The Happy Hippo Readers

  As finals are approaching within less than a month, I know lots of us may be stressed. But, looking on the upside, summer break is approaching soon! Summer is a great time where we can read new books or even reread books. For this blog, I’m going to recommend some books while also talking about some books I’m interested in reading too. First, let's go over some books I’ve read during our independent reading days that I would recommend. The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie If you love mystery novels, this book is made for you. Agatha Christie is one of the most renowned detective novel writers, and The A.B.C. Murders is one of her best books. In the novel, the detective, Hercule Poirot, finds himself in a cat and mouse game with a serial killer. Poirot finds himself in a pickle where the killer seems impossible to find, but is able to find a sliver of hope through tiny clues. This novel is very well written, and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in mystery. The ...

       Alas, it is my final blog of the school year, and I'm relieved. I enjoy writing blogs, but it takes a while to write. Anyway, for my final book review, I will be reviewing Five Survive , a book by Holly Jackson. I first found this book by Googling my favorite type of genre, mystery books, and this book stood out to me. I first saw the number "5" and it immediately brought me back to my favorite book, One of Us is Lying,  I was interested in it.  5 Survive  is an interesting book, to say the least.     The book takes place during spring break. There was a group of 6 friends, Red, Maddy, Simon, Arthur, Oliver, and Reyna. Red was the main protagonist, a 17-year-old girl living in Philadelphia, and Maddy was her best friend. Simon (whose uncle owned the vehicle) was a classmate of Red, and he had also brought his best friend Arthur. To surpervise the group of teenagers was Maddy's older brother, Oliver, who brought his girlfriend, Reyna. T...

     In recent times, I'm sure we are all struggling to find time to pick up a good book to read. As a kid, like many of you guys, I built the healthy habit of reading before bed, but for the past year or two, that's changed. Now, I go to bed immediately after finishing my homework, completely exhausted from the day. This blog will be a sort of self-reflection, but also include discussions from articles found online.      Drew Whitaker, a student of De Smet Jesuit High School, blames social media: " It is no coincidence that the teenage reading rate has declined as technology and social media have taken over nearly all aspects of teenage life. With the downfall of teenage reading, may come the downfall of teenage education all together. With technology taking over the world, teenagers have all the knowledge they need and more right at their fingertips. There is no reason for people to open up nonfiction books anymore when they can simply pull out their phon...

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a book I read two years ago over the summer. The recent conversation with RACES in health class reignited my interest in this book (definitely not partly because I didn’t finish the book I’m currently reading…). To me, this book left an indelible impact: it was really the first book that pulled me out of my innocent, fairy-tale world and exposed me to the real world, which is not purely so radiant and joyful, but also not completely gloomy and wicked. In short, Speak circles around the freshman Melinda being sexually assaulted at a party at her friend’s house immediately before the fall semester. In panic, she calls the police who come and ruin the whole party. Once school starts, Melinda comes to a similar fate to Hester, from The Scarlet Letter, she finds herself ostracized and widely discussed. As the novel explores themes of trauma and isolation, it shows the importance of speaking up. Readers were shown the bystander effect and the horrific p...

Ar ound a week ago, I picked up a random book – Animal Farm – and speedra n it in one evening because I thought I had to finish my blog the next day. But I didn’t, so now I’ve had more time to gather my thoughts about it. Animal Farm tells the story of the Manor Farm, wherein a group of mistreated animals come together under the guidance of the pig Old Major and rebel against their human oppressors, kicking the abusive Mr. Jones out of his house and renaming the farm “Animal Farm”. The animals set guidelines for themselves, stating that all animals are equal – every animal must do the same amount of work, and every animal is equally rewarded. But when the pig Napoleon seizes control, the Animal Farm quickly crumbles to dust, leaving no trace of the paradise that was meant to be. Orwell, a socialist, wrote this book (as well as 1984 , which I wrote a blog on last year!!) as a critique of how socialist ideals can be easily twisted by a corrupted leader – in other words, Stalin and ...