May Book Club

We held our last Book Club of the school year this week. Students and staff shared what books they’ve been reading and what they hope to read over the summer.

Ms. Melinson shared that she’s been reading Woven in Moonlight and chose it for its beautiful cover. She’s also been working her way through Vegetables Unleashed: A Cookbook. Samhita read Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup. She said it was really interesting to see how people were tricked for so long. Doctora Portillo said she’s been reading student’s work from her Spanish classes. Mrs. Strong has been reading Upright Women Wanted, a fun western that takes place in the future. Mr. Wells’ stayed up late reading The Heights and enjoyed its ironic humor. Erin has been reading Harry Potter in French. She says it easier to translate some of the harder French words because she previously read the books in English. Erin has also been reading When Women Ruled the World. She likes how it relates modern history to ancient Egypt.

For summer, Ms. Melinson plans to read Educated for her alma mater’s book club. She also wants to listen to The Poet X because it’s read by the author. Some other books she’s excited about for summer are: The Nickel Boys, Internment, With the Fire on High, The Fountains of Silence, Parable of the Sower, Dangerous Alliance (written by Country Day  alumna, Jennieke Cohen), and more Joy Harjo poetry (current and future U.S. Poet Laureate).

Doctora Portillo plans to read The Chronicle of Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. She says it’s short, but complex. Doctora is also looking forward to reading How to Be an Anti-Racist. Mr. Wells is planning on reading The Hobbit with his son and Station Eleven (with himself). Erin plans to read and/or listen to more books in French. Samhita has been waiting for a good time to start The Starless Sea and might also read The Night Circus after Ms. Melinson described it.

For all the books we’ve read this year and in years past, check out our Goodreads page. Happy reading!

Week in Review: Poetry & Free Audiobooks for the Summer!

For the month of April, which is National Poetry Month, we’ve been sharing our favorite poetry and novels in verse on our Instagram page. These books can be found on our Overdrive ebook collection here. As some of you might know, one of the events we do to celebrate poetry is Poem in Your Pocket Day – students read favorite or original poems (and often, poems thought up on the spot) and then get a piece of candy. Because we’re all at home this year, students submitted videos of themselves reading poetry. Check them out below:

We shared a video of Grace reading a poem on our Instagram yesterday to close out National Poetry Month. Thanks Anika, Kai, and Grace for sharing your poems!

Audiobook Sync shares free audiobooks every summer and they’ve kicked off with Monday’s Not Coming and The 57 Bus, both books highly recommended by Ms. Melinson and Mrs. Strong.

To access these books, you’ll need the Sora app from Overdrive. Follow this link for instructions on how to get Sora and for answers to other questions you may have. If you need help, email Ms. Melinson or Mrs. Strong.

Audiobooks are only available to add to your Sora account for 1 week so be sure to sign up for email or text alerts for when new books are released. Once you add a book to your Sora shelf, that’s where it stays; borrowed audiobooks don’t expire.

Check below for the list of audiobooks to expect this summer and when they’ll be available:

Happy listening!