You are here

Home » News

Columnists

Reading poetry with Amelia: The First Thanksgiving

Posted by Staff on Tuesday, November 29, 2022

By Amelia Alexander
Icon columnist

This is the first in a series of columns by Ada student Amelia Alexander about "reading and debriefing" poetry. 

“First Thanksgiving” by Sharon Olds

When she comes back, from college, I will see
the skin of her upper arms, cool,
matte, glossy.

»

Diamonds and crayons are forever (practically)

Posted by Staff on Tuesday, September 27, 2022

By Liz Gordon-Hancock

Don’t throw your unwanted crayons away! According to Crayola’s website, Crayola crayons are made of paraffin wax, which is refined from petroleum. That means crayons take years to biodegrade if thrown away and taken to landfill. 

According to the National Crayon Recycle Program, 12 million crayons are produced each day. That makes a potential 12 million crayons going into landfill tomorrow. 

»

Book Review: Horse

Posted by Staff on Sunday, August 21, 2022

Review by Robert McCool

Horse, A Novel (ISBN; 978-03999-56296-9) by Australian author Geraldine Brooks tells a tale of one of the greatest racehorses ever, focused through the dark camera obscura of slavery, when people could be owned like horses. This book is about that ownership.

The book tells the true history of a horse and its young Black groom named Jarret in 1850, before the Civil War. Jarret is there when the foal Darley is born. Darley's name soon becomes Lexington, and Jarret loves and stays with the horse through the animal's whole life.

»

Book Review: The Woman in the Library

Posted by Staff on Sunday, August 14, 2022

By Robert McCool

The cast is small, but the mystery is large.

While police check out why a woman let out a blood curdling scream in the Boston Public Library Reading Room, four people seated at a table together get to know each other and their writings. These are the primary characters in a book under construction by a woman named Hannah, whom we do not know, although we do hear from an unasked-for critic who gives her advice by email.

»

Book Review: Navajo mythology comes alive after the climate apocalypse

Posted by Staff on Sunday, August 7, 2022

Review by Robert McCool

If you have read Tony Hillerman you know the legends and folktales about immortal beings living in the Sacred Mountains that surround the Dine'tah (the Navajo reservation). Those same mountains protected the parched desert that is now the Dine'tah when the apocalypse drowned most of the world with the “Big Water.” And, after the Energy Wars there wasn't enough fuel to maintain the lifestyle we enjoy now. The world lay fallow and empty without an apology from anyone. These are dystopian tales.

»

Book Review: Navajo mythology comes alive after the climate apocalypse

Posted by Staff on Sunday, July 31, 2022

By Robert McCool

If you have read Tony Hillerman you know the legends and folktales about immortal beings living in the Sacred Mountains that surround the Dine'tah (Navajo reservation). Those same mountains protected the parched desert that is now the Dine'tah when the apocalypse drowned most of the world with the “Big Water.” And, after the Energy Wars there wasn't enough fuel to maintain the lifestyle we enjoy now. The world lay fallow and empty without an apology from anyone. These are dystopian tales.

»

Pages