by: Alexandra Horowitz

5 Stars

A wonderful book that makes the world come alive, this non-fiction piece by Alexandra Horowitz follows her adventure in learning about the often ignored parts of the city she walks through every day. In each chapter, she enlists a different expert on a subject to walk with her around the city so as to notice much more about the world, the people, and even her own senses. She goes on 11 different walks through the city with people who study geology, animals, the auditory world, and even one walk with her dog, in which she explores how smells may play a big factor in a dog’s life, as just some examples. Each chapter is short enough to give you an overview of the subject being discussed while still keeping you interested. Personally, I loved this book. After reading each chapter, I felt like I had new knowledge that could help me view the world through a new lens each time I went on a walk around my city. It was interesting to hear the perspectives of different experts, especially when you don’t know anything about the subject. Horowitz writes in a very accessible way, which helped me feel involved in every chapter, even with topics I never thought I would be interested in before! For example, after reading a chapter about the geology of the city, I went out and noticed that the walls that make up buildings almost always have signs of past life (like insects) inside of the rocks, which I would never have paid any mind to previously. Overall, I really enjoyed how Horowitz wrote this book with the reader in mind, not adding complicated terms that lose the reader instantly. A once bland city comes alive with new knowledge after reading this book.

Piper I.

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by Malala Yousafzai

5 Stars

I Am Malala - Wikipedia

The book I am Malala is a really inspiring and motivational story of what she had to go through and how she overcame her fears. Malala Yousafzai lived in Mingora, Pakistan. Born July 12, 1997, she was born in a Pashtun family, with two parents and two siblings. 

It was not easy to live in an area like Mingora. There were lots of Taliban, gunshots, and much more horrible events. At a young age, Malala had to see and go through a lot of horrendous incidents. 

Malala’s goal was to fight for education and to tell everyone that girls should be treated the way boys were being treated. In the old days, the girl’s responsibility was to look after the home, and the boys had to go and make money for the family. Malala thought this was wrong, so she stood for every girl in Pakistan, and she made things right! 

In my opinion, this was a very well-crafted book. It’s not easy to stand up for a whole community when everyone’s against you. You need to have lots of courage like how Malala did. For many girls in Pakistan and in the world, Malala’s a real role model. If it wasn’t for Malala, things would have still been treated the way they were in the old days. Malala was a true fighter, in her childhood she had to face a lot of critical circumstances where she could have lost her life. But she was strong, and she had the courage to keep going and never giving up! I would definitely recommend this book for ages ten and up.

Ahmed. Q

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by Ashlee Vance

5 Stars

Image result for Elon Musk Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for A Fantastic Future

Elon Musk is truly an amazing and intelligent man. In this biography written by Ashlee Vance, you will learn about Musk’s childhood, Tesla, and much more. The author interviewed many of the people featured in this book to make it feel more real and legitimate, and it makes it feel more natural. Along the way, there are some pictures and descriptions for you to look at. After reading the book and looking back at those pages, it’s very interesting seeing how you interpret some of the objects, and how they differ from the actual vehicles and crafts.   

Elon has a very unique personality, and it develops and improves as the book goes on, which makes you want to keep reading. You will learn about all the different things he designs and how he becomes an inspiring figure. There are many reviews on the back of the book from fellow founders of large companies and just successful people in general.  

Sadly, the major downfall of this book is the fact that there is a good amount of mature language. It’s not abused, but be aware that there are some words that you will just have to get used to seeing.  

I think all of the chapters in this book are worthy and should exist. But my favourite chapters were Elon’s World, Africa, Elon’s First Start-Up, and the Revenge of the Electric Car. That doesn’t mean that any of the other chapters are bad. I will say I got very bored on the Canada chapter, which is kind of ironic.  

However, pretty much everything you need to know, and more is all in this book. You will probably read many things you have never known about Musk, which thus improves your reading experience.  

Alec T.

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