The Happy Hippo Readers

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 ...

  As we’ve recently started a new unit on poetry, I’ve been motivated to read a book related to poetry. Long Way Down is a book that is written fully in verse. The book has been in the back of my mind for a very long time. In 6th grade, I first attempted to read the book, but stopped halfway. The book was interesting, but I never felt like I was able to really break down and understand what was happening and what everything meant. I kept the book in the back of my mind, but recently, I came back to the book, and it mesmerized me immediately. Like I mentioned, the book is written fully in verse. When author of the book, Jason Reynolds, was asked about why he wrote his novel fully in verse, he answered, “Well, first and foremost, I love poetry. It was my first discipline.” Many books that are written in verse sometimes end up sounding unnatural and weird, but Jason uses verse very well to create a unique style that catches the reader's attention. The plot of the book also makes th...

       I think it's easy for me to say that my current favorite author has to be Karen M. McManus. After reading One of Us is Lying  I picked up The Cousins  at the library during Spring Break. When I was reading this book, I kind of thought it was, "Meh," but that may be because of my high expectations for this book as I loved One of Us is Lying.     The Cousins  centers around three cousins (hence the title), Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah, who were cut off by their wealthy grandmother, Mildred, for an unknown reason. Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah didn't really know each other well despite being related. Sure, they met a handful of times, but they never really  got to know each other. One day, these three cousins receive an unusual invitation in their mail, an invitation to work at Mildred's island resort for the summer. Being forced to go by their parents (as their parents wouldn't take no for an answer) Milly, Aubrey, and Jo...

Key Words: Kindness from strangers, letters Unlike other works by Keigo Higashino, the book The Miracles of the Namiya General Store showed more of a warm fairy tale than those tempting murder mystery stories he usually writes. While other books showed despair and poignancy in life, this story tells readers that there is still hope and love. It proved to readers that, beyond friends and families, kindness can also be offered by strangers. Sometimes, the beauty of distance can help people create connections while keeping a decent level of privacy. Briefly, the story of The Miracles of the Namiya General Store follows three decadent delinquents who accidentally end up in the Namiya General Store seeking refuge after their most recent crime. There, they discovered a letter from the past asking for advice. Out of curiosity, the trio responded. To their surprise, not only did their correspondents respond quickly, but more and more letters came flooding into the general store. Through counse...

    Fahrenheit 451 written by Ray Bradbury, is one of most famous dystopian books ever, and not without good reason. I read this book a year or two ago, and was immensely pleased by the choice I made to purchase it.     The book follows protagonist Guy Montag in a futurist American city. In this dystopian  world, books are forbidden, and people who are found with books are to have their collections burned. Guy, is a firefighter, but he doesn't put fires out. He is the one who burns the books. People in this world are entertained by giant TV's mounted in their houses, or by the Seashells  they wear in their ears, like hearing aids. When I imagine this setting, I imagine a gray scale world, devoid of passion and liveliness. As the book progresses though, Guy becomes disillusioned with his job and the world he lives in, after his wife attempts suicide and a girl who he became friends with dies from a car accident. He becomes even more distraught when he arriv...

  My last blog talked about the dissatisfaction high schoolers expressed to  The Scarlet Letter . On that blog, I also expressed my personal opinion on the book too. I said that I hated the book and that I was dissatisfied with the book. Since we've recently finished  The Scarlet Letter , I think it's a perfect time to reevaluate my feelings on the book.                When I posted my previous blog, our class had just finished reading chapter 3. We had finished the Custom House reading, and we were starting to get into the actual story. I was very frustrated with how confusing the book was. The Custom House sketch was gruesome to read. I remember that there was a part where Hawthorne took a whole page just to describe a minor detail, but it didn't even make sense to me. The whole Custom house sketch was confusing, written in an interesting prose, and was just boring. When we started to read chapters 1-...

Ernest Hemingway was not exaggerating when he said that “all modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called ‘Huckleberry Finn’.” The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn picks up in the aftermath of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer . Huck has finally become a functioning member of society – but not for long, since Huck’s perpetually drunk and abusive father kidnaps him because Huck has been too civilized. Eventually, Huck can’t take it anymore, and fakes his death and runs away. By sheer luck, he comes across Jim, a runaway slave, and they set off down the Mississippi River on a raft. Much of the novel tells of their journey, and their encounters with various characters, including a “duke” and a French “king” – and in addition, a very special Tom Sawyer makes an appearance near the end. One of the various qualities of this novel that make it unique is the contrast between the characters. Some were really entertaining, and some were extremely infuriating, yet still enter...