May Book Club!

Today was the last High School Book Club of the school year! In addition to our usual discussion of all things reading, we prepared something special for our graduating Seniors. Ms. Melinson read “The Summer Day” by Mary Oliver to the Seniors, and then gifted a reading journal and a personalized bookmark to each of them. The Seniors then shared any thoughts they had about reading in high school.

Aarushi found time to read during Freshman and Sophomore, but struggled during the rest of her time at Country Day as her courses and extra curricular activities became more demanding. Rachel has always loved stories, and found friends with whom she could share this love during Middle School. Imani had lost her voice, so pantomimed to us that she read The House on Mango Street three times, and that she wrote stories about her friends as Medieval adventurers. Many demands to read her work followed this revelation. Similar to Aarushi, Chloe struggled to find time to read during High School. She found that serialized web novels solved this issue, as the chapters tended to be shorter and always available on her phone. Ms. Melinson let everyone know that it is quite common for readers to stray from the reading path in their teenage years, but assured them that the time demands of High School don’t last forever. We readers all return home to the pages of a book eventually.

Ms. Melinson did inquire about how Country Day might encourage a rekindling of a culture of reading amongst our community. Students shared several ideas about how they managed to carve out dedicated reading time. The list included: reminding themselves about the benefits of reading; reading as a transition/warm-up for doing homework; reading during road/train/plane trips; reading while waiting in line or during other stalled out moments in life (perfect for the impatient among us); setting self-imposed reading expectations, such as reading 100 pages before you can put the book down, or only stopping on a page interval of 5 or 10; reading when bored of schoolwork to simulate a feeling of accomplishment; listening to audiobooks while doing things like cleaning or driving.

We then proceeded with our usual discussion of the books we’ve been reading. Jess recommended Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli, which centers on a “big ally” to the LGBT community who comes to question if maybe her support of the community is more than just allyship.

Ash re-read The Red Queen and forgot the huge plot twist from their first read of the book back in middle school. How lucky to be able to re-read an old favorite as if it were once again new!

Radha’s journey from business books to science books led her to philosophy. She read Lessons from the Magic Shop by neurosurgeon James Dotey. It is his manifesto on how he learned to focus, open his heart and mind, and find happiness and freedom in life.

Jordyn is reading and loving A Psalm for the Wild-Built after Pax recommended it for the High School summer read committee. That’s at least three of us in the High School Book Club now who Pax has encouraged to fall in love with this beautiful novella about finding one’s purpose and undoing the nature-culture divide. As John Green once wrote, “sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.”

Jim recommended Babel by R.F. Kuang, a book which he believes was unfairly robbed of the Hugo award this year. The novel has won several other awards though, and has wowed most who read it. This historical fantasy epic examines student revolutions, colonialism, translation, and the British Empire itself.

Jordyn rounded out our meeting with a reading from Ash’s copy of The Gen Z Bible. It made most of us cringe.

For a list of all the books recommended at High School Book Club, check out our GoodReads page here!

April Book Club

It was a balmy 75F out and Ms. Melinson still served hot apple cider. We drank it all though, so hard to say who’s nuttier. (The brownies flew off the plate as well, but they weren’t nutty; only very chocolatey.)

Ms. Melinson gave us quite a few excellent recommendations. She started with The Dictionary of Imaginary Places, which is penned in the style of a reference book and covers over 1,200 fantastical locations from myths, legends, novels, and the like. She then gave us several recommendations for celebrating National Poetry Month, which happens every April. The poetry books and anthologies included Please Excuse this Poem: 100 New Poets for the Next Generation, Gentefication, the princess saves herself in this one, Citizen, Date & Time, B, and To This Day. She also mentioned a pamphlet-style book she read over break called Humility, which reminded her of the kinds of books Radha would usually pick up because it gives business advice.

Ash plugged their appreciation for Marissa Meyer’s works, having just completed a re-read of Gilded. This high fantasy novel is, according to Ash, a “more interesting” retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. They later lauded the beauty of the Lunar Chronicles, which is also by Meyer.

Jess (counter to the idiom) picked up a book because of its pretty cover. It then proved to be a deeply disturbing read. As a warning to anyone looking into this story, Jess noted that the book comes with more than a full page of trigger warnings, which she highly recommended we take seriously.

Jordyn is back to fantasy after a bit of time in the world of realistic fiction. She returned to the world of The Cruel Prince with the new duology Holly Black just published, starting with The Stolen Heir.

Jenny and Suketa both agreed that The Marrow of Tradition was the best assigned reading they’ve had in a while.

Ms. Z-S read the novella Pax recommended, A Psalm for the Wild-Built, and its sequel, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, and heartily seconded the recommendation.

Mr. Wells is reading Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver’s modern Appalachian take on Dickens’ David Copperfield.

For a list of all the books discussed in the High School Book Club, check out our GoodReads here!

March Book Club

We held Book Club on a Tuesday this month as part of our secret library agenda to Throw You Off Your Rhythm, Country Day! Not really, there was just a college counseling meeting already scheduled for this Wednesday and a Leadership Lunch next Wednesday, and we simply could not wait any longer to hear what books our club read over their mid-winter break.

Ms. Melinson delivered a book recommendation from Mr. Cunningham (book pictured above) titled The Five Lives of Hilma Af Klint. It is a graphic novel biography of the Swedish artist and mystic, Hilma Af Klint. Ms. Melinson herself was so intrigued by its vibrant colors and unique subject matter that it’s been added to her TBR pile, and will very likely find its way into the Matthews’ collection shortly. Ms. Melinson went on to talk to us a little bit about poetry, as Poetry Month is coming up quickly. She recommended the poets Mary Oliver, Sarah Kay, Phil Kaye, Ada Limón, and Langston Hughes.

Jess read Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds, a time-loop romance with tragic consequences. She spoiled it a bit for us, but we’ll spare those details. Suffice it to say, Jess enjoys a happily ever after in her romances.

Suketa read the magazine article “The Mountains of Pi” by Richard Preston. It is the true story of two brothers who build a supercomputer out of mail-order parts in order to calculate the most digits of pi ever calculated.

Jordyn did not finish Vagabonds! because the narration style did not suit her fancies. Instead, she dove into Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows, and is enthralled by the quick world building and witty characters.

Radha is reading Shape: The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy, Democracy, and Everything Else, by Jordan Ellenberg. She describes it as a cocky author’s view of the world.

Mr. Comer read Philodemus’ On Anger over break, and has also been thoroughly enjoying Usagi Yojimbo, a graphic novel collection about a rabbit swordsman who also appeared in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.

Rachel is enjoying her read of The Princess Bride in spite of the marked differences between the book and the beloved classic movie.

We also discussed the possibility of getting student book recommendations up on our slat wall displays, which has been done in the past. Look forward to seeing more of those in the library moving forward!

For a list of all the books discussed at High School Book Club over the years, see our Goodreads page here!

February Book Club

Happy Valentines Day to all who celebrate, and a happy Wednesday to everyone else! This month’s book club featured recommendations from romance, historical fiction, horror, mystery, fantasy, magical realism, self-help, and biography. For a full list of all the books we’ve talked about in book club, check out our goodreads page here.

Ms. Melinson kicked off the meeting discussing her current read: Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo, which is a multi-generational story of a magically gifted family. She brought up two books for those disinclined towards the romance genre: The Forest of Hands and Teeth, which is a zombie horror novel, and City of Thieves, a tragic and hilarious war fiction novel set in WWII. In addition, she recommended her favorite books with a romance element, The Night Circus and The Starless Sea, both fantasy novels by Erin Morgenstern.

On the topic of books with romance, Ms. Z-S recommended Stardust by Neil Gaiman, which is the romantasy she picks up whenever she finds herself in a reading slump. She also brought the book club’s attention to Last Night at the Telegraph Club, which is a queer historical romance set in San Francisco’s Chinatown during the Red Scare, and The Infinity Particle, a science fiction graphic novel about a budding romance between a scientist and an artificial intelligence personal assistant.

Jess has been reading Twisted Hate by Ana Huang, the third installment in an enemies-to-lovers romance series that she can’t put down. Juliana is in the process of reading The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Jordyn mentioned that she is reading through our complete Sherlock Holmes collection one bit at a time on any day she forgets to bring a book from home.

Ms. Perla just finished up America Ferrera’s America Like Me, a biography collection of first-person stories from famous people about growing up between cultures. She is also reading The Searcher, a mystery novel by Tana French, and re-visiting Where You Go is Not Who You’ll Be, which is what she describes as the guiding light for college counseling here at Country Day.

Several students mentioned titles they look forward to reading, but haven’t cracked open quite yet. Rachel finally ordered A Princess Bride, heralded by some as the greatest love story ever told. She loves the movie (is it possible not to?) and also enjoyed the audiobook, so she’s excited to get started on the physical copy. Suketa wants to read Tiny Habits, a self-help book all about how small changes in your life can have big impacts. Jordyn just picked up Vagabonds! because it contains one of her favorite tropes, that of found family. Hopefully the mid-winter break will give all of us the opportunity to tear through our teetering TBR piles.

January Book Club

Our first book club of 2024 featured hot apple cider, rich chocolate brownies, and book recommendations galore. It also meandered into a discussion of the human muscular system using Lilya’s Ryan Reynolds collage pillow as a reference. Mostly, though, we focused on books.

Ms. Melinson kicked off the meeting with a surprise. While she usually reads cookbooks in December, this year she read a veritable genre smorgasbord. She began listening to teen mystery novel The Agathas, but her loan expired just as the mystery started getting intriguing, so now she’s waiting for her new hold to be ready. In the meantime, she’s made it most of the way through the novel Tom Lake and the self-help book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. Not to disappoint, she still provided us with four cookery-related books: The Great British Bake Off Big Book of Baking, A New Taste of Chocolate, High on the Hog, and 50 Foods that Changed the Course of History.

Jordyn, too, strayed from her usual by picking up a book set in the real modern world. I Wish You All the Best is a romance with a nonbinary main character. She’s also begun a dystopian sci-fi novel though, titled Hell Followed With Us, so rest assured we haven’t entered the Upside Down. Rachel listened to Be Useful: 7 Tools for Life, read by the author, Arnold Schwarzenegger. She gave us an impressive imitation of his voice as she explained the thrust of the self help book’s advice: work hard. Pax read A Psalm for the Wild-Built, a sci-fi book featuring an adventure between a nonbinary Tea Monk and a robot. The book is a short read and the first in a series. Radha mentioned that her parents would like her to read Bhagavad Gita, a classic epic of Indian Mythology. Suketa said that her folks also advocate for her to read it.

Imani brought up how excellent she finds the new Percy Jackson TV series. Jordyn and Connor adamantly agreed. According to the three, the series does a wonderful job of following the plot of the book while updating certain aspects of it that they recognized could be improved upon from its original publication nearly two decades ago.

We closed out the meeting with a brief discussion of books we heard of being gifted and received recently, including a Hayao Miyazaki biography, a career planning and a life skills book for teens, and a hybrid planner/notebook for shenanigans.

For a list of all the books discussed in High School Book Club, check out our Goodreads here.

December Book Club

Ms Melinson accidentally read the fourth book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series called Before We Say Goodbye, but it was still good and it can stand alone. The series is about a Japanese cafe where you can time travel but with some very specific rules such as a strict one about returning before the coffee gets cold. She also talked about a bunch of books that people might want to read over break. Some that are back in the library are Heartstopper, Imogen Obviously, and Killers of the Flower Moon. Warrior Girl Unearthed is the sequel to Firekeeper’s Daughter. Poet Nikita Gill has a new book of poems, These Are the Words, her first one written for a young adult audience. Guardians of Dawn: Zahra has a beautiful cover and it’s been described as Sailor Moon meets Cinder. Jess read a fantasy, He’s Haunted. Dylan read a book that Mr Cunningham recommended called Third Class Superhero. Gabriel is reading the Summer I Turned Pretty books and watching the series. Rachel is reading a book in AP Biology, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, that is both interesting and very sad.

We started talking about gift books (ones you want and ones you give). When Chloe said the book she likes to give is the 50th Anniversary Edition of The Princess Bride, Rachel said that is the book she would like to receive (so we hope the hint was taken;-) She would also like any of the Terry Pratchett books that she hasn’t read yet. She has received and would give the whole set of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Imani would choose the Maze Runner series because she was a Percy Jackson kid and would like to see the other popular series from back then. Noor likes to give the Penguin Clothbound Classics or the Oxford World’s Classics because they have good introductions. Dylan would want to receive the Hunger Games series because with the new movie out, so he needs to catch up. 

A lively discussion followed about what are the worst books to receive as gifts. An SAT Prep book, an outdated dictionary, a textbook for a class you’re not taking, “How to Make Your Bed,” an anger management book, and a puberty book from your parent topped our worst list.

Click here if you’d like to peruse all the titles recommended or discussed in Book Club!

November Book Club

Another excellent high school book club meeting in the books! This month Ms. Melinson kicked the meeting off by reminding us of the opportunity to read we all have coming up with Thanksgiving break just around the corner. The seniors in attendance replied that they’ll be a bit too busy with college applications. For those of us without major life changes looming ever-nearer, though, Ms. Melinson drew our attention to the Fall book recommendation Newsletter that Ms. Z-S just put out.

The newsletter features recommendations from the top 3 genres preferred by high school students this year: fantasy, mystery, and romance. Rachel was shocked to discover that romance has edged out humor for the bronze. Jordyn commented that she doesn’t particularly gravitate towards comedy books. Rachel then questioned her appreciation of Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, a markedly humorous novel. Jordyn explained that she generally avoids comedies because they’re rather entrenched in reality, and she prefers escaping into fantasy or science fiction, which criteria Good Omens fit. Jess questioned the appeal of fantasy, feeling that escaping into a whole different world goes a tad too far, but Jordyn retorted that she just doesn’t like reading “real life stuff.” Isn’t it wonderful how different genres can satisfy our different interests and desires?

Ms. Melinson told us about The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker. She’s enjoyed her slow read of this nonfiction book, as evidenced by the many annotation tabs she has added. The book discusses all the ways in which people gather (not just dinner parties as she first suspected), and emphasizes the importance of intentionality in such meetings.

Jordyn has been enthralled by Three Dark Crowns, which fantasy novel she picked up at Ms. Melinson’s recommendation during the October book club meeting. She felt that it had a slow start, but that’s to be expected when an author is setting the stage for an entire high fantasy series. The plot is intricate and, without giving away any spoilers, she emphasized that the book gets “really good.” Ms. Melinson questioned whether the triplets in the story reminded her of her own siblings, but as these triplets were separated at birth, Jordyn found little in common. Perhaps that was another point in the novel’s favor for escapism-appreciator Jordyn?

Rachel has been listening to The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, and she is loving it. “It’s like listening to a painting,” she explained of the intricate, beautiful, tragic prose. The language and structure have amazed her, and she has equally appreciated the time Dumas takes to follow the protagonist’s life across decades. “It’s a classic for a reason,” remarked Ms. Melinson, who agreed with Rachel that the structure, syntax, and diction of a work compel her just as much as (or sometimes more than) its plot. Chloe added that listening to the novel in its original French was a memorable experience for her.

The current read for Jess is a romance novel about a guy who never gets rejected and the girl who finally does. He seduces her just to prove to his mates that he really is that good, but soon begins truly falling for her. What happens when she finds out his ulterior motives for pursuing her? Jess recommended the book for any romance fans out there, of which we know there are plenty!

Mr. Comer told us about two books he read last weekend. The first was Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon by Nigerian engineer and novelist Wole Talabi. This Godpunk novel follows the story of two Yoruba gods liberating a Nigerian artifact from London’s British Museum. Mr. Comer highly enjoyed the novel and heartily recommended it. His second read of the weekend was the first of the Viriconium series by M. John Harrison. The Pastel City is set millennia in the future and follows the tradition of dying Earth stories. He felt that Talabi had a much better command of storytelling than Harrison, but enjoyed The Pastel City as well, and has begun the second in the series, A Storm of Wings.

Suketa revisited The Maltese Falcon, which students read in her English class this year. The murder mystery had a very surprising end that she really enjoyed. The blatant sexism of the main character put Jordyn off of the story.

Mr. Wells has started Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig. In the story, a 12-year-old boy who has been raised by his grandmother must take a greyhound bus across several states to go stay with different family when his grandmother falls ill. The novel so far reminds him of The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles, and he is greatly enjoying the wisdom the boy shares as he meets plentiful folk on his bus journey.

Ms. Melinson then turned the conversation towards the upcoming release of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes based on the Hunger Games prequel novel by the same name. Jordyn enjoyed the book when she read it, explaining that she thought Suzanne Collins did an excellent job of humanizing the villain of the trilogy, Coriolanus Snow.

Finally, we discussed our favorite independent and used bookstores, which included Capitol Books, Bookworm, and Ruby’s. Rachel concluded the meeting with a joke about a loyal dog and a poorly placed gravestone.

October Book Club

Ms. Melinson kicked off our meeting this month with a mix of four very different book recommendations. Pinball: A Graphic History of the Silver Ball by John Chad is a remarkable example of a nonfiction graphic novel (although it’s nonfiction, calling it a “graphic book” might raise eyebrows unnecessarily) with beautiful color saturation and engaging pages. It is Chad’s love letter to the pinball community. Chad himself has a Country Day connection by way of his wife, Ms. Kahn. Ms. Melinson’s next recommendation, The Woman in the Castello, also has a Country Day connection. The author is an alum! Using the pen name Kelsey James, she writes a cinematic and spooky gothic mystery about an American actress in the 1960s filming a horror movie on location in a crumbling castle outside of Rome. While adults are the intended audience, the book is available here in the Matthews Library for any more mature high schoolers looking to see what incredible things our alum can come up with.

Ms. Melinson went on to recommend Three Dark Crowns, a novel she added to our collection with certain triplets in mind. The gothic fantasy tells of a lineage of queens who birth a set of triplets every generation: magical triplets who, beginning on their sixteenth birthday, must fight to the death in order to determine who will ascend the throne. Upon learning of this book, Jordyn checked it out immediately. Hopefully she’ll have a review of it for us during our November meeting! Finally, Ms. Melinson drew our attention to Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World Shell by Shattered Shell by Sy Montgomery. Montgomery is an author and naturalist many Country Dayers are already familiar with from the Scientists in the Field books she authored. With plenty of pictures by science illustrator Matt Patterson, this book tells the story of two suburban women’s basement turtle rescue operation and with it probes at questions of how we can heal our relationship with time itself. This and many other titles by this author/illustrator duo are available for check out here on our shelves!

Ms. Z-S discussed her current read, Plain Bad Heroines by the author of The Miseducation of Cameron Post. In her adult novel debut, Emily Danforth combines dark academia, gothic horror, and Hollywood satire.

Radha has moved from business books to scientific topics and has now begun her historical journey with The Unfolding of Language by Guy Deutscher (or Guy Dude as Radha likes to call him). She recommends the book for anyone who enjoys narrative nonfiction.

Imani picked up Beast Boy Loves Raven from our new books pile. It is the third installment in the graphic novel series written by Kami Garcia and illustrated by Gabriel Picolo. She enjoyed it so much that she checked out all the other books in the series, tearing through them and returning them the next morning. They are now back on our shelves for anyone else looking for an action-packed graphic novel series about teen superheroes just trying to survive high school.

Chloe has been devouring manga and light novels using the Viz media app subscription service. Any voracious manga and light novel enjoyers might want to look into these kinds of subscriptions. They can be really convenient and save you money and shelf space.

Liam is interested in reading Death by Black Hole by Neil deGrasse Tyson as he finds the notion of dying (and therefore maybe living) forever through the time dilation effect quite intriguing. He isn’t sure if he’d want to experience unending death/life himself, though.

Our meeting this month included a lively discussion regarding banned books. We are saddened (also shocked, horrified, and scared) by these various and nationwide efforts to restrict young peoples’ access to information, especially considering that books which cover LGBTQ+ topics and/or include POC voices have been specifically targeted. Ms. Melinson brought up her concern that librarians in certain places can now be arrested for trying to provide young people with knowledge on diverse subjects. We are also glad to know that many resources across the states exist to help fight this censorship, including the NY Public Library’s program which provides free access to banned books for all teens in the country. The general consensus agreed that parents can absolutely work with libraries to protect their own children from content that would not be appropriate for them to peruse, but this does not give parents the right to make the decision and remove such content for all students.

By the time we ended the meeting, we had consumed all the brownies, but certainly had not concluded these discussions. Stop by next month to join the dialogue!

P.S. Here is a list of all books discussed during book club.

September Book Club

We had a great turn out for our first book club of the new year! We discussed the merits of spoilers and whether reading the last page of a book is a viable way to choose if it should go in your TBR pile or not. There was also a spirited compassionate debate regarding which of Rick Riordan’s many series deserved to be considered “great.” (Everyone involved in the debate agreed they were all at least good.) Aarushi felt that if you like Greek Mythology that much you should read The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller.

Ms. Melinson and Mr. Wells both recommended Admissions: A Memoir of Surviving Boarding School by Kendra James. It was the summer staff read, and it deals with themes of white privilege and elitism within college preparatory private schools. Ms. Melinson also recommended the graphic novel version of Bomb by Steve Sheinkin, which we recently added to our collection. She showed off two other books we recently put in circulation: Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng and Nightbird by Kate J Armstrong. In addition, she discussed her love of Neil Gaiman’s indescribable “skinny book” The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Mr. Wells also recommended two poetry books by his “agnostic pagan godfather” John Purser who dwells on an isle off the coast of Scotland: This Much Endures and There is No Night.

Jordyn (a passionate proponent of Percy Jackson) enthused over the novel Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett as well as the TV show adaptation, which is currently in its second season. Rachel was skeptical of the TV show, but shared her own appreciation of Terry Pratchett and recommended his Discworld series. She also recommended The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, which novel has the Ms. Melinson stamp of approval.

Isaac, Radha, Gabriel, and Lila have all been on a non-fiction kick. Isaac has been reading up on the war of 1812 and Tecumseh’s role in it. Radha has stayed in her “business books” groove with How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Gabriel recently enjoyed Viola Davis’s memoir: Finding Me. Lila has a strong appreciation for urban planning, so despite its dry nature in certain parts has enjoyed Pave Paradise: How Parking Explains the World, a book by Henry Grabar.

Julianna has been reading books by the author of Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn. She recommended Sharp Objects and Dark Places.

Suketa really enjoyed the student summer read: The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green.

Dylan recommended Dry by Neil Shusterman, explaining that it was “not what I was expecting at all” and “kept on taking dark turns.” Jordyn added that Shusterman writes dark and unexpected very well, recalling how much she enjoyed Unwind, also by him.

We ate the entire plate of brownies this time around. Come on by the library at lunch time on Wednesday October 18th for your own taste of the famous brownies spirited and lively discussion of books with your peers.

For a list of all the books we’ve had recommended in High School book club, check out our goodreads page here.

Week in Review: Sophomore Symposium, Book Club, and Poem in Your Pocket

The library had a busy week of events. The Sophomore Symposium took place on Monday and Wednesday, a culmination of the tenth grader’s almost year-long interdisciplinary research project. Students presented on a variety of topics. Check them out below!

The Connection: Literacy and Socio-Economic Status—Jennifer F.
Concrete and Its Effects on the Environment—Sundiata D.
Quarantine Tech Transition: How Education Changed During the Coronavirus Pandemic—Linda Z.
AlphaFold: Deep Learning and Structural Biology—Ryan P.
How Barbie Has Stayed Relevant—Anniston M.

Reducing Food Waste: A Key Step Toward a Sustainable Future—Ava E.
Enhanced Mineral Weathering: The Key to Weathering Climate Change?—Saheb G.
The Social and Political Impact of Hip Hop—Garrett X.
Google’s Sustainability Efforts Against Climate Change—Aaryan G.
Applying Economic Principles to Help Solve California Agriculture’s Existential Water Crisis—Andrew B.

The library also held its monthly high school book club this week. Ms. Melinson shared that she read White Out, the companion book to Black Out. She didn’t like it quite as much as Black Out, finding it more melodramatic. Ms. Melinson is also reading The Carrying: Poems by the current U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón.

Dylan is reading a cookbook that’s part recipes and part tips for becoming a better chef. Jess read The Betrayal and enjoyed it. Suketa is reading The Joy Luck Club for English class. Siri is reading a book of poems called Allegria she picked up from the famous beat poet bookstore Citylights Books. She likes that both the English and Italian versions of the poems are side by side on the page.

Mr. Comer mentioned Borderlands, a sci-fi/fantasy/horror bookstore in San Francisco where he got the short story The Lady Astronauts of Mars and the follow-up, The Calculating Stars. Jordyn read Song of Achilles and described it as “amazing and full of angst.”

Friday was Poem in Your Pocket Day where students were encouraged to bring a poem or write one of their own and present it for a treat. We got several fun poems, including two about gerrymandering. You never know what you’ll get here!