The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
By Kate Dicamillo
Read in 6th Grade
Edward Tulane is a beautiful china doll, kindly cared for by a girl who loves him dearly. But he doesn't return her adoration. He simply sees her as the one who takes care of him, and so he finds her ok. Then one day, he is thrown off of a ship, and is adrift at sea for many days, until he is fished out by a poor fisherman. He lives a far less elegant life, but he is grateful to be alive. Then one day, the couple's daughter, a mean girl who regards Edward with contempt, throws him away. And here, he begins to feel. Sharp pain at leaving his friends. He is picked up from the dump by a hobo, whom he travels with for a long time, now battered and just a vestige of what he was. Then, of course, everything changes again. The hobo is caught on a train by a policeman, who throws Edward out. And his heart cracks just a little more.

The Alchemist

The Alchemist
By Paulo Coelho
Read in 8th grade
A shepherd boy roams the plains and hillside of Europe. He is a town one day when he decides to see a fortune teller. She tells him that a treasure awaits him, and another man he meets gives him instruction to go to the Egyptian pyramids to follow his Personal Legend. Upon arriving in Africa, he is immediately struck by misfortune, losing all his money. However, the omens intervene, and he finds himself working for a crystal merchant to make money. He learns to read the omens while he is in Africa, making a fortune and incidentally joining a caravan to Egypt. On the way, he stops in the oasis of Al-Fayoum because of a tribal war. He meets his true love, Fatima there. However, he is drawn away from her to complete his Personal Legend by the Alchemist, the fabled man who can live forever and turn lead into gold.

Strike

Strike
By D.J. Machale
Read in 8th grade

Book 3 in series

Book 1!

Book 2!

A Civil War between the Air Force and Navy. But it isn't what it seems. The Air Force, with ridiculous technology and supplies, is wiping out the entire population of the Earth, and while SYLO is fighting a losing battle to try to save the Earth. Meanwhile, Tucker and his friends are captured by the Air Force while trying to get at a "Gate to Hell" in a desert military camp. There, they are degraded and labeled "primitive" along with many other prisoners. One day, a SYLO attack gives them the chance to see what the Gate to Hell truly is. They find a portal through time. But it isn't a true portal because of the "you can't change the past and there is a new timestream and blah blah blah". The portal goes 300 years in the future, and was created by an atomic blast inside the dome which caused stuff to move faster than the speed of light. However, the future they find has been decimated by climate change.

The Bean Trees

The Bean Trees
By Barbara Kingsolver
Read in 8th Grade
Marrieta, Missy for short, lives in a small, rundown Kentucky town. She has never met her father, for she was an "accident", and her father left her mother. She has a job at the local hospital and promises that one day, she'll get a used car, leave, and settle down wherever she ends up. Then, the day finally comes for her to leave, and she travels west. As she goes through Oklahoma, her car breaks down and forces her to stop for the night. She goes to a diner, where an Indian woman implores her to take a baby. Having no choice(for the baby was left in her car seat) she names her Turtle and continues to Arizona, where she stops. There, she begins on the job of figuring Turtle out. She settles down with a single mother named Lou Ann, who has been abandoned by her husband. There, she takes care of Turtle, who had been abused. She also learns that her friend/employer, Mattie, runs a sanctuary for illegal immigrants, where she meets Esperanza and Estevan, who have had their share of heartbreak. They all become close friends, when one day, Turtle is nearly assaulted.

CNN 10 4/27/2020 ~ 5/1/2020

Go to cnn.com/cnn10 for latest video*

Monday, April 27, 2020

Immunity to COVID-19. People who've recovered from the virus may have it, but scientists don't know how effective the antibodies are and how long they last. Last week, herd immunity was discussed. It's when a majority of a population has immunity to a virus, and governments are looking to that for safety in the absence of a vaccine or cure. There have been many Apollo missions, but none of their astronauts had a map. Now, the USGS and NASA have created a comprehensive lunar map for use in future missions. Remember the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics a few years back? Well, ice fishing isn't an Olympic sport, but it is popular in South Korea. In the winter when ice freezes over, holes are dug in the ice, and farm-raised trout are poured in for people to fish.

Gulliver's Travels

Gulliver's Travels
By Jonathan Swift
Read in 8th Grade
Gulliver is an ordinary Englishman who goes sailing on an expedition. One day, his ship is destroyed in a storm, and he floats to an island while clinging to life on a piece of wood. There, he falls into a deep sleep. When he wakes up, he finds that he is in a country/island inhabited by the tiny people of Lilliput. They have bound him to the ground, and are attempting to speak to him. Despite their initial fear of him, he is treated well, and eventually, he becomes loved by their people for his services in defeating their enemy. However, he has enemies in court, who turn the king against him. He manages to escape and eventually gets back to England when he is picked up by a ship in the ocean. Despite his terrible ordeal, the sea calls to him, and he leaves once more. This time, the ship is blown off course, and ends up off an island. Gulliver is left behind from a scouting expedition, and finds the island inhabited by giants this time, instead of minions.

CNN 10 4/20/2020 ~ 4/24/2020

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Monday, April 20, 2020

President Trump has announced a three-phase plan that states can use if and when they decide to reopen. It would start with certain businesses allowing employees to return in limited numbers and it would eventually lead to other public venues also being allowed to reopen. However, many governors say they need more testing, and the President hasn't given a plan for that. What's most critical about stopping the spread is knowing where a patient has been. And South Korea can do that. With a little essential information, health workers can track where an infected person has been, and how likely they were to have spread the virus. They then send out an alert to everyone living in the area of the patient. There is even an app that you can use to see how many people were infected in a certain venue and when. However, it does not disclose anything beyond where and when the patient was. NASA astronauts were brought back to Earth recently. But it was far different from the normal procedure. They were quickly transported in a variety of vehicles to their airplane from a desert.

CNN 10 4/13/2020 ~ 4/17/2020

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Monday, April 13th, 2020

Sunday was Easter, the most important holy day on the Christian calendar. And while people couldn't attend services in person, many of them watched Pope Francis's rituals in the Vatican online and on TV. Other churches held drive-throughs, and some even said they would hold services, sparking political controversy. The development of coronavirus vaccines has been discussed a lot lately. But there is now a new test - the antibody test. Rather than seeing if you have the virus, this tests whether you've had it. Because if you have, then you can now rest easy knowing that you have antibodies and are safe from reinfection for a while. Have you ever heard about the ravens of the Tower of London? There are many legends as their origins, the most famous being a superstition that England would fall apart if they left. So, they have a raven master - who may well be the only one on the planet. Hear his story as part of the CNN 10 virtual tours.

The Red Pony

The Red Pony
ByJohn Steinbeck
Read in 8th Grade
Jody lives on a farm with his parents and Billy Buck and has been waiting for a horse of his own for a while. Then finally, one day, his father comes home with a red pony, a trick horse from a bankrupt show. Jody cares for it with all his heart, waiting for the day he can finally ride it. But, after it is accidentally left in the rain, the pony comes down with a severe illness and dies. Soon after, a nearby farmer has a pregnant horse and Jody's father, knowing how well he cared for his pony, buys the colt for Jody. So the pregnant horse comes to the farm to have her colt. For a while, all seems good, and Jody can't wait for his colt. Then, as the horse goes into labor, Billy Buck reveals that there is something wrong. The baby horse isn't turned the right way.

The Story of Art

The Story of Art
By E.H. Gombrich
Read in 8th Grade
Gombrich gives an extensive(really really long) history of art and architecture, from cave art through the Dark Ages to modern expressionist and abstract art. He explains what "Art" as we see it is, and why Art doesn't really exist, only artists. He takes celebrated pieces of art from each period and style and explains how it was revolutionary, why we get the reaction it invokes, and what they all imply about the way people view art.
I enjoyed reading this book because it was pretty in-depth without seeming like a list of facts or too much of an informational text.

CNN 10 4/6/2020 ~ 4/10/2020

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Monday, April 6th, 2020
President Trump has told the United States to brace for its worst week of the coronavirus pandemic. However, not everything is bad. In New York, cases have reportedly reached a plateau or at least a peak, and Italy, which has seen the worst of the European pandemic, has begun to see a decline in deaths. To try to help with the health crisis, a tech company called X-Mode, which tracks the devices of users, is seeing where people from heavily-hit areas are traveling to try to predict any new outbreaks. It says that it doesn't collect the identities of its users and puts consumer security first. Lastly, we take a trip to the Hakkoda Mountains in northern Japan, one of the snowiest places on Earth. But in the snow, many find beauty.

Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre
By Charlotte Brontë
Read in 7th Grade
Jane lives with her detestable aunt and cousins. Her apparently lowly parents died shortly after her birth, and she was taken in by her uncle. As his dying wish, he told her aunt to take care of Jane. However, jealous of her husband's affection for Jane, her aunt only maintains her to the lowest of standards, and she is constantly bullied by her cousins. One day, a man named Mr. Brocklehurst arrives from an educational facility to take her away. There, she learns much and becomes rather content. Eventually, she finds a job as a governess at Thornfield Hall, owned by a certain Mr. Rochester. She finds that he is very rich, but is almost never home. Then one day, she meets him on an icy day when he falls off his horse, without a clue as to who she is. Although she does not realize it, he has a deep affection for her.

A Little History of the World

A Little History of the World
By E.H. Gombrich
Read in 8th Grade
Despite its title, this book is not a monotonous list of facts and dates and names. Although it is too short to accommodate every civilization and event, it goes through most major events from the Stone Age through the world wars. It provides facts in a fun way, like a journey through history. Although I had already learned about most of the events, I found it a nice, amusing review. I would highly recommend this book to students entering middle school.

Keeper of the Lost Cities: Everblaze

Keeper of the Lost Cities: Everblaze
By Shannon Messenger
Read in 8th Grade
Everblaze is the third installment in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series. I think it is the best one. Sophie Foster, the first-ever human-born elf and created by a mysterious organization called the Black Swan, has many abilities. Among them are healing elves who have gone insane. She is ordered to heal a Pyrokinetic, someone who can summon fire. He had unleashed an unstoppable fire called everblaze on human cities and had had his mind shattered while the Elvin telepaths tried to dig secrets out of his head. However, as one can clearly see in the cover image, things don't quite go as planned.

The Heroes of Olympus

The Heroes of Olympus Series
By Rick Riordan
Read in 5th Grade

"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall. An oath to keep with a final breath/And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death." Percy and his friends team up with the long-forgotten Roman demigods in a fight against the giants. After the fall of the Titans, Gaea, Mother Earth herself, produced the giants, only killable by a combination of demigod and god. But the gods have become reclusive and the Greek and Roman camps have a millennia old rivalry. To overcome these, Hera has crafted a careful plan that could either go great or horribly wrong.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Percy Jackson and the Olympians series
By Rick Riordan
Read in 4th Grade
Percy Jackson, a teenage son of the Greek sea god Poseidon, discovers his true heritage. As a son of one of the "Big Three"(Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon), he will make a choice to save or destroy Mount Olympus. Meanwhile, the evil titan lord Kronos stirs from his imprisonment and frees himself. With spies inside and out, the Greek demigods take sides and battle up to the fateful day in New York, the modern home of the gods. There, the titans appear to have the upper hand, but Kronos's closest lieutenant, who has given up his body for his master, makes the final choice. He stabs his only vulnerable spot(for he has swum in the River Styx), and kills himself with Kronos.

The Two Koreas

The Two Koreas(Third Edition)
By Don Oberdorfer and Robert Carlin
Read in 7th Grade
In this day and age, there is a lot of strife about North Korea, South Korea, nukes, and on and on and on. But how did there come to be two Koreas? This book provides an objective explanation of the Korean war, how the Korean Peninsula came to be divided, and how the two nations are still working toward reunification.
I highly recommend this book. It taught me a lot about why reunification is so hard and why the two halves are so different.

Storm

Storm
By DJ MacHale
Read in 8th Grade

Book 2 in series

Click for first book in series
Third book

Tucker and his friends make it to the mainland almost make them wish they had stayed on Pemberwick. They find themselves in the middle of a second, high-tech civil war between the Air Force and Navy. The Air Force being convinced that humanity is naturally bad and committing genocide, the Navy quarantining various bases in order to save what's left. Not knowing who to trust, they make their way across the country, following a mysterious radio signal from survivors of the Air Force's attacks. Soon, they must go on a mission and try to destroy every Air Force plane in, wait for it, Area 51. It works, but it turns out the Air Force has far more power than they could have known.

Sylo

Sylo
By DJ MacHale
Read in 7th Grade

Tucker Pierce lives on calm, out-of-the-way Pemberwick Island off the coast of Maine. Or, it was until Sylo invades. Soon after some mysterious deaths, a mystery division of the Navy quarantines the island under orders from the President. No one leaves, no one enters. And they mean it. Tucker sees their captain shoot and arrest seemingly innocent people, and when he thinks he has found the cause of everything, he is put under arrest as well. He and his friends make a daring escape attempt to the mainland, but what they find is even worse. The Air Force and Navy appear to be in a second Civil War, and everything has been decimated.
Click for second book in series
Third book

Ahn Junggeun's "A Treatise on Peace in the East"

안중근의 동양평화론 - Ahn Junggeun's "A Treatise on Peace in the East"

By Ahn Junggeun

Read in 7th Grade

This treatise was written by Ahn shortly before his death sentence for killing the unjust Japanese ruler of Korea, Ito Hirobumi. He explains how Japan came to occupy Korea in the first place, all the atrocities they have committed since, and his final rationale for killing Hirobumi. Today, he is a national hero as a freedom fighter, having given his own life in the process.

The Da Vinci Code

The Da Vinci Code
By Dan Brown
Read in 8th Grade
Robert Langdon, professor of symbology at Harvard, in trying to relax in the wee hours of the night after giving a speech to the American University of Paris. Then, Jacques Sauniére, a renowned art curator, is murdered. And Langdon is the scapegoat. However, all is not lost. He and a police cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, discover that Sauniére protected an ancient secret - one that could destroy the church. They go on a hunt to try to uncover the secret, but with traitors and police at every turn, they must work fast. It turns out at last that they are looking for the Holy Grail, the fabled chalice in the Bible. The Knights Templar supposedly found it in Jerusalem long ago, and it is being protected by the Priory of Sion.

Auggie & Me

Auggie & Me
By R.J. Palacio
Read in 6th Grade
In this sequel to Wonder, three of the characters tell their own stories about Auggie. First up is Julian's apology. When he visits his grandmother over the summer, he learns where he got his name, and to respect differences. Pluto is the story of one of Auggie's former friends Chris. Despite having been friends all his life, he struggles to incorporate Auggie into his life in a new city and new friends. Finally, the story from Charlotte's point of view, and the drama among the girls' overlapping the one over Auggie.

A Hatchet Adventure Series

A Hatchet Adventure Series
By Gary Paulsen
Read in 8th Grade
Most of you have read Hatchet. But what would have happened if Brian hadn't been rescued? Follow Brian through the Canadian wilderness as winter sets in, then his rescue. However, it seems that he can't stay away once he's been part of the wild. He eventually returns to demonstrate survival skills, then to visit the family who saved him. But on his final visit, something is off...

The Giver Quartet

The Giver Quartet
By Lois Lowry
Read in 6th Grade
The series starts off in the "community" with Jonas. It's a boring, regulated, colorless place, with its citizens unaware of the outside world. But Jonas is special. He can "see beyond", and is selected to hold all the memories of the past for the rest of the community. But as he receives those painful memories and sees past the veil of sameness in his village, he becomes determined to change things. The books progress through 2 others with special powers, until they all meet in the final showdown with an evil force known as the Trademaster in Son.

50 Physics Ideas You Really Need To Know

50 Physics Ideas You Really Need To Know
By Joanne Baker
Read in 8th Grade
In this book, Baker, well, obviously explains 50 physics concepts in a quick and clear manner. My favorite was black holes(Idea #42). Scientists believe that they are either holes or massive dips in the fabric of space-time. They are created by large masses with high gravitational pull, so strong that not even light can escape once it passes what is called the event horizon.

The Tale of Despereaux

The Tale of Despereaux

By Kate DiCamillo

Read in 5th Grade
Despereaux Tilling was born with massive ears and open eyes. They all thought he would die. But he didn't. He was, however, a very odd mouse. He didn't do anything a normal mouse would do, and one day, he presented himself to a person - an unforgivable crime. He was banished to the dungeon to be eaten by the rats, but as fate would have it, he was saved by the keeper of the dungeon. The book then switches to Roscuro's point of view. He was born a rat, but he has always been entranced by light.

Reader's Digest April 2020

Reader's Digest April 2020

This month's cover story is on unsolved murders that are still open. In many of them, the suspect is almost certainly believed to be guilty, yet no evidence can be found. One of them, the Black Dahlia murder. In another, a series of child-killings with a suspect jailed for life on 2 completely unrelated murders. A killing in broad daylight in front of a crowd that supposedly saw nothing. And finally, the killing of a beauty queen in her own house, with her parents being accused. Can you figure out what actually happened?

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Thinking, Fast and Slow
By Daniel Kahneman
Read in 7th Grade
In this book, Kahneman explains our two system thought processes - fast and slow. The fast one is used more often and is more instinctive. But it isn't always more accurate. It might be for simple things like math equations, but for choices, our fast system might be misled. That's where our logical, slow reasoning comes in. This book taught me to think things over more carefully, instead of just doing things impulsively.

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
By Yuval Noah Harari
Read in 7th Grade
In this sequel to Sapiens, Harari explores the possibilities of the future. In recent centuries, problems that once plagued the daily lives of our ancestors - famine, disease, drought, etc. - have been reined in. So what will replace those at the top of our agenda? Immortality? Superhumans? Perhaps even editing humans themselves? The elite of today's society has immense power, and will that power be wielded according to our ideals of freedom and liberty, or at the expense of the powerless?

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
By Yuval Noah Harari
Read in 6th Grade
Many millennia ago, many human species inhabited various parts of our planet. But today, only our line lives on. How is it that that happened? In this book, Harari explores how we ended up developing things like religion, economy, and bureaucracy. Unfortunately, I don't remember too much because I read it a while back, but I one thing I do remember is that he wrote that it was good when Great Britain invaded India because it advanced Indian culture. I do not agree, because I don't think it is right of one country to invade another simply because they can.

Grit

Grit
By Angela Duckworth
Read in 6th Grade
Haven't you always wondered how "geniuses" became who they are? Angela Duckworth, a pioneering psychologist, explains the true secret behind outstanding achievement - and it's not talent. She says that the one thing all geniuses have is grit. They work and persevere towards their goal against all odds. She has created a scale for measuring these factors into your overall grit. The remainder of the book is devoted to showing how to grow your grittiness.

Post-Truth

Post-Truth

By Lee McIntyre

Read in 6th Grade

Lately, the lines between fact and fiction have blurred. Politicians lying to us, and fake news sites popping up all over the Internet. In fact, it has gotten so bad that in 2016, it was Oxford Dictionary's word of the year. In this book, McIntyre explains all the basics that one needs to survive and sort truth from lies in this age.

The Grapes of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath
By John Steinbeck
Read in 8th Grade
One of Steinbeck's more difficult books, this book explores the troubles of farmers in 1930s Midwest. What was once fertile land cultivated for generations is now desolate and being taken over by conglomerate banks. Tom Joad, recently freed from prison, finds that his family has already been evicted. With no home and nowhere to stay, they sell everything and join the Dust Bowl migration to California. But when they get there, they find that all the rumors of good wages all wrong. The Californians hate the "Okies", who work for just a few cents to a pound of picked fruit/cotton. Few survive the test of these times, and many starve, head back, or die. But the Joads get luck after luck, and just barely, they survive.

The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner
By Khaled Hosseini
Read in 8th Grade
Amir is a young boy living in Afghanistan, friends with a Hazara named Hassan. The Hazara are considered lesser people in Afghanistan and are mostly servants. Amir is the son of the most prestigious man in town. But for many years, the two are best friends. Kite fighting is a popular sport in Kabul, Amir's town. And Hassan is the best at chasing down cut kites. But one day, Amir sends Hassan off by himself to get a kite, and he is raped.
This event fractures the friendship, and Amir escapes turmoil in Afghanistan soon after with his father to America. He lives happily there, but one day, his past calls to him, and he must return. Hassan, meanwhile, has had a child. One day, the Taliban kills him and takes his son.

The Sixth Extinction

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
Elizabeth Kolbert
Read in 8th Grade
Our species has spread across the globe in an unprecedented global movement. We have messed up Earth's evolutionary process as we know it, wiping out species the minute we find them, and moving them around the world faster than ever before. But are we truly considering its impacts? In each of Earth's previous 5 mass extinctions, there have been sudden drops in biodiversity - just as it is going down now.

Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice
By Jane Austen
Read in 8th Grade
In the countryside of Britain, there lived a family named Bennet. Mrs.Bennet's only wishes were for her 5 daughters to marry well, for Mr.Bennet's estate was entailed to an entirely removed cousin. And their fortunes seem to turn up, for an affluent man by the name of Bingley soon arrives, and develops an affinity for the eldest daughter. His friend, however, despite being even richer than he, is a very proud man, rather uncivil. In fact, he, believing that Jane doesn't return Mr.Bingley's love, convinces his friend to leave her.

Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables

By L.M. Montgomery

Read in 8th Grade

Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert led a relatively quiet life - until Anne arrives at Green Gables. The old couple had wanted a boy to help them but they got Anne. Despite her rather sad upbringing at an orphanage, the Cuthbert mold her into a respectable, smart young woman, though not without some bumps along the way.
But none of them are ready for the final curve that life puts in their path. Anne wins a scholarship for college, and the whole town rejoices. This is good, because the Cuthbert finances are in a precarious state. They have all their money in one bank that is rumored to be shaky.