Due to the immense chaos that comes with school, it can be difficult to find time to read for fun. With Christmas break right around the corner, this is the perfect time to catch up on some reading after finals. “What do I read?!” you might ask. Not to fear–I reached out to the teachers to get their recommendations.  

Mrs. Delcambre

Book: Atomic Habits by James Clear

Recommendation:  “I recommend this book because James Clear explains why so many of us fail when we set goals.  The goals we set are big, broad, identity changing goals like to get fit, be organized, or be a better friend.  When we focus so much on the far-away end goal and don’t fall in love with the process, it is easy to fail at reaching our target.  If we create small but powerful (atomic) habits and focus on these ‘tiny margins of improvement’ in the right direction, then the goal of becoming fit, organized, or healthy will naturally and easily follow.  ‘Success is the product of daily habits, not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.’ It is creating habits for small ‘one percent changes towards the positive versus one percent changes towards the negative.’”

Mrs. Hesterly

Book: Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Recommendation: “This book is wonderful and beautiful. It makes you reflect on your life, it makes you appreciate events in life you probably otherwise wouldn’t appreciate, and it makes you want to live a fulfilling and meaningful life through meaningful actions and meaningful relationships. Morrie is full of wisdom–from both his age and his intellect, and shares what he’s learned through his long life now that his life is coming to an end. It’s a book that I feel should be read my everyone at some point in their life to appreciate life just a little bit more.”

Mrs. Carlson

Book: Habitudes by Tim Elmore

Recommendation:  “I highly recommend this read to any student. It’s a nonfiction read that gives you great leadership principles through images and scenarios. The goal of the book is to help you build good habits and attitudes, hence the title, Habitudes.”

Mrs. Poynot

Book: IMPACT by Kelda Laing Poynot 

Recommendation: “First of all, Kelda is my sister-in-law who has published several books and this particular book is one of my favorites. I could not put it down. It’s about a young woman involved in a serious car accident and has no memory of her past life. Through humor, struggles, frustrations, and tears, she must trust a long-time friend to help her fill in the gaps. As she begins to learn about parts of her life that were a little unsavory, she realizes that there’s an opportunity to make positive changes with a second chance at life.”

Reverend Kennedy

Book: All Minus One: John Stuart Mill’s Ideas on Free Speech Illustrated

Recommendation: “The second chapter of John Stuart Mill’s classic, On Liberty, is undoubtedly one of the greatest defenses of free speech and viewpoint diversity ever published. His arguments are timeless and have perhaps never been more relevant (and urgent) – given our globalizing world and ever-polarizing culture. Richard Reeves, Jonathan Haidt, and Dave Cicirelli here offer an easily-accessible, abridged, and illustrated presentation of Mill’s masterpiece.”

Señor Álvarez

Book: The Hummingbird’s Daughter by Luis Alberto Urea

Recommendation: “This historical fiction, tells the tale of a young mestizo girl, her fight for survival and her acceptance of her fate. Set in Northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States. the story follows Teresa’s endurance and survival which is linked spiritually and literally the struggles in Mexico itself. Teresa sees the struggle from the bottom up. Teresa is also in possession of a supernatural gift that gets stronger as she matures. This book or the sequel follows the trek of Mexican people moving north to the United States to escape the civil war in Mexico.”

Mrs. Bourque

Book: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Recommendation: “This book was my favorite read of 2018! Featuring a young black girl who witnesses her best friend be shot and killed by a police officer, this novel challenged my perspectives and made me think about race relations in America. It was so well balanced between big, overarching themes like racism and normal, everyday problems that teenagers face like friend drama and who to invite to the school dance. I thought it did a great job of showing what it’s like to be a black teenager in America, and I think everyone could benefit from reading this book.”