English 1 - Dunn — Science Leadership Academy @ Center City

Katia's IRP on Pablo Neruda's Poetry

Posted by Alexa Dunn in English 1 - Dunn on Friday, June 7, 2013 at 2:23 pm

I was reading 5 poems from a book named 100 love sonnets by Pablo Neruda.

He is a chilean poet, he was born in 1904 and died in 1973. Neruda was called the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language. He won a lot of prizes one of them was a nobel prize of literature in 1971. Neruda wrote this book celebrating his love. The book is talking about the different periods in his relationship with his wife Matteld .

-Poem 1:

It says: if your eyes were not the color of moon, of a day full of clay and work and fire. this is the first line of the poem. maybe that means that this love is so beautiful but so hard it is like if we say that this love is as the most pretty rose. but the prettiest rose is the most one that have more thorns than any other tipe of flowers. it is maybe saying that love is the biggest hurt but the largest joie. we could know that he loves her so much, his life depend on her life and that this woman is everything for him. as he says: but when i hold you i hold everything that is...

-Poem 2:

The first line says: i crave your mouth, your voice, your hair. silent and starving, i prowl through the streets. It means that he strongly wants her, and he is looking for her everywhere as he misses her so much, it is saying that he is lost without her and that he is nothing if she is not by his side. she means for him a lot and he loves her much.

-Poem 3:

It is saying that the time is so short when they are together. or maybe he wants to say there is something happened and they were focusing on it then he could not enjoy her her, and now he wants to give that time to do what he could not do.

it seems that he really likes her hair. as he says: i only want to be your stylist. also he is telling that he loves her so much, as he says: do not forget me remember that i love you. also, he really needs her with him, as he says: don't let me wander lost without your hair.

-Poem 4:

The first line of this poem says: i do not love you as if you were salt--rose, or topaz...I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul. it maybe means thatthis love is a secret between him and himself and that it could be something so pretty that we can see but it is not as it is invisible. but however he it is a beautiful feeling inside, as he says: i love you as the plant that never blooms but caries in itself the light of hidden flowers.he is saying that he just love her and he can not control his feeling, as he says: i love you without knowing how or when or frome where. he loves her so much and his heart, his mind and his soul are always with her, he is talking as there is two souls in one body, as he says: so close that your hand on my chest is my hand, so close that your eyes close as i am fall asleep.

-Poem 5:

in the first line it says: leaning in to the afternoons i cast my sad nets towards your oceanic eyes. so, he is trying to get something from something that can not give him what he is looking for. he is putting his nets in a sad ocean where there is nothing to get,.the fire of that love is burning him and no one could take him out even water as he is talking about fire and drowning. he is lost, he is drowning in that ocean which is her eyes or love, he is lost and he wants to be in the sea or the beach, he wants to see the land, he wants to see something that tells him that he is all right and he does not need to be scared anymore, something like the lighthouse. all of these things that he wants to see are just in her eyes, all of these places where he wants to be are in her eyes. but her eyes are so far, he can not see her eyes as they are absent eyes which means that everything is absent. he says: there in the highest blaze my solitude lengthens and flames, its arms turning like drowning man s. i send out red signals acrosse your absent eyes that smell like the sea or the beach by lighthouse. his love for her gives him a courage and strength, he could do anything just to arrive to her, as he says: leaning to the afternoons i fling my nets to the sea that is thrashed by your oceanic eyes. it seems like this love hurts him someway but it still beautiful and he is fighting for it, as he said: the birds of night peck at the fast stars that flash like my soul when i love you. the night gallops on its shadowy mare shedding blue tassels over the land..

I really love these poems, i like how the poet is using the opposite language and relating everything to nature, his poems are unclear, i feel like he has some of sheakspear language as he uses a lot of medaforms and we can not understand what he wants to say exactly. if i would have an opportunity to change something in these poems i would never change anything, when i was reading them i felt that he feels what he wrote or he wrote what he felt. and if the write what he feels he makes the reader live with him what he is saying.

i am so glad because i knew this poet and i rad his poems i hope if i could read the haul book. if some one is looking for something to read i would definitively say that this book is one of the best books.

i loved it, i loved it, i loved it.

Wolf Brother Cole Hinton Independent Reading Project

Posted by Cole Hinton in English 1 - Dunn on Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 12:05 am

Wolf Brother
Cole Hinton

The book, “Wolf Brother” by Michelle Paver is a thrilling book to read. The book is about a boy named Torak who lives in a clan called the Wolf clan. Though he does not live in his clan anymore due to things that happened while in the clan, him and his father now live alone in the forest. Torak lives in a world where people are separated by their spirit animals such as wolf and ravens. There are other tribes that don’t have spirit animals but have special abilities that they possess. One night, Torak and his father were attacked by a bear. But, this bear wasn’t normal, the bear was possessed with a demon from the other world. It was so strong it could not be stopped. Soon after, Torak’s father was killed by the bear but his father told him to run. In the the book, it says that this is the first time that he was alone. I think this would be a good chance to show people that he can show them that he is strong and can take care of himself. But, he still feels scared being alone. Having an evil possessed bear chasing you and losing your father and only person who was with you all your life might be scary actually to me. As Torak walked through the forest heading north, he found a wolf cub laying next to his family who were all killed during a big flood. The cub was confused why his brothers and sisters wouldn't play with him. But, while the cub was howling, Torak could hear everything he was saying. Later on in the book, you find out why he could understand the wolf. When Torak was little, he lived around wolves which gave him the ability to understand them. Torak’s father told him that he would have a guide to help him fight this evil demon and all the other evil in the land but Torak is unsure about this little cub because he looks like he is not even old enough to do such a thing. Later, Torak and the wolf are captured by a group of people claiming that Torak killed a deer on their territory. The people who captured him were a girl named Renn, a boy named Hord, and named Oslak. When he is brought to the leader of the clan, his capturers tell the leader what he was doing and is immediately to death. But, there is something that changes death into a fight for your life. Torak goes up against Hord and succeeds but is too bloodthirsty and tries to kill him. The clan have a meeting to figure out what to do with Torak and all of a sudden, a shadow comes out of nowhere and attacks the clan. The shadow was human made by another tribe and a little help from Hord. They figured out that Torak would go on a journey to find items to bring to the mountain spirit to destroy the evil in the land. He is also accompanied with Renn and Hord. As they find all items, the possessed bear has now caught their scents and they are in trouble but they get out of it easily. They have now made it to the the mountain but the bear is still not killed so, Torak and Hord fight the bear while the wolf and Renn go up to the top of the mountain to gask the spirit to hear them and it works and the spirit sends an avalanche that kills both the bear and Hord but the wolf is missing. Torak then finds him and he is howling with other wolves. The wolf has now became a adult and stronger now. Torak now understands the bond between them and walks away. I think this book is a good thing to read because it tells a story of a friendship that grew along the way as one person understood why they needed that other person by their side. I also like how it shows bravery in a boy who was scared of being alone and just losing his father and still being able to go on with his journey.

For my creative piece, I brought in a dog. The dog represents the wolf that Torak finds in the book who later on guides him the the Mountain Spirit who later helps him defeats the evil with him. This wolf is a big part in the book because he also helps Torak become a better person.

Thunder in Paradise - Satan's Last Storm

Posted by Tiarra Bell in English 1 - Dunn on Sunday, June 9, 2013 at 11:11 pm

It's Kind of a Funny Story Book Review

Posted by Daniel Ross in English 1 - Dunn on Saturday, June 8, 2013 at 9:04 pm

It’s Kind of a Funny Story is a fantastic book by Ned Vizzini. It’s about this boy who finds his life so depressing or so he thinks; that is until he checks himself into a mental hospital and is admitted into the adult psychiatric ward. Once Craig gets a little tour of the hospital he finds that he does not belong. There are people with all types of problems there such as schizophrenics and psychopaths. Craig also has some personal problems. He has a really big crush on a girl named Nia. However Nia is his best friend’s girlfriend. His life seems like it sucks but he has things he also enjoys. He loves peeing. When he goes over to his friend’s house he’ll go into the bathroom and turn the lights off and pee.

Craig has things that make him happy too. He loves drawing art. He likes to draw road maps. When he was four he lived in an apartment in Manhattan. The pipes were exposed and became very hot in the afternoon. Anyway his dad would take him out to breakfast and ordered him pancakes. The streets were sideways and the avenues were up and down. That’s how his dad would cut his pancakes and that’s how Craig learned where he lived. They’d name the streets and made their way to their address. This was a very happy time in Craig’s life. Now Craig is in the hospital and he’s enjoying the stay.

As his stay in the hospital continues he realizes that he has other things that make him happy. He finds that art such as music and drawing makes him happy. He also meets a girl named Noel. She turns his whole world upside down. She makes him feel happy and he likes her. She likes him too but they’re are kind of shy. Noel is in the hospital for cutting herself multiple times in multiple places. They learn from each other that life may get difficult but at the end it’s not worth killing yourself over. Things get pretty rough in the hospital because Nia comes and visits. While Nia is there she flirts with him and tells him that she and her boyfriend just broke up. Some things happen in the bedroom and he disgusts her so she runs out. He say something that Noel over hears and makes her mad. They soon forgive each other and fall in love. Craig gets out of the hospital and reduces the stress building up on his shoulders.

I would recommend this book to someone else because I really enjoyed it. It’s pretty funny and it makes you stop and think. I think about my life and it could be so much worse. I’m thankful for the life I live and I’m glad I read this book.

Maps

They help you get to and from

Navigation

It’s like a map but a voice

Make a right turn in a quarter mile

Make a left a the next corner

Craig;

A boy who took the wrong turn

Right for happiness

Left for depression

Craig’s life wasn’t so good so he took a left

As he made that left he saw a beautiful young lady

Nia

It was like love at first sight but he then saw a boy holding her hand

Aaron

They went right because they were happy

Craig continued down the left road

and came across a hospital

He went in but this time he made a right

In the hospital he discovered some interesting things

Art like music and drawing

Oh yeah and Noel

As he stay went on

he realized right was the way to go

He fell and love with Noel

and she fell for him

it was beautiful young love

And that’s basically the end !

Are you ready for the Holidaze?

Posted by Sydne Hopkins-Baker in English 1 - Dunn on Friday, June 7, 2013 at 8:12 pm

Drama High Super Edition: Holidaze is the 9th book of The Drama High series written by L.Divine. Divine is a young author who was born and raised in California by her grandparents. Many people didn’t believe in Divine’s writing. She wrote for her schools paper, blogs and many more. It wasn’t until 2002 she self published and wrote her first book and began selling and/or giving it away to anyone who was interested. By 2003-2004 she baecame an agent and publisher for the first book. Ms. Divine formed L. Divine, Inc. She attended UCLA, earning a B.A. in African American Studies (1999) and an M.A. in African American Studies (2000, specializing in Educational Psychology). She now lives in Atlanta with her two kids one son and one daughter. L.Divine's picture is shown at the bottoms.

Jayd Jackson is a 16 year old who is the main character of the book. Her story starts when she goes back to school to South Bay High aka Drama High. She lives with her grandmother who is one of the many Louisiana conjure women which means she has powerful powers from Louisiana gods. Jayd has a lot of drama in her life because her grandmother is a conjurer and her next door neighbor is a evil voodoo queen who wants to take Jayd’s powers for her own. The drama is worse in school. It’s close to Valentines Day, and love is in the air sort of speak. Jayd has to face the fact that her crew is falling apart and her frenemy Misty is getting help from her evil next door neighbor. Jayd will need more than her inner strength. She'll need the help of her gifted ancestors, to save herself and her crew.

I can relate to this book because it seems like my life is always filled with drama. My mom thinks it’s because I don't mind my own business which is somewhat the case, but at the same time people tell me everything and then it just goes downhill from picking sides or friends being mad at the other. At home it’s not as bad because my grandmother isn’t my main care taker. I live with my mom and she’s around when I need her. My relationship with my dad is like Jayd’s. I can’t say I hate my dads side of the family because I don’t really know them but my dad wasn’t really around he was in Ohio for 13 out of 15 years of my life. Sometimes he does try to be a dad but it doesn’t work out the way I want it to and it’s the same way with her dad.

Another thing is Jayd cares a lot about her grades and friends. Like with me my school grades are a lot more important than buying new things or the new show on tv. It’s hard for Jayd because she also has a soft side for her friends. She feels like she always have to fix things because she’s the only mature on of the group. No one else wants to grow up and try to fix things. When her to main concerns start to mess up it becomes too stressful to think and you just want to crawl back into the bed. I can relate to that, I really do care for my friends if one of them is hurt I’m always there but it seems like no one there for me. It’s the same way for Jayd the only person who understands all her stress is her grandmother and ex boyfriend who is in his own world.

Over all Holidaze was a good /interesting book. I’m a sucker for drama books, mysteries occasionally I like horror and romantic books. I love the Drama High series once I start reading the book I can’t get enough of it. I have actually recommended the series to two of my friends who have also enjoyed the books. I want to keep reading the series until I finish all the books. The one thing I think can be cut back on is Jayd’s powers. I think it’s great she has them but her and her grandmothers traditions go against my religion. Sometimes it’s a lot to read about and it’s the same thing, I want something fresh. That little problem still doesn’t stop me from reading my book. When I’m done the series I’m going to wait for the 16th book in the meantime I am going to be reading The Other Boleyn Girl, I will be writing a book review for that so stay tuned. Book cover is shown below

I recommend this book for people teens and young adults of the age 13-20. Adults can read it because my mom enjoy the books too but it reaches out to kids in high school. This can be for both genders but it seems like girls would understand the drama that’s in the book. To boys it would probably be silly the stuff they fight about in the book. Overall this book is good for people who can tolerate cliffhangers and don’t mind reading more than one book to get to the ending. It’s a romantic drama for teens. If you give it a rating it’s rated P.G 14 it has it’s moments where it gets graphic with violence and the language. It’s a book that will keep you reading because you want to hope that Jayd will get a better life outside of South Bay High. The first book in the Drama High series is The Fight.

For my creative project I made a prezi that shows how Jayd overcame her obstacles that kept her from her mission.

Can You See, "The Full Spectrum?"

Posted by Deja Johnson in English 1 - Dunn on Friday, June 7, 2013 at 7:21 pm

The Full Spectrum

Have you ever observed your life? Looked at anyone else's? Well, it's time to take a view of, "The Full Spectrum." The book, "The Full Spectrum," is by several different authors, edited by David Levithan and Billy Merrell. The book is about a, "new generation of writing about gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and other identities." The best seller rank for, "The Full Spectrum," ranks 847,611 on Amazon.com.

The book, "The Full Spectrum," is an amazing book. It is a book based on short stories about teens. This book tells stories about the experience about teenagers who experience problems about different situations. Mainly, it focuses on the sexuality. There are several stories told that catch my eye. All are interesting and each have their own mind. Every new story told is a way for each author to express themselves. Most of the stories are conflicts having to do with person versus self, and person versus society. Interestingly enough, it seems like they all overcome.

The main characters are very interesting and different, but all seem to have the same thing in common. Most of their problems stem from either family or how society view them. The stories are of teens who are gay and need a way to express themselves. They get this done by telling their story. My favorite memoir is by Stefanie Davis and it is called, “ All you need is love.” This story is about a girl witnesses her family adjusting to her sister becoming a transgender. She doesn’t know whose side to take. She wants to please her mom and dad, who hates the idea, but she also wants to support her sister. It catches my eye because this is a real life thing and it makes me sad. Everyone does need love no matter what. Her sister was denied that, but she stuck by her side.

I related to, “The Full Spectrum,” in so many ways. I know people who have gone through the same experiences. It is both sad, but also interesting because you get to see and watch people overcome their struggles, but they also get mistreated along the way. Not only that, but I saw my old best friend go through this second hand. No I did not go through it, but I was there for her. This made it hard for the both of us, but we both were able to become aware of what the situation was. My own self? I have experienced some of these things, but I will not go any further than that.

In all honesty, I loved the entire book. Every story I read had me either in tears or laughing the entire time. It was so delicious to read these stories and get to see these things. If I could, I would not change anything about this book. I wouldn’t because if I did, it would not be the same stories. It shouldn’t even need to be changes. I would recommend this to anyone. The entire book was good. I don’t care who you are, you would relate to this book. It was great, so if you’re looking for something interesting, “The Full Spectrum,” is the book.

The Secret: My Secret

My Secret,

The One that holds me back,

The One that no one knows,

Except the friends I’ve told.

Not even my mother,

Nope not at all.

I feel that this secret is not me,

But, yet a phase.

One that will go away,

Just a feeling in the moment.

But, the feeling, it overshadows me.

Keeping me in the dark and not wanting to come out.

My thoughts, they’re mines,

But it takes over when the oppurtunity presents,

When it presents, it wins,

All the time.

No, I am not ready to accept my secret,

The Lie that I tell myself everyday.

You probably no by now,

But, I am still not ready to share.

To me my secret is an untold truth,

But a lie to myself being.

It may be true,

But, right now, I am not ready to accept, “The Secret.”

The Full Spectrum

Posted by Taylor Washington in English 1 - Dunn on Friday, June 7, 2013 at 2:45 pm

Taylor Washington
6-6-13
Orange Stream
The Full Spectrum:
A generation of writing about gay,
lesbian, bisexual, transgender,
questioning, and other identities.

The book The Full Spectrum: ( A generation of writing about gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and other identities) edited by David Levithan & Billy Merrell. This book has been research upon by the SLR ( School Library Research), a research journal of the american association of school librarians. They’re research shows that in every high school there should be a LBGTG literature for teens. Also on Goodreads it has over 1,000+ awesome reviews.

One of my favorite short stories/ journal in this book is “When you’re a gay boy in america” by Danny Zaccagnino. His section had an very engaging story about the way gay people are treated by society. When Danny was a young boy his boy scout counselor told him he was not a true scout.

Danny also shares about his tattoo on his back and what it symbols while also explaining how the same pain from the tattoo reminded him of the pain he went through for being a gay man. His tattoo is a dragon. The dragon represents a protector that will always have his back. But thats just one interesting story in the book of a teenager that went through plenty of struggle because of his sexuality.

Personal Experiences
I can somewhat relate to The Full Spectrum because a lot of these struggles I have witnessed happen to others as they were trying to come out of there shell if being “Straight” and being the sexuality of their choosing.

Opinion?
Yes I will love this book till death bring us apart, because one of the biggest strengths of this book is each journal entry they are all so unique it's almost like reading someones secret diary. If I could change any aspect of the book it would be to have sections for each theme of the book so that you kind of had a clue of what you were about to read.

Recommendations??
Yes I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is mature enough to be able to have a sort of understanding of the fact that the stories in this book are very extreme on the way people put there feeling out there. These teens deserve respect.

IRP Project

Posted by Alejandro Bautista-Garcia in English 1 - Dunn on Friday, June 7, 2013 at 2:34 pm

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd is a powerful dark storytelling book
that is about a city in London that lost it’s freedom and being ruled by this computer who is
used by the dictator of England also known as “fate” then a camp survivor that scaped and
name himself as “V” wants to give the freedom and equal rights to the civilians by killing
people who are in power and also people who were part of the camp where the used to
torture/experiment with people where the main character “V” escaped from.

There are two main characters in the book V for Vendetta who are V and Eve this two characters each have a background about what happened, The character “V” was captured in a camp and his room number was 5 which is where he got his name; this happened around the 1970’s there was a war involving London England and the government of London got completely wiped out by people with a lot of power who later on became into a dictatorship and after they
got their power, the Dictator Susan or fate who is a guy made all the asian, Blacks, gays
to go to camp’s where they would torture them and test experiments.

Experiment 5 “V” got captured during this movement of dictatorship and was sent to camps over the time the test subjects would die slowly while V was still somehow immune to this
injections and toxins that were put in his body, he had a doctor that would often check on him
and write down on his journal saying that when he looked at V she would feel like V was
feeling pity about all of the scientist making experiments on people, over the time the
doctor would give him materials to V to make his flowers grow but one day V used
the materials to make an explosion and escaped.

After V escape he goes around the city of London saving people and helping citizens
rebel against the city ruled by a dictator, during his journey he basically he blows up
certain buildings that are connected to the main computer in the dictators office and after
he does that he kills the people that were in the camps that tortured people, also he went
after the most wealthiest people that work in the government or that were linked to
the dictator.

In conclusion I think this book was one the greatest book or graphic novels I have ever read
It has a good story telling and it’s very gripping because as soon as you start reading it
you want to know what’s going to happen next and how everything is going to go down.

IRP: Yesterday Erased

Posted by Joseff Filamor in English 1 - Dunn on Friday, June 7, 2013 at 2:27 pm

Joseff Filamor

June 4, 2013

Independent Reading Book: Yesterday Erased

Yesterday Erased by Andrew Schrock follows young teenager by the name of Drew Thomas. Throughout the book it shows Drew’s transformation from a comic-book nerd, to a member of the Cincinnati skateboarding scene. The book starts out by him writing to himself while he is alone at a party, sitting on a couch. He writes about how he came to be what he is today and slowly begins to review his life all the way back to being 14, which is where the book truly begins. First, it shows how Drew comes to be a skater, and then slowly shows his interest in girls and the party life. As he is crossed between staying true to skateboarding or joining his delinquent friends, he searches for the way he best fits in and most enjoys.

The author if this book; Andrew Schrock based Yesterday Erased off of his life growing

up. This was actually the first piece of real writing he has ever written, he quotes “This is my first piece of true writing. As I can remember, I only wrote half of a term paper in high school.” Andrew Schrock is not only an author, he also owns and operates his own skateboard company; ReVive skateboards, and he is also a YouTube partner that delivers videos daily.

I have been following Andrew Schrock for four years now, and I am proud to say that he is one of my idols to look up too. For four years, Schrock has been delivering skateboard videos of himself and his friends and has also been making video on the right choices to make in life, in other words; how to stay positive and never give up. When he first started, he had to work 3 jobs including making YouTube videos on the side. After a year of making videos, he became a YouTube partner and began to make money from every video he made, he was then able to quit two of the jobs he had. From the years of following him, I have watched him gain not only a major amount of popularity and respect, but also has made enough money off YouTube to

support his fiance and newborn son. He now has gained so much popularity over YouTube

that he was able to quit the other jobs he had.

In Yesterday Erased, he describes his life as a kid then growing up all the way to the point of him being twenty years old. Him being an actual skater in real life, he talks about real skateboarding, and what an everyday life of a skateboarder is truly like. I may have said this in my last independent book review, but this one is truly relatable. It may be based off skateboarding, but it also focuses on the social status of an everyday teenager. Partying, girls, and seeking the sense of respect and belonging.

Considering all of the positive feedback I recently stated, there is one con to the book; it goes very fast. Through the first chapter, he does not give a lot of background knowledge about who he is prior to his skate life. He writes about his everyday life; going to school, then going to the comic shop, go home and play videogames, then repeat. His daily agenda gets to be a little

too repetitive and redundant without any other side information.

Further more after that, Drew begins to shift into finding himself and slowly makes

friends that he can all relate too. Basing his character off Drew Thomas, Andrew Schrock writes his life through his perspective without almost no flaws. It is a fast read with plenty of

cliffhangers in each chapter and relatable teenage trauma. Definitely one to order and read for yourself, you will not regret it!

~Joseff

Below is a video link to AndrewSchrock’s youtube video talking about his book. He discusses why he wrote, how, and what point in his life he was in at the time. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x35lHs7ey1g

Classified: The Andromeda Strain

Posted by Morgan Caswell in English 1 - Dunn on Friday, June 7, 2013 at 2:26 pm

For my project, I read the Andromeda Strain. Its an American Science Fiction book by Michael Criton. It was published in 1969. It follows the journey of scientist who have to discover what killed the people in Piedmont, Arizona. I was an FBI agent on the case. Read my report here: http://dft.ba/-TheAndromedaStrain

In the town of Piedmont, a satellite crashes, but the heat shield cracked in space. A bacteria invaded the satellite. The bacteria was dangerous and killed almost everyone in the town. The was called the Andromeda Strain. The team of scientists ended up in Wildfire, a lab that was top security and top secret. They discover that two people survived the Andromeda Strain: Jamie Ritter, an infant, and Peter Jackson, an old alcoholic who drinks Sterno and takes acetometophine by the bottle. The scientists search to find the common link.

Rx by Tracy Lynn

Posted by Stephanie Dyson in English 1 - Dunn on Friday, June 7, 2013 at 2:17 pm

Tracy Lynn crafts another gripping, yet comedic, novel for the eyes of young adults. This book, titled Rx helps the modern teenager understand the ongoing strife between their daily ‘Job’ of being a teenager and the struggles that come with it: self-esteem issues, self-recognition, relationships, romanticism, academic achievement, and highlights drug abuse.

Rx’s main character, Thyme, has a preconceived fascination with drugs, not because she wants to have to rely on them. Simply because of what drugs have the ability to do;

“They can’t make you fly, but that can make you feel like you do. They can make you jump higher and run faster. Think better and smarter. Make your cough and cold go away. Put you to sleep. Wake you up. Get old geezers’ johnnies goind and put the kibosh on sexual predators. They can grow more hair for you or stop it from growing on your chin. They can give you clear, beautiful skin. They can keep you from getting pregnant or help you get pregnant. Cure your salmonella, your gonorrhea, your fricking foot fungus. Forget just uppers and downers: Prescription drugs really are the magic potions of the real world.” Thyme is like many other high school students that experiment with prescription pills; she is curious and wants to know more about them, and for this curiosity, she cannot be blamed.

She begins her short tenure as a drug dealer in her upscale suburban high school after she steals her close friend, and eventual boyfriend, Will’s bottle of Ritalin for herself to use as a study drug after he rejects using it. Once she begins using it for herself, she starts to try other drugs wherever she may find them: medicine cabinets, purses, kitchen counters, friends’ book bags. Once she begins controlling her own mood swings and the counter effects of the drugs she’s taking, she begins selling and dealing them to her other friends that have the same dependences as she does.

In the final section of the book (the novel is divided into two sections: Junior Year and Senior Year, the last chapter of the book, titled The End goes into Thyme’s very first year as a freshman in college), Thyme finds herself in the bathroom of her dorm in college, and as she organizes her bathroom caddy, she finds a few pills. She goes to the toilet to flush them down and end her cycle as a dealer, but before she can react, she overhears her new acquaintances asking where they might get Adderall or Ritalin or Stratera. They're willing to pay, and Thyme is willing to supply.

Tracy Lynn crafts Thyme in a way that she does not, in any way, fit the profile of a drug dealer: she is a straight A student, intent on going to college, finishing her work, being kind and cordial with everyone, looking out for those she loves, living in an affluent community. She doesn’t have the assumed conniving spirit of a drug dealer. She keeps her situation quiet for as long as possible, she remains under the radar.

Lynn shows that not only middle and lower class children experience the temptation of finding a way to ‘help’ themselves with whatever they need, through the assistance of drugs and drug abuse. She gives a different perspective; it is one that some are aware exists, but is unbeknownst to the masses. She brings it to light in this thought-provoking novel.

In Lynn’s afterword, she tells her readers that her reasons for writing a book such as Rx are “purely personal”. She was friends with two people whose lives were adversely affected by the wear and tear of illegally obtained prescription drug addiction and abuse. She warns readers that the phrase “just say no” does not get easier to follow with age. A touching finish to a book such as this, I find that Tracy Lynn really implemented her personal life in this novel, which is always reassuring to recognize when it comes to a novel like this.

I find that the summary on the back fits the book perfectly, but doesn’t give too much away. It summarizes but isn’t too revealing. Rx by Tracy Lynn is a novel that I recommend to those who love a book that they can connect with. I found one quote especially moving, and have used it in my writing: “In high school, hell is not the absence of God, but of communication.” I will carry that with me forever. Nevertheless, Rx is a novel for all readers. Insightful and appealing, Rx will always find itself on my bookshelf.

English 1 - Dunn Public Feed