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.