for you.

This is sad, but it’s also heart warming.

This book is amazing–it shows the hardships of her life and what she wants to be/do.

This is such a cute summer book; you will love it!

This book follows four women and their POVs for their summer. It is really interesting and a nice light read.

Thank you so much to my student voices today and their book recommendations!

Student Voices: “AI: The Flaw in Sci-Fi Books” by Derrick T., 8th grade

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“AI: The Flaw in Sci-Fi Books, How AI Can Solve Most Problems Presented in Sci-Fi Books and Why It Isn’t Utilized by Derrick T., 2022-23 8th grader

AI, also known as Artificial Intelligence, is rapidly developing as our grasp of technology expands. Due to the ever increasing complexity of AI, all books that reference technology in the future without an intellectual apocalypse should have a prevalent AI component.

One main point of the Sci-fi genre is to examine potential futuristic outcomes of current situations. Unless our society has a rapid decline in technological progress, any accurate future will have AI. Let’s take a look at sci-fi series that have advanced enough technology that they should have fairly advanced AI but don’t, and how they could use that AI to solve some of their problems. Note that some of these may contain light spoilers.

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

While most dystopia series would have an out for including AI, the series Hunger Games would not. Even though the government falls, technology doesn’t, so this series should have AI. In the Hunger Games world the capitol should have AI and that should have a better way to control than to suppress since all examples of oppression have eventually led to rebellion.

It’s also possible that District 3 would have AI since they are a technology developing district. Officially they are more of a production district than a research district, but we aren’t given much insight into the research process. But in the event they had AI they could use it to tactically weaken the Capitol to the point of its collapse.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

While this series is typically categorized as fantasy, it does have many sci-fi elements, and since Fairy technology is described as being over 50 years ahead of humanity, meaning it would have AI, I am adding it to this list. The main problem in the first series is that fairies cannot enter Fowl Manor, so they take risky actions to free Holly. An AI could clearly identify the weakness in Artemis’s strategy, like remotely accessed machines, and exploited them, meaning he would be mind wiped and the rest of the series could not have happened.

Insignia by S. J. Kincaid

This series has a more obvious weakness when it comes to AI. The reason for the neural processors is to control space robots faster in the war. If the problem is the speed, why would you not cut humans out of the picture entirely and just have AI control the robots and fight the battles in space?

In the examples above, AI is not used for a variety of reasons. First of all, these series were written before this recent expansion of AI, with the most recent being written in 2012, so these authors didn’t know nearly as much about AI as we do now. Secondly, it is very difficult to write about AI without two major problems: robots and AI generally lack character development, and it is very difficult to create a reason why an AI with access to the sum of human knowledge can’t solve a problem a human can, meaning it is very hard to mix AI and human characters.

It is possible though, so let’s look to an example of a series that does this very well:

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Scythe is one of my favorite series for it’s use of AI. The Thunderhead (the AI in Scythe) is a perfect way to get out of the problems with AI. The AI itself has character development, and there are very clear reasons why it cannot get involved or act on the problems in the book (the separation of Scythe and State). In addition, the final solution has two reasons why the AI couldn’t have thought of it (I won’t list for spoiler reasons).

In conclusion, AI in both sci-fi literature and real life is continuing to move towards the future, so even as technology makes this post outdated, humanity and our ideas of the future are advancing towards a brighter era.

Thank you so much to Derrick for sharing his analysis of science fiction!

Student Voices: “The Issue with Banning Books” by Toby B., 8th Grade

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“The Issue with Banning Books” by Toby Briggs, 2022-23 8th Grader

Banning books is an argument that has been going on for years and years. Over two thousand years actually. This argument is an argument on whether certain books are suitable for children. Books with LGBTQ+ representation, magic, racism, and slurs are typically the victim of this act. Some of these books are The Hate You Give (by Angie Thomas),Melissa (by Alex Gino), Gender queer: a memoir (by Maia Kobabe), Maus (by Art Spigelman), and The Diary of Anne Frank. This is only a small example of banned books today in America. The reason books are banned and challenged is to limit thinking and to censor beliefs that other people do not support. Books help children develop empathy and to open themselves up to people, places, cultures, and world views. Banning these books could narrow down how these kids think and respect other people.The act of banning books is the top example of American censorship. People fear that the contents of a book would sway a child to follow suit in violent acts or sexual activities. This act is violating first amendment rights as an American citizen to have free speech. 

Reading is supposed to teach and inspire people as well as encouraging to think about what is around you. With the recent acts of trying to ban these books it is clear that state officials want to eradicate thinking that is different from their own beliefs. They want to hide away books that can encourage people to question everything around them or books that encourage people to be themselves. They want to eradicate a generation of thinkers and supportive people. They want to eradicate anything that is outside of what they deem the correct way. 

The category with the highest percentage of books banned are novels. While the lowest percentage is textbooks. No matter what type of category a book fits in to it is not free from being banned. 4.28% of religious texts are banned. That is more than poetry books are manuals. No matter what kind of book type it is if it does not fit in the agenda of state officials it is banned. 41% of books with LGBTQ+ representation are banned. 40% of books with a person of color being the main character are banned. 

The main argument that pro book banning bring up when talking about banned books is it’s for the children. We are doing this to protect the welfare of children. Banning books about people different from a child is not protecting children it is censoring amazing books with representation on minorities, past occurrences of our history, and books that have racist ideas or violent actions. I am not saying a 5 year old should read a young adult book but i am saying books with people of color and people apart of the LGBTQ+ need to be represented to young children so that it can help teach them important lesson on people that are different from them and how to respect those people. A study that was done in 2014 by Christopher J. Fergason shows how reading banned books can be good for kids. People believe that if a kid that is exposed to a book with violent or sexual content that a kid would try something along those lines. However that is not always the case. Reading banned books can increase they’re awareness of civic awareness and engagement. The study by Fergason shows this and how reading can provide ethical development in children.

I believe every parent has a right to not let they’re child read a book they believe is unsuitable for their age. However, I do not believe that people should ban books just because you don’t find it appropriate. Most of the books on the banned books list are books people believe are unsuitable for children. Some of those books have amazing messages and representation for children. But they are banned because people believe kids shouldn’t read them. Books with people like me living their truth are banned because of someone else’s opinions. Books with minorities who just want to be represented being stripped of that right. 

I am  a young reader who has been reading since kindergarten. I have learned most of what i know from the books I have read. I am also a part of the LGBTQ+ community. I have read books upon books with representation of people and kids who are like me and there is nothing better than reading a book that makes you feel like you can belong. Books that make you feel like your any other kid. However most of these books are banned due to pro book banning. I want people to be able to hear my voice, to hear what I have to say about banning books with representation on people like me. The act of banning books is stripping away representation of people like me and other minorities from books. People need to know what people have gone through but also who they are now. Books have made me feel accepted when I believe no one else would accept me. Books are my escape from everything that is wrong with the world. Please don’t ban books with representation we need those books. 

Banning books has no outcome other than to stop a generation from growing up to be thinkers and being kind. Banning books is hiding away multiple generations of books with messages of our history as well as messages of being kind and curious. The act of banning books does not help anyone other than the people who want to ban them. It helps no one but themselves. We need representation in books and banning those books aren’t going to help. This is why I believe there is a massive issue with banning books. Nothing good comes from it.

Thank you so much to Toby for sharing their voice today and their outlook on the banning of books.

Student Voices: Christina Diaz Gonzalez’s Visit to Kellee’s Middle School

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I am so lucky because my principal began an initiative at my school where we get to have an author visit our school yearly (2022: Nathan Hale, 2020: Neal Shusterman, 2019: Jennifer A. Nielsen). The author sees all students in the school, so it is a great community literacy event for my school, and I love being able to bring this experience to all 1200+ students each year!

This year, we hosted Christina Diaz Gonzalez!
The visit was phenomenal and included 5 presentations for approximately 240 kids, book signings, and a small presentation in Spanish for our emerging bilingual students who have been in the US for a year or less. It was all such an amazing experience!

Here are some reflections from my students from after the visit. I asked them to think about what they learned, what they enjoyed, how they were impacted, or anything else they wanted to share:

  • The Christina Diaz Gonzalez visit was something I will cherish forever. I learned to normalize authors and realize how authors are real people and how they’re not magical beings with neverending ideas. I enjoyed how she managed to keep the presentation light and sweet but as well as interactive, she made me interested in so many more of her books!…I love how she reminds us how important Hispanic Representation is. These author trips are something I will forever cherish when I go to High School. Thank you for putting the effort and time into doing this Mrs. Moye! I really appreciate it!
  • [The visit] impacted me because it showed me that I could accomplish my dreams.
  • I learned that you can pursue whatever you like and you should be passionate about what you want to do.
  • I learned a lot from her visit to our school, and it was really cool! I learned about how it could be a struggle to write a book, and how 1 book or author can inspire someone. I really liked how she got to answer my question, and how a lot of people cared to ask many questions which made it even more detailed and fun to listen to stories. I feel like it impacted me, and some other people, to encourage them to be an author. I am currently writing a book, and her amazing books are encouraging me to finish my book. I am so glad she came because it was really cool to see an author explain and show about writing books.
  • I’m glad she came because her whole presentation was just amazing, I liked that I had the opportunity to meet her and I liked the tips she gave us and of course, the stories that she told us.
  • I am glad she came because in my other school we never got a visit like this one.

  • Well, I really enjoyed how much Christina Diaz Gonzalez was like an everyday person. You see famous people on the back of book covers, and their names on movie posters, and things like that. You expect them to be a different way. You expect them to be different from everybody else. But that’s obviously not the case seeing as many actors, authors, and directors all act just as normal as everyday people. Christina Diaz Gonzalez seemed just as normal as me and I respect her a lot for this.
  • I very much enjoyed how she let us ask questions, and I liked the questions that the kids asks.
  • This visit also made me think differently about books like how you can relate to a story really easily or learn something new every day.
  • From the Christina Diaz Gonzalez visit, I learned that being an author is harder than people may think. I enjoyed that she was fun. She spoke in a way where you can’t really get too bored or bored at all and she showed us those cool trailers of her books. This impacted me by meeting someone who’s Cuban. I don’t ever meet any others that are Cuban.
  • I learned that she has a similar childhood to some of the people at the school that don’t know how to speak English or understand it. I’m glad she came because the whole school knew about her books and to be able to see those students that were so excited to meet her happy and to get to know her more.
  • What I learned from yesterday was that Christiana Diaz Gonzalez is an inspiring author that uses her family to help write her books, which I enjoyed. It inspired me to try to write my own stories about my family. I am glad she came to HCMS because she has a difficult past, and I have had one too.
  • During the part where she was talking about her very first story that she had written, it made me think about how creativity really does come from anything. A little thought can slowly grow and grow, it just needs a little bit of effort added into it, so that impacted me to open my eyes and “see beyond” generic ideas.

As you can see, Christina’s visit was highly engaging and inspiring. I would highly recommend her for a school visit!

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