Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Dear Summer Reading
Related
Book reviews
The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck1 star
(Justina Shandler, Community High School)
1984, by George Orwell
Terrible book; so unbelievably confusing. But it was very informative about how the government is changing and how our world is under so much surveillance.
The 9/11 Commission Report (graphic novel version)
Great story! Loved it! It was so easy to read and very good information that I would never have learned about 9/11 otherwise. Who knew our Secret Service and FAA were so under-trained?
(Mary Katherine Hayth, Lord Botetourt High School)
Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov
4 stars
It was unnerving how it was from a pedophile’s perspective and he was able to justify it completely.
(Oneida Huntington, Auburn High School)
Cold Sassy Tree, by Olive Ann Burns
4 stars
Dracula, by Bram Stoker
2 stars
(Harsh Patolia, Hidden Valley High School)
Why do you exist? What is your purpose? You take away from our precious holiday vacation, and by the time we finish, summer is over.
People want to get as far as possible from school and yet you keep persisting.
Many of us go to summer camps, play sports and go on long vacations that take away a lot of time from the summer holiday. Then, when we get back, most of the summer's gone, and it takes many days of hard work (and nights) to complete you. Some people aren't able to finish until the night before.
We like to read on our own, but the books are always long and boring, and with the project that goes with it, a whole other novel is created.
On the first or second day back to school, we are expected to take a full test on the book, as if what we had already done was not enough. Since there are so many homework sheets and projects during the school year, vacation is the time to be away from work, not always with it.
If we wanted that, schools would be year-round. Is there no time to be free?
If only Harry Potter could use his magic wand and make you disappear, but he is not part of the school board, so for now we will have to endure.
Until next summer,
-- Caroline Cromwell
Patrick Henry High School
